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It’s always interesting for me to read the blogs of people my age (14, if you didn’t already know), and Money Makin Guru is no exception. It’s a blog about a twelve year old making money online and all that jazz that comes along with it - SEO, web design, etc. Now, before you go about dismissing that as a “JOHN CHOW CLONEZ!!!11oneoneeleven,” it’s not that bad. Zach’s not a food blogger, for Gods sake!
NOT A CLONE?
Well, for one, Zach’s honest. He doesn’t pretend to get hundreds of thousands of hits and have a truckload of cash. Of course, he wishes he had these things coming in (don’t we all) but he doesn’t lie. Another problem with most MMO blogs is that they are far too vague to get any knowledge out of them. Zach writes in absolutes which take you step by step through his various tips. While the ideas on Money Makin Guru aren’t as innovative or well-written (we’ll get into that later) as some of the advice I’ve read on other blogs, most aren’t generic. I’ve yet to see a “how u maek moneyz with ADSNSE” post on his blog, at least, which makes Money Makin Guru better than all of the MMO blogs that process Shoemoney through their rewriting machine and come out with regurgitated crap.
THEN AGAIN…
One of the things I really hate is when bloggers use their age as a marketing tool. Zach does this as well. Sure, you’re twelve, but is your content any good?
THE ANSWER
One problem plagues Zach that I’ve seen affect most young bloggers - he’s unprofessional. His posts have some grammatical and spelling errors in them (one of his post titles is, “So You Think Your Creative?”) and he often writes very informal, conversational posts that talk about things like which logo design his viewers most like and if this banner ad is better than the other. You’d be hard pressed to find this kind of stuff on Blog Badly, mostly because I think you guys probably don’t care about it - no matter how much you love me - and I find it a bit odd that other bloggers would do this kind of stuff. I would personally just ask a few friends on an instant messenger or Twitter if I needed feedback rather than “wasting” a post. Some refinement in this casual-ness would be a welcome addition to Money Makin Guru.
A FEW MORE COMMENTS
- Currently, Zach brands Money Makin Guru as, well, “Money Makin Guru.” This can be confusing because rather than typing in “moneymakinguru.com” in their browsers, they could type in “moneymakingguru.com.” Money Makin Guru should become Money Makin’ Guru - the apostrophe helps signify that the “g” has been taken off the end.
- The permalink structure on Money Makin Guru isn’t optimized. Zach uses “/%year/%month/%day/%posttitle” instead of “/%postcategory/%posttitle”.
- Money Makin Guru should use the All-In-One SEO program to switch around its titles. Currently, the homepage title is “moneymakinguru.com” - you’re not trying to rank for your website name, right?
- Add an “About” page! Tell your readers about yourself! Seriously, without an “About” page a blogger is no better than a creepy 41 year old that lives in his mom’s basement. That’s not who you are, Zach. Right?
IN SUMMATION…
Refinement is the key word here. Refined posting styles and on-site optimization would do wonders for Money Makin Guru. Zach’s got potential and time, and with some more finesse he can really become what his title implies.
By Germz on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
There is nothing I haven’t already read on that site or nothing I don’t already know… it seems like just any other blog except that it’s written by a 12 year old, and apparently that drives some traffic, especially when you announce it on the top of your site. I don’t know why people have to announce that they are “teens” or “Adults” I really don’t think age differentiates you from anyone.
Not only that but the layout is a killer to the eyes.
He has some good content, but he just needs to set a brand for himself I don’t see anything new on it, for example an about page or something of the sort.
I wish him the best of luck on his online “Money Making Guru” business.
I just checked,
http://moneymakinguru.com/2008/06/14/starting-to-use-my-age-to-gain-traffic/
Apparently he does use his age to gain traffic, I find it pathetic when people do this as it shows that people are not interested in your content but rather your age and how much of “Genious” you are. So sorry buddy, but he disappointed me I actually thought he was gonna be a trustworthy blogger.
By Max Miroff on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
@Germz: Yeah, I mentioned him using his age for marketing and how much that sucks. Hopefully he won’t be another Carl Ocab.
By Tom - StandOutBlogger.com on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
That was a very well rounded review. I will have to check the blog out and create my own opinion.
By Brad Blogging.com - Personal Blog Tips And Blog Help on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
I think disclosing your age can work against you.
If people know your 12, then they would expect grammar and spelling mistakes (Then again, Spellchecker is standard in Firefox.)
As Germz said, Age shouldn’t be a factor to drive traffic to your blog. I personally don’t care how old you are if your content sucks.
By Zach aka MoneyMakin'Guru on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
Brad, does my content suck?
By Zach aka MoneyMakin'Guru on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
Max, thanks for the honest and well rounded review. You touched on some things that I need to work on.
Thanks, I appreciate it a lot,
Zach
By Brad Blogging.com - Personal Blog Tips And Blog Help on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
Did I say that Zach? I have yet to look at your site, but I will soon.
By Zach aka MoneyMakin'Guru on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
My mistake Brad, sorry, I thought that was what you said. Please accept my apology,
Zach
By Melvin on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
Yeah thats the downside of being too young,.. but you know what makes me proud at them is the way they compete to older bloggers and the way they do promotion just like how other bloggers do…
By Max Miroff on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
@Melvin: Well, you generally do have to do blog promotion to have a successful blog
By Carnival of Making Money Online on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
Zach, well done for a 12 year old. Once you turn 13 you’ll even be able to legally use the internet!
By massivepwn on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
Great article! It’s a shame that poor kid doesn’t know what’s coming to him!
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By Max Miroff on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
@massivepwn: What is coming to him? :O
By Brad Blogging.com - Personal Blog Tips And Blog Help on Jul 9, 2008 | Reply
lol @ massivepwn.
What’s coming to him?? xD
By Pass Drug Test on Jul 9, 2008 | Reply
I’m using All-In-One SEO plugin for my WP
By SEO INDIA on Jul 9, 2008 | Reply
yes i love the spirit of new generation like you, and wish you and all other teens good luck.
By Charity on Jul 9, 2008 | Reply
Interesting as I was told that using “/%year/%month/%day/%posttitle” WAS optimized, and my SEO optimization plugin changed my post permalinks to precisely that format.
By Max Miroff on Jul 9, 2008 | Reply
@Charity: It’s not bad or anything - /%category/%posttitle just gets more keywords in there rather than wasting space with dates. Even just /%posttitle is better.
By What is Your Landing Page Doing? Headlines and Welcomes on Jul 10, 2008 | Reply
I will say this to Zach and to you Max that you are very impressive.
I am not saying that you should use your age as a marketing tool, I just appreciate and respect young guys like you for your effort and work and especially when these days so many young people are off screwing up and doing nothing productive.
Max, I also hate regurgitated crap on blogs that provide absolutely nothing useful or usable. Step-by-step, hands on information is best and it will keep readers coming back.
Thanks,
JR
By Rajaie AlKorani on Jul 11, 2008 | Reply
Wow! Three years younger than me and his blog is doing much better than me! Even though I am guilty of using my age as a factor of success, I learned that hard way that I shouldn’t.
By the way, I never knew there were so many young bloggers! I could make a list on my blog or something!
By Halim-Belajar SEO on Jul 12, 2008 | Reply
Young blogger are blessed with their early exposed to internet. I’m only using internet when I’m 17 and started to blog at 26.
By Pandu Cari Duit on Jul 14, 2008 | Reply
Money cannot see your age. As long as you can make it flowing towards you, they’ll find you.
By Gert Hough on Jul 14, 2008 | Reply
It’s nice to see that5 people get to start making money from an early age on. It should help them understand the principles of earning an income from an early age.
By bloggernoob on Jul 15, 2008 | Reply
had no idea you were 14. wow. very impressive. you should market that like ocab