Net Hustlin'

The custom template I had on this blog for a few months is now giving me an error and keeping people from accessing my site.

This apparently is a pretty big problem lately, after looking through the Blogspot groups I saw at least 10 others who are having this problem. I think it's about time to switch to Wordpress.

So I'm going to see how it works out for now, if it doesn't get fixed soon I will be switching to Wordpress. Thanks for your patience.

I have been a member of the webmaster forums Digital Point for about a year, and I've seen hundreds of different ways people make money on there. One of the most profitable ways is designing Wordpress themes and selling sponsor links on the footer.



While I don't condone selling links, I don't condemn it. I think selling sponsor links on Wordpress themes is great for both parties. You get money for designing the theme and the link buyers get an unlimited amount of links from anyone who uploads the theme to their blog.

The themes that make the most money are the ones that look the best. Some really good themes will make up to $90 per link. An average looking theme will usually get between $15-$30.

To make the most money you should come up with an original design that has mass appeal, then post it on Digital Point with 3-4 link slots for sale. Usually there are 3 sponsor links for sale and one designer link, all in the footer.

After selling the links you should promote the theme to popular Wordpress theme sites. Here are a few examples:

http://www.themetube.com
http://www.wpskins.org/
http://themebot.com/

You can find similar sites by doing a Google search for Wordpress themes.

The amount of sites you promote to and the originality of the theme will all factor into how much money you can make. This can be a fun and creative way to make some extra cash and to test your marketing skills.

There is a great little site called Lulu that offers free self-publishing to everyone who signs up. It's similar to Cafepress in that you make your own products on the site and sell them through your online store on Lulu. The difference is that Lulu only deals with books - whether it be novels, text books, art books - even calenders.



When you sell on Lulu it's up to you to get the sales for your books. They don't distribute the books to major stores, they just print them and ship them out when a book is ordered off the site. This service is free to everyone, they just take a percentage of the book's cover price to cover the costs of shipping and printing.

If you want to make money selling your books on Lulu you should probably have a blog or another way to get your name out there. By setting up a blog people can sample your writing and it will give you a platform to promote your book.

If you really want to get your word out there you can take advantage of their marketing services, which includes press release services, advertising, and public relations, but keep in mind that their marketing services cost money and there are many free ways to advertise online.

If you are very serious about your writing and plan on making it your full time job, you should look into traditional publishing before you set up an account on Lulu. However if you want a hassle-free way of getting your word out there without the costs of traditional publishing, Lulu is probably the way to go.