Bob Schmuck

A friend of mine, Jon Waraas owns a nice forum, which he purchased a while back, for publishers to discuss topics on publishing, marketing, computers, and gaming. I mainly spend my time in the “WWW & Internet” section so if you have any specific question you would like to ask me, head on over to the forum. The greatest part is its a smaller forum so everyone knows each other.

Also Jon Waraas can answer your question. He’s really cool on helping other people on their journey to success.

Anyways… check out NewToTech and ask questions!

On the post, New Internet Publisher… Smack asked, “Bob, how do you find out what are low competition keywords?”

The best method in finding the competition for a specific keyword is by using Google… of course! The following is the method I use “every time” I’m checking out a new keyword to use for a site topic.

1. Open your browser then go to Google.com.
   
2. Type in your keyword in Google search. For example, “Carnivorous Plant”.
3. Look on the top right corner at “Results 1 – 10 of about 920,000 for Carnivorous Plant.” The 920,000 are your competition for that keyword.
   
4. Now, close your browser… Your done!

If your search has fewer than 1,000,000 of competition for a specific keyword, it’s a good keyword in my opinion. Keep in mind there are other factures when selecting a good keyword. This is only showing you how to find a specific keyword’s competition.

It is very easy process. Also remember I’ve had the problem with Google showing incorrect results in the competition before. I like to call it a “Google hick up”. So… Before you choose the keyword, give it a few days and recheck the competition to confirm your results.

One of my goals this year is to grow into a Limited Liability Company (LLC). I want to become more professional as an Internet Publisher. How I see it… If you want to achieve a goal, you need to talk to someone that has already accomplished that goal, which is why I talked to Jon Waraas about setting up a Limited Liability Company because he has already setup four LLC before. He was very nice to talk to and helpful. He even sent me the document that I needed to fill out.

With my next months Internet income, I’ll be setting up a LLC. The complete process should cost around $100 but I’ll be putting aside $200 for any unexpected expenses… After finished with the setting up a LLC, I’ll be contacting the IRS to receive a tzx id number. When all that is finished, I’ll be contacting some accountants and lawyers to find one of each that I get along with. I’m looking forward in experiencing this educational journey and becoming an actual company.

What is a LLC?
A Limited Liability Company is a legal form to separate the owner in the United States. It will allow me to obtain a Tax Identification Number, open a business bank account, and perform business transactions under the company’s name. the main advantage of LLC is that the owner (me) will not be held personally liable for liabilities and debts. There are also tax advantages that allow me to spend the companies expenses with pretaxed income.

I’ll keep everyone updated on my process of getting a LLC.

The most difficult component as a newcomer to the world of Internet publishing is the beginning and for the most it’s also the end because of the toughness. Watching other publishers succeed while still working to just make pennies is not fun but if you keep at it the rewards are endless. In the beginning, you need to comprehend and learn so much, which can cause you to feel overwhelmed. Today, I’ll be helping you out by giving guidelines on developing the site, getting the visitors, and earning the money. Lets start the learning…

DEVELOPING THE SITE

In this stage, begin with a very simple site if you have to use a template from freelayouts.com go a head. More then likely your visitors will have no idea that your site is a template. Discontinue worrying about having a perfect looking site because everyone has to start somewhere. Most developer’s Blogs that you read started in the same position you’re in now. Here are just some examples of a couple of people’s first sites.

Jon Waraas – First Site Design
Bryan Le – First Design
Bob Schmuck (Mine) – First Site Design

Now, stop worrying about if your site is good enough and just develop and publish it then slowly improve it until your happy.

GETTING THE VISITORS

Everyone knows getting the visitors is the golden key to success. There are many ways to get visitors to your new site: search engines, paid advertisement, link exchanging, forum posting, joining communities, and endless others.

Search Engines
Getting ranked in Google, Yahoo, and MSN is the best way to get very targeted visitors for free. How do you get visitors from search engines? Before developing a site, find the keywords you want to be ranked and has very little competition. While developing your sites content use these keywords also have your inbound links from other related sites with these keywords.

Paid Advertisement
At the beginning, be very careful. I recommend waiting to pay for visitors until you get a better understanding on reading your stats and writing ad copy; however, if you really want to start. You should begin with a small amount of money and keep a good eye on your Return On Investment (ROI). I’m still learning and testing this way of getting visitors. I’ve been working with AdEngage to buy traffic.

Link Exchanging
Your best choice is to exchange links with related sites. Its pretty easy finding the sites but the difficult part is getting them to exchange links with yours. There are many techniques in finding the sites. The first and easiest way is by typing “keyword” in to the Google search bar, which will find some of the more popular sites related to your site. Try going to the second or third page of the search. These sites won’t be so anal on exchanging links. The second way is to visit some Webmaster forums and finding a section on, “Exchanging links” and posting a simple request. Seeing that your site is still fresh you might only get a few people to exchange links with but it’s better than nothing.

Forum Posting
I used to use this method a lot when I first started. This technique also uses Google to find related forums. In the Google search bar type, “keyword” AND “Forum” this will find well-liked forums for you to post on. You should find around 10 different forums and begin posting introductions. Don’t begin spamming the forum and get a bad rep, begin with quality posts that help other forum members. Remember to add your link in your signature. With your signature, try reverse psychology like; “You won’t have fun at site name”. Don’t use this if your visitors are uptight.

Joining communities
I’ve just started testing out joining communities to obtain visitors. I highly recommend trying MyBlogLog.com, which could easily get you visitors without much effort. It is my 6th top referral on gameoftheday.net. Another common community is Myspace but I’ve never tried it before and it seems too spamy not saying it doesn’t work; you need to test out different communities to see for yourself. The greatest part is joining and making a page on a community is very simple.

EARNING THE MONEY

After you get the visitors, you need different ways of earning money from those visitors. The most common way to earn money is by signing up for AdSense, which pays you for each time a visitor clicks on the paid links. When you first start out this is probably your best bet. Another common option is using an affiliate program,, which you get paid when visitors purchase an item or signs up for a service. A common affiliate is COPEAC. The affiliate route is a little tougher than using AdSense. An additional option is signing up for Adversal, which you get paid per thousand page loads. It’s another way to get some extra money. All of these options and even others can work very well but don’t get discouraged at the beginning if you don’t see super results. Your best choice is to test out different ways to earn money to see which one works the best for you.

As a newcomer to the publishing world, you need to stay focused and driven because you’re the only one with the power to become successful not anyone else has that power to keep you focus and driven.

Now go and develop a simple site and start your path to success.