Update – Sorry for the delay everyone. It seems like everything comes up at once and I have been very busy! I should get the prizes out this weekend. At the very least you should get an email. Thanks for your patience!

~Kat~

First I want to say Thanks to all our sponsors. We had so many prizes contributed that everyone won something, there are no losers in The Webmaster Blog Contest!

I will try and contact all the winners via email, but if you don’t hear from me, or a sponsor in the next few days, leave a comment here and I will make sure you get your prize.

Winner of Secret Bonus Prize

We had a secret bonus prize for the best post about The Webmaster Blog. Ghing is the winner! She wrote an original post and we all enjoyed it.

The bonus prize is:

• This permanent link to Ghing’s Blog, My Blogging Experience
• 1000 EC from The WebMaster Blog
• And $10 PayPal Cash or Amazon Gift Card, Your Choice!

Thanks for the great post!

Follow The Directions!

Now, most of you who wrote a blog post did not follow the directions correctly. If I wanted to be really mean I could say you were disqualified! One of the requirements of the blog post was to state which prize you wanted to win. Most people didn’t do that. But those that did won the prize they asked for. Good Going Guys!

After you collect your prize make sure to stop by our sponsors and say Thanks!
Here is the list one more time!

My CFO on the Go! 125X125 ad spot for 30 days. $5 PayPal cash.
Get Rich Geek 125X125 ad spot for 30 days. $5 PayPal Cash
Ninja Success 125X125 ad spot for 30 days. $5 PayPal Cash
Susanne at SquidooMagic Free set up of SEO optimized Squidoo lens.
Better Interpersonal Communication 125 X 125 ad spot
WebbieStuffs 1200 EC Credits, Permanent Link (Blog Roll), 2-month ad in side bar, 100 x 100.

Blog Improvement and Money Making Tips 1000 EC credits.
BestJoanne Is The One For Reviews 1000 EC credits.
Rumbling Lankin 1000 Entrecard Credits

TwinsHappiness 250 EntreCard credits.
The Spirit of Blogging 1000 Entrecard Credits and 125 ad space.
The Melvin Blog E-book worth $17, ad spot worth $10.

The University Kid will offer eBooks and 2, 1 hour consultations.
The Smile Guy will donate 500 Entrecard credits and an ad spot. Either 125X125 or 486X60 winners choice!
5 links Blog Promotion Site

Plus The WebMaster Blog is giving away:
5 prizes of 1,000 Entrecard Credits Each
2- 125X125 ad spots for 30 days
5- BlogRoll links for 30 days

Indian Devs is offering one non animated banner or logo design worth $30, and one adspot on technoworld worth 15$

Now the list of winners!

Sherry had the first entry and wins:

• 1000 Entrecredits from The WebMaster Blog
• 100X100 Ad Space from Webbiestuffs
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

Aaron wins:

• 250 EC from The WebMaster Blog
• BlogRoll Link from Webbiestuffs
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

In addition to the Bonus Prize, Ghing wins:

• 1000 EC from Rumbling Lankin
• A Free SEO optimized Squidoo Lens from Squidoo Magic
• 1 Sidebar link from The Webmaster Blog
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

BBX wins:

• $5 PayPal from GetRichGeek.com
• 1 link on the blog promotion site
• 125 ad from The Spirit of Blogging
• non animated banner or logo design from Indian Devs
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

EmmaB wins:

• 1200 EC from Webbiestuffs
• 125 ad from Better Interpersonal Communications
• Ad spot from The Melvin Blog
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

Blog Tips for Beginners wins:

• 125 Ad from The Webmaster Blog
• 1 hour consultation with The University Kid
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

Matt wins:

• Ad Spot from Technoworld
• Sidebar Link from The Webmaster Blog
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

Contest Live wins:

• 1000 EC from Best Joanne is the One for Reviews
• 125 Ad spot from GetRichGeek.com
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

Indocontest wins:

• 1000 EC from The WebMaster Blog
• 125 Ad from Ninja Success
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

Riyanne wins:

• 125 ad from My CFO on the Go
• 1 link from blog promotion site
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

Brenda wins:

• 1000 EC from The WebMaster Blog
• $5 from My CFO on the Go
• ebook from The Melvin Blog
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

GLF wins:

• 1000 EC from Blog Improvement
• 1 link blog promotion site
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

Nadeesah wins:

• 1000 EC from The Webmaster Blog
• 125 adspot from The Webmaster Blog
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

NHC wins:

• 1000 EC from The Webmaster Blog
• Sidebar link from The Webmaster Blog
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

Wiehanne wins:

• 1000 EC from The Spirit of Blogging
• 1 sidebar link from The Webmaster Blog
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

David wins:

• 250 EC from The Webmaster Blog
• 1 link blog promotion site
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

Kranjcarz wins:

• 500 EC from The Smile Guy
• 1 sidebar link on The Webmaster Blog
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

HelloKit wins:

• 250 EC from Twin Happiness
• 1 link blog promotion site
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

WebbyContest wins:

• 250 EC from The WebMaster Blog
• $5 PayPal from Ninja Success
• Choice of ad from The Smile Guy
• 1 hour consultation with The University Kid
• Free Ebook from The University Kid

I added some EC to the contest so that everyone with Entrecard should have won some EC credits. If you didn’t let me know and I will add 250 EC from The Webmaster Blog to your prize package!

Congratulations everyone and thanks again to our sponsors!

The contest is over! Thanks to everyone for their entries.  Give me a day or two to sort through everyones entries and find out who won prize! Check back in a day or two to see what you won!

This is arguably one of the most asked questions when people who have no experience in making money online and internet marketing are pondering whether to throw themselves into the pond and get wet or to distance themselves from the internet wealth folly.

I have tried googling this question, hoping to find at least one appropriate answer or perhaps some logical arguments. However, it seems that no one online (and offline) has a good answer to this particular question. You can of course, try Yahoo! Answers, Ask Jeeves and some other similar sites to see what invaluable views we have in there. It will be interesting to read about various people’s opinions and I shall be grateful if you could share what you find about this topic with us by commenting on this post.

What is my personal opinion regarding this issue?

First of all, I do not have an extensive experience when it comes to making money online and internet marketing. However I have placed myself pretty near the center of the battlefield and through my observations and a little experiment on my own, I believe I have the ability to make some money online (and I have) and I am entitled to voicing out my opinions regarding this matter. You are free to judge whether what I say is accurate, doubtful or unclear by commenting on this post

OK, I do not want to generalized all sites. How soon a site can begin making money depends on many factors such as the age of domain, the Page Rank of the domain, whether the domain is banned, penalized or indexed by search engines, the targeted niche and keywords of the site, the content of the site, marketing of the site and how is the site presented – whether in the form of a blog, a website or a community board.

With all the factors above in mind, I personally think that a site can begin making money from as early as 3 months. There are sites which make money right from the first month itself, no doubt but 3 months is sort of a benchmark, which webmasters can use to gauge their performances. If one of your sites start making money earlier than the age of 3 months, then you are obviously doing things right and are well on your way to making money online. If however, your site do not generate any income after 3 months, you should probably consider seriously whether to continue running the site or perhaps there is a need to change the direction (and marketing strategy) of the site and hire an expert consultant.

The are many reasons why I think a new site will mature within 3 months and be ready to generate income. Firstly, the domain would have been indexed by search engines. It will be enjoying organic traffic from search engines and other sources depending on your methods of site promotion. For sites of some niche, 3 months will be sufficient for them to be released from Google’s sandbox (nobody can be sure whether this is just a myth!) and most quality sites would have been given appropriate Page Rank, Alexa rank, etc. Within the first 3 month, the content and frequency of content addition should have been established and webmasters have sufficient time to tweak their sites, gain members, subscribers and followers. Advertisers are also prone to advertise on a mature site with good rankings and considerable number of visitors.

Well, there goes my reasons for clinging to the magical number 3. If there is someone who tries to sell you the idea that you can make loads of money almost instantly, you should definitely beware of him. Although making money online as fast as possible is important, do remember to be prudent, you don’t want to be scammed.

Do you agree with me that sites will start to make money when its age is around 3 months or so? Why?

I will frequently be raising questions which are of import to webmasters. Subscribe to The WebMaster Blog now and you won’t miss any of our discussions. And remember that by subscribing you’ll have the chance to win several prizes in our contest. Click here to learn more about it.