However, after checking with a number of PR tools, it seems I am still at PR0 for this site. I expect it is just a blip with the toolbar reader. I do hope to get my Page Rank back soon, if only so I can start making better use of this blog.

One thing I did notice is that as soon as I started posting again, traffic picked up. Although traffic is still a fraction of what it was when I was posting regularly, it’s getting back to normal. I’ve also generated a few Adsense clicks here and there, which is always a bonus.

The only reason I can think of for my Page Rank to have been penalized is because I was running TNX links on my pages. Other than those TNX links, I didn’t have any paid links or paid reviews on this blog. I’ve contacted Google and am hoping for my Page Rank to be reinstated in the near future. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

One of my blogs, about three months old, has almost all of its links from a handful of directory submissions and about a dozen blog carnivals. I gave the blog two other links: one from my PR4 blog and one from my PR5 blog. That was it. I didn’t spend hours building up link backs or anything like that. I assume that what I did was the absolute minimum needed to achieve a PR3, but whatever, it’s a sweet little stat to be able to throw around now that I’m selling the blog.

One other point of note: I told you a few weeks ago that I bought a dropped domain. At the time, it had a PR5. I took the domain, mimicked some of the original content, started writing my own posts and guess what – the Page Rank held. The blog now stands at PR5 with a number of internal pages at PR4, and I have already sold three ads with Text Link Ads for $25 a month each, as well as two other links for $30 and $35. See – you can make money blogging based on Page Rank.

I now have some weight with which I can sell that blog, because it already makes money. Right there that proves that you can make money with dropped domains. It also proves that if you have the time to establish your own blog network, you can use it to your advantage.

After the recent shake up, I would say that the hard work is in reaching Page Rank 4, like Ben Cook did. Hats off to that guy – he deserves it.

One other point of interest: my post about dropped domains received a Page Rank 4 because I submitted it to blog carnivals. Never underestimate the power of those carnivals.

I got on the front page for that term quite easily by just linking to my make money blogging page multiple times on this blog, my other blogs and anywhere else I could put a link. That’s really all there is to SERPs, but some terms are more competitive than others. I also noticed that I rank highly for certain terms that I have only linked to from this blog. Right there that proves the importance of internally linking your pages.

However, the day we fully understand Google will be the day the world implodes. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. One good thing that Google has done is give my blogs Page Rank that can now be seen in the Google toolbar. What this means is that the blogs I’ve been trying to sell have an extra selling point.

What I’m doing right now is comparing the best offer for each of my unwanted blogs with the most amount of money I can make in selling links on them. If I can make more money selling links then, what they hey, I might as well just do that and leave the blogs to collect dust. I can always sell the content later on.

Initially I planned to use those blogs for writing masses of paid reviews, but the time needed to perform such a task is pretty vast.

Radiohead have been without a record label since 2004, and they’ve embraced this freedom by doing something radical. Nine Inch Nails, Jamiroquai, The Charlatans, Oasis – the list of major bands following suit is growing.

What we’re seeing here is the benefit of having a large enough fan base and reputation to really be able to turn your back on the system. If we apply this to the blogosphere, you see it happening all the time. If major record labels are Google, bands like Radiohead and Oasis are John Chow.

John Chow is big enough to be able to do almost whatever he wants. John Chow has said many times that he doesn’t rely on Google for anything now. While others base their entire blogging projects on the ins and outs of Google, here is John Chow saying he doesn’t give a damn, just as Radiohead are doing.

Major bands are becoming increasingly frustrated with record labels. They don’t want them, but until now, they needed them. Digital downloads are the music industry’s biggest headache. They are killing record sales, which dropped 25% in March this year compared to 2006, according to the Wall Street Journal.

One of Google’s headaches is people trying to manipulate the system, like when John Chow offered links for every review written about his blog with the anchor text “make money online”. He got punished by having his keywords thrown way down in Google searches.

Record labels have tried to fight back against digital downloads, as is evident in the landmark ruling that American Jammie Thomas must pay $220,000 for sharing 24 songs on Kazaa. The ruling is ridiculous and futile because times are changing.

Did John Chow care when he got bitch slapped? No, because he was big enough that it didn’t matter. He doesn’t need to rely on Google, just as Darren Rowse doesn’t, just as Cash Quests doesn’t. Radiohead and Oasis don’t need to rely on record labels anymore, and here lies the lesson: in times of change, it takes pillars of the community to push things along.

If you get yourself into a position where you have the readership of John Chow or Cash Quests or Shoemoney, you have the power to turn the scene upside down.

For the rest of us, we still have to respect Google, but we’re being shown the possibility that things won’t always be this way. So Google knocked down a few Page Ranks of major bloggers, but the majority of them don’t care. It will only serve to turn people further against Google, just as Jammie Thomas getting sued will only serve to turn bands and music fans further against major record labels.

Jamiroquai frontman Jason “Jay” Kay has been very vocal about his dislike for record labels putting marketing above music. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails expressed his disgust for the high price of CDs by telling fans to steal his music at a show in Australia. In the blogging world, Pro Blogger said he doesn’t use Adsense any more. Until recently, it was assumed that a blogger couldn’t make money unless he was using Adsense.

John Chow also doesn’t run Adsense, and neither does John Cow. They do things their own way, and show the rest of us that if we work hard and build up our blogs, we can do the same. Heck, even Cash Quests got banned from Adsense and now those guys are making more money than ever. In the future, we won’t even need to rely on SEO if we put the groundwork in.

Record labels are not the be all and end all of the music industry any more, and Google is not the be all and end all of the blogosphere. We’ve been relying Google and silly green bars of Page Rank for too long.

What’s interesting about the Radiohead story is that fans are being asked to choose the value of music, which has until now been determined by record labels. Label bosses are terrified because they stand to lose so much money.

What’s interesting about the blogosphere is that even now, Google plays a major role in determining the value of a blog, but this is changing too. You don’t need to rank number one for every keyword and you don’t ultimately need a PR6 to be successful, but having these things along the way will help you.

For you, me and all the other bloggers waiting to make it, we can’t turn our backs on Google yet, but in time, we will be able to. Radiohead, Oasis, John Chow & Co. – these are the people who are changing the way we think and approach blogging. As Shoe said, you have to play the game – up until a point.

This is the blogging revolution. As Dosh Dosh wrote recently in reference to the Radiohead story, it’s not all about money, it’s about reaching out to a loyal audience. This audience is what we should be aiming for first and foremost – Google or no Google.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m looking up to the people who are making it, like Courtney Tuttle. You can get more useful info reading decent blogs than you can studying Google’s logarithms.

Luckily, Google has a system place for idiots like me who lose their Adsense checks. According to Google Help Center:

When can I request a reissue of my cheque?

Standard delivery: The 25th of the month following month of issue. For example, if your check was issued on January 27th, you can request a reissue after February 25th. Secured Express Delivery: The 5th of the month following month of issue. However, we recommend that you first use the tracking number located on your Payment History page to determine the status of your payment.

While it is annoying that I will have to wait a bit longer to get my hands on Google’s money again, at least I know that money is not lost for good – yet.

“Get your links in now!” – what were you doing for three months?

If you’re serious abut blogging, then you ought to be aware of Page Rank. If you aren’t, then here is a brief summary from the horse’s mouth:

PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at considerably more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; for example, it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important.” Using these and other factors, Google provides its views on pages’ relative importance.

Some bloggers go to serious lengths to try to explain how Google compiles its Page Rank, but the truth is that nobody except Google knows a whole lot about it. Page Rank is updated every three months. This usually inspires bloggers to go into overdrive with contests and link baiting and all manner of ways to improve their Page Rank. Well, what the hell have they been doing for the rest of the time? Building up your link backs is a steady, gradual process that requires work all the time. Even I know that.

Also, a lot of people are wrong in their assessments of Page Rank; it isn’t continually updated. I found this over at the Digital Point forums that set the record straight with some hard facts:

When PageRank is updated (talking visual update here, anyone who thinks they’re being intelligent by pointing out that behind the scenes PR is updated constantly should be slapped), Google bases it on a single snapshot from a specific point in time (same goes for BL updates, btw). That point in time is usually a few weeks prior to the actual export. When you are looking at PR, it is calculated by all using all of the links that Google knows about at that time. Any links you get to your site after than snapshot won’t be counted, even if you get them prior to the actual PR itself being exported.

What that means for me is that my blog will probably not receive a Page Rank in the next update. No big deal, as I will have three months to build it up. But people should remember that rushing out to buy links or have links placed on a blog just before the update is released to the public won’t help you until the next update. Even so, there’s no need to do everything at once.

Just chill and work hard all the time.