Saturday, September 14, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
So .... on with my story.
I was initially introduced to computers when my government employer plopped a desktop and a monitor on my desk. At first I wanted nothing to do with this grey colored beast. However we all had to take a course in word processing and therein lay the 'hook' that caught my attention.
In the course of my job I had to write numerous letters, many to Congressmen. Of course my response would go up the line to be signed by the Commander, so it may have been revised here and there on its way. Prior to the arrival of the computer I had to laboriously draft these letters on a large yellow 8 & 1/2 x 14" legal pad. There is only so much erasing and crossing out one can do on one yellow page. A letter often involved the eventual use of three or more pages of paper.
Once I got the hang of word processing I found I could write a better letter in much less time, due to being able to erase and move sentences and paragraphs all about, and 'wow' there was also an automatic spell checker.
Working in the Department Of Defense provided me early access to the internet, which at that time consisted of visiting what they called 'bulletin boards'. That really caught my attention and eventually led to me buying a computer for my home use.
In time I decided to create my own web site about Honey Bees and Beekeeping. I did have a couple of beehives at the time. The object of my web site [ www.bees-online.com ] is to educate people about the benefit of honey bees, so that people will not kill a honey bee just because it is there. The honey bee is never interested in harming people. Yes, it will sting if it's life in danger. But, it will not bother you if left alone to go about its own business. The secondary purpose of the site is to introduce the idea of keeping bees yourself, and the site provides information on how to become a beekeeper. A companion site [ www.beginningbeekeeping.com ] was subsequently developed to provide additional detail on becoming a beekeeper.
In addition, I have created another web site unrelated to honey bees but all about a Water garden built my my wife and a good friend of hers[ www.buildyourownwatergarden ]
In time I learned that Amazon had developed an Affiliate Program that would permit you to feature all or any of their products on your web site and provide the web site owner with a small commission for any products purchased via a link from your web site. These links all have a code in them identifying you as the site owner and every month your commission exceeds $10 they automatically deposit it in your bank account.
My main indoor activity during the 17 years I have been retired has been these web sites and experimenting with other sites from time to time all based on my special interests or hobbies. Time is spent modifying and updating to keep them current and to add fresh material.
Around 1995 I discovered Google Ads could be placed on my sites via the Google Adsense Affilliate Program and that is when some real money started flowing in. Google is very helpful on how best to do these ads. Commissions are paid whenever a web site visitor 'clicks' on a Google Ad. No purchase is required. The commission most often ranges in the 1 to 5 cent range per click. The more visitors that come to your web site equals more 'clicks' and a greater income. Google provides ample instructions on how to get more visitors to your site. I do just about everything Google suggests along these lines and it certainly has paid off over the years. My best two years equaled commissions of over $5000.
The object of this Blog is to attempt to interest you in creating your own blog and/or web site centering on a hobby you may have or a special interest that you are very knowledgeable on. Creating a web site or blog is an engagement for your mind and fun as well as a potentially lucrative activity for you as a retiree. Many web hosting and blog providers make it a pretty easy task.
I will be glad to try and help you with such an endeavor as best I can to get you started !
This Blog has been created via Google's Own Blog site www.blogger.com. Check it out !
I was initially introduced to computers when my government employer plopped a desktop and a monitor on my desk. At first I wanted nothing to do with this grey colored beast. However we all had to take a course in word processing and therein lay the 'hook' that caught my attention.
In the course of my job I had to write numerous letters, many to Congressmen. Of course my response would go up the line to be signed by the Commander, so it may have been revised here and there on its way. Prior to the arrival of the computer I had to laboriously draft these letters on a large yellow 8 & 1/2 x 14" legal pad. There is only so much erasing and crossing out one can do on one yellow page. A letter often involved the eventual use of three or more pages of paper.
Once I got the hang of word processing I found I could write a better letter in much less time, due to being able to erase and move sentences and paragraphs all about, and 'wow' there was also an automatic spell checker.
Working in the Department Of Defense provided me early access to the internet, which at that time consisted of visiting what they called 'bulletin boards'. That really caught my attention and eventually led to me buying a computer for my home use.
In time I decided to create my own web site about Honey Bees and Beekeeping. I did have a couple of beehives at the time. The object of my web site [ www.bees-online.com ] is to educate people about the benefit of honey bees, so that people will not kill a honey bee just because it is there. The honey bee is never interested in harming people. Yes, it will sting if it's life in danger. But, it will not bother you if left alone to go about its own business. The secondary purpose of the site is to introduce the idea of keeping bees yourself, and the site provides information on how to become a beekeeper. A companion site [ www.beginningbeekeeping.com ] was subsequently developed to provide additional detail on becoming a beekeeper.
In addition, I have created another web site unrelated to honey bees but all about a Water garden built my my wife and a good friend of hers[ www.buildyourownwatergarden ]
In time I learned that Amazon had developed an Affiliate Program that would permit you to feature all or any of their products on your web site and provide the web site owner with a small commission for any products purchased via a link from your web site. These links all have a code in them identifying you as the site owner and every month your commission exceeds $10 they automatically deposit it in your bank account.
My main indoor activity during the 17 years I have been retired has been these web sites and experimenting with other sites from time to time all based on my special interests or hobbies. Time is spent modifying and updating to keep them current and to add fresh material.
Around 1995 I discovered Google Ads could be placed on my sites via the Google Adsense Affilliate Program and that is when some real money started flowing in. Google is very helpful on how best to do these ads. Commissions are paid whenever a web site visitor 'clicks' on a Google Ad. No purchase is required. The commission most often ranges in the 1 to 5 cent range per click. The more visitors that come to your web site equals more 'clicks' and a greater income. Google provides ample instructions on how to get more visitors to your site. I do just about everything Google suggests along these lines and it certainly has paid off over the years. My best two years equaled commissions of over $5000.
The object of this Blog is to attempt to interest you in creating your own blog and/or web site centering on a hobby you may have or a special interest that you are very knowledgeable on. Creating a web site or blog is an engagement for your mind and fun as well as a potentially lucrative activity for you as a retiree. Many web hosting and blog providers make it a pretty easy task.
I will be glad to try and help you with such an endeavor as best I can to get you started !
This Blog has been created via Google's Own Blog site www.blogger.com. Check it out !
I am starting this blog for primarily three reasons:
#1. I have been looking for something new to do on the web, in addition to my web sites.
#2. From my experience talking with some men who are retired they do not know what to do with their retirement and consequently bug their significant other to distraction rather then going about doing their own thing. So I want to pass on information about my major retirement activity which not only keeps me occupied but also has earned me some very nice part time income - over $30,000 in the past 15 or so years. It has also provided me the opportunity to make some new friends from Australia to Georgia. The extra income I have referred to has permitted me the luxury of visiting my Australian friend on two ocassions for a month at a time.
#3. In addition I would like to hear suggestions about what some of you out there do, aside from playing golf and that sort of thing ! Feel free to make comments as they may move you !!
#1. I have been looking for something new to do on the web, in addition to my web sites.
#2. From my experience talking with some men who are retired they do not know what to do with their retirement and consequently bug their significant other to distraction rather then going about doing their own thing. So I want to pass on information about my major retirement activity which not only keeps me occupied but also has earned me some very nice part time income - over $30,000 in the past 15 or so years. It has also provided me the opportunity to make some new friends from Australia to Georgia. The extra income I have referred to has permitted me the luxury of visiting my Australian friend on two ocassions for a month at a time.
#3. In addition I would like to hear suggestions about what some of you out there do, aside from playing golf and that sort of thing ! Feel free to make comments as they may move you !!
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