Working online and blogging for a living can get monotonous at times. It can even get discouraging. Let’s say you’ve been working your butt off on a website and things are finally clicking… then all of a sudden you’re kicked out of Google, or you advertisers drop out on you. Things can come crumbling down online just as fast as they can build up. When you get into a rut and don’t feel like working, try checking out one of these films. These 5 movies listed below are my top 5 inspirational movies. No matter what you’re problem is (can’t be worse then the characters depicted in these movies) you’ll be highly motivated to get back at it in only 3 hours.

In no particular order:

1. Braveheart - The ultimate guy movie. Braveheart tells the story of William Wallace, a Scot who fights for his freedom against the tyranny of British rule. Battle after battle, Wallace fights what seems like a losing war and even is betrayed by those closest to him. This movie can teach us to keep fighting for what we believe in. If you believe in your website idea, don’t ever give up.

2. 300 - This movie just makes you want to kick some ass. After watching Leonidas and the Spartan army of 300 take on a Persian empire of 1 million soldiers, you’ll never feel like you’re too small to compete with the big boys. So what if your niche has a lot of competition… don’t let that stop you and don’t let anyone bully you around.

3. Saving Private Ryan - Set in WWII, this movie is about a group of American soldiers sent into France to find Private Ryan. Ryan’s three brothers were all killed in action, and the US Army wanted to bring him home alive, even at the risk of losing a dozen soldiers to get him. This movie teaches us about sacrifice. Sometimes we may have to sacrifice smaller projects in favor of our bigger ones.

4. Gettysburg - Not many people have seen it, but this is one of my favorite movies. Colonel Chamberlain was ordered to defend the very far end of the left flank. His men were the end of the line and had to protect the Union army. If Chamberlain failed, the rebels would have flanked the Union soldiers and won the Battle of Gettysburg (and ultimately the Civil War). The speeches Chamberlain gives him men truly inspire and motivate, even the weakest people.

5. The Pursuit of Happiness - This movie is in a completely different genre then the other 4, but it is a classic rags to riches story… and best of all, it’s a true story. When you’re watching this, it seems like things just keep getting worse and worse. There has to be a bottom right? But through hard work and dedication (and setting goals) you can achieve whatever your heart desires.

I own a lot of sports sites and trying to find private advertisers is nearly impossible. So, often times you’re left with the usually Google Adsense of CPM company.

However, lately I’ve been talking about the great successes I’ve had with Football Fanatics. They pay 10% commission on all sales you make. I’ve done $475+ in sales this month and football season is just now starting. I expect sales to increase gradually over the next few months.

In addition to Football Fanatics, another great affiliate program you can use for all your sports sites is StubHub. StubHub is a ticket broker and with them you will earn 8% on all the tickets you sell. They have tickets for every single sporting event, so no matter what your website is about, it will work for you. I’ve already done 2 orders from Gator Envy and I just added the affiliate links this month.

Never rely on “the usual” monetizing methods when you’re running a sports site. Merchandise and ticket sales can bring in a lot of money.

For the past few days, I’ve slowly been working on a new Skimboarding web site called Skim Shot. Skimboarding was one of my favorite sports/activities growing up. I skimmed almost every day after school until I went off to college. If Gainesville, FL was located on a beach I would have kept skimboarding until college graduation.

For those of you who don’t know what it is, let me show you an introduction video.

It’s very similar to surfing except you run into the wave from the shore instead of just floating out there in the water.

There isn’t much on Skim Shot yet because it’s still a work in progress. I’m hoping since skimboarding isn’t that big (at least compared to other extreme sports like surfing or skating) that there is still a place for my site to grow in the skimming community. I’ve basically got the design set up, added some videos and pictures, and made a welcome post. I plan on having up to date contest information/results and even board reviews. I’ll also blog a couple times a week about what’s going on in the industry or give skimboarding tips. If traffic ever gets to like 200-300 uniques/day I’ll probably add a forum.

So check it out, let me know what you think. This is one of my newest projects so I’ll be working on it quite a bit over the next week or so.

My buddy Bob Buskirk is having a contest to celebrate his new blog design. He’s giving away over $500 in prizes. You’d be a fool not to put in a few entries. I give Bob a lot of credit. He works very hard trying to get his readership and I’m sure this contest will boost his numbers.

I’m not even sure what I would do if I won the Grand Prize. The top prize is a Stripe Ad on John Chow’s blog. I don’t have any site’s that cater to his readership and I definitely do sell any products they’d be interested in either. I could have it point back to my blog, but then I might not get all the value out of it. Anyways, I’ll think about it later.

In an effort to increase activity on Mass Effect Forums, I’ve decided to give away one of my Xbox 360 games… Assassin’s Creed. This contest is open to all members. If you’re not a member, you can sign up for free.

It’s a month long contest, and all you have to do to enter is post 10 times on the forum. It’s that simple. After the contest ends, I will select a random winner and ship the game free of charge. Assassin’s Creed is a popular game and would probably cost you $20-25 if you bought it used from GameStop or something.

Complete contest details can be viewed here.

Right now there are only 4 people who have completed the entry requirements, so you would have a very good chance to bring home the prize. I’m going to announce this contest on my Assassin’s Creed fan site as well to try and get more buzz.