“Premium” Domains

First… what is going on in the PAL marketplace? Has anyone else noticed the enormous number of domain sales, all of which are listed as “premiums” but are (for the most part) total garbage? I think all of the talk about exact match domains in the past few months has driven people to snatch up as many domains as they can with the intention to flip, but it’s getting a little late for that game. Nothing is left for reg. fees, and even finding a good domain for a fair price is getting pretty tricky too. If you’re in the market for a domain, be wary and skeptical because a lot of people are trying to move mediocre domains for premium prices. There are a few good sales going at PAL, but for the most part the domains being sold are all but worthless.

Change of Pace

I sold my gambling network. That’s about all I can say about that

I’m already working on new projects (like Best Poker Sites and non-gaming stuff), but it’s certainly different to wake up with nothing to do, as opposed to having a blown up inbox, Skype, and huge to-do list. I like it though.

Tampa

Hollowtips and I are going down to a search/social conference down in Tampa next week, so if anyone is down there and wants to golf or just get dinner, hit me up.

Travel

I decided to sit Spring Break out this year because of all the work stuff I’ve got going on in the next month or two. Taking a week or longer off to go party would set me way back, so I’m gonna hold off on that for a while. That being said, next week I’m going to Stratton in Vermont to snowboard for a couple days. I went there like five years ago and it was pretty cool… way better than our local ski resort so I’m pumped to get up there.

I’m also headed down to North Carolina with my family some time in April, but besides those two trips I don’t have anything big on the horizon. Just enjoying myself in State College and hopefully getting a lot done.

Business

I stretched myself pretty thin business-wise in February, but I’m pumped for all the new projects I’ve got in the pipeline. I bought HoldemReview.com from one of my buddies, which is an awesome site that I’m hoping to push over the top in the next year or so. I also just re-launched InternetPoker.org and have been working on PokerRules.net, both of which are fairly new projects that probably need another month or two before they’ll be earners. The Internet Poker site isn’t really complete at the moment, but I wanted to get the new template up and start sorting out the redirects before I add a bunch of pages. The poker rules site is getting good traffic already, but I’m a little concerned with how the site will convert. If I can’t just push people to a poker site I’ve got a few other ideas to monetize the site that I’ll try out.

Besides new stuff, I’ve also been working on fine-tuning my main poker site a little bit as far as conversions go. I use CrazyEgg to do this stuff, and it seriously is the best $9 I spend every month. The original landing page I had set up was converting traffic to “money clicks” at a pretty low percentage, and after trying out five or six different ones I’ve found one that’s 200% better than the original. Obviously that is a significant increase in earnings for just a little bit of work and testing.

Moral of the story is test your pages because you’re probably “leaking” money somewhere

I’ll definitely be making an “impression” tonight lol.

After I moved in I went to a furniture store to get a desk and chair, and was kinda surprised by how much nice furniture costs. Example – the first desk and chair I liked cost like twenty grand, and I was not looking to drop five figures on a desk and chair haha. I ended up finding a nice setup in their warehouse that another customer had ordered but didn’t want, so it was discounted 80%.  Here is a picture of the desk/chair where I work:

I splurged on the chair but am glad I did – it is 1000x more comfortable than anything I’ve ever used, and when I spend a lot of my day in it I figured I should get a good one. I also got a couple leather guest chairs for when I have “meetings” AKA never.

And of course, since I’m a huge Don Draper fan I couldn’t do without the obligatory bar and bottle of Canadian Club:

The space I got actually has two rooms, and since I wasn’t using the other one Chuck is sub-leasing it from me to run his online agriculture/dating/lobster empire.

Ever since I moved in I’ve been way more productive and working more often as well. I’d highly recommend getting an office.

Tomorrow I’m off to London for a week or so for the LAC. Usually when I go to these conferences I sleep all day and party all night, but really don’t accomplish anything. This time around I’ve got some good meetings set up that I’m really looking forward to. If you’re over there, hit me up on Skype (michael.wittmeyer) because my cell won’t work.

Good view from our balcony

Sick sunset

We went to see a bullfight, which got pretty vicious. Not something to take a girl to.

at one point we hiked deep into the mountain to see a rain forest, and along the way we came across some random guy cooking food in the middle of the jungle lol. Chuck bought a plate of meat off him for like $2 or something crazy.

Us and some natives climbing a waterfall.

PokerSite.org

I also finally got the new version of PokerSite.org up AKA the “everyone else should quit poker affiliating” version . I’m still working through a lot of mistakes and issues with the transition, but let me know what you think of the site anyways, and link to the site if you like it!

I haven’t really been up to anything exciting lately, just working on my sites, boxing, and sporadically learning the guitar. The PokerSite.org redesign is taking longer than I thought, but I should have it up before Christmas. I’m really excited to get it up and running because the site hasn’t had any attention in like six months and has been slipping up a bit lately.

I also am moving into an office sometime this week which I’m looking forward to. The last few weeks I’ve been working either at my apartment or at the local library, which isn’t bad but still isn’t great. The office is only a block or two down the street too, so pretty convenient.

Friday I’m headed home for Christmas, and then am off to Puerta Vallerta for a vacation with a few friends. Should be fun.

Gettin’ Lean

I haven’t posted anything business related in a while, so here’s a quick update: My revenues are increasing month to month as my current projects mature, and should continue to grow exponentially once a few of my new projects hit their stride. However, my expenses have also grown quite a bit which kind of puts a damper on the revenues I’m bringing in.

The reason I’m spending so much money is mainly due to expanding my network/buying new domains, but it also has a little something to do with how I operate my entire business. For the last few months I’ve basically outsourced or paid for everything. All my content, all my graphic design, all my *ahem* advertising purchases, etc. That was great over the Summer because I basically didn’t have to do any work except pasting content into templates, and sending out emails/payments for the previously mentioned advertising.

However, I’d really like to cut my spending at least in half for the rest of the year, because obviously it means my profits will increase by the same amount. Since I have plenty of built sites on hand, I won’t have to buy much content or many templates for a while, but the big thing I want to cut back on is the advertising. So, for the next few months I’m only going to pay for high quality directory submissions, and nothing else unless it really jumps out at me.

The way I see it is, if I can still achieve the same traffic numbers without paying for it, I’ll make more money and the traffic will be more permanent/steady. Anyways, those are my thoughts on that.

Budapest

I’m off to Budapest in a few short weeks, and I’m really looking forward to the trip. I’m staying with my friend John Holloway, and will be meeting up with a bunch of other friends there as well. I’ll take my camera and get some pictures up here after the trip. Later.

Related to Niagara Falls, I want to call out Pat Butler as being the biggest degenerate gambler in the world. He missed a fantastic dinner Saturday night with all his friends so he could go blow off stacks at the $1/$2 table. Not cool Pat. Although he did redeem himself slightly by owning Mardi Gras with us all night.

Tomorrow I’m off to see a Lil Wayne concert in Pittsburgh, then I’m headed down to Morgantown to chill out at WVU with my friends for the weekend. I’ve been traveling a lot these past few weeks, but I feel like I’ve been able to maintain a high energy level and get my work done as well.

July turned out to be the best month of my career so far, and I’m hoping to set another personal best in August. Wish me luck.