Amar Ghose's Blog

First day moved out of College

2010-06-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

Though I graduated last Wednesday, I did not really hit the real world until today (or kinda yesterday when I moved out of Davis). I spent my last couple days at college spending as much time as possible with everyone who has been so important to me these last 4 years. I want to specifically thank Jess Laird, Joseph Gonzalez and Patrick Laffey for being there with me so much recently before I left.

As sad as leaving Davis was, I might have had my most productive day in ages today. This was probably because I was trying to distract myself from missing Jess but hey, what I got done is what matters, not why :-)

Anyways, I've been talking to Patrick, Joe and Jess about what I want to do in both Florida and Argentina. Among them I've expressed interest in working on internet marketing, working out, making fruit smoothies daily, watching a ton of soccer and making a little money here or there. I'm pretty pumped I managed to do all of the above today.

Started with the World Cup match between Italy and Paraguay (great result for Paraguay, its unfortunate they couldn't hold on for the win).

Also worked out for 10 minutes. I know it doesn't sound like much but give this quick work out a try.
- Squats - 20 seconds up and down, 10 seconds in seated position - Repeat for 4 minutes.
- Push Ups - 20 seconds of push ups - 10 second rest - Repeat for 4 minutes.
- Sit Ups - 20 seconds of sit ups - 10 second rest - Repeat for 4 minutes.

If you're good at math, you'll realized I managed to do this 12 minute work out in 10 minutes. Magic? No, but I'm pretty magical. I replaced the sit ups with the use of an ab wheel to save time and focus on my lower abs.

After working out and showering I made what I hope to be the first of many daily fruit smoothies. A neighbor dropped by and gave us some fruit (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries) which I added to orange juice and came out with a decent shake. I'll have to nudge and adjust a couple buttons and settings and work on the texture a wee bit but it was still pretty good.

Finished up the day by watching one episode a piece of Community, Parks & Recreation, Royal Pains, How I Met Your Mother and the Daily Show with my mom and sister. While I was watching these I submitted press releases to about 20 different sites to promote my new super site which I hope will eventually rank for 20+ terms.

For tomorrow I have the following planned...

- Up at 7 am to watch the Group of Death matches of Portugal vs Ivory Coast and Brazil vs North Korea.
- Set up computer (desktop from college) so I can start moving all my files and stuff over to my travel computer (more on travel in later posts).
- Write articles for a couple more keywords for my super site.
- Submit two press releases (I only submitted one today to 20 sites, which takes some time)
- Work out.
- Make and consume another fruit smoothie.
- Read a couple chapters of a book. Most like The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen or the 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. Both books are highly recommended and I'll have reviews for them at some point in the near future.

Note: it came up while I was drafting this post that apparently I'm heading to Santa Cruz tomorrow in the afternoon to hang out on the beach, drink a couple beers and hit the bars in the evening. I still plan to work out (I want to at the beach but won't be able to shower after so I'll probably just do it while watching the World Cup), writing a press release or two and submitting it/them. Fruit smoothie is a good possibility in the morning as is possibly reading. I think I can get most of the to do list done but not all of the press release stuff which honestly is most important right now.

Thanks for reading!

May 27 Update

2010-05-27T21:51:00.001-07:00

I haven't been updating the thread much because of how much work I've been doing but here's a quick catch up for those still reading :-)

PS1 is still #2 on Google and hasn't made me any money since my last update. I scrapeboxed my actual site (PS1) yesterday and I'm hoping this can push me up to #1. I'm a little concerned as to what the big G will think of me scrapeboxing a site that's only like 2 months old but decided to risk it. If I can get it to #1 I may sell it for more start up money as I've learned a lot from building it up.

I should briefly add I feel its only a matter of time until it hits #1. The top site currently is Nextag which has 0 backlinks to the page. I have 13 high quality ones at the moment on a well optimized site and after yesterday I really think it'll move up.

I decided to put up Product Site 4 and haven't made the choice to test it out as a Super Site. After learning a lot about the market research I did in the past I'm reviewing the keywords I found for this niche originally and am solely focused on finding keywords that have 3 page rank 0's on the first page. Even using this criteria I still have 11 quality keywords and I'm not finished going over the ones I originally found. I'm hoping to make this into a 20 keyword site ultimately. Also, instead of creating individual pages for each keyword I'm simply giving them individual posts. I'm hoping this will result in my primary domain ranking well for all of these keywords, as opposed to having multiple pages rank for different terms.

I'm spending today reading a new ebook on backlinking (should take me a 30 minutes max), a transcript from a Webinar on creating Super Sites and posting new content to my newest product site. I should also look up some high page rank backlinks to submit for PS1 which I really hope can hit just $2-3 a day if it reaches #1.

Thanks for reading!

First Earnings!

2010-05-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

What's up, guys? Sorry I haven't been updating the blog the past couple days. I've actually been working too hard and been too focused to keep it up. I'm graduating from college this quarter and only have two classes but thought I was in danger of failing one. Had to study my ass off all of last week for midterms in both classes. Glad to say I think I did pretty well and am no longer concerned I'm going to fail.

In SEO news, I started yet another method, again with my friend, Joe. Very similar to niche sites with Adsense but with a bit more bum marketing due to lack of start up funds.

We're pumped because we only put up the pages two days ago (we have 9 up, I believe) and we're already seeing some traffic and even clicks. Its not the biggest moneymaker at the moment but its cash flow, baby :-)

NICHE SITE UPDATE

2010-05-10T01:06:00.001-07:00

My roommate and I met with our other business partner/financier about our niche sites. Despite the fact that we consider them to have been failing miserably, they're actually on track to return our investment in 3 months, which isn't bad for any business model that is sustainable. Also, I believe only one of our 16 niche sites is ranking in the top 3 meaning it has the potential to really blow up if we can get the backlinking right. We have not done it ourselves yet, we had the backlinking outsourced and while it produced higher rankings it didn't push us high enough.

We are currently experimenting with 3 different backlinking approaches for 3 of our sites. Whichever method leads to the fastest #1 spot is likely the one we'll go with.

May 10 update

2010-05-10T00:59:00.001-07:00

I just had 8900 backlinks stick (at least for the start) all pointing the link wheel I made for PS1. I added to that link wheel yesterday considerably through the use of SENuke. I think its around 50 spokes now but not sure.

I'm really hoping that this is going to push PS1 up to #1. I've heard that what I'm doing will get sites to the first page but not #1 and if this is true I should know pretty quick. I do have a back up plan though. I plan to start manually submitting 2 high page rank backlinks a day pointing to PS1.

Thoughts, comments, ideas, opinions, concerns, notes, etc? Anyone? lol

May 8th Update

2010-05-08T12:57:00.001-07:00

My roommate got SENuke so I'll probably use that to quickly produce larger link wheels for all my sites, followed by the usual scrapeboxing.

PS1 is at number 3 on google but is getting very few hits. I've already looked at it on google and it looks pretty good, nothing that would push people away. I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with the Phrase to Broad Ratio (PBR) on Market Samurai. My term only has a 36% PBR which I believe means that only 36% of searches including my term are exactly "keyword".

In other news, I'm looking to doing some freelance work online to build up a little more start up money and invest in a few more sites.

Daily Update

2010-05-04T23:52:00.001-07:00

Did not get much done today, had a life drama that took up most of my day. Managed to scrapebox a couple hundred links for my link wheel for PS1. I spun 9 more articles today that I'm going to use to add to my link wheel. Should bring me to a 21 spoke high quality link wheel and then I'm just going to keep scrapeboxing the shit out it until it hits number 1. Going to start on that link wheel right now, hopefully I'll have it complete by tomorrow.

Plot Twist!

2010-05-02T23:55:00.003-07:00

Interesting plot twist for my SEO life today, perhaps readers can help me out here.

For PS1, Market Samurai still says I'm #4. When I clicked "View Results in Google" however it opened up Chrome and showed me sitting pretty at #1. When I confirmed this on Mozilla however my site is showing up at #4. Anyone know why this might be the case? Regardless, I feel like this is a very good sign and hopefully I hit #1 universally very soon. I'd really like to move on to sites PS4 and PS5.

May 2nd Update

2010-05-02T15:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday's earnings - <$1 (adsense)

Product Site 1 (PS1) - is ranked 4 for its primary keyword and 16 and 18 for two other keywords. These keywords get 266 searches, 33 searches and 95 searches per day respectively. My current focus is getting ranked 1 for the primary keyword. After I will build/add to the link wheels of the other keywords before scrapeboxing those spokes.

PS2 - This is a site I'm working on with my friend Joe. We just got ranked in Market Samurai, falling at 129. We currently have a high quality 12 spoke link wheel. I'll be scrapeboxing those later tonight. This keyword gets searched 325 times a day.

PS3 - This is a site I'm working on with my friend Collin. We have another link wheel up and are in the process of finishing the site but we are not ranking for any keywords and do not expect traffic for at least two weeks.

PS4 - I do not actually have this site up and running but I do already have the domain. Should be a very good niche and I will have updates on this once I start work.

PS5 - This is the site I think posters here might be interested in. This is a site I have not yet bought however I've already done market research and have a term I believe I can rank #1 for that gets nearly 5000 searches a day. Also, it is a decently specific product search that I expect to convert well. I'll get more into this as we go.

Today I'm going to spend my time...
- Scrapeboxing my 3 primary link wheels (for sites PS1, PS2 and PS3)
- Updating content on PS1
- Updating content on PS3
- Putting together a plan of action for PS5
- Starting to put together more information for readers on my niches including screen shots of my SEO competition and anything else people think might be of use (within reason, of course)

For Your Information

2010-05-02T00:13:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let readers of my blog know that the majority of my posts are being copied over from a thread of mine on the internet marketing forum Black Hat World.

If you are interested in reading more about what I am working on, feel free to browse the thread on black hat world as well as the rest of the resources available on the website.

My thread on BHW will have more insight into my work because I will be responding to questions of forum posters there. The thread link is below:

A Modest Journey to $32.87/day - a Student Journal - Black Hat World

May 1st Update...

2010-05-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

I didn't work at all today, took a day off to be a regular college student. Now that I'm back in my office I have scrapebox up and running and currently backlinking my "silver" sites.

This is how I have my backlinking set up for the product keywords that are my current focus...

Many "Tin" pages -> (points to) a 12 spoke link wheel with 12 high quality web 2.0 profiles -> MONEY PAGE

I'll post an image later but pretty much doing this should push my number 4 site into the top 3, hopefully to number 1.

My ranking for this site according to Market Samurai was actually 6 when I post yesterday and had been for some time. I said it was 4 because that's what it shows up at on my search in California. Today the MS ranking actually moved from 6 to 4 despite my site not showing up any higher.

Adsense

The backlinking done by my financier appears to be working as multiple backlinks showed up on a large amount of our adsense sites and their rankings reflected it immediately. While most sites have not yet moved up to top 3 I'm quite happy with the results of seeing sites move from 12 to 8 on the big G because of a couple backlinks. Hopefully they continue to move :-)

April 30th Update

2010-04-30T16:21:00.001-07:00

Obviously just started the blog today but I thought I'd start a daily post in the beginning of each day with what I'll be working on.

For Today...

I've been scrapeboxing my 12 spoke link wheel all day and just purchased my own proxies which should speed things up a ton tomorrow. Other than that, my focus for the day is to continue working on my personal site as well as brainstorming new things.

A Basic Overview of THE PLAN

2010-04-30T15:55:00.001-07:00

I've always thought journals like these help me grow as a person but I've never really seriously committed to one and I'm making the leap of faith at this junction.

I got psuedo involved with internet marketing back in Novemeber, 2009, Thanksgiving weekend, to be exact. It was with my friend, who became my roommate in January and is a JuniorVIP here, and we decided to build microniche sites, following the popular 300 adsense sites thread on this site by HotBoy.

So, lets go over where I currently stand...

Toolbox
- Market Samurai
- The Best Spinner
- The Free Blog Commenter
- Scrapebox
- My roommate and his knowledge base and resources
- The 4 Hour Work Week

Skills
- None. Basic backlinking knowledge and other stuff I've picked up since November. No real skills that can't be learned by anyone reading this in a very short amount of time (I'll explain how if people have questions).

Websites
- 5 affiliate product based domains. All 5 have been up less than 3 weeks and are currently making me $0. One is number 4 on Google however and I shall be writing about that plan of action shortly.
- 17 adsense microniche sites with profits split 3 ways. Currently earning $3 a day or so total on these. More to come.

Plan

I will briefly go over my plans here. I'm working on multiple projects at the same time and will allocate my time and resources accordingly. I will start separate posts about each project with more details.

Adsense

- Our financier is in charge of backlinking and is not allowing us put up any more sites until we see profits so this project is essentially on hold.

Product Pages

- My focus is on getting my top ranked site (#4 on the big G) to #1. I already have a 12 spoke link wheel of web2.0 sites that I am scrapeboxing around the clock (just got scrapebox up and running this morning).
- If I get this page to number 1 I'll get approximately 130 visits a day and I am hoping to convert at a 1% rate. I prefer to lowball all my numbers and at this rate that would calculate to maybe $10 a day.
- Around this website are multiple other keywords I can rank for and plan to rank for. Ultimately, I'd like to get this site to about 1000 visitors a day, at which point I would likely be converting at a rate of $40/day (lowballed, $70/day is more realistic)

- To conclude, I plan to focus my energy on getting my top site to #1 then working my way through other keywords. To get the site to #1 I plan to scrapebox the hell out of my linkwheel urls.
- To rank for my secondary keywords I plan to build 12 spoke link wheels of high page rank web 2.0 sites and to adjust from there. I am looking for input here if anyone has any thoughts.

4 Hour Work Week

- I'm also allocating some of my time to work with my friend Joe on a more legitimate business. I've read the 4 Hour Work Week a few times and have decided to also take the plunge in that and try to start up my own business.
- I'll be starting by brushing up on the book then by starting my market research with my business partner. I will post about it at that time.

A Modest Journey to $32.87/day - a Student Journal

2010-04-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

I'd like to start by thanking Siekk, a member of the forum www.blackhatworld.com. His thread inspired my roommate, Patrick, to inspire me to do this and I am using his first post as a template for my second post.

I'll start by addressing the most obvious question: how did you end up with $32.87/day?

Well, $32.87 a day is exactly $12,000 a year or $1000 a month. I'm graduating in 6 weeks and at that point if I'm making $1000 a month I will not need to get a job and can focus full time on building my own businesses. Hence, $32.87/day is my primary goal.

As stated above, my roommate, a juniorVIP member, thought it would be a good idea for me to do this journal. He'll be the motivation for me to keep writing this as well as the amount of growth I believe I will go through by dialoguing such a journey online.

And the journey begins...