Tag Archives: Traffic
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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Alex Jeffreys’ Announces Competition Winners For Coaching Students
Posted on 14. Feb, 2009 by Derrick.
After starting the coaching program at the end of November 2008, Alex Jeffreys set up a number of competitions to motivate and inspire some friendly competition amongst the students. 4 Competitions were set up in all, with the last of them ending on February 6th. The competitions and winners were:
- Most Traffic to Blog over a 2 week period: US$1000
Jim Gallagher link to statistics here
- Most Creative / Best Produced Video: US$1500
Derrick Siu (That’s Me! - Woohoo!) see videos below: - Most Traffic to Video: US$1500
Tim Buttles - Direct Link to His Video Here - 1st Person to Get No.1 On Google for Search Term Alex Jeffreys: US$1000
Gary Simpson - For Video Proof click here
Congratulations to all the winners. . and I have to say I’m quite happy to have won the most creative / best produced video and the $1500 will come in very handy 
In case you haven’t seen all the videos I’ve included them below:
Video 1 : Its Time To Shine in 2009 Starring Alex Jeffreys
Video 2: The Fortunate 500 - 300 / The Matrix Spoof:
Video 3 : Why Steve Ballmer Microsoft CEO aka Monkey Boy Went Crazy And Left Microsoft!
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Progress Update : 2009 January 19th-31st
Posted on 05. Feb, 2009 by Derrick.
Ok. . Another 2 weeks has passed. . and I feel I have neglected my blog. . but not for good reason, As I have been busy working on videos for the Video Competition. I was shooting to win the creative and was still hopeful for the video that gets the most traffic for my last video uploaded 2 days before the comp ended (I Guess I was a little too optimistic on that one). . Anyways. .I haven’t heard confirmation of the winners yet. but will be sure to post the results when I do.
So what’s happened in the last 2 week of January? well after checking my time log, I was a little shocked to discover I spent just over 50 hours on the 500 Video! And due to a couple of mini holidays during this time - weekend trip to Brisbane for Chinese New Year and a 4 day break at Jervis Bay in New South Wales - that also cut down my time available to be productive :). So here’s what I have achieved:
- Produced the 500 Video - I know I probably over did it :). . but I wanted to be totally happy with it, and I have to say I am pretty proud of the result ~ 50 hours
- Traffic Generation Activity ~ 3hours
- Building and optimising blog ~ 4 hours
- Writing Content ~ 2 hours
- Miscellaneous ~ 10 hours
After this first full month working on the blog. . - which has mainly consisted with producing the videos :). . and just in my research on what’s happening and whats out there, I feel I’m getting a much better idea of where I am best placed within the World Wide Web - I’ll be making my plans in the next week as I spend time evaluating where I should be heading, and what I want to spend my time on.
Jan 2009 Work Breakdown
Ok. . so lets see how all this activity affected my traffic to my site: - Just click to open up the full size image
Google Analytics Jan 19th-31st 2009
You’ll notice a HUGE peak on the 19th wtih 144 Visits in one day! This was as a result of my first Video being launched. My Second Video was launched on the 30th Jan and had to leave for my mini holiday so didn’t have the proper time to promote it.
Lastly my Alexa Ranking has improved as well. . I didn’t do a check on the 31st so here are my stats from today:
Alexa Ranking February 6th 2009
Wow - I’m now in the top 250,000 websites :). . My goal to get to the top 100,000 is in sights! When I first started this blog sometime in mid December it was ranked around 9 Million, and slowly I have gone up the Alexa Ranks :). .anwyays still much more work to do, but this is definitely encouraging!
THE FUTURE:
Anyways. I think my future lies in making instructional videos and reviews, so I’m researching on what I should be making them for. If you have any ideas or suggestions on what type of videos I should be making - please leave your comments below!
Cheers,
Derrick
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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
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The Video Alex Jeffreys Never Made But Wanted To : Starring Alex Jeffreys!
Posted on 18. Jan, 2009 by Derrick.
Its taken me all weekend, but now I’m really excited as I’ve just uploaded my YouTube Video Entry for Alex Jeffreys 2009 Video Competition :). A Total of $3000 is up for grabs ($1500 for most creative ,and another $1500 for the one that drives the most traffic:) The competition is open to all his coaching students (about 500) - and here are the Criteria that need to be met to be eligible to win
In this video, you’ll see I Managed to film Alex sharing some words of wisdom. Hope you enjoy it Anyways check it, and let me know what you think in the comments below:
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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Directory Submission - Save Yourself Up To 179 Hours But Still Get Your Site Listed In All The Directories.
Posted on 11. Jan, 2009 by Derrick.
Just got off the phone from a friend of mine who is an SEO Expert, and he suggested using another tool to get your websites submitted to the directories. Before we go further, here is a quick summary from Wikipedia of what Directories do and why they are important in getting traffic:
‘Today submission of websites to web directories is considered as a common SEO (search engine optimization) technique to get vital back-links for the submitted web site. One distinctive feature of ‘directory submission’ is that it can not be fully automated like search engine submissions. Manual directory submission is a tedious and time consuming job and is often outsourced by the webmasters.’
If you don’t know already, back-links, or links from other sites coming to your site, is a very important variable to show search engines that you are an important site - as it is expected that the more links to your site and the better quality links - (including links that are relevant, from highly ranked sites) , the more favourable the search engines will rank you and therefore get you more traffic.
Notice also the quote said - it’s a time consuming job. I tried Directory Submitter as mentioned previously, and it took me about an hour to submit to 10 directories - very time consuming if you realise that there are 350 sites in the FREE Version of Directory Submitter, and over 1800 in the paid version. (ie it would take about 35 hours to submit to all the directories for the FREE version and 180 hours for the paid version!! (It is however worth taking a look and reading the copy of Directory Submitter to understand more about directories)
Why does it take so long? Well, to get your site listed in any Directory, you need to provide details of your website :
- URL
- Category
- Sub Category
- Title
- Description
- Keywords
So normally you would need to firstly have a list of all the directories, and then go to each directory and submit these details. VERY TIME CONSUMING.
Directory submitter allows you to firstly input this data into its database, and saves time by having the listing of all the directories within the program (with page rank, so you can start from the highest page rank(10) to the lowest(0)). You just click on the directory you wish to submit to, and it loads the page up into its inbuilt browser, and automatically copy and pastes the details you have entered previously into the directory’s site submission page.
This definitely saves time, but you still often need to select the best fitting category, as every directory has a different category system - so just looking through their category structure to find the category that best fits your site takes time, and sometimes the program doesn’t always fill in all the blanks (if the directory has additional fields etc). So that’s Why it takes time, even with the time saving features of Directory Submitter. (which probably at least cuts the time needed by half.)
So naturally I complained about the time it takes to submit to the directories to my SEO friend, and he suggested a much better option that I wasn’t aware of - Directory Maximizer - A service that will manually submit your website to the directories for you. They only charge 14cents per directory - That means instead of investing 1 hour to submit to 10 directories, I can get it done for $1.40. (And my time is definitely worth more than that! - I’m sure yours is too!
Other advantages of using this system is:
- Increased chances of link approval as they ensure your site meets all the directory guildelines
- Live up to date reports on the progress of your submissions
- Choose how many directories to submit to - and can select by page rank
- Target multiple search terms by submitting up to 20 different tiles and descriptions
- Control the pace of the submissions - as it is better to step the submissions over a period of time (2-5 weeks), as a sudden influx of back links in a short period of time, does not look good to google.
Anyway, This definitely seems to be worth the cost, and is going to be my first job at outsourcing work that is going to make me more effective - you can take a look at Directory Maximzer here.
Have you done directory submissions? - What do you think?
Stay tuned later today, as I’ll be writing about how to write articles
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Module 5 : Traffic Tornadoes - 5 Key Traffic Generating Strategies
Posted on 09. Jan, 2009 by Derrick.
Hi Guys,
Just had our first Coaching session for 2009 with Alex Jeffreys.
Before I get to the key points, I just wanted to say that technology never ceases to amaze and excite me. Even though this is about my 6th or 7th conference web call, I’m still excited as ever by the power of this technology. . (Yes I am a geek
The Ability to do a live web coaching seminar to people all over the world and interact is amazing. Because of this technology, we are all able to have a class together, and get a ton of great information on the web conference, plus hear students ask live questions and add even more great information.
Besides the quality information being shared, one of the biggest advantages I’ve found by being part of this program has been great community of students who not only have been very supportive but just as importantly been sources of inspiration and knowledge in helping me build this blog :). .
So thank-you to all those who have offered your help and support!
Today’s session on Traffic Tornadoes was excellent. While the information may not be new. . the value of having someone who knows what he is talking about, and showing you live how to use the technology is fantastic. There ’s so much information out there, so its always great to have someone give you the big picture and show you what’s important. Here are the FIVE KEY WAYS we covered today to help generate Traffic:
- Writing Articles
- How to Network Online, Research your market (Using Google, Yahoo and Alexa) & Make More Links.
- Press Releases
- Giveaways
- Ebay Traffic
To motivate us to put these strategies in place, Alex announced a new Traffic Competition to see who can get listed as No.1 on Google for the search term Alex Jeffreys. Whoever gets the coveted spot (currently occupied by Alex’s own website - www.MarketingWithYou.com wins the $1000.00. (ps - I believe this competition is only available to students of his current coaching program, in case you got excited but are not a student of Alex’s
I gotta go out right now, But I’ll be posting again very soon to expand on some of the traffic techniques listed above as well as our extra session on Video Marketing with Maria Andros. . Stay tuned!
Derrick
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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
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Traffic Secret 1, Part 2 : Good Will Hunting
Posted on 01. Jan, 2009 by Derrick.
What does that mean? Well. . put simply I’m going out on the web on a Good Will Crusade! I’m going out into the world wide web and seeking out blogs, reading posts and comments, and looking for ways to help other people with my knowledge and experience :). . Why would I want to do this?
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