Why a Blog that Generates Income is the Perfect Business
A little over three years ago, my wife and I sold out of our bricks and mortar business and cast around for a new source of income. Our requirements were simple – we wanted a business just the two of us could run from anywhere in the world, and we wanted to create a stable and secure income for ourselves that didn’t fluctuate wildly in the way our previous businesses had.
We live on a small tourist island in The Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of Africa, and we decided to start a blog called Lanzarote Information, with the aim of growing it to provide the best information about the island for tourists and residents.
It was incredibly hard work initially, working long hours with little or no income, but after a year the site was generating one full time income, and after eighteen months enough to support us both quite well. We’ve recently had our third birthday and we have a fabulous business that generates a significant income, and which I imagine is a valuable asset for us.
Why do I think it’s the perfect business?
The income is spread across multiple sources
We don’t rely heavily on one source for our income. Our money comes from direct advertisers, affiliate promotions, Adsense advertising, a membership program and the sale of our own books. And within each category, there are multiple sources as well – for example we have 42 direct advertisers, and we sell products as affiliates for 17 companies.
All this means that if any one source finished tomorrow, for whatever reason, it isn’t business critical to us. That’s extremely comforting, and almost recession proof.
Most of the income is passive
It simply happens automatically. Advertisers and members pay each month (some annually), affiliate sales are automatic, and our own product sales are generated mainly by our email auto-responder series.
Our only real commitment now is to create content each day, and that’s something we enjoy doing. But I know that even if we had to take some months off, perhaps through illness, the income would continue, and only start to decline over several months.
We are truly mobile
We travel between UK, mainland Spain and the island pretty much whenever we want. We can work with our laptops wherever we want. And even when we’re on the island, we spend plenty of time on Wifi in cafés because it means we meet other people and get plenty of news and things to write about.
How to Choose the Right Graphic Design Agency
If you are looking for a design agency to create a new website for your company, assist with a new identity and branding or perhaps to design and supply some printed literature, you need to make sure you are choosing the right graphic design company for the job. With many agencies available it isn’t simple the lowest price you should be looking for; continue on as the areas you should be paying attention to are discussed.
Experience
It is always worth doing a bit of research into how long the design agency you are considering have been established for. A combination of tough economic times and a competitive industry means that those companies who have been around for years on end are likely to offer great quality and fantastic customer service. This is not to say that newer design agencies don’t have their advantages too; design is a fast moving industry, so new companies may have a better understanding of the latest trends in design, creating something really fresh and innovative for your company.
Recommendations
Any company will undoubtedly paint themselves in the best possible light, therefore to get a true overview of their quality and level of customer care it is best to get in touch with previous clients they have dealt with. A reputable design company will be happy to give you a few contact details of previous clients that you can have a chat with before making your final decision.
eBook: Host your Website in the Cloud – only $17!
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What do the most popular websites and services have in common? They all use cloud computing to deliver affordable, scalable, lightning-fast performance for their users!
This step-by-step guide, written by Amazon’s own Jeffrey Barr, will provide you with complete directions for moving from a dedicated server or VPS account onto the cloud. The process has never been simpler, and Jeff is here to explain it all in plain English.
Top 5 Best Tools for Editing Photos
With cameras being fitted to nearly all electronic devices these days there has been a surge in popularity in image editing software. If it’s not touching up your snaps to give them that David Bailey look then it’s letting your creative juices boil through creating your own images, designs and graphics from scratch; image editing software offers you a wealth of possibilities. In this post we look at some of our favourite tools and what makes them so good.
Adobe Photoshop
It is pretty much industry standard these days, being used by photographers, web designers and graphic designers. Packed with a huge number of features to tweak, manipulate and bend images to your will as well as some excellent tools for making your own graphics, Photoshop is probably the most complete package, especially when used alongside its CS (Adobes Creative Suite package) comrades.
The most recently released version was CS5, with features like Content Aware are the digital equivalent of magic, being so advanced when used properly they will blow your socks of on your first use. Adobe has also given a sneak peak at Adobe Photoshop CS6, so we won’t have to wait long to see what more wizardry they have crammed into it.
Gimp
Responsible for many awkward conversations, the catchy named GNU Image Manipulation Program, or Gimp for short, is an open source image editing program which offers a stripped back Photoshop-style experience. The free software allows you to achieve impressive results on even low power machines such as netbooks, however if you are looking for more functionality then you can bulk up the program with a wide array of plug-ins offering a host of new functionality and toys to play with.
Kult House Relaunched
Check out the new version of Kult House, the selected works of director/designer Josh Rhode.
More on Kult House.
Fresh Resources for Creative Designers #5
Hi Guys! First of all I appologize this post wasn’t added yesterday, as it’s usually scheduled. We were kind of busy and that’s why had to postone it. Anyway, for all those who were eagerly waiting for new set of creative resources … freebies as well as cheap paid items, I have to say there are some really cool web templates, iPhone UI Kits, vector illustrations etc waiting to be downloaded. Scroll though, get inspired … and of course, where possible, hit the download button. Enjoy!
Blue in Web Design! 50 Beautiful Examples for Inspiration
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Color is a very important and influencing factor in web design and it is a bit like art.The right balance and the right style between colors can make your website stand out from the crowd.Well,web design is not an easy task so it is a great advantage for a web designer to learn the meanings and psychology of colors.
Daily Inspirations no. 357
For all the ladies, we’ve got something cute to start with. Take a look at MiaZaara#3 by Yaman Ibrahim … from diapers to modelling, as easy as that :). Ok, now guys … I didn’t forget about our gender … just two photos below there is one you could include into your future fantasies :) introducing … gotta capitalize … the GIRL from Water Color artwork by Lagel Cyril. Ok, now everyone should be happy; let’s move to our illustrations. Actually, there are several I like a lot. My fav is probably the The Sacred Mountain by Jezabel Rodrigo Yusta and Wish by Jason Chan. But seriously, pretty much any of today’s additions are quite powerful. Art and digital art brought us two masterpieces. One of them is Glitterfly by Alex Young and the other Thought Collector by Telthona. This is my subjective opinion though. Hmm, what about ads? If you’re asking if there are some worth checking out .. the answer is clearly, yes. For example Tuxedo Confessions: Get noticed by Jandl Looks. Yesterday I didn’t recommend any freebie … won’t happen again, promise! Today, you guys should take a close look at the free html css template from Themeforest. Guys, I would love to see few comments! Tell us which one is your fav …
I Like You, But…
My homage to elementary school love in a digital age is for sale for a limited time at shirt.woot.com.
Each week that it is for sale, I’ll also be giving one away for free! Full details are on my Facebook page.
Spread the Graphic Love with Valentine Design Goodies
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Check out the hottest web design goods curated by our pals at WebDesignGoodies – this time with a Valentine twist!
Fransworth Typeface
Now available exclusively @ tendollarfonts.com
buy two fonts and get $5 off – enter promo code : Opening
Live a Lot Typeface
Download this font and start designing! $10!!
Comes in OTF format so you can type with it.
Promo code : OPENING
get $5 off when you buy two or more fonts!
Logos, web pages, t-shirts and other graphic design done differently. Start your own Design Contest today and choose from 50-200+ custom design made just for you. Amazing results risk free - backed up by 100% Money Back Guarantee.
Visit DesignContest.com and see for yourself.