ATTENTION: This is currently being revised to better reflect the new year and new policies/etc.  I have crossed out what you should ignore for the time being.  This section of text will change when it’s complete.

A lot of people have been asking me lately how I make money writing online.  At first, I started writing an ebook that I was going to try to sell detailing exactly how I do it, but then I thought that would be selfish of me.  If I learned everything by doing research online for free, why should I charge someone for the same information? In the spirit of “paying it forward”, I would like to pay it forward to anyone who cares, so that they can make money online, too.  You won’t be competing with me, unless you pick the same niches that I do, and in that case, well, I’ll hunt you down and make you remove it.  For really real.

Make sure you follow this as closely as possible.  I don’t want you making a mistake and then asking me what you did wrong.  While I do like helping people, I don’t want emails every week of “GARRETT Y I NO MAKE MONEY?!?!?” To help against that, I’m setting this up in a very detailed and step-by-step format.  All of the links will be set up to open in a new window, so that when I say “sign up for these sites” you will be able to click the links and open them, and then sign up, and close the window and return to this guide.

Quick Disclaimer: You will not get rich, but you will make a few extra hundred dollars a month. Whether you need it to pay bills, or you just want some extra spending money, this will do it.  It will take a decent amount of work at the beginning, and you get out of it what you put into it, but it does pay off if you work hard. In most cases, it will continue to pay off even after you’ve stopped working on it (if your articles are in niches that will last). JulieBMack said it best: “Think of it like a rocket – 80% energy to get it going and 20% to sustain it.”  Also, I’m not responsible for anything you do or what results of it. Use any info here at your own risk.  I have to say that for legal reasons, there’s nothing here that can get you in trouble (unless you try to make a shortcut and break copyrights or something).

Step 1: Sign Up For Accounts

First think you’ll need to do is sign up for a bunch of accounts. I know, sounds annoying, and it is, but you only have to do it once, and it won’t take too long.  As I said above, all you need to do is click the link, sign up, close the window and come back here.

First: Google Adsense.  This is where most of your money will come from, probably.

Second: Amazon Associates. This is Amazon’s affiliate program. You may make some money off of this if you focus on this instead of Adsense.  I’ll explain later.

Third: HubPages.  This is the most important one of all, because this is where you’ll be doing the actual writing. Make sure you put your affiliate settings in (Amazon and adsense). PLEASE use this link so that I can track clicks and signups.

Fourth: SheToldMe. This works with Adsense to help you make more money with…well…Adsense. Make sure you put your adsense settings in.

Fifth: Xomba.  Also works with Adsense to help you make more money.  It’s just like SheToldMe.  I’ll explain more later. Make sure you put your adsense settings in.

Step 2: Submit RSS Feeds

First: Submit your RSS feed from Hubpages to each and every one of these.  It shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes, despite how long the list is. Your RSS feed will be: http://hubpages.com/author/USER+NAME/latest/?rss.  Where it says “USER+NAME” you need to put your username. If you have a space in your user name, you want to put a “+” sign there.  For example, my user name is “Garrett Mickley”, so in my RSS feed it says “Garrett+Mickley”.  Make sense? If you CTRL Click each of these it will open them up in new tabs/windows so you can easily access them without losing this page.

1. 2Rss
2. 5z5.com
3. 9rules.com
4. Allheadlinenews
5. Automotive-links
6. Blogdigger
7. Blo.gs
8. Chordata
9. Crayon
10. CDRinfo
11. Devasp
12. Educational-feeds
13. Feedagg
14. Feedage
15. Feedbase
16. Feed Burner
17. Feedboy
18. Feedcat
19. Rssfeeddirectory
20. Feedest
21. Feedfury
22. Feedgy
23. FeedListing
24. Feedmil
25. Feedmailer
26. Feedplex
27. Feedsee
28. Feed Submitter
29. Feeds4all
30. Feedzie
31. Finance-investing
32. Gabbr
33. Genwi
34. Goldenfeed
35. Icerocket
36. Itsmynews
37. Jordomedia
38. Keegy
39. Leighrss
40. Mediapost
41. Medical-feeds
42. Medworm
43. Metafeeder
44. Millionrss
45. Moneyhighstreet
46. MyMSN RSS Directory
47. News-feeds
48. Newsknowledge
49. Newsmaster
50. Newsmob
51. Newsnow
52. NGOID News Network
53. Oobdoo
54. Paiddirectory
55. Plazoo
56. Postami
57. Political-humor
58. Pressradar
59. Publisher.yahoo
60. Rapidfeeds
61. RDFTicker
62. ReadAblog
63. Redtram
64. Rss001
65. Rssbuffet
66. Rssfeeds
67. RSS Feeds Directory
68. Rsshugger
69. Rssmad
70. Rssmicro
71. Rssmountain
72. Rssmotron
73. Rssroot
74. Rss-spider
75. Rsstop10
76. Rubhub
77. Scribnia
78. Solarwarp
79. Swoogle
80. Syndic8
81. Technorati
82. Topix
83. Twingly
84. Urlfan
85. Wasalive
86. Weblogalot
87. Wingee
88. Yopod
89. YahooRss
90. Xmeta

I may add to this list over time so check beck.  More RSS feeds = better! You will not have to repeat this step.  This is a one time thing.  Once your RSS feed is submitted, you’re done with it.  It will automatically post out whenever you make a hub page.

Step 3: Keyword Research

Keyword research is super easy to explain.

First, go here (open in a new window or tab).

Once you’ve decided what you want to write about, you need to come here and put your main keyword in, so that you can find other keywords.  Your main keyword will be basically what you’re writing about.  So lets say you’re writing a review about your iPhone 4.  You want to type in “iphone 4 review”.  It looks like that search term gets 49,500 searches a month.  That means it’s something people are looking for.  It also means you have a lot of competition. But that’s not something to worry about. There are also other terms in here like “mp3 players comparisons” and “i touch price”, and other similar things. When you make your hub, you’ll want to make sure to write about as many of these suggested terms as possible, or at least mention them in a sentence somewhere.  If something doesn’t make sense to you, don’t put it in there.  Sometimes you’ll get strange things not really related to what you submitted, just ignore them and stick with the search terms you recognize. You’ll also want to put these in your keywords/tags section, which you can see when you first make the hub, and later on the right side bar of the hub page.

That’s about it for keyword research.  There’s tons of more in-depth things you can do.  Browse around hubpages’ forums to see what other users are doing for their keyword research.  You can learn a lot from the successful hubbers who post on the forums.

Step 4: Write

This doesn’t need much explanation.  Write at least 500 words.  A lot of people suggest that the longer the hub is, the better it is and the more money you will make.  I’ve seen some really successful hubs with 2000+ words, but I don’t write hubs that long.  I shoot for 500 word minimum, though.  When you write the hub, make sure to use the keywords I talked about above.  Also make sure you insert an amazon module and use it to display relative items.  If someone buys one, you make money off of it.  That’s why I had you sign up for Amazon.  Adsense money will come from ad clicks in your hub.  Look around at other hubbers to see how they organize their hubs.  That will give you a good idea of how to set things up to best benefit your intentions.  I also want to note that poetry and fiction usually do not rake in the dough on hubpages.  However, if that’s what you want to write, I say go for it.

Step 5: Backlinks

This is the last step. Remember SheToldMe and Xomba?  Well, you need to write a short article, one for each, describing the hub you just wrote.  You will need to repeat this for every hub you write.  It’s really easy.  Just write one little article, and then rewrite it in different words. Then, post it out to these two places. Think of it like an outline of the hub you just posted, but do NOT make it an outline format.  Use complete sentences and make it look like a natural article (as it is, and should be, a natural article). Your RSS feed is automatically building up links from all those submission directories.  You’ll also want to make sure to post links on your Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. When you post to Twitter, make sure to use the hashtag #hubpages so you can get picked up by other Hubbers. It’s also helpful to post multiple hubs on one topic and have them linking to each other, but a very specific way.  Never have a hub linking to a hub that links back at the first hub.  There should be no “Hub1<->Hub2″ linking (called reciprocal links).  Should be “Hub1->Hub2-Hub3->Hub1″ or something similar.  You can have one hub pointing to two other hubs, or two hubs pointing to one specific hub, or however you want to organize as long as they’re not pointing back at each other reciprocal-like. Another great resource is SocialMarker.com which will ask you for some info, and then quickly help you submit to tons of social bookmarking websites. You can also build backlinks on forums or Tumblr, or other blog services like LiveJournal.

That’s it!  Repeat steps 3-5.  Build up lots of hubs. Build them pointing to each other.  Build (hubpages) and they (traffic) will come!

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I wrote this in 2006 for a college course.

Let me be honest with you, this paper is pretty much nothing more than a rant about how much I hate my job, and why.  By the end of the day this will be on my Live Journal, and my friends will have an open discussion, usually resulting in someone trying to justify how their job sucks worse than mine.  But this paper is not about social iconography and what is popular.  This paper is actually about my current job, and my inevitable unemployment, which is just on the horizon.  The cause of my soon to be lack of job can be traced to the disgusting inadequacies of my current job.

I am going to tell you a little bit about my wage.  I was hired at six dollars an hour.  That was great at the time, in my opinion.  I was sixteen, minimum wage was five seventy-five, and I was not bagging groceries.  After a year, I was at around six seventy-five.  Not even a month later, the minimum wage was raised to six fifty.  I had been working there for a year, and the new people were coming in making twenty-five cents less than me.  I wanted compensation, a fifty cent raise, but they would have none of it.  The raise system sucks, too.  After two years I am only making a dollar and seventy-four cents more than I was when I started.  That is pathetic.  I am trying to start my own life, not dependant upon anyone else, and they expect me to do that at less than nine dollars an hour.  I, honestly, am not so sure I could pull it off at nine dollars an hour, considering the cost of living in Jupiter, Florida has gone up.  Come to think of it, the cost of living everywhere is going up considerably.  Also, in my opinion, I am not in paid enough to deal with the customers I have to deal with.  I need a job with higher pay.

The customers are probably the worst part of my job.  Retail customers are by far the worst.  Sometimes it takes all my self control to prevent me from punching one in the face.  They do not care at all about how they treat you.  They shove things in my face, yell at me when something does not work, and they usually walk away leaving me disgruntled, more so than when I showed up to work.  One of the biggest problems is our return policy.  The customer has to have their receipt, and it has to be with in thirty days of the purchase.  That sounds pretty reasonable to me, but no customer agrees with it.  To make it better, they argue about it.  We have it on a big sign hanging above our heads, all of the return policy rules, but they argue it with the cashiers as if they can change the policy.  The fact is, we can not change the policy, and if we go around it and get caught, we get in trouble.  It is not something we will get fired over, but it is something that will hinder our chances of getting a raise when the time comes.  And our pay is already low enough.  Aside from at a cashier, customers are still rude out on the sales floor, just in a different way.  It seems as though they seem to have never graduated kindergarten, which sometimes may be the case.  They never put things back.  They pick it up, look at it, and if they want it, throw it in their cart.  If they do not want it, they just throw it on the rack or sometimes even on the ground.  Sometimes, they will put it in their basket and walk around the store shopping for a little while, then just throw it wherever.  I can not stand when I am cleaning up the home goods section and I find two bras, a pair of shoes, and a skirt, all stashed in a metal tin, which is supposed to be used for out door planting.  The one other thing they do out on the sales floor that I find extremely unintelligent is opening things that are closed.  I don’t understand why, even though there are four signs around them saying “Do Not Open Packages,” they feel a need to open the package.  It is clear plastic, they can see through it.  They know exactly what they are buying, but they have to open the package and touch it or something.  It is a complexity I will never understand.  I need a job with less mess to clean up.

When it comes to management, I am pretty sure I could do better than my current.  They were never out on the floor, or doing the hard work, because they are managers.  They have us to do that sort of thing.  Because of this, they do not understand what really goes on out there.  They get a glimpse, when they come up and walk around, and most of them work register when needed, and a few of them help clean.  But most of the managers do not, they just hide in their office and emerge when provoked, like a bear in a cave.  Certain of us, like my self, are on the floor more than on register.  Those people get projects.  These projects are usually all day sorts of deals, but we are assigned three at a time, and are expected to have all three finished.  During this time, we are also running register when needed, price checks, and anything else we are needed for.  All of that make it increasingly difficult to finish the projects.  Recently, we have gotten a new manager.  The old manager was relocated to a different store.  She had been my boss since I was hired.  She knew everything about me, she respected me, and she knew what I could and could not do what I liked about my job and what I hated.  She treated me above people at my same position because she knew I deserved it.  This new manager comes in, and she does not.  To her, I am the same position as everyone else.  She knows how long I have been there.  She knows I am authorized to handle pretty much anything in the store.  The only set back is my title.  Theoretically, I am a coordinator.  Officially, I am not.  I do all the things coordinators do, but my official title on the payroll is still cashier.  I even have the ability to open a register and steal all of the money in it, if I were so inclined.  That is how much I am trusted, but it is not how I am treated by this new manager.  And to me, that sucks.  I need a job with more understanding management.

As you can see, I will soon be unemployed.  The cause of my impending unemployment is the fact that my current job sucks.  But I am completely comfortable with that.  I have come to realize and accept that my job sucks.  I need a new job.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I wrote this in 2006 for a college course.

My job is psychological guerrilla warfare.  That is right; I work as a Customer Service Coordinator at a discount retail store.  Customer service is not assistance and other resources that a company provides to the people who buy or use its products or services.  It is not at all a service that a company provides to individuals.  Customer service is the death of all that is logical.  Customer service is the death of intelligence.  Customer service is the death of pride.  Most of all, customer service is the death of my faith in the future of humanity.  All of this can be summed up into one thing, the policy that states that the customer is always right.  Customer Service is succumbing to the customers.

There is a certain policy that many companies enforce.  This policy is aptly titled: “The Customer Is Always Right,” and is pretty much self explanatory.  This policy is to my logic what Brutus was to Julius Caesar.  While the customer is always right, the customer is often wrong.  Since the customer is always right while being wrong, I am stuck with the conundrum of whether or not what I know is right or wrong.  If the customer says what I know is wrong, then it is wrong, and I must relearn what is right according to the customer, because the customer is always right.  If another customer says that is wrong, then I am back where I started, because the customer is always right.  For example, I make a Statement Z.  Customer A makes a Statement A, which is contrary to Statement Z.  Statement Z is now wrong, and Statement A is right, because the customer is always right.  Customer B makes a Statement B, and Statement B is that Statement Z is correct, so Statement Z is now correct, because the customer is always right.  Statements A and B are the control, while Statement Z is the variable, meaning Statements A and B are always right, while Statement Z can be right or wrong.  Statement B equals Statement Z, while Statement A equals the opposite of Statement Z and B.  Et tu, Brutus?

Let us suppose before I went to work today I took an IQ test.  On that IQ test I scored a ninety seven, which is generally average.  Then, the situation that was previously discussed occurs.  In less than five minutes I have become completely devoid of logic, and it only took two people to accomplish such a task.  Not to mention, these individuals are people I have never met in my life.  They have completely destroyed my ability to identify with any reasonable logic known to man.  A very good portion of the IQ test is logic related, and at least twenty five percent is specifically focused on logic.  In general, the IQ test is roughly thirty three percent logic.  If I received an average score on the IQ test before I had lost my ability to reason logic, now that my logic is gone, I will lose thirty three percent of the score I received if I were to take the IQ test again.  Naturally, I take the IQ test again after that.  I score about a sixty three.  That score is extremely low according to IQ Test standards.  In just five minutes I have become mentally retarded, thanks to a company policy I wish I were not required to enforce.

In the first five minutes of my shift, I have gone from average intelligence to mentally retarded.  I am working a six hour shift.  On average, these situations happen twice an hour on the off season.  Lucky for me, my logic has already been destroyed and I can not lose anymore intelligence, even if this happened every five minutes for my entire six hour shift.  While I am not losing intelligence anymore, I have lost one other thing.  That one other thing is my pride.  I lost my pride back when my logic was obliterated; even before that.  As soon as I began to enforce the “The Customer Is Always Right” policy, Customer A had stolen my pride from me.  It did not happen that second, but that millisecond.  When I succumb to the whims of a customer, I am giving them my pride, because I can not stand up for my self when the tell me I am wrong, because the customer is always right, and if the customer is right and I am wrong, I have no pride.  Good bye pride, good bye logic.  Sometimes, before I go to sleep and I am lying in bed staring at the ceiling, I wonder what would happen if a customer told me I still had my pride.

Customer Service is readily handing over your logic, your intelligence, and your pride to the customer, and allowing them to stomp it into the ground.  Customer Service is succumbing to the customers and their opinions on what is right and wrong.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I wrote this in 2006 for a college course.

There is a point in time in every boy’s life where he becomes a man.  This could be at the age of thirteen, or at the age of thirty.  Either way, this boy must choose how manly they want to be.  Obviously this is broken down to two choices: pirates and Lumberjacks.  Always capitalize the word Lumberjacks, because Lumberjacks are so manly, they become proper nouns.  Lumberjacks are a better definition for the modern man than pirates.

What is the definition of manliness?  Man must show bravery in the face of irrational danger.  If they have to be brave and fight, that’s okay.  In fact, it’s even better.  Violence is very manly.  Man must be intelligent in the face of overpowering stupidity.  Women think men are ignorant, but it is just denial.  Women have to deny how much they love men, and hide their emotions, because women are weird like that.  Man must have the ability to control, tame, and handle the female gender.  They need to wise up and face the fact that they love men.  I do not include the homosexual females in this, although I have nothing against them.  Man must have an appetite for foods considered chemically hazardous.  This is okay, because man has been given a gift from God.  Not only can man urinate while standing, but we also have stomachs lined with reinforced steel.  Last, but not least, man must have a disgustingly inadequate ability to groom him self.  This includes the homosexual male, whom I also have nothing against.

It is clear that pirates are manly, although the feminine side of manly.  They are most definitely brave as heck, too.  They steal ships for a living, and they steal them by force.  That is the coolest profession you could possibly have. They also get to fight with swords.  Fighting with swords is the second manliest way to fight, the first being with fists.  Violence is very manly; just ask Steven Segal, Chuck Norris, or Bruce Lee.  What makes them less manly is that they also use guns, and guns are for cowards.  Real men fight melee.  Pirates are so intelligent; they know words that most of us lesser citizens do not use.  What is better?  They use these words every day.  They use words like “commandeer,” “parlay,” and “ahoy”.  I am not sure “parlay” and “ahoy” are even real words, and if they are not, that is even manlier.  Pirates personify everything a woman cannot have in a man who is not a criminal.  Pirates love rum, which is one of the most chemically hazardous liquids to ingest in large amounts, and you know they do not just drink a little.  Pirates also wear obnoxious clothing.  Their hats are disgustingly obtuse.  They also wear puffy shirts.  Just like in that episode of Seinfeld.  Everyone knows those are inadequate grooming.

Lumberjacks are men’s men.  Any Lumberjack will tell you he is a man’s man.  Lumberjacks cut down trees for a living.  They have a burning hatred for trees and keep those horrible green entities from invading and possibly overthrowing our society.  Lumberjacks have the brain power of a telekinetic super-being.  Instantly, they use algebra and geometry to not assume, not predict, but decide the fall trajectory of the trees they slay.  They also automatically know which trees need to be cut down and why.  Lumberjacks are loved by women because they are the strongest men in the world with the most robust muscles. They can perform hard physical labor for up to forty eight hours without taking a breath or drinking Gatorade.  Women love men who work.  Lumberjacks eat flapjacks every day, probably because just like their title, it ends in “jacks.”  What is that?  Flapjacks are not chemically hazardous?  Yes, yes they are!  Flapjacks are made with artificial flapjack powder, which is actually a cancer causing agent.  Real men are not afraid of cancer.  Lumberjacks also wear flannel and suspenders.  Sometimes they even wear bright orange.  They clearly have no ability to groom themselves.

Although pirates and Lumberjacks are both manly, there is a fine line between which is manlier.  Pirates represent the feminine side of men; something all men will not admit, but know is true.  None the less, pirates are still men, and they will always be considered the next manliest thing, compared to Lumberjacks.  It is very clear, and everyone knows the truth.  Lumberjacks are a better definition for the modern man than pirates.  Remember, Lumberjack is always capitalized.

I’m sure you’ve seen, on the right navigation bar of your Facebook page, the “People You May Know” section.

Well I’m a big fan of conducting social experiments, especially on these social networks, so I thought I would run this one. Hopefully I don’t totally screw up my Facebook. They can all be removed later, right?

Past Social Experiments I Have Conducted:
Back when the last Harry Potter book came out, I had a friend who managed to not only get their hands on it early, but read the book, take pictures, and post spoilers on Myspace in a bulletin. I decided to make a bulletin titled “PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS” and reposted said bulletin, images and spoilers and all. I actually permanently lost friends over this. The moral of the story: if someone asks you nicely to not do something, don’t do it!

Future Social Experiments:
Soon I will be running one I plan to call “Letters To Celebrities” where I write letters to my favorite celebrities and then use my Internet Marketing knowledge to the test to get the letters seen by said celebrities.

I will keep you updated on all present and future experiments so check back once a week or so to see how things are going!

So last Friday I got my Beta invite for Cataclysm and I must say I was pretty excited. I spent all day Saturday playing, but went back to Starcraft (which came out the previous Tuesday) in the evening and have been predominantly playing that since then.

I played through some of the Worgen starting area and it’s awesome. Started a Worgen Druid. The new skins for Worgen Druids are cool, I’ve only seen Cat and Bear form for now. Not really sure how different the others may or may not be.

I also played the new Troll starting area completely through, as a Troll Druid, and it was really cool. I’m definitely digging the Trolls getting their own stuff. I’ve always been a fan of Trolls in WoW. They also have new skins and they’re pretty cool. I also spent some time in the new Durotar. I joined a guild on this character to check out the guild leveling/perks.

Orgrimmar is totally different looking. Remember how big it was before? Well, it’s bigger. It’s going to be a pain relearning it.

I’ve seen a few dragons flying over my head. Not mobs, but players, via flying mount. Flying in Azeroth looks great. I haven’t copied my level 80 over yet to check things out because I’ve been so overwhelmed with just the new low-level stuff.

I posted some pictures over on my facebook but I’ll be moving them here for better quality, along with any other updates. Please feel free to use the comments below for any questions and I will answer them the best I can. If I can’t answer them, I’ll be sure to look for the answer so that I can answer them eventually. I’m also taking requests for screen shots. If you want to see what something specific looks like, just ask!

Last but not least, if you’re playing WoW or Starcraft, please add me on Battle.net: garrettmickley@gmail.com is my Real ID account name.

Since the Apple iPad was announced, I’ve been debating with myself whether or not I want one. One day: I want one. The next: I don’t. I was actually at an art show recently and saw an artist who had one to display his website at his table (I’ll post a link when I can find his card). I thought that was great for the situation, but when could I use one like that? I refuse to buy it as a novelty item, I have to have some practical use for it (practical other than: a gaming platform, reading ebooks/comics on the Marvel App, and another thing to steampunk).

Today, I happened to look at the iPad website and noticed at the bottom was iPad in Business, so I thought I’d check it out and share with you my conclusion: is the iPad good for business?

Microsoft Exchange On iPad

The iPad connects with Microsoft Exchange servers 2003 and 2007. I don’t use Exchange so this is useless to me.

iWork For iPad (iWish)

This is nice, since iUse iWork (iNeed to stop doing this) on my Macbook, which is what I use to for work. However, I have tried typing on the iPad, and I find it difficult, even for my small-womanly fingers. I’m sure it’s something I could get used to. Of course, there’s always the iPad Keyboard Dock.

If you already have an iPad, check out TechRepublic’s 10 iPad Business Apps Worth Loading.

My Decision:

I’m still not sold on the iPad. If I were to receive one for my birthday, or as a bonus, I would definitely use it, and often for work. However, it’s not something I will go out and buy. Yet.

Hey everyone, Gas Masquerades has a Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and iLike.

All music currently up on said pages are JUST DEMO’s.  They are no where near completed tracks.

Images on said sites may be NSFW (nipples are covered but there’s significant side-boob).  Sorry.

Gas Masquerades on Facebook

Gas Masquerades on Myspace

Gas Masquerades on Twitter

Gas Masquerades on iLike

Welcome to my site!

At the top you can find the navigation, and on the right is everything else!

For my Facebook, Twitter, Battle.net, Steam, Xbox Live, or other account information, check the Contact page.

Hope you find what you’re looking for!