1) How many websites, on average, would you need for each of the bottom three levels of the pyramid to rank for competitive terms?

It’s going to vary greatly from market to market and term to term. Also, there are many other factors in ranking a site other than just the link farm / pyramid you create.

But for the most competitive markets the pyramid is gonna be deep it looks something like this:

300,000 -Bottom layer
20,000 – Domain Portfolio / shared hosting
800 -Authority / Niche sites
40 – Money Sites Dominating more than half of top ten for competitive serps

2) Do you get private registration for every domain you use in the pyramid? Who do you recommend using as a registrar?

Everyone has their own preferences; some say that Since Google is a registrar, they can see all the private registrations. Other say that private registration is a red flag – it’s a spam signal. (Presumably, if you have nothing to hide, why are you hiding). Given that, many people opt for fake registration information.

3) I have a bunch of Wordpress.com / blogger sites where I’ve opted for my own domain name instead of a sub-domain of Wordress.com or Blogger. Would this count as “shared hosting”? for a level two site?

I would count that in the shared hosting level.

4) Yeah I have a question. Could you please quit ripping off my posts/terms and rewriting them as your own…kthxbye

Answered here.

Keep the questions coming!

Gold Farming, for those of you who may not know, is when someone does the repetitive and more boring parts of a game, usually an MMORPG, to “farm” virtual in game goods, currency and XP.

It’s estimated that Last year, the gold farming industry employs about 1 million Chinese and is expected to top $10 billion in annual sales. I don’t know where they get those numbers from, they seem high to me, but regardless, it is a pretty big business.

According to this Chinese Government Website:

China bars use of virtual money for trading in real goods
Monday,June 29,2009 Posted: 05:00 BJT(2100 GMT) xinhua

The government also spelled out the definition of “virtual currency” for the first time, which includes prepaid cards of cyber-games, according to a joint circular from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Commerce Friday.

“The virtual currency, which is converted into real money at a certain exchange rate, will only be allowed to trade in virtual goods and services provided by its issuer, not real goods and services.” it said.

I might be reading it wrong, but it looks like that means that Gold farming is banned in China.

How much is enough?

“I had a guy come to me and say, ‘I’ve got $40 million. Do you think it’s enough?’ ” White recalls. “He meant, Was it enough to be happy and safe? The correct answer is no. You won’t find it with $4 billion. You’re looking for ‘enough’ in the wrong place.”

There’s a great piece over at Forbes (from 2006) asking “Why do the Rich Keep Working?”

Mintz conducted four-hour interviews with 25 execs, each worth between $5 million and $500 million. Some admitted that they had grown accustomed to the glittery perks of success: toys, praise, glory. But there were darker themes, too.

The article is dark and disturbing. As children we were sold the dream that if we made enough money, everything would be wonderful. Now along comes this study that says everyone’s life is gonna suck no matter what?

Bah!

That article’s not about me – it’s about workaholics; and I don’t qualify. I have a parallel addiction that I’ll discuss this month . . .

But right now, I want to know what you think. Answer me this:

1) How much is enough?
2) Do you have enough?
3) When you have enough, will you find something to do other than work?

I just received a message that someone was having trouble logging in to comment. Specifically, they said:

when I try to login to post a reply and thats where the problem occurs:

i click to password remind, my details are not recognised as an existing user
i click to register my details, it says they are already in the DB

Is anyone else having a similar problem? (If so and you don’t have my email, tell me via the contact form).

Thanks!

In Greek mythology, the Muses are the Goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge that was related orally for centuries in the ancient.

For some, a Muse is an actual person or figure. For me, the muse is the drive to want to convey something amazing – something worth your time.
You may have noticed that I’ve been on a pretty long hiatus from blogging. My muse left me because I lost track of the number one principle of blogging: Do It Fucking Now.

Far too often, that Muse was whispering in my ear and I said “That’s a great Idea for a post . . . I’ll do it a little later.” A little later turned into a lot later . . . which turned into never. And so those blog posts went the way of so many hopes, dreams and ambitions in this world that are not met with a Carpe Diem attitude.

Inspired by Matts 30 day challenge, I’m going to challenge myself to come up with a solid blog post every day for the next 30 – to get back in the habit out of it. I’m telling you because by making it public, I have more of an incentive not to fail.

If you enjoy the ride please let me know.