Need pitching advice?

We are devoting this blog to helping pitchers learn more about the craft. If you have any questions that you need answered, post them on this blog and we will reply within a day or two, if not right away.

To give a bit of background, we are two professional pitchers currently playing in the minor leagues. One of us is a lefty, and the other is a righty, so whichever type of pitcher you happen to be, we can answer your questions specifically.


In an effort to help as many of you as we can, we are providing this blog as a free service to you, so take advantage of us! There are tons of questions out there that we've been answering already, so don't be shy.

Chances are, we will be able to help you, but in the rare case that we are stumped, we have access to hundreds of professionals, including current and former major leaguers. If that isn't credibility, I don't know what is.

So, we will answer your questions in the order that they come in to this blog.

Remember to keep the ball down in the zone!

We look forward to reading your posts....

My Google AdWords Campaign: Day 7

If you haven't read my first posting on this AdWords campaign, please be sure to visit my post entitled Google AdWords Campaign Examined.

I have an update on my progress with this campaign, and it is very good news, at least for me and my bank account it is. My total spending yesterday came out to be $39.87. I mentioned yesterday that I would not know the totals for my earnings until today. Well folks, the results are in.

I earned a grand total of $88.95 yesterday!

That's a profit of $49.08!

This is so exciting. I finally know what it feels like to make a good return on my investments. I would now like to toot my own horn for a minute. If you remember my prediction for my profits from yesterday's post, I said I should be making about $50 profit according to my campaign history and the numbers that I looked at.

Sorry, I was $0.92 cents off the mark. Ha! I guess the market trend is more predictable than we may think it is sometimes. I have been pretty amazed at the consistency in numbers when it comes to product conversions, especially when it comes to marketing online.

Here's another exciting point that I'd like to report. There are still more earnings that will be pouring in for me over the next day or two. So, when I report my earnings for a single day, that may not be the total amount of earnings associated with the money spent on my AdWords campaign for that day.

In fact, I am getting better ROI than I am reporting, so that is not something you'll hear me complaining about. I can now estimate my ROI to be around 123.10%.

For my calculation, I used the simple formula:

ROI = (Gain from investment - Cost of investment) / (Cost if investment)

So, ROI = ($88.95 - $39.87) / ($39.87) = 1.231 0r 123.1% Got it?

Hey, I'll take that any day. If I know that when I spend $100 and I know I'm going to be getting $223 back from that, or $123 profit, I would be willing to do that until the cows come home.

My new experiment began today. I increased my campaign's daily budget to $50 instead of $40 just to see if the ROI remains the same for a higher initial investment. My research has told me that often times the ROI increases as the investment goes up.

I'm hoping that holds true, but I'll be happy with a steady ROI of 120% or so. All I have to do is get some capital to invest in my campaign now and when I get paid at the end of each month, I'll just use my profits to run my advertising. That's the smart thing to do, right?

Keep checking back to my blog as I will update my progress on this increasingly exciting AdWords Camopaign.

I appreciate you reading my blog. Make sure to claim your free gift at the very top of this page. It's a fre course on starting your own home business just like the one I've created. I will take you step by step through the process I've gone through (of course I left out the pain and frustration of wasting countless hours and thousands of dollars in the process).

Grab your free course here.

Again, I thank you for reading my writing.

Post if you wish.

Google AdWords Campaign Examined

I have been experimenting with AdWords for about seven months now, and I want to announce a huge breakthrough. I cannot even control my excitement right now!

I finally hit on a campaign that is giving me a great return on my investment. I am afraid to say that I cannot share the details of the campaign I am working on right now because if I get competition, it could seriously put a dent in my efforts.

What I will do is share all the numbers with you, including CTR, average CPC, total $ spent per day, total earnings, and of course, total PROFITS. That's what it's all about after all, is profits.

I'll take you back to February 20, the day I began working on my current campaign. That day I spent $7.64 and earned a grand total of $1.62. That right folks, my profits on 2/20/2007 were an awesome -$6.02.

That's what perseverance is all about, right? I knew I was on to something, bit I needed to improve. So, I'll take you to my next day.

On 2/21, my total amount spent was $0.00 (not a typo, I had my campaign paused that day, so I spent zero dollars) and my total earnings were $1.99. That's right, my work from the day before paid off and my profits for 2/21 were a grand total of $1.99.

On 2/22, I had pretty bad day as my spending total was $10.20 and my earnings total was a lousy $1.53, putting me at an embarrassing profit of -$8.67 for the day. Pathetic!

My CTR for those three days combined was 0.37% and my average CPC was $0.40. If you're a math wiz, you'd have already figured out by now that my clicks total for those three days was exactly 45 clicks and my impressions added up to 11,982.

Well, like I implied earlier, I am not a quitter, so I ventured on to the next day to see what would happen. I'll make it simple. The next day ruled!

On 2/23, my spending came out to be $16.90 and my earnings were $38.79!

That's a profit of $21.89 ladies and gentlemen!!!

I'll sum up my campaign for the days between 2/20 and 2/25:

My spending totals were $59.84.

My earnings totals were $79.56.

My total profit came out to be $19.72.

I have yet to see my earnings for 2/26 and 2/27, but please check back as I will most definitely post them. I will tell you this, though. My current CTR is 23.04%. That needs to repeated.

My current CTR is 23.04%.

Also, my current average CPC is $0.08.

Or, if you want to be exact, my average CPC was $0.0798969 the last time I checked.

Remeber how my CPC was around $0.40 when I first started? Well, I am now living proof that Google really does reward you if your ad has a good quality score. It feels great to now have a campaign that is working for me.

My estimates for the next few days look as though I will make about $50 profit each day, but if my CPC keeps dropping, I will earn more while spending less. Always a good thing!

Again, please keep checking as I will update my progress.

Thanks for reading.

Cashing In With AdSense

Okay, I recently did some research and testing on how to make some money with Google's AdSense. I have a method that works, and my next goal is to get tons of traffic to my site, so I can get some money for clicks. Here is my site that I've setup with some high paying AdSense Ads:

http://www.southpawsix.com/lawyer.htm

Go check it out and see what I've done. If anyone has any tips on how to increase AdSense profits, please leave me a post and let me in on what you know.

Thanks,

southpawsix

Blogging, a Great Marketing Tool

Blogging can be a great marketing tool. It can help the editor/author build up his/her reputation among readership. The blog can be a great way for those with an online business to help market their burgeoning business, provide helpful tips on how others can start their own online business, and of course ideally drive traffic to their business' website.

Here are some great sites for learning more about blogging, and also about online businesses:

ProBlogger - Helping Bloggers Earn Money
Darren Rowse runs this site, and it is pretty popular. He supports himself fully, just by blogging and other related ventures! The site has plenty of current info on blogging, various tools, and the best way to optimize advertising on your site.

Entrepreneur's Journey
This site is run by Yaro Starak, and though he discusses blogging, the focus is moreso on Internet Marketing. He goes into great depth about how he started to make money online, and how to run your own business.

Business Opportunities Blog
Lots of summaries of current articles related to running your own business. The subject index is pretty good, and the blogroll will provide individuals with hours of research ideas.

The latest on My Store

Here's the latest on My Store:

I have spent the last several days creating html files that will serve as templates for my eBay listings. It is actually quite enjoyable, despite it being very time consuming, to start my own business. I've made a new habit of signing the bottom of my emails now with the following tag:

Sincerely,
southpawsix
Owner, Southpaw's Storefront

Yeah, I know I'm a nerd for doing that, but I feel important now that I can call myself the owner of my own business. I must, however give a great deal of credit to my good friend and author of his own website, The Million Dollar Portfolio. I suggest you check out his posts if you are a fan of making a lot of money. He really has been guiding me through the whole blog process and giving me advice on various business tactics.

Back to updating you on the progress of my store, I have some exciting news for anyone who wants to buy my two way radios. I have decided that I need to make a drastic change in my pricing strategies. Therefore, I have significantly reduced my prices on all models of two way radios. I feel as though I started out trying to list my products such that my profit margin would be rather sizeable, but my sales were very infrequent.

So, my new strategy is as follows; I am currently listing my products only a few dollars above wholesale costs. In other words, my prices are cheaper than any website or corporate electronics store because I am more focused on getting publicity for my store than I am on turning a huge profit. The only way I think that is possible is by offering the cheapest products on the market. Hopefully that way, my sales will skyrocket. At this point I'd rather establish a large customer base than make more profits on less sales. I know this sounds like a desparate attempt at attracting customers (and it is to a degree), but I truly am selling my two way radios cheaper than anyone else on the market. If you can find a lower price for a product that I offer, I'd like to know. Keep in mind that if you visit my store, I have some of the exact same products selling for different prices, so buy the cheapest one you see. If the model number is the same, it is exactly the same two way radio at a reduced price. I kept my higher priced items just to show my customers that I have reduced my prices.

If you know what brand you prefer and you want to skip directly to that type of two way radio, click on the brand that interests you below:

Audiovox
Cobra
Midland
Motorola
Uniden CLEARANCE SALE ON THIS MODEL!!!

There they are! Come and get them while the prices are still low. As I gain a reputation as an honest seller, I will eventually need to raise my prices slightly because I won't be able to make any type of real profit from these prices. I am being brutally honest with you, so if you are in fact looking for a great two way radio, this is your lucky day.

If there are other models that you've seen in stores, but you don't see them in my store, please let me know and I will list them for you, at reduced prices of course; that's Southpaw's Way!

I think that will do it for today's sales pitch. Keep checking back every few days as I will continue to post information on new products and the goings on of my up and coming business.

Sincerely,
southpawsix
Owner, Southpaw's Storefront

p.s. I wasn't kidding. I really sign my emails like that.
p.p.s. In case you haven't noticed, I create links to My Store every chance I get, so aren't you curious to see what's inside. Just go and check it out to see if I can't interest you in buying a sweet two way radio. They are so much fun! That's why I'm selling them; I want you to enjoy them as much as I do.

My online eBay business

Hi there, to whoever may be stumbling upon my blog. I am creating this blog to record my efforts and my progress in beginning my own online business on eBay. I am happy to report that up to this date, I have sold a grand total of $678.70 worth of products in my young and growing business.

How young do you ask? Well, my first sale was on September 24, 2006. So, in about a month's time, I have sold a decent amount of merchandise, 22 products to be exact, but I still have not turned a profit from my sales because of selling fees and experimentation with various products that never sold.

What am I selling? Excellent question. The only products I've actually sold have been walkie talkie two way radios. Please feel free to look at my store, Southpaw's Storefront, and let me know what you think. I am now a walkie talkie specialist. I have sold only two way radios, so naturally, I have learned a great deal about them.

Ok, that just about covers what I'd like to say in my first post. If you have any ideas, wisdom, criticism, etc. for my store or my listings, please let me know. In fact, I think it would pretty cool if someone actually posted on my blog other than myself. I'll keep this blog up to date and I'll go into further detail of how I got my business to where it is today and where I'd like for it to go in the next few weeks, months and years.

Thanks for reading my thoughts. Post if you wish.