Invest in this: Win a Free Copy of Smashing Magazine’s “The Smashing Book” with 313 pages of full-color images on coated paper by reading on…
What do you think of when you hear the word “investment?”
Perhaps you think of stocks, banks, debt, money, or profits when financial words like “investment” are used. For many bloggers and web entrepreneurs the word is somewhat intimidating.
I know for myself, until recently, I have never invested any money into blogging or working online. I learned through a wonderful experiment I am about to explain why investment can be a beautiful word to bloggers.
My Big Blogging Investment
I’ve had a no risk approach to blogging for the last 3 years. Its worked wonders for me! I put nothing but time into my blog and get nothing but lost time out of it! 
You see I am earning on my blogs but the amount isn’t anything to be proud of. The reason why is because I don’t have enough time to make my blogging highly profitable yet. If I want to move closer to becoming a full-time blogger, which I do, then I need to learn how to make more money on the time that I have.
Right now I can’t invest much more time than I already do which is about 10-15 hours a week. With that much time allotted to responding to emails, tweets, stumbles, and comments plus writing new posts and promoting my blogs there isn’t much time to focus on monetizing. This is where the experiment begins…
My First Major Purchase
Okay so I have made small purchases before many times like web hosting and domain names but never a major purchase over $100. I have been wanting Adobe’s Photoshop for years now [if you click on the link you will be getting a sweet software package I love using] and so I finally decided to bite the bullet and get it. Here is my reasoning:
If you want to make money then you have to know when to spend money smartly. With the Thesis skills I have gained and the time I already invest in working with images I new it was time to purchase a high-quality imaging software package. Up to my purchase I had been using Gimp, which is the best free software available, but does not compare to Photoshop.
Buying the package was the best thing I have done in a long time. It cost me… $238 for the student package which included Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and the latest Acrobat program as well. For not that much I got a whole lot of quality software. Here’s how it paid off.
My Big Payoff
After two weeks of using Photoshop and my previous skills at design/Thesis Theme I have made a little over $2,000. I would say that it is an investment worth making!
You see too often we have something that will take us to the next level but we continue to fail at deciding to invest in it. I don’t just mean money either. It can be time, skill development, or relationships and networking.
Investing in your blogging means planning and working towards a realistic goal. It also includes putting the resources into doing what will help you to fulfill your dreams and reach your goals. Spending $238 made me… $2000+
This is my story but what is yours? What can you invest in to dramatically change your blogging dreams into reality?
Questions to Ask Yourself
Now that you have heard my story start thinking about yours. The key is to first ask yourself some important questions. I did not just up and buy something that I consider to be expensive on a student’s budget. I researched it all out first and found the best deal and new exactly what I was going to do with it.
Likewise what worked for me might not be the best for you.. I don’t know but you do. Ask yourself these questions and you will get a little bit closer to finding out what will help you get to the next level:
- What goals do I have for Blogging?
- How do I want to earn money?
- Do I have any skills for providing services or products in any niche?
- Are there any products that would drastically improve my performance?
- What is my principle idea for monetization?
- Do I need to invest money, time, or talent?
- Is there something I should learn first?
- Is this the right time to invest?
Now I don’t want to be blamed for encouraging anyone to rush off to any make money fast scam, I just want you to think about legitimate ways you can increase your earnings and reach your goals faster.
For some people they might realize they need to invest in getting themselves a custom design for their blog. Maybe for you its getting a content writer to post once a day to increase your content. Perhaps you should hire an SEO expert. Maybe its just that you should spend more time learning how to do those things yourself.
Whatever it is find out what you are missing out on and get doing it. The sooner you start investing in ways that will dramatically improve your blogging the sooner you will get a wonderful return on your investment!
Products and Tools You Might Need
Now I am listing some products and tools below that you might need. Not everyone will need them all though and some people might not be ready for any of them. They are affiliate links too, so know that if you do buy from the links you would be benefiting Blogussion.
The key with getting tools or products is knowing what you are going to use them for. I will try and give a brief explanation for when and who should use products like these:
Problogger Book
Darren Rowse is the most famous blogger who blogs about how to blog better. His blog is excellent and his book is a must have for new to intermediate bloggers. The book outlines the essentials of starting a blog, building a brand and promoting your blog to monetization methods too. Maybe you just need more knowledge to get yourself to the next level. - Buy Problogger Book
WP Affiliate Ninja
If you are a serious affiliate blogger [someone who sells products via affiliate links] then you have to have MaxBlogPress’s very easy to use and highly functional Affiliate Ninja plug-in. The way it works is you input what affiliate products and links you want to use for certain keywords you choose. When a reader comes to your site the plug-in automatically inserts the affiliate links into your blog’s post on relevant keywords. To avoid being spammy you can set the limit for links as well as a number of other essential tools for internet marketers. – Affiliate Ninja
Adobe Photoshop
Photoshop is not only a must have for anyone who calls themselves a designer but also for bloggers too! Adding your own custom images to your blog posts is easy and fast with Photoshop. Over time and with the help of some fantastic tutorials [like PSDTUTS] you can design your own blog very quickly. – Buy Photoshop
Remember: Don’t Be Afraid to Invest… it might pay off!
Contest Rules
Its easy to enter to win Smashing Magazine’s “Smashing Book” – all you have to do is follow the rules below! The contest will end on Sunday December 20th, 2009 at Midnight.
1. Comment on this post below [no spam comments will count]
2. Tweet this: @Blogussion is giving away a free copy of “The Smashing Book”, leave a comment to enter… http://ow.ly/Ne7P
The Winner will be contacted via email.
The Discussion
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I’m currently investing all my cash into my website in hopefully one day it can turn around and give me some cash. But whats important is if you’re doing something you love that way you wont get frustrated when you’re not making money. Unlike other people I don’t have to pay for designs since I create websites so I think that saves me a ton of money because I am able to code all my sites. I also freelance in the money I get from that pays off my investment that goes on hosting in etc so I have to say I’m making a pretty good investment right now.
Great article
.-= Marcell´s last blog ..Create a rocking blue print web layout =-.
Investing in a good thing, like a high-quality blog pays off! I like that what you are making from your blog you are reinvesting! Very smart.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Marcell,
What dose “all your cash” mean – Is it a large amount?
.-= David Wei@Your Money Online´s last blog ..Network Solutions Coupon Codes Valid Through December 31st =-.
Great Post. Photoshop is definitely a must if you are a blogger, coder, and mostly a designer. I have been using it for years already. And its really worth its price. It gave me a huge return for my investment.
Yes it is worth the price isn’t it! Photoshop is very professional and saves you lots of time!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
This post reminds me of the classic concept, “You have to spend money to make money.” With the Internet, this is not always the case. But there are definitely advantages to spending a little money. Especially if you already have clients lined up to make your money back.
I’m curious, Seth, did you already have jobs lined up before you bought Photoshop? If so, how did you make two grand by just making images?
Congrats on the pay-off and I hope I win the book!
.-= Nick Tart | JuniorBiz´s last blog ..Don’t Buy a Book Without Finding Where It’s Cheapest =-.
Yea man! Invest and get back types. right?
I’m curious too. What factors (more detail) helped you judge that you could invest. Was it calculated risk? Or a planned achievement or some miracle sorta?
Damn my curious brain but it keeps asking.
That’s book mine Nick! LOL (Jus kidding, all the best)
*Big Smiles*
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..Upgrade Your Mind: 5 Free Upgrades =-.
I knew I could invest because I had already invested in the time to learn a lot of css and php. Once I did that I knew it was time to get the right tools.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I didn’t have any jobs lined up when I got photoshop but I did already have the skills to use it. You see I have been learning Thesis Theme customizations for a while on my own and now I am able to aptly help others. Most of my work has come from a few choice clients.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I remember struggling with Gimp before I finally got Photoshop. For a free product, it really felt like I was getting what I “paid” for.
.-= Tony´s last blog ..The 4 Easy Ways to Get Zero Twitter Followers =-.
Gimp is an amazing free product. It has a lot of features and the fact that its getting updated is nice too.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Gimp really rocks if you “get it.” But I’m biased. I was there when the whole Gimp/Glib/Gtk thing was happening.
I’d love to pick up a copy of Photoshop and InDesign. That’s a cool G retail.
I’ll have to stick with Gimp and LaTeX for now. =)
.-= Dave Doolin | Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..Dynamic Content Generation – How WordPress is Like a Sushi Restaurant =-.
Yeah! Gimp + LaTeX + Vim
.-= Eric B.´s last blog ..Tips to Improve Your Code Readability Today =-.
These are all great OS softwares and I love and use them, too.
.-= David Wei@Your Money Online´s last blog ..Network Solutions Coupon Codes Valid Through December 31st =-.
Gimp is pretty sweet. It just was one step behind where I wanted to go with my images and design work. For a free product it is incredible though!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
which version of SMASHING BOOK ?
PDF or HardCopy?
never mind both version rocks
Whatever is easiest for you! If you win
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I’ll tell you what not to invest in: adwords. Unless your topic is SEO friendly, you’ll not make money.
Also, haven’t heard from you in a while Seth, hit me up!
Eric
Adwords are difficult to manage based on a variety of issues. That’s why I don’t spend money on advertising.. not ready to invest there!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
My own major (for me) blog purchase in the past few months have been to buy a better hosting platform, one that uses wordpress. You’ve proven the wisdom of the adage “it takes money to make money.”
Thank you for sharing the wisdom.
.-= Karen Chaffee´s last blog ..Is Positive Thinking Always a Good Thing? Um, No =-.
Not a problem. I find myself learning sometimes from my own actions just as much as I hope you all will learn too! Sometimes spending money will be far better for you in the long run then you currently think.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Good investment, Seth (though I’m a Fireworks nut myself). Hardware and software make a huge difference. For me, it was my recent purchase of a Macbook Pro. I really wondered if it would make a measurable difference in my work, and it has in terms of ease-of-use and dependability, plus the seven minutes I now save not having to boot Vista! Good thoughts.
.-= Brandon @ WeBlogBetter.com´s last blog ..My New Role at Fuel Your Blogging =-.
haha I’ve been eyeing fireworks for a while now too!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Photoshop is a must! I don’t know what I’d do without it. Flash used to be my weapon of choice (flash animator by trade) but the last year or so it’s been photoshop.
Nick pointed out the phrase “you have to spend money to make money”. I don’t think you’ll find a problogger out there that didn’t spend a cent to get where they are today.
To be a GREAT affiliate (for example) I think you need to have invested in the product itself before you can sell it off to others. Actually before I started even started blogging I thought it was COMPULSORY to have bought the product first or at least used it before you could become an affiliate.
Thanks for reminding me about PSD tuts!
.-= Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com´s last blog ..How To Deal With An Information Overload and Take Action =-.
I really agree on this one – there is no blogger who didn’t invest – time or money.
I love Photoshop and I also played with Flash for a while… you know those AS2 Days and Flash CS2 – Now I’ve totally lost track. Guide me up man (if you have time)
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..Upgrade Your Mind: 5 Free Upgrades =-.
Haha I’m still living int he AS2 days, coding isn’t my strong point, pure animation is, though I had made a couple of games before, it was all AS2.
.-= Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com´s last blog ..How To Deal With An Information Overload and Take Action =-.
LOL! Wow so we belong to the AS2 Arvy Club… and we travel in a pack
Games eh? Mail me some?
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..Upgrade Your Mind: 5 Free Upgrades =-.
Blogging takes a huge investment and those that aren’t willing to invest are those that suffer….
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I invest a lot on premium themes, funny enough woothemes have recently released a new free theme ‘bueno’ which I’m madly in love with for it’s simplicity and getting my travel blog upgraded to using it…i’m also investing on ‘classipress’ for my freight portal. looking into relaunching my soccer blog into a news aggregator using a premium pligg theme…in order to revive it.
.-= Muzi Mohale | AlreadyInspired.com´s last blog ..Interview with Bishwajeet Mahato, ComputerTalks.com blogger =-.
Investing in a nice design goes a long way towards keeping current readers happy and finding new ones. I think although content is still king, investing in a solid design is a must.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Not to be offensive – and then again… But trust me I do it, in the best of meaning.
I get the general feel when reading a blog post like this, that it is a post made by marketing to marketing. And it seems to me like it’s a loop without end.
The point is: Buy book –> Learn nifty tricks –> Write your own blog –> Make your own book –> Sell book
And there we go again…
Though I must agree that Photoshop is nice, I have a hard time to see the real value contributed. The purpose of many blogs these days is the sale – where the real value, the genuine ideas and advice is forgotten. Everything points forward to a sale… and I think that is shallow.
… but I still get the chance to win a book – GREAT!! (contests always works!
And have some happy, happy holidays!
You see this is not about the sale at all….
So many readers come online and invest either a lot of time or a lot of money and then struggle to find success. The key is researching and finding tools that will help you find success. For me, photoshop helped me provide a service which has contributed to a great deal of money. For others it will be a product they love, advertising, hiring writers, etc. The key is not being afraid of investing in what will work for you.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
In that I can totally agree on. Find tools to improve your chance of success.
The link to ‘buy Photoshop’ in the end of the article makes me ask the question – is this meant to be a good advice, or meant to make money from people pressing links.
With that said – every blogger, person has to make money from something. One of the other comments where, that GIMP is free – now THERE is a good advice there would work for many people with limited graphical skills anyways that need to tweak pics/graphics around.
Most features in Photoshop will be a shot over the target for the common blogger.Nevertheless I love PS. But after skipping MS Office for Open Office, my next choice would probably to look at open source alternatives.
Thanks for replying my comment!
=-.
.-= JeppeKM´s last blog ..JeppeKM: RT @zBusinessCoach: RT @trevoryoung – "All I ask is the chance to prove that money can’t make me happy" – Spike Milligan (oh,yes, please!
I can agree that for many Photoshop is not either in their realm of interests or their needs.
The key is then to find what works for you – and then when its time to invest in the next level and you are ready to do so.
I used the open source for almost a year before I finally bought Photoshop. It worked well enough for what I needed, but when I wanted to provide services and really start earning with my design skills it was a must.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Hey Seth,
What you have told here sounds pretty nice, however, you didn’t say a word on how you exactly made those two thousand bucks after buying Photoshop. You really made me curious, dude.
As for the book, I’d love it if I could get my hands on a copy
Wishing you great holidays,
Zoli
I have spent lots of time working on learning css and thesis theme skills. Once I got photoshop I have been able to get design jobs and start working for some wonderful bloggers.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I had also a no investment approach to my blogging but now I have realized some investment is needed. Lets see what returns I get.
.-= Agent Deepak´s last blog ..Back to Basics: What is Blogging? =-.
I think if you invest wisely you will see some great returns!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Interesting question about investing time, money and talent. Time? I have in abundance, since I want to live till 200 years old. Money? Not even enough to buy coffee and chocolate. Talent? Dont have any, foolishness and stupidity in abundance.
.-= scheng1´s last blog ..High Paying Google ad sense Keywords =-.
Haha – looks like you are left with time then!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I think most of us can agree that more or less, personal blogging doesn’t give us a good return. However, choosing the niche can change pretty much decide half the battle on whether you will or will not earn from your blog. I’m adamant that zero investment (excluding time, domain, and hosting) can reap you much in the long run. It is just that if you want to see some quick green to keep your motivations up, you really do need the initial investment.
.-= Static´s last blog ..BloggersBB Pre-Launch! =-.
Choosing a niche is so important to being able to make a profit, although I think there are smart ways to monetize any niche.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I am in one of those unfortunate positions where I just don’t have the cash on hand to invest a lot of money into my blog. The unfortunate thing is that when this is the case, it always shows.
I have bookmarked some of the resources you’ve listed here and will revisit them as the money starts to come in a bit more. I’m just starting back up again and trying to shuffle some money around just to buy Thesis right now (which is unfortunate — yes, THAT broke).
Thanks for the post!
.-= Rebecca Rizzuti´s last blog ..What a Treat! Popcorn is a Family Tradition! =-.
I have definitely been there!
I think you need to find a few sources of income online to help pay for your blogging. You can try services like freelance writing, etc. and see if you can start earning to make money for your blogging expenses.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I’ve done some writing at Hubpages and there is money coming in. It’s not a lot, but in six months I made my first $100, which isn’t bad for Hubpages, really. The money is starting to flow a bit better, but I’m more focused on the blog income now. We’ll have to see what happens.
Once the check comes in, I will be discussing with my husband whether or not I can allocate that money toward at least a decent theme!
.-= Rebecca Rizzuti´s last blog ..Am I a Bigot? =-.
It’s hard enough to convince many new bloggers to invest in a domain name and hosting let alone these other “luxuries”.
At some point, if they are dedicated enough, they may be ready to take it to the next level, which would require a few extra dollars. But in the beginning, the ROI for their blog as a whole is going to look very bleak.
.-= Gabe | freebloghelp.com´s last blog ..3 darn good reasons to buy a domain today =-.
You are right Gabe. Convincing many bloggers to get wordpress and self hosting is sometimes difficult, but to those who have made that investment there will come a time to make more to continue their success.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I do that again? Please? Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love it man. Love the contest and yea the post too.
Thanks to my uncle’s printing business I get a copy of license and software (Adobe CS4 Master Collection) for free. Rest – yea I do invest. I love investing fin education only grows in value with time.
So here comes my tweet. Can we tweet multiple times?
Can’t wait to hold that book in my hand.
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..Upgrade Your Mind: 5 Free Upgrades =-.
Maybe you will win… but it will be random!
Good luck man!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I wish I could invest some serious money in my blogging. But at this time I am a part time blogger and not enough resources (time, money) to invest in my blogging. I think I’ll follow your footsteps by investing little by little until I see some growth and then I may convince myself to risk some serious dough.
.-= Zaheer´s last blog ..How to customize More tag in WordPress =-.
Investing in steps is a very smart thing to do. It will help you to continue in your progression while staying within your budget.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Doing a lot of research before investing is a smart move especially if the amount is not small. If you are going to invest into something that just sounds cool or everyone else is doing it, then its like jumping off a cliff and you do not know where it will take you.
Great tips there!
Hey! That’s an important tip Nezine! (Thanks for sharing)
Researching before you invest – I know how much I hate buying a product only to know that something better came out next week or there was a better thing out there.
Thanks for sharing and adding more to the post.
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..Upgrade Your Mind: 5 Free Upgrades =-.
I can’t pull the trigger to put REAL money into my blog, so every few weeks I contact a blog specialist and tell them I will throw them minor amounts of money $50 to $100 for an hour of their time to tweek whatever they want. It has worked well for me thus far
.-= Evan´s last blog ..I Don’t Think I Get PF Blogging =-.
Glad it is working out so well!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Interesting as always and it gets more interesting started sharing your personal experiences. Blending the contest with this is one more advantage. May be I can win here cos I love contests
Maybe you can win! We love sharing a bit of ourselves and hope you feel comfortable doing the same.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Of course, Seth. When we share our personal experiences we feel like speaking to our readers directly.
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..25 Google Wave Invites for Grabs =-.
Hi Seth,
You have narrated your experience well. This site always present articles to the readers in a different manner. In this post also you mentioned about contest only at the last paragraph.. There you seems to be unique.But you can reveal us about how you made that $2000, so that we can also try to get through that.
I like to get the smashing book… let me hope for the best…
All the best to everyone.
.-= Deepika´s last blog ..How To Comment On Other Blogs =-.
I have begun customizing blogs with Thesis Theme.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
That’s a pretty big payoff just by purchasing Adobe Photoshop, how did you make the $2k if you don’t mind me asking?
.-= Blogger Den´s last blog ..How to Improve your Alexa Ranking =-.
I don’t mind you asking at all. I expected it when I put the amount there, otherwise you would all think I am lying. I have begun doing Thesis Theme Customizations.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
How do I invest money in blogging if I’m not making any money yet? I live in Indonesia where prices are so expensive. Just imagine, Photoshop cost $238, and average of salary in Indonesia is $400. That’s mean that you will spend over a half of your salary. What do you think about this? Honestly, I really really want to spend money in my blogging activity, but I can’t (yet).
.-= Reza@Blogging Guide´s last blog ..100 Adsense Tips – Part 4 =-.
I don’t know what you’re expenses are like but if you’re not making any money you may need to take scarifies in your spending or sell your own goods to get some extra cash.
You could try out those free survey sites too, though they will take time to make any money and it’s very little. You may need to do some extra jobs – places like elance and many others where you can work online for cash.
Blogging would have to be one of the most inexpensive ways to create a business for yourself and make a living. Essentially all you need is an internet connection, a computer, a domain and web host and the rest is up to your creative capability.
.-= Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com´s last blog ..How To Deal With An Information Overload and Take Action =-.
Wow, Awesome post Seth. Till now I’ve just read articles talking about investing on a custom theme but this has been really different. Points like hiring a SEO expert or a writer will be new to many beginners. Great stuff, thanks.
.-= Enk.´s last blog ..PremiumThemes rebranded ! =-.
Investing in others specialties or in specializing yourself are huge ways to earn more and become more successful.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Great post.
It is great to see someone make a break-through. I enjoy reading stories like these as they are a good motivation to keep trying.
.-= David Shaw´s last blog ..Don’t Miss The Guest Posting Contest =-.
It’s fun to be the person making the breakthrough too!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Nice contest idea Seth & Alex. A good way to celebrate Blogussion’s birthday!
Anyway, seeing as I’m here, I’ll enter! lol
.-= Simon | Teenius´s last blog ..$800 Contest: Winners Announced! =-.
haha you better!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Yup, you did smart investing about photoshop. i think i need to do the same because i really need a great logo and header for my blog.
.-= Dana @ Online Knowledge´s last blog ..Create Blog Lab by use Sub-Domain Facility =-.
Or you can just invest in someone else doing it for you.. its a ton cheaper and if you don’t already have the skills will be far better.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
great job…I like to read these detailed steps
thanks
.-= beep´s last blog ..Guadagna Con Twitter =-.
I think only investing will be not good enough you should also know how to harvest it so that you can have maximum benefit.
Few people are in domain business I always told them that with domain you should buy some contents and should hire someone who can do small quality link building for you. After doing all this you can easily sell those domain as website and can earn more than ( 3 to 10 times more) mere domain business.
.-= ZK @ Web Marketing Blog´s last blog ..Download Wordpress Version 2.9 =-.
Harvesting is an important part of investment. If you can’t get the benefits of investing then it might not be worth it!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Seth there are two kind of benefits …
One is normal which you can get easily by simply investing and second one is getting more than normal.
To get more than normal you will have to do something extra and such extra depends on the nature of investment you are doing. Like in my above comment I have mentioned one example of domain business similarly in other business as well you can do that.
.-= ZK @ Web Marketing Blog´s last blog ..Download Wordpress Version 2.9 =-.
Nov twitter account but I never miss a comment. lol
I couldn’t agree more Seth. If you don’t invest in yourself, who are you going to invest in? On the flip side, If you don’t invest in yourself, how can you expect others to invest in you?
I will soon be investing about 4K in the direct sales side of my business. I do own the book and plugin although the plugin is not hooked up yet.
There’s a good chance though that photoshop will never be purchased by me; I know my limitations and they are definitely design related.
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..UPDATED – Pick My New Domain Names With A chance To Win $10! =-.
Its smart to only invest in what you can actually use. I will be interested in hearing about your direct sales investment.. keep us posted on this.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Long story really short, it’s an incredibly feature rich product based website. By “feature rich”, I mean for both the visitor and me as owner.
I know I know, no one nowadays pays more then a couple hundred for such sites, blah blah blah (have you seen most) lol, but if one was aware of what is going into the back end at the very least, they may understand.
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..The $10 Winner And More Good News….. =-.
I’ve invested in my blog by subscribing to the educational video site lynda.com. The vast majority of the content is aimed at creative folks, so there’s a ton of instruction on mastering website development, Photoshop, PHP, Dreamweaver, Java, etc..
Being an IT person I’ve spent a lot of money over the years for technical training and certifications, all of which have paid me back many times over.
I have to believe that same approach to my blogging “career” will pay off as well.
.-= Chad´s last blog ..Forget All Those Folders and Stay Organized With Desktop Search. =-.
Investment means a lot and you can tell you definitely understand the power of investing in an education.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I must admit I still have an old version of Fireworks that I use for many small graphic tasks. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks I guess!
haha its very true. I don’t take the chance until I know it will put returns on my investment.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I am not agree with the 7th question to ask yourself – “Is there something I should learn first?”.
If you’re going to ask it yourself all the time – you’ll lose your time, because there is always something you have to learn first. So should I learn all my life? I don’t think so.. It’s better to start what you wanted to do now. There will be always some mistakes. And there’s no way you can learn all the ways to predict mistakes.
PS: Am I late? Today is 20th.:)
.-= iWoodpecker´s last blog ..Insane List of 140 Do Follow & Nofollow Blogs with CommentLuv 2010 =-.
I will have to agree and disagree. You are right you cannot just keep worrying about knowing enough… but there might be something fundamental that if you don’t learn it you will be missing something huge!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Photoshop is really a must-have piece of software for every modern computer users although I think Gimp is pretty powerful as well and is a very good alternative. I haven’t had any return investment yet but I’m getting ready to do the big steps
.-= Gordon´s last blog ..Blogging On Autopilot During The Holidays =-.
Congratulations and let us know how we can help!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Very well written write-up. I literally enjoyed the concept described in the post. Once again nice work indeed.
.-= UK dissertation´s last blog ..How to Do Your Dissertation Research Productively? =-.
Great to see that you’re thinking like a pro and making money like one too. I’m considering taking the plunge and splashing out on a custom design for my old blog or the new one I hope to launch next year. It’s an investment that needs to be made and should pay off. If I don’t make the investment it won’t pay off so it’s time to take the plunge.
Your right about it being time… sometimes we put in an incredible amount of work into something and then just need that extra investment as icing on the cake!
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
Amazing technique, I am absolutely agreed with you. I loved your entire 8 question.
According to me before investing money any sector, we should research properly, whether we will able to get back our money or not.
If we invest without research then there is lot of chance to loose money and time.
I realize that there’s a l to of things I need to learn about blogging. Being a newbie I am most of the time overwhelmed; I don’t where I should concentrate. But I know that with proper learning, I can make it work.
Learning is an essential part of blogging and also life.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..My $2000+ Return On Investment =-.
I still use Gimp as well as Corel, can’t seem to make myself pay the money for PS for the same reason I can’t seem to fork over the added money to buy mac/apple products.
Curious how you directly made $2000 by purchasing PS?
.-= Keith @ Business3.0´s last blog ..Free or Self Hosted Blog? =-.
That’s a great return on investment. I started my site 7 weeks ago and it’s rising up the ranks fast, but I put that down to spending 8 hours a day on it, as I plan on monetizing in april. I think the key is to decide what you ultimately want your site to give you, now why you want to set your site up.
For example if you start a website to make money you will fail, but if you have set up your site to help people or tell the world what you are thinking, you will make money as a by product when your site grows.
I love open honest posts like this, I think it’s the only way to connect with your readers.
Well worth a re-tweet
Good work Seth
Its funny how a lot of unnoticed purchases can lead to a good ROI. me for example, I bought myself a laptop and surprisingly it increased my productivity a lot and eventually made me more money..
sometimes its just unnoticeable.
I have some cash to spend but still not sure where to spend it for
Thinking to use it on Google AdWords to get more traffic to my blog, but I haven’t decided yet…
.-= Michael Aulia @CravingTech´s last blog ..Razer Imperator Review =-.
Congratz on the investment, Im new to blogging and have not invested anything yet.
Can you give any detail on how you made the $2000, was it graphic design?
.-= Brian´s last blog ..Alabama Democrat leaves to Republican side over health care. =-.
Cool contest! I’m very excited!
I have spent a bit on this and that, but they normally don’t bring in cash as what I buy is more to spoil myself. I can say that I bought Thesis theme this year and I have made over $2000 in customizing themes or just parts of it.
One has to sometimes take a risk to benefit from it. You can’t make money if you don’t spend money, something that is always in the back of my mind. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward and failure are.
I have tweeted about this at @gfserradinho via my blackberry phone – hope that is ok by you.
.-= George Serradinho´s last blog ..eBook – Delicious Candy Recipes =-.
I had my own Photoshop software even before I started blogging. It seemed like the second most valuable thing besides owning a blog. I never even tried other photo-editing software. It’s just Photoshop and the “others”. Speaking of which, I still needed to upgrade my memory so I can install the whole MasterSuite package. It’s the best christmas gift I’ve ever received. Get yourself one too Seth
and btw, retweeted
I know that the “secret” to my success is the investment I make in myself. I usually spend 3% of my gross income on ways that will improve either my skills or my knowledge. Whether this is buying software, books, signing up for sites or taking night courses, etc – it all comes from my investment pool. I think that the return on these investments will far outweigh any ROI I can get from the stock market.
Good tip about buying the student’s edition of Photoshop. I’m no longer a full-time student, but due to taking night courses, I have a student email address that I can use. It’s just another investment in myself.
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