David Hardin

Member since: Sep 22nd, 2006

David Hardin's Latest Comments

Blog Activity

Blog	# of Comments
Autoblog	1 Comment
Engadget	7 Comments
Download Squad	6 Comments
Engadget HD	1 Comment

Recent Comments:

Ask DLS: Is affiliate marketing via Google AdWords a scam? (Download Squad)

Mar 11th 2010 5:05PM Erez, I can tell you that anyone who has to post spammy links in forums is going for quantity and not quality. They are working REALLY hard, following one of those expensive How-To books and most likely not making very much money.

As for my back story, I was introduced to the idea after working with AdSense for a while and some associates of mine let me in on a few affiliate sources. I'll be honest, it was a little shady to start out. They walked me through getting started and I did lose money, several thousand, before finally figuring out my personal niche. When you are buying clicks through AdWords you have to be very cautious and set very strict limits or you can blow through your whole account balance in a couple of hours. As an example I once showed a friend the scale of the internet by letting a single keyword run wide open for 3 hours on a Tuesday night, from about 9pm to midnight CST. There were 40,000 impressions and about 1000 clicks at 30-40 cents a click. Do the math, it gets expensive very quickly. The keyword? Shower Curtains. That story usually scares off anyone who isn't to sure about this whole 'internet thing'.
I appologize if I sound preachy I just hate being responsible for enticing others into failure. As in many endeavors it requires patience, knowledge, and hard work. It took over six months before I figured out how to be consistantly profitable. I used to make more than I do now but my niche has grown smaller over the last year. At my peak I was clearing about 4,000 a month.
These days I see it as more risk than reward and so I do not search out new programs. I datrade the FOREX market instead. And THAT is a whole other article. If you have any specific questions and/or links for reliable information let me know and I'll email you.

Ask DLS: Is affiliate marketing via Google AdWords a scam? (Download Squad)

Mar 11th 2010 1:28PM People selling books, articles, ebooks, video lessons etc.. generally are selling mostly useless information. As for Google AdWords Affiliate sales, I've been doing it for almost 3 years and I've been profitable. I don't work very hard on it, maybe 30 minutes a week and I make around $1,000 a month from it. I consider it passive income, which as a stay-at-home dad is pretty nice to have. It can be done, yes. Do I recommend it? No. Profitable programs are few and far between and you will most likely lose money.

Christmas Giveaway: Tales of Monkey Island (Download Squad)

Dec 3rd 2009 4:31PM I've actually never played any of the Monkey Island series although I'm old enough to remember when the first one came out. Better late than never!

Engadget's recession antidote: win a Cyber Sport Orbita Mouse! (Engadget)

Feb 20th 2009 12:20PM I could use a new mouse and this will encourage me to actually buy a decent keyboard as well instead of the $9.99 Wal-Mart special I currently use that is a personal affront to the rest of my system. I also hope to win the fight against run-on sentences.

FlashcardExchange: create and study flashcards (Download Squad)

Feb 25th 2008 12:51PM jMemorize is free, open source, and has more options. It helped me pass Spanish last semester!

CES 2008 ultimate swag bag giveaway: like a Xmas stocking in January (Engadget)

Jan 11th 2008 12:34AM Kopin's CyberDisplay SVGA LVS. I mean really, imagine having little, full color, easy to read screens on everything like remote controls, tiny USB devices, itty-bitty zoolander type phones, keyboards (hello Lebdev), etc... Maybe those cheap little keychain photo albums could actually have decent resolution. Nah...

eBay Find of the Day: 1998 Bondurant SVT Contour (Autoblog)

Nov 29th 2007 11:24PM I have a 98' SE, but it was kind of a special car that an exec of Ford drove for a short while, I think it may have a few 'extra' parts. I got it in late 98' and it's still my daily driver. 187000 miles and still blows off the line fast enough to squeal the tires and do 0-60 in under 7 seconds. My two year old loves it.