Some Advice For Dinner?
Well, Calacanis and company have reached the $1400/day plateau with AdSense so I must congratulate him on that. As any sane businessman would act, he wants to increase that. His next goal is $2000/day from AdSense. Admirable and very plausible. But then he pulls this out of his hat:
Also, we’re going to start doing Amazon… anyone have advice or examples of good Amazon placement/performance? I’d really like to do something cool with Amazon on our network.
If you’re a Google Adsense expert take a loot (sp?) at our blogs and tell us what we should do! If your suggestion works I’ll buy you dinner in NY or LA. :-)
To me this is just insulting. The guy is making $1400/day (min.), which he equates to $511,000/year and wants free help to get to $730,000/year (min.) along with Amazon help. Does this seem strange to anyone else or am I missing something here? For helping him earn an extra $200k/year I can get a free dinner. Awesome.
All the answers that he is looking for can be found on the web. Now I have talked to Jason numerous times via email and in person. Nice guy. Strange, but nice I suppose. I wonder if when I am making 6 digits I will be asking for free help? If I do hopefully someone writes a post like this so I can remind myself that searching for the answers yourself can work wonders.
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POSTED IN: Personal Thoughts
25 opinions for Some Advice For Dinner?
Ryan Latham
Apr 15, 2005 at 10:43 pm
Oh yeah, when I am banking half a million a million a year, I am going to be concerned about that other quarter of a million. Because god forbid I have to surfice with only living in a 7 bedroom house, with only 2 maids and 1 butler. Well, half a million doesn’t go that far…
INVEST IT. I’ve seen them do it, you can take your money put it in these magical accounts called “savings” and “cash deposits” or “CD’s” (no not the kind you download off the internet for free). I think if I can manage to practice these techniques only making a fraction of this; someone making half a fat stack a year can.
You’re right Scrivs; this is kind of insulting. Most people aren’t making this kind of scratch per month, $1,500…hell I hardly make that doing the 40 hour a week thing. And this isn’t enough? Get off the coke MC Hammer, lose the entaruage…cut your expenses in half.
Scrivs
Apr 15, 2005 at 10:49 pm
STOP! Hammer Time!
Sorry couldn’t resist.
Linds
Apr 15, 2005 at 10:58 pm
Hey, if I’m not making $1500 a day, can I get free advice? :D
Scrivs
Apr 15, 2005 at 11:34 pm
Sure, just read the archives :-P
Nicole Simon
Apr 16, 2005 at 11:39 am
As one should know, there are more than just Jason behind WIN and he has to pay bills too.
But that set aside, it is an offer one does not need to accept. Plus one should not accept, because it is ruining the prices for others.
Knowledge is valuable. Remember the old story, Chalk 1$, knowing where to put it $9999.
Jason
Apr 16, 2005 at 12:34 pm
Well, I’m joking a little about the dinner… I’m all about sharing the advice. As you can see I’ve been telling people a) what we’re making, b) how it is increasing, and c) what we’re doing to make it go up. So, I’m trying to promote an open system where we all share tips… that is why I’m having folks post the advice right to the comments.
you would be right if I was keeping all the advice locked up on my hard drive, but i’m not.
If people get paid to give out Google Adsense advice that’s fine, but I’ll reserve the right to share information about optimization freely on my blog and if those folks who charge for the service don’t like it too bad… they need to find something more valuable to do in order to get people to pay for their service. I’m sure that these Google Adsense consultants do more then just give tips. In fact, I’m sure most of them are sort of outsourced experts… in that case it’s not the tips that matter but the work of putting those tips into action.
If people send me tips to my email (jason at calacanis dot com) I’ll post them to my blog as I’ve been doing all along (www.calacanis.com)
If everyone in the blog community learns how to make more money that is good for us… right now it’s not about one blog/blogger vs. another, it’s about all of us getting advertisers to embrace blogs…. that is why I’m sharing all our experience… if we can make advertisers fall in love with blogs–which they are doing–we will all win.
also, 100% of that money is going to blogger right now… i have not made any money–not even a salary–from Weblogs, Inc. to date… in fact, I don’t know if I ever will, right now I’m 100% focused on getting bloggers paid, and getting as many bloggers on board as possible.
A rising tide lifts all boats… regardless of the size of the boat or how many boats ya got! :-)
Jason
Apr 16, 2005 at 12:38 pm
BTW: Who is the author of this post? Paul? What up with no name on the post.
Scrivs
Apr 16, 2005 at 4:38 pm
Well since I am the only who writes for this site I didn’t see a need to post who wrote it because obviously it is me.
And I agree that advice helps us all out. That’s why I have this blog and Darren and many others have their’s. However, joking or not, the way it came across was all wrong to me. I bust my ass to get where I am and most of that was from learning and reading, while the rest was from sharing and listening to others.
I am happy that you are where you are at now, because in a way you have helped to legitimize blogs as a business model. Keep up the good work and we will be sure to follow. If you need advice or help I suggest going asking about it in other ways. Otherwise it’s all good. :-)
Nicole Simon
Apr 16, 2005 at 4:41 pm
I think I wrote this over at Darren’s already, but I think it is worth the point: The concept of everybody sharing their knowledge is really great, and it is one of the things of me getting exited over the web.
But the problem usually is: It does not bring bread to the table. But with Adsense, somebody is bringing food to the table because we do what we like best.
And that is a great world to live in. ;)
Mike
Apr 16, 2005 at 7:10 pm
I’ve been a faithful reader here and a few other places.
I’m tickled to have hit $300/month..if anyone can help me get to $1000/day, I’ll not only buy ‘em dinner, I’ll buy them dinner every day or cook it if they are hot !
Seriously, people, all he did was ask, if you don’t want to help it’s okay. It’s no different than the people who come up to you on the street and ask for a dollar…give if you want to, don’t if you don’t want to…it’s the American way.
Anthony Dever
Apr 16, 2005 at 9:01 pm
Yeah I think you’re getting a bit agressive lately Paul. Being competitive is great but just taking shots at the big blog networks is the easy thing to do. It’s like you’re just trying to start a fight for the sake of it.
Scrivs
Apr 17, 2005 at 3:35 am
That couldn’t be farther from the truth Anthony. I talk to Jason all the time (well not ALL the time) and we seem to have a decent relationship. He compliments me on my stuff as I do him. If I were to take shots at the big networks I would say “HOW DARE YOU MAKE MONEY AND NOT WAIT FOR ME!!”.
Otherwise, it’s all good man.
But I will always be agressive. If you Jason’s stuff you will see true aggressiveness the way he goes after Gawker…
Nicole Simon
Apr 17, 2005 at 11:35 am
Mike so it is okay, that he asks, but not okay, that Paul asks if this is really a good idea? Interesting view on this.
As said before, this is not a major thing, but the question whether Jason - even jokingly - should be asking such or not in this manor is good or bad for the community is valid.
Because it is always easier to get advice for free if you already have a status. But this is not equally divided.
And this is probably why people (at least I do) expect a more ethical behaviour from people with such status as I would from Joe User.
Is this little incident earth moving enough to keep this discussion going on? Probably not. But a good reminder to look into the mirror and ask: What have you done today to make you feel proud.
Nicole
Mike
Apr 17, 2005 at 7:22 pm
Hi Nicole,
I’m not saying, or didn’t mean to say that Paul can’t question anybody or anything. What I meant was, why bother with it or why would he want to.
Life is not fair. The rich, the beautiful, the powerful always get and get away with more. The Donald always gets better tables than I do in New York or Louisville. Even though I’m bigger, stronger and better looking.
Do I care ? Not really as long as I eat.
My philosophy should be to run my race and not police the whole race.
If you expect anything of people, you will be disappointed, sooner or later.
Here’s my finish : How can Jason learn, since he obviously doesn’t know everything, unless he asks. Because he makes a certain amount is irrelevant ( sic ). Do you believe a earnings plateau exempts him from further knowledge ? I’d think not.
What’s more preposterous is that someone would say, ” To me this is just insulting. The guy is making $1400/day (min.), which he equates to $511,000/year and wants free help to get to $730,000/year (min.) along with Amazon help.”
Tell me, why should he not ask, what do you know that I don’t ? I do it all the time and I make a hell of a lot more than most of the people I ask, they just don’t know it. Knowledge knows no $$$ barriers. If you think knowledge cost a lot, try the lack of it. It costs more by far.
Again, if you don’t like the question, don’t answer, but don’t stop the flow of knowledge and please don’t stop me from gaining more knowledge just because I’m fortunate enough to be blessed with a certain income or not.
Sorry if this was more than anyone wanted but it felt good to write. Maybe I should blog…Lord knows there are thousands of them out there with less to say than this.
Peace.
Scrivs
Apr 17, 2005 at 7:40 pm
Mike I think you are taking my beef the wrong way. I had a problem with someone asking for help to increase their income $200k via email and offering just a dinner. Hell, I think it’s just the dinner part the bothers me. It would’ve been better to ask without offering the dinner.
However, I think this just has to do with past experiences I have dealt with.
Mike
Apr 17, 2005 at 8:26 pm
Paul,
I agree that the dinner was a very small token for such a monumental task, but I’m sure it was a joke.
I’m really not trying to take your beef anyway, just saying, let’s just all learn to let it roll. If we don’t like the question, we are probably better off just acting like it never happened, than to tie up our mental faculties with such as that.
I like your blog and the free interchange of info and idea. So many are just wothless drivel and sheer freakin’ stupidity. Don’t let the little people wear you down and don’t let the little ideas tie you up. Let ‘em go and ” Go big or don’t go ! ”
Maybe you were just having a bad minute when you read it and it got to you. Doesn’t matter, you’re entitled. But if you’ll just run your race and do what you have to do, it’ll free you up so much you won’t even believe it.
I have friends who are ” internet marketers “. They write a salespage for an info product that they are releasing and then call me up and ask me to critique it, fix it and polish it. Then they release it, make a few to several tens of thousands of $$$ and never send me a dime, much less dinner.
I know how you feel, BUT the Laws of the Universe, specifically the Law of Reciprocity stipulate that all that I give away, freely and while not expecting something in return, will come back to me in multiples. It always does. Maybe not now, maybe not for a month, maybe not for 3 months, but it always comes back. Try it and let it come to you. Give til you can’t give any more. Then give some more. Til it hurts. Then sometime when you aren’t expecting it…there it will be. When the student is ready, the teacher will be there.
God doesn’t always pay on payday, but He always pays.
Again, sorry if this was TMI, but it felt good to say.
Peace,
Mike
Ryan Latham
Apr 17, 2005 at 8:26 pm
Imagine Bill Gates comes up to you and says if you help him make another 5 million a day…he will buy you a used Kia.
Simply put. That is the real issue, at least for me, with the whole situation.
Mike
Apr 17, 2005 at 8:58 pm
Ryan,
Easy for me to make this choice…either I just say no or I do it to the best of my ability and accept the agreed upon payment. Nobody can take advantage of you unless you let them. You get to choose for you, but if you’ll notice, complaining and/or degrading was not one of my two choices.
BTW - I went to your site and was really impressed with some of the designs. When I get ready to start blogging in a month or so, I may need some help with a design. I plan to use typepad, so I hope you can do designs for their parent software.
Keep your focus on your life’s work, which it looks like you have done and let the other stuff go.
Peace,
Mike
Scrivs
Apr 17, 2005 at 9:42 pm
My last point (hopefully): He talks about the fact that he improved his revenues, but does not share with us how he did beyond saying he removed the borders. Then wants more free information. Maybe if there was an even exchange things would be kosher. I understand where you are coming from Mike and to be honest this topic has left my mind a long time ago, but then you come back to comment on it and I am obligated to respond :-)
Ryan Latham
Apr 17, 2005 at 10:10 pm
There’s your next project Scrivs…”The Money Hungry Power Ballers Resource for Making More Money Online for Doing Less.” Wait, uhm…9rules Network…just kidding.
You know me I get crazy (drunk and happy) after 5:00 PM
Mike
Apr 17, 2005 at 10:27 pm
Paul,
My bad. I don’t mean to obligate you.
I’m not trying to defend him, just trying to get you to realize that he doesn’t owe anybody anything. He can ask for free advice, more free advice and even more free advice…without obligation. There’s no contract here. Give or don’t give as you see fit.
Do I wish I’d never gotten into this…YES…has it helped any of us…probably not.
Do I wish I could help him and have him fly me to NYC for a great dinner and an exchange of ideas…you damn skippy !
Let’s all move on to something new and exciting.
This space is worth more than we have used it for. I have read about 30 posts and archives and most of them have helped me to understand some subject or another a little better. Have I given back…nope. Good thing, too, cause if I have to devote this much time to this deep stuff every time, I’ll go mad.
Your blog rocks and it’s free…what more could we want,but…
Peace,
Mike
Apr 19, 2005 at 3:24 pm
A little late to the party, but just posted a response over at Feed Money.
Re: the whole dinner thing… I don’t know the guy, but I think that’s just his sense of humor. (as others were saying)
Anyone have any other AdSense success stories to share? :)
Mazoo
Apr 19, 2005 at 4:06 pm
I’m not able to eat so much
:-)))
Harold J. Johnson
Apr 21, 2005 at 6:06 pm
Perhaps if Jason offers to share some of his own tips in person it would make the lunch worthwhile. Unfortunately, I don’t have much to share yet. (Well, maybe not…)
Jason
Apr 24, 2005 at 11:51 am
>> My last point (hopefully): He talks
>> about the fact that he improved his
>> revenues, but does not share with us
>> how he did beyond saying he removed the
>> borders.
That’s basically it… we put more ads per page and took off the borders and things went up 30-50% per blog.
>> Then wants more free information.
>> Maybe if there was an even exchange
>> things would be kosher. I understand
>> where you are coming from Mike and to
>> be honest this topic has left my mind
>> a long time ago, but then you come
>>back to comment on it and I am
>> obligated to respond :-)
As everyone knows I put as much info on my blog as possible…. as I learn new best practices I share them in the hopes that others will share their (big money) tips with me.
I think you’re taking offense to the fact that I offered dinner and not drinks and cigars frankly. :-)
best jdawg
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