Starting your own business takes a lot of hard work. But if you follow our guide, you will be on your way having your own very successful money-making machine on the side.

1. Your Skills, Your Niche. What are They?

Are you good at talking about politics? You can start a political blog. Are you athletic? Maybe you could make a website about products to deal with sports injuries.

Write down a list of 20-30 things you are good at. It doesn’t have to make sense, and it could be as cool or stupid as possible. The only criteria is that you are good at it, and you enjoy it. Here is a fake list for example:

• Know a lot about sports
• Good blogger
• Can drink anyone under the table
• Fix appliances
• Worked with landscaping
• Studying Spanish

What ideas can we get from this list. Maybe I could make a blog about sports and drinking! Or maybe I could make a website about Spanish study groups.

Look over your list. Ask yourself: what ideas can I create that would make money? Maybe you can set-up a t-shirt business in your dorm, or start a magazine. The focus of this post is specifically how you can make money with your own website. So, you will want to create a website around the idea with which you can make money.

If you stick to multiple ideas ( ie: more than one website ), make sure that you have one idea you are really focused on. If you tie yourself up with too many business ideas, you won’t be able put enough work to run your website successfully.

Time to take to have an idea: 1-2 days/5-10 hours

2. Planning, Understanding Websites

Web Terms

Do you know what HTML is? CSS? Javascript? PHP? If you don’t know what these are, then you have to read up on them just so you know how websites work. If you know about this stuff, you can skip the bullets.

It will be 3x harder to make a website and make money if you don’t understand how websites work. Find a computer geek friend who can give you some help on different terms. If you do well on this college student website quiz, you are ready to make your own site.

Time to understand web terms: 1 week/20-25 hours ( you can do this while making your business)

Your Idea & Business Plan

Now that you have some understanding of websites, let’s think about your idea.

• What is your plan?
• How will you make money?
• What would your daily operations be like?
• How much time will you have to spend on it weekly?
• How will you advertise/market? Would you have competition?
• How much will it cost to start-up?
• Any partners, friends who can help or invest?

Make a business plan. It doesn’t have to be the business plan that you will show to investors. You need a plan so you can manage how you will run your company. These questions above and many more need to be answered so you know your idea will work. Get a college friend/roommate/dorm-mate to ask tough questions as well. The tougher the questions, the more prepared you will be.

Most people build websites around the content/ad-space process. Essentially, people will make blogs or sites with information, and make money by putting ads on the side. We will go through the next three steps with this process in mind.

Funding

How are you going to pay for the business? Are you selling products, and have to buy the materials first? Are you selling ad-space for your site? In case your site needs professional help (in the event of a hacked site), do you have money to hire someone to fix it?

• Start off with at least $500 if you are going to make money off ads.
• Start off with a lot more if you have to buy materials to create your product.
• If you are dead broke, you can still make it, but try to save at least 15% of your income every week specifically for your business.
• Don’t be afraid to let your family and friends know you might need money. If you show dedication to your website, they will be more likely to lend you money for your cause.
• Don’t be afraid to use credit cards, excess money from student loans/grants and other credit sources. But remember that you have to pay this money back. Plan carefully if you use any credit.

Time to make business plan/ seek funding: 3-5 days/ 15-20 hours

3. Hosting, CMS, Design, Testing

Hosting

You need a domain name and you need a host. It is better to have your domain name and host as one company.  These are the two I recommend since they have received good reviews, and I have used Hostgator in the past:

• Bluehost Hosting

• Hostgator Hosting

You can check Hostjury.com for hosting reviews for these companies.

Conent Management System vs. Site Builder

Pick your host and choose your domain name. Once you sign up the host will have a Control Panel that has a lot of features. One vital part of the Cpanel is the ability to create a website with a website builder, or use a CMS. A website builder seems easier to use, but we would recommend going with Wordpress to start out. Both of these features don’t require you to know about making websites.

We recommend Wordpress over the site builder and the other programs. Why?

• Templates: They have a lot of them. Your site can look like this, this, or even this.
• Plugins: They have a ton of them. You can do things like create a mailing list, create a forum, or even sell Amazon Products.
• Wordpress MU: This platform (if you can handle it) can create blogs on the fly. Why have one blog, when you can create your own blog network!
• You can transfer your website to a different host if you don’t like the current one. It is hard, if not impossible, to do this with website builders/template wizards.
• Everyone uses it. So there is a lot of documentation and help that you can find on the web.

Design it, and Test it!

Find the right design and plugins, and test how your site looks. Have your friends look at it. Have an advisor or professor give you criticism. Before you showcase the site, make sure the website and the business operations are sound. The worst thing you can do is not test your site and put it out in the open. If your site sucks on the first impression, people will not return to see it again.

Time to get host, domain name, and set up site: 1-2 days/ 2-8 hours. Testing how the site looks, feedback is ongoing.

4. Audience first, Business second

SEO Tips

If you are making a website about hot products, you have to work on writing consistently and often about the subject. Even if your business is selling cookies, always make sure to have new content on your site as much as possible. This is a search engine optimization (SEO) tip.

When you write a lot, Google adds your new articles into the search engine. The more you write, the more Google returns, and the more likely you will get some people searching on Google and finding your business.

Also, when you write a lot, you keep your audience interested. If I come to your site, and it hasn’t had any new information for over a  month, I probably won’t stay on the site for long. Another tip; write about current events. You can get more people coming to your site since people will search for breaking news.

Alternative Tips

SEO isn’t the only thing you should be using to showcase your site. Send press releases to local papers and bloggers. Cross-promote with local establishments (Put an ad on your site in exchange a local business leaves your flyer on their tables ), try to get interviewed by the student newspaper or student radio station. Sponsor/throw a party to showcase your new website. The sky is the limit when advertising your site; be creative, and utilize multiple avenues.

Other sites you can use to advertise your website:

• Craigslist
• Facebook (Pages, Groups, and Ads)
• Google Adwords
• Adbrite ( Ad network )

Operations & Management

If you are selling something that you have to manage (ie: you sell t-shirts), make sure your site and operations are clean. If someone orders a shirt, and you don’t mail it for a week, you can end up with a bad review, and a bad review on the web can kill your website if it is new. College sloth (aka the “Facebook lazies”) won’t help your student business. Spend your time wisely, and keep your work ethic high.

This is the most important thing you have to do that will help your business/website: a journal. Your journal(s) should focus on four things:

• Daily journal: Talk about the things you have done with your website, ideas, etc.
• Accounting: Sounds tough, but it isn’t. Just keep track of how much money your are making, and subtract how much money you are using. Even the slightest details will count.
• People/resources: Making connections with other people can help your website, but you have to keep track of people you meet. Every time you meet someone, write down how you met them, and how they can help your business/website in the future.
• Tasks/To Do List: Make a list, do the most important things first, and keep up with your daily routines. You will then know how much time you are spending on your website, and how you can manage your time better.

Time to do SEO/Advertising: 2-3 hours per day first 21 days of your website. 2-3 per week after.

5. Setting up the Money Train

When you create a website, always make sure you have a big enough audience that you can make money from it. If your website is about the product itself (ie: you made a website about selling your own book), be sure to do a lot more work in advertising and marketing. You have to get people to want to buy your product.

But most of you reading will have an idea around adspace. You will make a website, and you will add advertising to the website. You will make money off advertising when someone clicks on the ad (cost-per-click, CPC), buys or signs up for something thru the ad (cost-per-action, CPA), or every time the ad is shown (cost-per-thousand, CPM).

Ad-space moneymakers for your website

There are automated systems ( like Google Adsense & Adbrite ) that you can add to your site in minutes. There are network directories where you choose the advertiser you want to have on your site. There are singular affiliate programs (like Amazon) where you showcase products from an indvidual site. Then there are ad-space plugins where people come to your site and pay for adspace.

Automated systems are great because you don’t have to put any work into them, but the pay isn’t great unless you have a BIG audience coming to your site. Network directories aren’t easy; you have to put in the work of which advertisers would be suitable for your site (if your site is about pet care, and you have an ad for Captain Morgan’s, you won’t make money). Ad-space plugins are the hardest way to make money out of all three, but if people buy ads from you, you keep 100% of the profits!

Work with all three types, and over time you will figure out which style works best for making money on your student blog.

Automated Ad Services:

• Google Adsense
• Adbrite ( Ad network )
  
• 

Network Directories:

• Commission Junction
• LinkShare
• Shareasale

Affiliate Programs

• Amazon Associates
• Urban Outfitters

Ad Plugins

• OpenX ( you will need to learn some php, or have someone install it for you )
• OIO Publisher ( this ad platform isn’t free, but you can use it along with the ad rotator plugin for Wordpress ) to rotate ads from different places. $10 off if you use the coupon SAXON-OIOSALE.

Time to take to organize/manage ad-space: 2 hours per day first 7 days, 1-5 hours per week after.

Recap

The process is simple, but in order for you to make money during college, you have to work hard at setting up and managing your website. Make a list, check off the best, write a plan for your best idea, get a cool domain name and host like Hostgator Hosting, set-up your website and showcase it as much as you can. Don’t be afraid to fail, and learn as much as you can about making your website better.

Soon, you will find yourself with a website, a legitimate business, and some extra money. If you have any thoughts or questions, please leave a comment below.

Some people have made websites and money without knowing some of these definitions, but it is very rare. If you are serious about making websites, use this website quiz as a small guide to what you should know. This quiz should take no more than two minutes. Good luck.

They have no address, just an email

Some evidence:

Writer’s Forum

If you have some more information, please contact us or post it in the Ripoffreport forums. Thx!

http://pipeline-data.pissedconsumer.com/securepay-com-and-pipeline-data-20080514120970.html

http://www.epinions.com/Pipeline_Data_Inc

http://www.ripoffreport.com/credit-card-processing-ach-companies/pipeline-data-secure/pipeline-data-securepay-com-8a62f.htm

http://www.webmasterworld.com/ecommerce/3436716.htm

Pipeline Data masks themselves as companies like SecurePay & Charge.com

There is no way around it, it is just the same as Explore Talent. They will even give you a profile, but the second you look for casting calls, they will ask you to pay up to $100 to use the service. Talent Hunter will probably say they have MTV casting calls.

You can go to MTV.com to see MTV casting calls. They are public and free for everyone to see. You think Snookie or JWow from Jersey Shore paid to find auditions? No. TalentHunter.com is a scam. Don’t use this service.

Evidence

Yahoo Answers

RipoffReport ( The response rails into the TalentHunter post that is fraudulent ).

Another Post Claims Huge Scam

If you are reading this, please pos’t this on your blog, or at least spread the word to others so they don’t get duped by Talent Hunter. Thanks!

Ps: If you do link to us, we will link back to you in kind on our Wordpress blog.

The Flip camera is WAY too easy to use. If you have trouble with cameras and settings, you will be surprised at how easy it is to record. Just push “play”, or push “stop” with this baby. Uploading to your computer is a snap. If you still have a desktop and the USB is in the back, there will be some issues trying to connect the USB outlet. But if you have a laptop, its easy as pie.

Here is a Flip Camera Video sample:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here is a link to camera deals on Amazon. We are using them as affiliates, so the link is an ad. But the review is genuine, as well as the video. Some people say that the Kodak ZI6 may be an equal or better, so check it out before you make your decision.

Flip Video Products on Amazon

Exploretalent.com is such a scam that it isn’t even worth linking to it. Its going to cost you money, they take your phone number and your addresses, they try to charge you from 20-50 per month to use their directory, and the directory is filled with casting calls from other public ( and FREE ) websites.

Look at Ripoffreport.Com. Here is one person who was royally scammed:

I feel really stupid now after reading another report about Exploretalent.com. I had signed up on a free membership a while back and in late January/early February received an email saying that a casting director was interested in me. When looking to see what it was, it turned out to be for a local hair show and it paid $100. I was really excited about the audition and I looked up the company and they were legit.

When I had called Explore Talent to get the information, they looked on my page and said, “oh you’re not a pro-member, I can’t give you that information unless you sign up as a pro-memeber.” I asked how much it was and they had said something around $33 a month or I can get a “deal” and pay around $70-75 for three months and that I’d have more of a chance getting more work with a longer period of time. I thought it was kind of weird that I had to pay to get information and told him I’d have to call back because my funds were low so I’d have to ask my boyfriend if he can spot me the money. He then said “you have to ask your boyfriend?” So I then told him yeah and explained again because I had no money at the time. My boyfriend said to save money I should do the three month thing and when I had called back, the guy took my information and “set up” my pro-membership and started giving me all these compliments like “you have some pretty pictures” and even told me once that “did you know you have other casting directors interested in you too?” I thought he meant I had others who had sent me emails that I hadn’t gotten or something. So this made me even more excited.

Well I didn’t end up modeling for the one company that emailed their interest to me, but did model for another one I met at the show anyway. When I was looking at my “pro-member” casting page, I saw that they had these pretty “generic” casting that you would find in a newspaper or on a theater website or something. Another thing I found odd and I didn’t appreciate was that the “booking department” would “submit” me for these roles that I didn’t even fit! One that I remember was for an MTV True-Life that wanted lesbians and another MTV True-Life that wanted people going off to war or coming home from war. First of all, I see these castings already on the MTV.com website.

Second of all, I’m not a lesbian and I haven’t been to war nor come home from any kind of war so I was wondering “why am I being submitted for these?” I felt mad because I didn’t know before reading the other response to this rip-off that they don’t actually submit anything to anyone. I was thinking that they were submitting me to these and that I would be getting calls or emails or something and have to explain that no I don’t actually fit their criteria they want. Another thing I didn’t like was that they had me list three cities that I prefer working in. I live in the Midwest and had locations such as Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota. I was getting casting calls for New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, etc.

I feel totally ripped off and wish I would’ve just turned down the offer to become a “pro-member” so that I could get that audition information. I hope that something gets done about it like a class-action lawsuit or somebody puts their foot down that has a powerful say in the matter because Explore Talent don’t care about their “models” and just worry about how much money they can rake in.

Then, as you can see, there are all these testimonials after this article defending the site. But here are three reasons why you can smell a scam from a mile away:

1. They Have An F rating in the Better Business Bureau Database

Do you want to associate with a company that gets an F?

2. Random comments trashing the first commenter/ praising Explore Talent for no apparent reason.

Unless this company is well-known for doing great work, no one is going to go to rip-off reports to defend a company unless it is company reps themselves. Not only that, but look at this commenter’s quote:

“My friend and I both signed up for Explore Talent. I payed attention and read the deal they offered and actually got work. Actually a lot of work. My friend who’s kind of the stary eyed not so disciplined type even got a job even though he’s the doesn’t listen and doesn’t follow up type as well.”

Who bashes someone else for not reading the submission process? Submission process? I have never heard another customer bash another customer because they didn’t read the 50-page long terms and conditions. Hell, Facebook almost had a frenzy when users didn’t read the terms of using Facebook and tried to boycott it last year.

The only person who would get mad at someone not reading guidelines are those who create them: the owners of the company Explore Talent.

Look at this comment defending the scam site:

“The guy wasn’t “preying” on her trying to push a year membership. He was being honest in saying that it takes some time to get your name out there and work up a network with people in the industry to get your career going and that takes time. You aren’t going to become a well known actor in 3 months!

I have been working with them for almost a year now and I have gotten quite a bit of work and interest and been able to network with a lot of industry professionals! Something I wouldn’t have been able to do being from the Midwest without them.

Thank you exploretalent!”

This commenter blatantly didn’t read that the customer was cast to be a lesbian, AND SHE WASN’T A LESBIAN. And she was cast to be on MTV real stories about being in a war, AND SHE HAS NEVER BEEN TO WAR! And then the commenter defends the operator, as though the commenter knew what was said? Hmm…

They are trying to defend their site on the board, but their comments are so fake you can smell them a mile away.

3. No contact information on the main page of the site

This is always fishy. Especially when a lot of people are calling you out, you have to have contact information on the front page. And if you are charging 20 bucks a month, you should be using a merchant account, not Paypal.

Links to ExploreTalent scam stories:

Ripoff report link

Rippoff report link2

Another forum link ( this guy blows them out of the water )

Do Not Use ExploreTalent.com. Period.

IPod Touch 1st Generation

• This player is the iPod touch. Not an Apple iPhone
• Upgrade your player with the iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod touch via iTunes for an additional fee
• 16 GB of storage= 3,500 songs: 350-400 Albums. You can also get 8 GB or 32 GB.
• 3.5-inch widescreen multi-touch display; battery life provides up to 22 hours of music and up to 5 hours of video
• New applications include email; maps; and widgets for weather, notes, and stocks.
• We support Amazon below as the cheapest you will find on the net. If it isn’t the cheapest, tell us.

• Buy it cheap on Amazon. Give it as a present.

We have just done a post on good value space heaters and found that EdenPure space heaters not only were overpriced, but there was a gargantuan amount of consumer complaints on the internet about their product and short warranty.

There is another version of EdenPure called “SunTwin”. At first glance, many sites talk about SunTwin and don’t mention EdenPure. This would seem like it is a different product. But, if you glance at some of their main dealers, or just the Google Adsense sponsor in the search results, you’ll see that SunTwin is a different name/sub-product of the EdenPure line.

There isn’t much info on Suntwin, but I got this forum where a lot of people blasted the features of the product as “bogus”.

There is someone at Yahoo! Answers that talked about working there, and about the cheapness of the product.

Overall, it seems like SunTwin is sold as a “better” or newer version ( or in competition of, as some articles tried to pose ) of EdenPure. They are both part of EdenPure, and they aren’t worth your time. Do not buy them.

• Read the article above. EdenPure receives many complaints

• Many people reported systems breaking down within weeks

• The price of these space heaters are $150-$600. Average space heater of equal value goes around $20-120. $20 vs. $150, big difference.

• Many of the great reviews seemed to be concocted by the company or people with interest in the company ( see above article ).

• Amazon doesn’t even sell them anymore.

Get a good space heater. Read our article on some recommendations, or go on Craigslist and find a cheap one. Remember as well: space heaters save money when used properly. If you buy a space heater for each room, you won’t save money. Use the Space Heater to heat one room, and use the thermostat only when there’s a lot of people in different rooms.