The following is a paid review and is completely of my own opinion and is not influenced by being paid. If you’re interested in having me review your site or product, please view my advertising page.

The secret to success if knowledge. The more you know the better your chances to succeed. If you look at people who have succeed they have gained as much knowledge as they could in their topic of interest. It’s no surprise when a person devours so much information that at some point they will be successful.

A method I use to gain knowledge is to read Textbooks . You might find that a little boring, but there is much to learn from text books.

The nice thing is that you can find used text books on any subject for a very low price. The poor student who had to pay for the textbook might not have even been interested in the subject, but you are going to do something with the information. There are millions of Used Textbooks For Sale that you can learn from. You do not have to be a student to take advantage of the information.

Textbooks For Cheap

There are many textbooks on the subject of marketing and sales. If you have an online business these topics are very helpful to promote your business. If you study marketing it will open many more doors and your business will grow. Everything we buy has been marketed in one way or another. You should look for textbooks that can help your business. Another great topic for online marketers is social studies and sociology. Learn about people find out what people desire and your business will grow. This is the magic of reading and self teaching you new ideas.

The following is a paid review and is completely of my own opinion and is not influenced by being paid. If you’re interested in having me review your site or product, please view my advertising page.

There are many ways to make money online, yet one of the easiest methods is often ignored. There is real money to be made by flipping web sites. If you own a domain name and are thinking of selling it you should learn how to make the most profit from your sale.

There are a limited number of spaces available from FlippingAwesome.com which provides students with every step of turning your domains in to cash.
Amy (one of the instructors) has been able to quit her job because of website flipping. She now makes a full time income from flipping web sites. If you ever wanted to learn how to flip web sites and turn it into a full time job you should visit FlippingAwesome.com and join their online coaching class next week.

There are only 10 seats available and the cost of $97 which is a discounted price for this time only.

You will read and watch, understand and implement the most essential concept of website flipping. After you read and watch the topic you will be able to ask questions about any areas that are un-clear or that you want more detail on website flipping.

Update:

The software used for this type of communication is built into the Mac OS as the speech function. You can use this function to read text in Word or text pad.

If you caught the episode of Oprah with Roger Ebert then you might have heard his new voice. After four years of not being able to use his voice due to being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Sun-Times critic appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to debut the fruit of some Scottish computer programmers’ labour, a voice that actually sounds like him. If you can imagine not having a voice a voice that was his bread and butter as a movie reviewer on television Roger has overcome his disability. With the help of his Mac Book and software he can now communicate with the world. If you have ever used a program like MacSpeech then you are familiar to the type of software that Roger Ebert is using to communicate. He is not the first to use computer speech to communicate, but he certainly is a poster boy for what technology can do for people with a speech problem. The technology that allows people speak through their computers has also gone down in price. You just need a computer and software which would run about $1200 something that was once out of reach for many. This technology has also made it easy for anyone to communicate and get work done that was once impossible. You can dictate your blog posts as you watch TV or read the newspaper. The software has improved over the years from my early start with programs like Dragon Dictate to super programs like MacSpeech. In the early days it took a very long time to teach the software to understand what you were saying and there were mixed results when speech converted to text. The new programs are almost perfect and understand more accents and pronunciation. Even my cell phone has speech recognition software. The effort of all the speech recognition programs must be noted as this technology is often forgotten or ignored even though there is so much value in what it can do.

About a month ago I Twittered about the Reddit mascot. At the time I thought it was a robot and thought it was a really cool mascot or logo. As a regular user of Reddit I highly recommend their web site. The point of this post is that the Internet is a great way to share information, but also to make connections. It turns out that Alexis Ohanian the co-founder of Reddit found my original Twitter post and set me straight that the mascot was not a robot it’s an alien. Well not only did Alexis correct my view of their mascot, but he also went ahead and sent me a USB stick in the shape of the alien.

This has to be the coolest USB stick I own. The stick is 4GB and the top head part comes off as a cap. Since I tend to lose my USB sticks it’s nice to have a slightly larger stick that I can throw in my laptop bag and is easy to find. Wait there’s more everyone who has seen this USB stick keeps asking me where I got it. It’s available in the Reddit Store for $25 for this unique styled USB stick. Again I would like to thank Alexis for the surprise FedEx delivery and not only am I a lifetime user of Reddit I will also treasure this USB stick.

Look for a future post on the Reddit service and how to use it for your online business.

The banning of Google Adwords accounts in December has created a demand for other traffic sources. As many affiliate marketers found  that their account had been banned by Google, a search for traffic was on. Many affiliates have been trying media buys. There are also many PPC networks to try and test. The only way to figure out if a PPC network works is to test it. It is going to cost a bit of money up front and you will have to do some work with your campaigns. If it all works out you found a great traffic source then it’s well worth the cost of testing. If it failed and you just can’t get any conversion then it’s time to move on. Since my ban from Google I would estimate my spending on different traffic sources around $1500 with mixed results. There were a few networks that just did not convert and a few that did convert, but not enough to be profitable. It’s all about the testing. If you can mange to get just one traffic source that converts well at a low cost per click then you will make up for your losses. Keep trying and look for reviews and case studies from other affiliates, but remember that no one is going to reveal a winning PPC network with fear of competition. You will be on your own to test and find networks, but it always pays to have a bit of information before you spend any money.

Selling merchandise from your blog is a great way to make some extra money.

No matter what topic your blog about, there is a product you can offer your readers. If your site has a neat logo you can offer T-Shirts or other branded products. There are web sites like www.cafepress.com that can place your logo on many different items. You just need to create a shopping area on your site and place links back to Cafe Press. The nice people at Cafe Press can will make the item and ship it for you. Since each item is produced on demand you do not have to carry inventory or spend any money up front. That is the nice thing about using a site like this. You only get a product made when a customer requests it and pays for it.

Many blog owners use Cafe Press or other online service to make a little extra money on their site. This is a little different then affiliate marketing. You are encouraging your readers to support your blog and content by wanting merchandise with your brand. The merchandise is also an expression for your readers, they want people to know that they have topic they are passionate about and want to share it.

The benefit to the blog owner is not only in the money collected from each sale, you will also be getting free publicity. When someone buys an item with your brand on it a wears it in public it’s like having a free billboard walking around.

This idea is not going to make you a millionaire over night, but a few dollars here and there is always a plus.

The new Apple iPad was not what many expected. As a multi-media device it does a great job and I do think there is a market for the iPad.  There are many people who do not need a home computer and find anything PC to complicated. The older non-tech user might find this a great device. It allows access to the Internet and email with a very simple interface. The device also makes a decent eBook reader. These are some features that for people who do not need a powerful computer will want to take a look at iPad. As for the tech savvy consumer it’s a nice device and has certain cool factor. Will it replace the netbook noway. The netbook with a full keyboard and long list of productivity software can not be replaced by the iPad. With time more applications might be made available and the software issue will not be a problem. At this point in the products life cycle I think the iPad is a cool toy and will have core set of users. Is it worth the price tag at $499 it’s not a bad price for an Internet device that is going to get looks at Starbucks. The iPad is a step in a new direction, but it’s not for me at this time.

The classified web site Backpage is very similar to Craigslist. The Backpages web site has been around for less time and has a smaller community. This is not to say that you can not make money with Backpage. The good thing is that there are also less flag reporters. If you have listed on Craigslist you know how annoying it can be to have your ad flagged even tough there is nothing wrong with what you have listed.

If you live in the US then there is a Backpage for almost every major city. The site has also gained a following and is growing in the US market. As for marketers in other parts of the world you will find a very small following as many people are still not aware of this site. As a Canadian I find that Backpage has not gained too many users over the border. At this point it looks like a great site for US users who have something to sell online.

The difference between Backpage and Craigslist is that you have the option of listing for free or adding extra feature to make your listing stand out. You can also pay to have your listing show up in printed newspapers in some areas.

I found Backpage very easy to use and setting up a classified was just like doing it on Craigslist. If you do not need any extra features then this free classified site does a great job. As more people find out about Backpage the community will grow. Those looking for bargains might want to check out Backpages as you have less people competing to buy an item. You have a better chance to buy an item at a barging price.

If want to make money online then Backpage is a good place to offer some affiliate products or to list your old stuff. You need to try Backpages and get familiar with all the options.

Link to Backpages.com

Last year I covered a few software titles that would benefit an online business. Here is just  a quick recap for those who are new to the blog. These are software packages that help me make money online and they can also help your business.

1. Digsby Instant messaging
   
2. LinkAssistant SEO
3. XSitePro 2
4. PPC Web Spy

These were just a few titles that were reviewed last year. These are as I mentioned programs that I use for my own business and make great tools for my online marketing. There are many more programs I use and hope to add reviews in the near future.

It’s been awhile since I had a give away on this site. As a prize I have 3 copies of The Twitter Book.

This practical guide will teach you everything you need to know to quickly become a Twitter power user, including strategies and tactics for using Twitter’s 140-character messages as a serious–and effective–way to boost your business. Co-written by Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein, widely followed and highly respected Twitterers, the practical information in The Twitter Book is presented in a fun, full-color format that’s packed with helpful examples and clear explanations.

The Prize

3 copies of The Twitter Book which costs $10.79 online. This is a nice book to add to your collection and very helpful for those who want to get the most out of their Twitter accounts.

How to Win

1. Follow me on Twitter @vendingmatic

2. Tweet this message: @vendingmatic I’m entering to win a free copy of The Twitter Book at http://vendingmatic.info/2010/01/21/the-twitter-book-giveaway-contest/

On February 1st  I will hold a draw for the 3 copies of  The Twiiter Book.

Make sure you both follow me and tweet the message above or you will not be eligible. I will contacting the winners on February 1 and give 3 days for prizes to be claimed. If prize is not claimed in that time period I will re-draw a new name.

Good luck!