Archive for 'Blogging'
How To Streamline Your Affiliate Marketing on Wordpress
Posted on 07. May, 2009 by Derrick.
I know its been a couple of months, but I’m happy to say I’ve finally finished a new video on an excellent wordpress plug in I use on all my websites to help me streamline my affiliate marketing, it called Ninja Affiliate, and it basically does 3 things very well all within the Wordpress Admin panel:
- Makes it quick and easy to add affiliate links to your wordpress blog including a very powerful feature that automatically converts your keywords into affiliate links
- Creates professional redirect links
- Cloaks your affiliate links preventing affiliate theft.
you can learn all about these features in this short video I have made explaining all these points, and why I’ve invested Ninja Affiliate
Please feel free to leave any feedback or comments below!
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Preview of Alvin Phang’s Atomic Blogging 3.0 System
Posted on 05. Mar, 2009 by Derrick.
I’ve been out of action for the last 2 weeks due to my offline work and projects and have just found some time to make a new post. Over the last 3 months I have done a lot of research on the net for blogging and internet marketing resources. One of the resources I have come across is Atomic Blogging by Alvin Phang. I signed up to his mailing list, and ever since have received various emails including his recent engagement!. .
In the last few days I have received a number of emails with regards to his latest version of Atomic Blogging. Having decided that blogging is definitely something I want to continue, I read with interest what his Atomic Blogging would provide me.
The system he sells inlcudes his
- Blogging Guide 3.0
- Atomic Blogging 3.0 Wordpress Plug-in
- Atomic Blogging Nuclear Nodule Pack (A collecton of Wordpress plug-in’s Alvin Recommends)
- One Month Free Access to his Atomic Blogging VIP Membership including his Atomic Blogging 4.0 Wordpress theme and 500 Fresh New PLR Articles every month.
- Interview with Yaro Starak
- Private/ Master Label Rights for the Barking Traffic Videos (14 Videos), Adsense Revenue Exposed and Bloggers Guide To Profits ebooks plus eWriter Pro Software for writing ebooks.
Limited Time Bonuses:
- Atomic Blogging Keyword Research Tool Version 2.0
- Interview with John Chow and Carl Ocab
So after reading what the package included, besides the actual Atomic Blogging 3.0 Guide, the key products I found of interest were the Atomic Blogging 3.0 Wordpress Plug-in, as I have not come accross this plug-in before. Most social bookmarking plug-ins I found only add the functionality of making it easy for others to social bookmark your article, but don’t actually submit your article to the social bookmarking sites. If you have ever submitted your own article to Digg or any other social bookmarking site, you will know it can easily take 10-15 minutes to do. This software submits your article to up to 15 social bookmarking sites everytime you publish a new post! This will definitely be a timesaver and help with traffic.
The other product is the Atomic Blogging 4.0 Wordpress theme. I still haven’t found the perfect theme, but always interested to try a new one and see how well it works. Also the Atomic Blogging Nuclear Module Pack would be very useful as I’m constant looking for new plug-ins to provide more functionality to my blog, so hopefully there will be a few new plug-ins I can use here.
The final product that looks very useful is the Atomic Blogging Keyword Research Tool. I’m only just beginning to realise how important keyword research is, so again, I look forward to test this one, and find out how useful it is compared to other tools I have used.
Anyway I’ve decided to buy the Atomic Blogging 3.0 Pack, and look forward to do a more detailed review, once I get a chance to study the Atomic Blogging Guide and test out the Plugin’s and software. If you are already a user or have any comments to add please feel free to comment below!
Click here to check out Atomic Blogging 3.0
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Episode 2 - Its Time To Shine in 2009 - 500 Video Post - A Forward To Internet Marketing History in 2009 - Starring Alex Jeffreys, Mike Filsaime and The Fortunate 500!
Posted on 28. Jan, 2009 by Derrick.
I’m very proud to say that I’ve finally completed another concept video for the Alex Jeffrey’s Video competition. This has taken me practically a whole week. . and an all nighter (last nite) to get it completed (As I plan to take a few days off now :). I’ve done something special with this Video and tried to include as many of the fortunate 500 in it. . see if you can find yourself 
- Make sure you watch in HD and you’ll probably have to pause the video to look at the appropriate place - there’ s plenty of very interesting stuff to see - anyways, hope you enjoy It.
Please DIGG if you like it (just click that DIGG button to the right) and let me know what you think by leaving a comment!
COMPETITION DETAILS:
I’m setting up a competition for this video as well - There will be some great Internet Marketing Giveaways - I’m just in the process of organizing the prizes and will be able to confirm on Monday what they will be - but rest assured they will be of great value :). All you have to do is put your name and email address plus answer this simple question:
- Name one internet marketer or celebrity featured in the video (besides Alex and Mike of course :).
Deadline for the competition will be the 6th of February, and I’ll announce the winner by the 10th Feb. So Enter today! Click here to go to the full post and post a comment.
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Progress Update : 2009 Week 2 January 12th-18th
Posted on 20. Jan, 2009 by Derrick.
Ok, So a couple of days late. . but I have legitate excuses (Difficultly uploading video to Youtube - for some reason, it wouldn’t accept my HD version, and attempted nearly 10 times - the file was huge - over 700MB :). .Anyways, here’s my progress report for 12th to 18th of January. (times are approximate, as there were a few times when I was in deep concentration on making the video, I forgot to start the timer
My Achievements:
- Brainstormed Ideas for Video Contest & Produced and Uploaded first Video (~16 hours+)
- Researched Wordpress themes and revamped my blog ~ 15 hours
- Initiated my first Joint Venture Project - I’ll reveal more of this later ~ 4 hours
- Writing 2 Key articles - one on article writing, the other on directory submission ~ 9 hours
- Spending a very small amount of time on Traffic Generation ~ 2 hours (I think this is a little inaccurate - probably more closer to 4-5 hours and this was mostly oil rig hopping - visiting and commenting on other peoples blogs)
Below is a nice coloured graph showing you the breakdown:
Work Breakdown Jan 12th -18th 2009 - Click to enlarge
Now that I have showed you what I have done - Lets check what the RESULTS are
My Key Performance Indicators from the goals I set in January were based on the following : Income, Visitors, and my list building. As I have been focusing on producing content and updating my site (and subsequently very little on traffic generation) my results this week, have not suprisingly been bad :) Firstly here are my google Analytics stats:
Google Analytics - Jan 12-18th 2009 - Click to Enlarge
As you can see I nearly dipped to ZERO on the 16th, but I was luckily able to resurrect my traffic after I finally uploaded my Video to YouTube. I have to say its very discouraging when you aren’t getting traffic, but its an adrenalin ride when you do:)
Ok. big question : have I made any money? And the answer is NO. . in fact I’ve spent some money (spent $70 buying the WooTheme to update the look and feel of my site). But I know I will very soon. . How about my list? No subscribers yet either, but again I do have a plan. . so this will change very soon
One other bit of good news is that I have climbed in the Alexa Rankings - I’m now proud to say I’m at 580,385 Check it out below:
Alexa Rankings 18th Jan 2009 - Click to enlarge
Oh, and one other thing. . I just passed 1000 friends on twitter :). . so all in all despite not being good to my bank account, it has been a good week :). . .
Well that’s it for week 2.
My plan this week is to continue working on my blog usability and functionality, adding lots of quality content, and spend more time in traffic generation activities
Would love to hear any questions you may have or your thoughts on how I could be more productive, or where you feel I need to focus my energies for the coming weeks - post your comments in the box below
Derrick
Popularity: 65% [?]
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Review of Three Of The Best Professional Wordpress Themes
Posted on 17. Jan, 2009 by Derrick.
Looking for a new look and feel for your blog? Not sure where to look? You can spend hours searching for the right theme (I have!, in fact I would say I’ve probably spent a good week searching!) Here is a breif review of 3 of the best wordpress theme design companies I have discovered over the past few weeks and my experience in dealing with them.
1.WooThemes -
WooThemes - Open Air - One Of 17 Current Themes
Really love these guys designs, but most importantly they mentioned they offered theme support for customization (which I needed). Also they have developers who can help you make the changes should you not want to do it yourself (at about $50-100/hour). The help to customise was the main reason why I went with them, also they have a permanent 2 for 1 offer, so you get 2 for the price of one at $70. They also have a theme club offer where you can have access to all the themes for a great price. Currently they have 17 theme designs (all with colour theme variations) and they also have 4 Free ones now - Check them out here
They are really responsive when I made these sales enquiries (usually answered within 24 hours) plus their after sales support was excellent and they lived up to their promise of helping me customise my theme - my initial queries were answered within 30min. My last query is still unanswered, but it is the weekend! and I think I was lucky to get the others answered so quick on a Saturday night!
WooThemes - Quality - 4.5/5, Customer Service 4.5/5 so far, Value 4.5/5
2. Revolution Themes by Brian Gardner.
Revolution Two - One of Ten Current Themes
Another great set of themes, (Currently they have Ten different theme styles). I have previously purchased a theme from Brian, and I have to say his service and response is also excellent. He also has a support forum set up for customers, and I found this very useful in getting an issue resolved. I would say quality and customer service is level with Woo Themes. He also has a single theme price ($59.95) or a developer price where you get access to all his themes plus lifetime support. (199.95). For repeat customers you also get 25% off:)
Revolution Two - Quality : 4.5/5, Service 4.5/5, Value 4/5
3. Unique Blog Designs.
Unique Blog Designs - One of Three Current Themes
Many people use these guys. and they also produce great looking professional themes. I would say these guys are slightly more upmarket in terms of they have a more corporate professional feel. This is reflected in their cost - their current lineup of three themes are $79.00 each. and they have an equal focus on creating customized themes for mid-high end level clients. I would definitely consider using them If I had the budget for a customized design - you’re looking at least around $1500 for a fully customized solution from them.
I did submit a couple of requests for more information, and they were a bit slow in responding. (about 2-3 days) - not sure if this was because I contacted them at the beginning of the year, and they may not have started work yet, nevertheless they were very professional, and were happy to discuss on the phone as well as via email. A lot of the big boys use them, so if your budget allows - definitely worth checking them out for the fully customized option, or just get one of their professional ready made themes for $79.
Unique Blog Designs - Quality : 5/5 Customer Service 3.5/5 (based on slow response to sales enquiry only - have had no contact with support after sales), Value 3/5
I also made some enquiries to random wordpress designers, and even got a quote for up to $10,000 to get one done! So if you are on a budget, but do want a ‘pro’ look for your theme with support (the problem with free themes are, it may be more difficult to do troubleshooting and therefore waste time, as compared to getting a professional theme, where they offer good support to help you get your theme working as fast as possible.
Here is a comparison table for these theme designers:
Wordpress Theme Designers Comparision
* Revolution themes offers 25% off any purchases after initial purchase.
Ultimately who you choose will largely depend on personal preference of design, and budget.
Here are quick links to their sites so you can take a look for yourself.
Feel free to make a comment, and let me know if you have any questions, or if you have any other wordpress theme designers you would recommend!
Derrick
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Blog Makeover - New ‘Professional’ Wordpress Theme :)
Posted on 17. Jan, 2009 by Derrick.
Ok, so I’ve been a bit slack posting up on the website, but only because I’ve been busy working on a few things for the site - including the NEW LOOK!. . And as usual everything takes time. I Spent about 5 hours yesterday setting up, plus about 5-10 hours surfing the web looking for what I wanted this week.
Still a few minor tweaks to get it to how I want. I’ve attached a snapshot of what the old blog looked like (with some missing widgets as I forget to take a screenshot before I changed the theme, so its missing my RSS subscribe and optin box for the ebook, at the top right, but it gives you a pretty good idea to compare:
Blog Theme Jan 17th 2009
I’m aslo thinking of bring back the cartoon element, as I like it better:
Blog Theme Dec 2008
What do you think? Do you like the new look? Prefer the old one? Think I should bring back the cartoon character?
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Mid-Month January Progress Update
Posted on 14. Jan, 2009 by Derrick.
Hi All,
Haven’t had a chance to post anything yesterday as I got a bit exhausted from writing the last two articles (They took a whole day to write both as these are not my areas of expertise and I had to do some research to make sure what I was saying was valid :). So after that draining experience, It helped me refocus where I really want to go - to be a leader in Media, Tech, Entrepreneurship and Personal Development. As a result, I’ve also had to spend a bit time soul searching and considering where I am going with this project, and how it will fit in my grand plan:) I have committed to make this work. so don’t worry. I’m still moving forward
Anyways, One of things I haven’t really touched on are the 3 New Competitions Alex Jeffrey’s has launched:
- Most Creative Video (That must contain, Alex Jeffrey’s name, His Website and us introducing ourselves)
- Video that generates the most hits (with the above same criteria)
- 1st Person to create a webpage that gets ranked No.1 in google for the Name Alex Jeffreys.
Besides these competitions, I’ve also been busy working on some other articles and ideas. .so things are getting really busy around here :). . Anyway. with all my time spending on content creation, I haven’t had much time to spend on generating traffic and so sadly I missed my first traffic goal of 100 unique visitors per day (In fact it has had a slight dip from my high of around 50).
Dissapointing yes. . but I know I can make it up because of the projects and ideas I am working on right now.
So I’ve been working on developing a good routine, so that everyday I will spend at least 1 hour doing activities to generate traffic. Today my main method will be Oil Rig Hopping. That’s all I want to share today. .I’ll be posting up some good info in the next week (including information about making videos) . and don’t forget if there’s something you particularly want covered, just leave a comment and I’ll see what I can do!
Derrick
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Writing Articles - 5 Key Principles To Write A Kickass Article And Maximise Qualified Traffic To Your Website
Posted on 12. Jan, 2009 by Derrick.
- Not sure where to start to write your own article?
- Don’t know what to write about?
- Have no idea how to write a good article?
- Or maybe you’re just looking for some extra article writing tips to confirm you’re on the right track?
Wherever you are, I’m glad you’ve come to this article, because the goal of this article is to simplify and demystify the art and science of article writing for the web. However, before we look at the “How to write an article” its important to know the “Why Of Writing Articles“.
Here are my three reasons:
- You want to share valuable information.
- You want to increase your exposure, build your credibility and your brand
- And you want to drive qualified traffic to your website
Article writing has long been recognized as a great way to drive not only traffic to your website - but qualified traffic. This means rather than your visitor clicking to your website from reading a short advertisement, or some other less meaningful link, they click through, from your article. This means they have had to read through your whole article to get to your link at the bottom - so they must be interested in who you are, and what you have to say. Because they are more qualified, they are more likely to surf around on your site, give you their email address or even buy from you. And of course the big kicker for articles is that it costs you nothing! The downside is - you do need to spend time and effort in writing your articles - though you do get better and more efficient as you practice more
But where do people find your articles? There are hundreds of article directories on the Internet like www.ezinearticles.com, which gather and organize millions of articles written by millions of authors. By submitting your articles to these sites you get your articles out there, plus you also give the right for others to reprint / republish your work on their sites, so effectively increase your reach!
Ok, now we’re ready for the How -
My 5 Key Principles for Article Writing:
1. Choose Your Area Of Specialty
- Ideally you want to pick an area you are passionate about, as your passion and enthusiasm for the subject will shine through otherwise just pick an area that you know, or at the very least are prepared to research well. You need to sound like you know what you are talking about, and your information needs to be true, otherwise, you will shoot your credibility and destroy the brand you’re trying to create.
Once you have selected an area, you need to hone in on a specific problem or issue, so you can address it with your solution. For example, let say your area is Televisions. There are so many different types of LCD and plasma TVs these days, an obvious initial choice for topic would be how to choose the right TV for you.
2. Know Your Audience -
Your ability to develop rapport and connect with your reader is directly related to how well you know your audience. By knowing who your target audience is, you can connect with them based on their problems, their desires, their likes, dislikes and their language level.
In this example I could write the article for mums and dads - i.e. not a teenager or a geek. So therefore I write the article with very simple terms, and if I were to use any jargon, I would make sure I explain it. Also I need to consider what issues they may have - such as having legacy hardware like old school VCR’s and so one of the areas I could cover is how they could check for compatibility with their older equipment
3. Come Up With A Title -
The title is considered one of the most important aspects of an article (besides the article itself:) Often it is the power of the title that will draw the reader into the article, so you must have an attention grabbing title. There are 3 Aspects you need to consider when creating your title:
1. Ensure title is Keyword rich - for people to find your article it needs to contain the keywords people would be searching for. So you need to do a little research on keywords (you can use Google’s Keyword tool which is free).
In this example I would do a search for LCD and Plasma TV - and look at what keywords show up, and target the more common ones - after doing a quick search I discovered that LCD HDTV scored over 4 million searches, as compared to LCD HD TV which only got 135,000 and PLASMA HDTV just over 1 Million - so Now I know what I should definitely use and not use in my title. Note also that keywords in the body of your article are also important and will help keep your article highly ranked within articles for the topic.
2. Get Creative and Make Your Title Attention Grabbing - you need to stand out from all the articles that cover the same kind of information, so you need a title that has the x-factor - Think about all those gossip magazines, that try and grab your attention at the supermarket
It would be easy just to write: How to Choose your next widescreen LCD or Plasma TV which is ok, but not the best - after doing the keyword research above, I would probably go with something more like: PLASMA or LCD HDTV? 5 Questions You MUST Ask before Buying your Next Widescreen TV. Ask yourself if you were given the choice of these two titles, which would you more likely click through to read?
3. Check your title is unique - the main reason for this is so you can keep a track of your article - by doing a search for the complete title of your article in a search engine, you can see how many copies of it are being distributed around the web. If other people have the same title, you won’t know at a glance which are yours or theirs, making it more difficult to assess the distribution and reach of your written article.
(You can check this by typing the complete article title in the search engine with quotation marks at the beginning and the end - that way the search engine searches for those words in that exact order and sequence. Typing my title above, I confirmed it was unique (at the time of writing:)
4. Write the Article -
If you’ve never written before, don’t worry. These days most people write as they speak, so don’t be too concerned that you need to write something at a scholarly level, you don’t. In fact most people prefer to read articles that are more conversational, informal and light hearted. The key point is that you are providing value in your article. Here are few tips to writing your article
1. Know what you want to share with your audience - what is the point of your article and what are the key ideas? - Scribble these down on paper
2. Brainstorm - What questions do you have yourself about the topic - do some research if needed
3. Organize the key ideas into some logical structure
4. Fill out the ideas with examples, stories, analogies, metaphors and quotations to help illustrate the points you are making
5. Write the article - remember people are time poor these days, so the more concise and succinct your article the better - (It is recommended to keep under 750 words) Make it easy to ready by clearly breaking up the paragraphs and using bullet points and numbering.
6. Read and Revise - I recommend printing your article out to read out aloud - I find it gives you a better overall view of your piece, and I think its easier and faster to make notes, revisions and formatting changes. Also by reading out aloud, you will be able to judge the sense and flow of your article much better. Once you are happy, just spend a few minutes making adjustments to the final typed draft.
7. Proof & Publish - Finally reprint the final draft and do a final proof read for spelling, grammatical and logical sense. (Also, it’s always good to get the feedback from people whose opinions you value:).
Once you are satisfied - Publish your article to an article directory! - You can also use programs like article submitter which will simultaneously publish your article to hundreds of article directory sites saving you hours of time and effort.
5. Call To Action -
Don’t forget one of the key reasons you are publishing is to get people to visit your site. So insert your link at the end of your article!
Thats it, What do you think? Are there any other points you feel I left out?
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Blogging Progress Report Thursday 8th January 2008
Posted on 08. Jan, 2009 by Derrick.
Hi All,
Had a busy day today.
Here are the goals I Kicked today:
TRAFFIC GENERATION
- Sketched out my 2 ideas to generate traffic. . to be implemented in the next two weeks - I’ll reveal these when they are ready to be launched
- Left comments on about 10 blogs - One thing I have to improve is to devise a better way to keep track of these other than ticking them off on two different sheets. . I’m finding its taking me about 10 - 20minutes per blog visit and comment, so end up spending about 1-2 hours doing this.
- Submitted my site to Alexa - by the way, I checked out my Alexa Ranking a couple a days ago, and was blown away by my ranking - I’m in the top 1 Million Sites Baby!
CREATING CONTENT
- Wrote my Jan Goals Blog Entry
- Wrote this Entry
- Wrote My Preview for 3 Software Programs
- Getting my New Blog Design Ideas together
RESEARCH & STUDY
One the major frustrations of building the blog, is that there are SOOO many things I want to get done - I have so many ideas, but at the moment am limited by time and assistants (ie I have none at the moment - so I need to look into how I can get some help
- Anyway one of the things I’ve spent 2-3 hours doing today is evaluating the value of some software that should save time, improve my blog standing and make money - I’ve found three that look very useful:
- Directory Submitter - Free & Paid Version - Just submitted to 10 directories tonight
- Article Submitter - Free & Paid Version
- Ninja Affiliate - Paid Version Only - wordpress plugin to make affiliate management much easier
In my next post I’ll give a quick preview
Oh. .yeah. .and still no Moolah :). . (but that’s all according to plan 
- see my earlier post
Derrick
Popularity: 43% [?]
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The 3 Steps To Making Money Online - The Road Ahead. . .
Posted on 27. Dec, 2008 by Derrick.
Ok, I have to admit its been difficult to get to the blog this week, with Christmas and all, and right now I’m also doing a bit of spring cleaning, and getting ready for 2009. Anyways, before I review and summarise the Key Traffic Generating ideas I’ll be deploying. . I thought I would quickly outline the business model of making money online as I understand it and the considerations one needs to take into account before embarking on this worthy venture Here are the THREE Stages as I see it:
- A Web presence - so this basically involves getting yourself some cyberspace. some web real estate. And just like buying real estate, it can seem very complicated and can be time consuming if you don’t know what you are doing. I plan to put a guide together of all the steps you need to take to get some of this cyberspace for your very own: Here is a basic outline below:
- Come up with a domain name and buy it
- Subscribe to some ’server space’ to host your website / blog. This is essentially a computer that has some of its hard drive allocated for your website / blog and is ALWAYS connected to the internet, so that anyone can access your website/blog at anytime
- Create your website / blog using the relevant software
- Customise the look and feel of your website & Optimise the functionality (eg having an area to display your 5 most recent posts)
- Create original and informative / entertaining content that people want to read and learn about.
- Drive Targeted Traffic to your website
- This will be the subject of my next post - I’ll be discussing what are some of the most effective ways of driving quality targeted traffic to your website.
- Monetize Your Traffic
- This means you need to have products and services that you can either sell, or recommend relating to the main subject of your website / blog.
- If do intend to sell your own products, you need to have a platform / system in place to accept orders and payments and fulfillment of your products / services.
And that’s it!. . As a concept quite simple, but in practice? well, we shall see! In my next post I’ll be sharing the key points from Alex Jeffreys‘ last Module : Social Media Money - which covered the role of new social media like Facebook, myspace and twitter in the world of ecommerce / internet marketing.
Dont’ forget, if there’s anything particular you have a question about, or want to know, please leave a comment below, so I can make sure (or at least attempt) to give or find the answers for you!
Stay Tuned!
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online stock trading advice: I usually don’t post on Blogs but ya forced me to,...
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Erik von Werlhof: I am looking forward to hearing what you have to s...
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matt: great!!!! i learn a lot from your video....
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