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$1,500 Cash & Apple iPad 2 Winner Announced + 2012 Blog Update

I apologize that this post is a few days late, but I had some last minute family trips come up.

I am also working on my first iPhone Application experiment which tied up some of my time last week. I will be talking more about that project as it unfolds (yet another opportunity to establish a passive income stream).

But here it is, the fortunate four winners of the previously announced contest have been selected. There were a total of four free giveaways:

  • $1,500 Cash
  • Apple iPad 2
  • Free Vacation
  • Amazon Gift Card

As I mentioned before, this giveaway had been long due. I launched my blog just over 18 months ago and since then have hit several milestones way beyond my expectation. Thank you.

The success of this blog has been made possible by you, and I plan on hosting similar contests in the future as well.  Please accept this gesture as my way of giving back to the Extra Money Blog readership.

I cannot emphasize my appreciation for your continued support and participation in all ways, shapes and forms, whether through comments, personal emails, Facebook Likes and Twitter Tweets.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much for being part of this small community.

Important Note to All Blog and Email Update Subscribers

This is the only time I will be announcing the winners publicly on my blog.  All future contests and winners will be announced via email.  I hope you continue to stay subscribed and participate in future contests.

I also have big plans for my email list. Till now it has simply been another way to update you of new content on my blog.  But stay tuned for some really cool developments that I am very excited about. I will be segregating my list based on your personal interests so you only get information that you are highly interested in.

I will then incorporate Feedburner’s “blog updates by email” feature so that you can subscribe to blog updates via RSS or email based upon your personal preference.  By doing this, you will no longer have to be subscribed both via RSS and email, but still have the opportunity to be part of an email group for a very targeted subject matter.

Everyone on any one of my email lists will be notified of future contests and winners.

Why do this?

This blog is a blend of a variety of topics that discuss expedited wealth building through entrepreneurship and personal finance. And although the end goal is to speed up the wealth building process, preferably through passive and residual income streams, there are many paths of journey one can take.

Through some surveying I’ve conducted, the 6,500+ readers of this blog have varying interests. I don’t want to annoy everyone with everything. I’d rather provide you with information you are specifically interested in and are looking for.  Make sense?  What do you think of this approach?

Winner Selection

At the end of the contest period, my VA compiled a spreadsheet of all the participants and the number of entries they accumulated.  There were around 1,000 entries total.

Once I was provided with the spreadsheet, I randomly selected a handful of participants and counted their entries and matched it back to either their emails to me or the comments they left on the blog. I did this to reasonably ensure the accuracy of the spreadsheet.

Once comfortable, I went to Random.Org, a really cool program that randomly selects a number based on your inputs. I can think of so many uses for this program.

Anyway, I input the numbers and the program gave me the following results:  43, 672, 311, 19

 

 

I started with the fourth prize and worked my way up to the $1,500 cash prize.  Each winner was re-entered for an opportunity to trade up. In other words, the winner of the Gift Card had the same opportunity to win the $1,500 cash later in the drawing.

I matched the numbers provided by the program to the rows on my spreadsheet, and selected the winner that was on that particular row.  Here are the lucky winners:

  • $1,500 Cash Prize – Samar!
  • Apple iPad 2 with Case – Caitlin
  • Free Vacation Certificate – Sherian Crumbley
  • $25 Amazon Gift Card – SLee

A Big Congratulations to all the Winners! I will also get in touch with you via email to arrange the logistics.

I am disappointed that the initial winner I selected for the Apple iPad 2 was rejected for falsifying the number of entries they had earned. I am glad I audited each winner to ensure they really did what they said.  This took some extra time, but it was worth it in an effort to be fair to all participants.

I am also disappointed because there were a few individuals I was really cheering for to win who didn’t.  I really wanted these individuals to win because they have really gone out of their way to support the Extra Money Blog.

I couldn’t resist, so I will personally reach out to a handful of you with a surprise 🙂

Thank you for your extraordinary support. You know who you are.

2012 Blog Update: Upcoming Projects and Discussions

As you likely already know, I make most of my income online through various projects outside of this blog. And although I spend most of my time working on this blog, it generates the least amount of profits for me.

But that said, it has already surpassed all of 2011’s profits in just the first 3 months of 2012. Again, thank you!

Here are some of the things cooking on my end this year:

Establishment of an SEO Firm – This is probably the biggest development going on with me.  Over the years I have managed to get several websites, both my own and of others, on the first page (many on the first spot) of major search engines.

During this time I have established several relationships with “experts” in their specific skill sets, as well as have trained several individuals (full time and part time virtual assistants) on specific on page and off page SEO methods that have and continue to work very well.

I have also declined several offers from professionals and businesses over the years who have approached me to help them with their online presence.

Thanks to the launch of my blog, 2011 was a very opportunistic year for me.  The blog became a mechanism through which several individuals with similar experiences as I got in touch with me, and after several months of discussion and “scoping”, we have collectively agreed to establish an SEO agency, a small Web 2.0 firm that will help other businesses establish and strengthen their online presence.

There will be a total of three partners in the firm, all US based, and we will pool our existing resources (roughly 22 individuals based in the US, Philippines, Russia, India and Indonesia) who have complimentary skill sets that together complete the SEO firm’s capabilities.

My vision is to establish a business model that can eventually become relatively hands off for the partners and at the same time be able to help professionals and businesses on a much larger scale than each one of us can do individually.

I enjoy the “client interaction” aspect of business, and I don’t mind it at all. I want to set it up so that the partners focus on business development, while our back-end team focuses on the execution.  Each client will get monthly status reports with key indicators that they are interested in monitoring (i.e. rank change over time, traffic, conversions, etc).

That said, there will be quite a bit of work involved up front establishing the foundation.  I am looking forward to upcoming the travels and training opportunities.

Another example of how taking action can lead to opportunities. Although the blog itself is not a highly profitable entity, it can (and in this case did) lead to all sorts of other opportunities.

What do you think of this initiative? Is there appetite for this offering in your opinion? At what price point will YOU be willing to outsource your SEO and ongoing link building work?

iPhone Application Development – A random idea came to mind while working out at the gym. It stemmed from discussions around me when I realized that I always hear the same type of stuff being asked and discussed.  And because everyone seems to have a smart phone at the gym they use to listen to music, I thought why not develop an application that addresses those questions on the spot using a smart phone?

This is my first time getting involved in application development, and I am looking forward to all the “fun” in the process.  Similar to what I have done with eBooks over the years, application development can also be a similar opportunity to establish multiple passive income streams over time.

I will talk more about this as the app evolves.

Publishing More eBooks – I met two “experts” in their respective fields between last year and earlier this year and have persuaded them to write eBooks for me on their specialties. They have agreed to a one-time payment in exchange for full rights to the eBook.  I plan on launching these in the summer.

eBooks are one of my personal favorite methods of building passive income streams.  You can read more about the entire eBook creation to distribution process here.  This initiative is consistent with my goal of establishing at least three additional income streams each year.

Sale of My Niche Sites – I have been approached to sell a couple of my niche sites, one of which I have previously declined multiple times. Both offers are in the five figure range.  I am contemplating the offers, but so far it does not look like I will be accepting either.

I plan to discuss the offer to purchase my site in detail in a future post.

Speaking of more niche sites, I established three new niche sites just over a year ago. Yesterday when looking at the Adsense account I had set up for these, I will be getting a check of over $5,000 in April from these three sites (I tend to lump three niche sites into each account/legal entity/company).  This will be the highest earning month for these three.

Development of 2 More Niche Sites – When Google announced where the Adsense revenue to be made is, I started exploring some targeted areas and found two pretty good niches where the Adsense payout potential is tremendous.  These niches have a relatively healthy search demand and mediocre competition.

I really think I can carve out my space in these niches, but time will tell as you don’t really know how successful a niche site can be (in spite of the numbers) until you launch it. Given my approach to niche websites, this initiative is also consistent with my goal of establishing incremental passive income streams each year.

I plan to discuss these in more detail in upcoming posts.

I Accepted a Large Consulting Engagement – Last year I was invited to speak at an entrepreneurship meeting at a top ten university. A marketing exec of a small company approached me after the meeting to discuss internet business and we stayed in touch since.  The company has big plans and hopes to go public next year.

They have engaged me for a consulting project starting this fall. I will be working with their marketing and soon to be formed e-commerce department to define, design and implement a web business strategy, where the focus will be on establishing a solid web presence and leveraging the various internet marketing platforms with the overall goal of establishing a solid and long lasting organic presence online.

But this is not passive income? I understand and I usually decline more consulting offers than I agree to.  However this is one of those engagements that has far more long term benefits (both monetary and more so non monetary), thus although I will be paid good money for my time, my motive is far more than just money.

– – – – – –

All kinds of cool stuff planned for 2012, but now that I’ve documented it I feel like I may have taken on too much 🙂

My wife and I are traveling to London and Paris this spring, followed by several weddings in Michigan, Toronto and New York.  I also have week long trips scheduled for Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.  At the end of the year, we will likely be in India and Dubai. Good luck Sunil!

Again, congratulations to all the winners, and to everyone, thank you once again from the bottom of my heart.  I look forward to hosting more giveaways in the future.

Your thoughts, comments, suggestions are most welcome?

41 Comments
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41 Responses to “$1,500 Cash & Apple iPad 2 Winner Announced + 2012 Blog Update”

  1. SLee says:
    March 28, 2012 at 2:41 am

    Woohoo! Thanks for running this contest. Your upcoming plans are also very exciting. I look forward to hearing about your progress.

    Reply
  2. Vedran says:
    March 28, 2012 at 3:18 am

    Hey, gratz to winners!
    o/° cheers
    @mobile

    Reply
  3. Evan says:
    March 28, 2012 at 3:46 am

    Wow So many exciting things going on with you, Sunil! I can’t wait to watch how things unfold. I hope you can continue to be so transparent.

    Reply
  4. Sherrian Crumbley says:
    March 28, 2012 at 5:29 am

    Yeah! I am so excited, thank you for hosting such a great contest. Congrats to all the winners, and continued success to you with all your upcoming endeavors!

    Reply
  5. Geoff says:
    March 28, 2012 at 5:44 am

    Sunil, All those opportunities sound awesome (especially the SEO firm and consulting gig). Can’t wait to hear how they shape up!

    Reply
  6. Invest It Wisely says:
    March 28, 2012 at 6:30 am

    Congrats to all of the winners.l Agreed with Geoff, too, all of those opportunities sound really great. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Roger the Amateur Financier says:
    March 28, 2012 at 11:17 am

    Congratulations to all the winners! It sounds like you have an amazingly busy and productive year planned. Starting an SEO company, in particular, sounds simply amazing. Good luck with everything you do, and here’s hoping you have lots of success!

    Reply
    • Sunil says:
      March 29, 2012 at 3:03 am

      thanks a ton Roger. please chime in on the questions I asked Kev and Geoff

      Reply
      • Roger the Amateur Financier says:
        April 4, 2012 at 4:51 pm

        I don’t know about saturated, but there are certainly quite a few SEO firms out there (as my inbox and spam folder will attest). Now, having a successful website of your own to point to as proof of your abilities does have the potential to put your firm above most others, but it’s still a fairly crowded market, from what I can see. (Admittedly, I haven’t done much research into the market, so these are just my impressions.)

        As for price point for SEO services, I can’t speak for anyone else, but at the moment my ability to spend on my blog is rather limited. If I were to engage an SEO firm, I’d look for a fairly inexpensive service (no more than $200-$300), both to gauge their services and to keep from emptying my wallet. If I see that the service is able to help boost my SEO values substantially, I’d be willing to expand my payments, and etc.

        Reply
        • Sunil says:
          April 5, 2012 at 3:53 am

          thanks for the feedback Roger. I suspect you are bombarded by third party resellers soliciting you. I am certainly contemplating a package in that $200-300 range. the reason I want to start local is because 99.9% of SEOs don’t know/understand business, therefore the strategic focus is missing. our firm’s partners are folks from professional walks of life. we even have a physician on board can you believe that?

          Reply
          • Roger the Amateur Financier says:
            April 6, 2012 at 3:29 am

            You’re quite welcome. Yes, it does seem that a stunning amount of my email mentions SEO in some respect, and even with my near total lack of SEO knowledge, I would still do better than many of them. You seem to have a pretty good plan in place, and I look forward to when you’re ready to offer your services. It is kind of amazing that you have a physician on your team, but hey, there’s a wide variety of people who are out there blogging.

            Reply
  8. Caitlin says:
    March 29, 2012 at 3:09 am

    Wow, thank you so much. I can’t believe that I won. I had to look twice just to make sure. This is truly a great giveaway and thank you so much. I will email you like you said to. Wow I am excited.

    Reply
    • Sunil says:
      March 30, 2012 at 6:32 am

      most welcome. I am glad you participated and won. email me offline so we can take care of logistics.

      ironically, still haven’t heard from the grand prize winner! let’s give it a few more days – what say ?

      Reply
  9. Nick - Excel Help says:
    March 29, 2012 at 2:58 pm

    Congratulations! I’m about to hit my first month of income in excess of $1000 thanks to the excellent advice you give! Keep up the good work.

    Reply
    • Sunil says:
      March 30, 2012 at 6:37 am

      1k/mo or 12k annually is quite a feat Nich – congratulations to you. can you share with our readers what specific actions have helped you get to that level? is your business purely passive, partly passive or active? and is the 1k from a combination of sites or just one? very intrigued.

      Reply
  10. SB @ One Cent At A Time says:
    March 29, 2012 at 3:18 pm

    You are killing it Sunil! I need to learn so many things related to making blog a business. Good luck for the upcoming projects.

    Reply
    • Sunil says:
      March 30, 2012 at 6:41 am

      what are your goals SB? what specifically would you like to learn about? or do you already know it and just need to execute? what are the obstacles?

      these answers help me shape the future direction of the blog.

      Reply
  11. bryan says:
    March 30, 2012 at 7:13 am

    this looks like a great contest youve hosted, youve caught my interest, will be back to check out more of what you do

    Reply
  12. Samar says:
    March 31, 2012 at 5:49 am

    very cool Sunil Thank You. what a wonderful start to me weekend. I responded to your email this morning. I couldn’t believe it. God bless you

    Reply
  13. Bery C.P. says:
    May 26, 2012 at 7:13 pm

    I am so excited, thank you for hosting such a great contest. Congrats to all the winners, and continued success to you with all your upcoming endeavors!

    Reply
  14. Spencer @ 1RM says:
    June 3, 2012 at 7:53 am

    great promo. congratulations to all the winners

    Reply

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