Cardiogirl: 19% body fat 100% fun

If you’ve been blogging for more than three months you’ve probably realized you’re not going to get rich quick by blogging. Money can certainly be made but it requires work and a realistic attitude.

There’s no legal real way to get rich quick

The money I’ve made so far has allowed me to buy four pairs of Converse per month. I’m not getting rich since this is just enough to pay six days of our monthly mortgage, but it’s a start.

There are ways to supplement your income

One of the ways to make some money online is through affiliate marketing. You can choose a specific product or company to promote like Bluehost or Sponsored Reviews or you can join an affiliate program such as Blue Global Media.

If you do choose to join an Affiliate network you’ll have the opportunity to promote a few different products rather than just one. And that means you’ll have a better chance of making money since you’re offering more than one item.

You’re working on commission; the harder your work the more you’ll make

Keep in mind that you’ll earn a small percentage for every customer who actually purchases the product your offering; it’s basically working on commission.

For instance, if you sign up for a Payday affiliate program you will receive a certain amount for each customer you refer who actually signs up for the program.

Now when I started blogging I thought I’d see tons of money rolling in just because I threw an ad in my sidebar. Not so. Just like anything else, you need to work that angle by writing posts. In the example above, you’d need to consistently write blog posts about payday affiliate loan programs in order to show up on a Google search. That’s how you’re going to find your target market.

Once your target market has arrived you’ll need to provide some useful information so that person is compelled to click through to the affiliate program.

So if you’re a strong sales person in real life you’d probably make some money with affiliate marketing. If you’re passive, like I am, you might consider getting a part-time job down the street.

If your blog needs a tune up I’ve got the contest for you! Tribal Blogs is having a contest to give away one free Extreme Blog Makeover ($300 value).

As my kid would say, entering is easy-peasy lemon squeezie.

1. Write a post in 400 words or less on your blog about why you want a free blog makeover. If you have a sob story, share it. If things are groovy in your neck of the woods make something up.

I’m not kidding — points will definitely be given for creativity. Have you seen the movie The Usual Suspects? Channel Keyser Söze. Someone out there has to have a paralyzed gerbil that crawls around with its back legs on a cart with wheels. Ride the gerbil in for a win!

2. Subscribe to the Tribal Blogs newsletter. The subscription form is on the upper right-hand side of the blog.

3. Link back to the Extreme Blog Makeover contest page.

That’s it!

The contest is open until midnight Friday, September 16th, 2011. After you write your post, leave your blog’s URL in the comment section of the Tribal Blogs contest post. On Monday, Sept. 19, 2011 they’ll choose four of the most compelling and entertaining entries and list them on the site with a poll.

Then the readers will vote for the winner. The poll will close at 5 p.m. on Friday, September 23, 2011.

To the victor go the spoils:

Custom Graphics including: header, badge, ‘grab my badge’ code, favicon and avatar installed and ready to go

Blog Conversion from Blogspot or WordPress blog to your own hosted site (cost of hosting and domain not included)

Import of old blog posts and comments to new blog

Disqus installation and/or conversion

Installation of five key plugins

Sidebar, footers and header layouts

Blogroll creation

Integration with Twitter, Facebook and any other social networks you use

Premium SEO submission so Google and other search engines find your new blog easily

New look featured in our portfolio and on the front page when completed

We will work with you until you are 100% satisfied – guaranteed!

What are you waiting for? Start writing those 400 words and don’t forget to mention your lame gerbil.

Damnation it’s cold in this house. In winter we set the heat to 68°F overnight and 70°F during the day. I got no beef with that and when I’m sipping my coffee in the morning I’m comfortable. But this morning I was cold, gingah.

Regardless, I waited for the coffee to brew and threw a sweatshirt on. My first cup of coffee was delish but I was still cold. Finally, I decided to check the thermostat only to discover it was 59° and the furnace will not start.

GAH! I just know this is going to be a $1000-problem. Every time the furnace hiccups it costs about a grand. I have no idea why that is and maybe I’ll be surprised today, but I’m expecting the worst. Okay, the worst was last January when the 15-year-old furnace died and we replaced the whole thing. That cost a hell of a lot more than one grand. So this actually could be worse.

Now if Mr. C and I had started Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class last year this wouldn’t be as frustrating.

But we started the class in January which means we’re still working on steps one and two. Grrr.

So where does this leave me? It leaves me standing in front of the open oven door shivering and researching a couple of games of poker online. I told you my kids’ school hosts a Texas Hold ‘Em poker game every month or so and I wondered if it was possible to learn how to become a card shark using just the internet and my noggin.

And what I have discovered is that it takes more luck to win Texas Hold ‘Em than I realized. The easy strategy, I’ve learned, is to position yourself as one of the last players at the table so you can evaluate what your competitors are doing.

The difficult strategy involves “counting outs,” calculating percentages, a calculator if you’re playing online and this handy-dandy chart that apparently needs to be memorized if it’s going to be of any use to me.

On the upside, though, I’ve learned that a Royal Flush does not involve an epic dump and a plunger.