Tag Archives: blogging

Transferring Between Website Hosts

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I’ve always gotten my domain names from GoDaddy. They were cheap and efficient and quick.  Sure, the “up sell” between finding a good domain name and making it to the check out screen was a bit of a slog but with enough determination you can make it through to the end.  I always liked GoDaddy service, too.  Whenever I had a problem or a question, I could pick up the phone and get someone who understood what I was talking about and who could explain a solution to me in plain English.

The other thing I liked about GoDaddy was that the customer service calls I used to get. Evey now and then some person would call and ask about renewing some domain names and “Oh, by the way, let me tell you about this great hosting we offer”.  Well, at the time, I was actually thinking of putting up a website and hosting sounded real good.  Right place and the right time…for GoDaddy.

So, I made the plunge and bought the hosting and the initial website worked OK until I decided it was worthless and I took it down.   Time passed and then I decided to get into a little bit of blogging and wanted to install WordPress.  That was easier said than done.  Even with “professional” help (someone who was selling blog installation packages…doesn’t that sound familiar!?)  I had a hard time getting the WordPress files installed and the speed is pretty slow by today’s standards combined with more downtime than I care to deal with.

Enter: HostGator.  You see their banners everywhere and everyone who is anyone has always recommend HostGator to me as the web host.  great pricing, great service, unlimited bandwidth, etc. and so on.

When I was talking to a local guru about HostGator he told me they would actually do a file transfer for free.  Wow!  That would mean I wouldn’t have to install a whole new version of WordPress and I wouldn’t have to start over from scratch.  What a deal!  I signed up and filled out the “please transfer my files” form online and it worked like a freakin’ charm.

I was so thrilled to have my blog on a platform that really rocks!

A Shout Out to The Ultimate Blog Challenge

Just a quick aside to mention that I’m joining in with The Ultimate Blog Challenge beginning today.  31 blog posts in 31 days.  Let’s see if I can actually pull it off.  Stay tuned.

Oh….and click the “Like” button or Comment about this post…..plretty please!

Slant, Spin, Voice

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Taking  a break from his usual hilarious self (although if you watch to the end, he gets back into form), Jordon Cooper of Not A Pro Blog decided to hold forth on what makes a good blog and how you get people to read it.

I’ll let you watch the video for yourself to see if you agree with him or not but here’s my take:

Slant, Spin and Voice are all well and good and if writing a blog like a pundit will bring me a gazillion readers: great.  But my thinking is that in and of themselves Slant, Spin and Voice won’t do it .  At least, not all of it.

People may flock to the likes of Glenn Beck (whom I can’t stand, either. So Jordon and I are on the same page there.) because Fox News spent gazillions of dollars advertising Glenn Beck.  They put little promos all over their network on TV shows that people watch that might be rabid, right wing conservatives. They even put ads in print media (gasp!). So it’s no surprise that a few people tuned in at the beginning.

Of course, after the initial push, Glenn and his buddies had to be able to hold their own and keep people interested and coming back for more.  Jordon is right on with that part.  It ‘s just that being a pundit in and of itself doesn’t guarantee fame, fortune and a huge subscriber list.

But, then again, maybe I didn’t download that particular eBook.

The Importance of a Blog Journal

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OK.  So I’m not a young as I used to be.  My memory isn’t photographic and sometimes I forget what why I got up and went into another room.

Still, even if my mind were as sharp as a razor, I’m beginning to realize how important keeping a blog post idea journal might be. You see, my mind races constantly. None of that meditation crap for me where my mind is still and becomes one with the universe.  Nope.  It’s constantly in Drive.

As a result, I’m constantly thinking of things I should blog about.  In fact, I was sitting in my recliner just this morning thinking of 10 things I could post about.  I was thinking I could even post ahead so they would automatically publish one day after each other thanks to the magic of WordPress. Then I remembered I needed to do the laundry and completely forgot all the earth shattering things I was going to write about.

Enter the blog post idea journal.

I’ve heard about it before.  Some people even suggest blog post calendars.  I think Jott is still around which would enable me to call Jott and have them send me a note via e-mail reminding me of my sterling ideas. Of course, that means calling and then checking my e-mail.

Either way, I’m becoming more and more convinced that there has to be a way to retain all these great ideas floating around in my head.

Do you have a favorite way to keep track of your ideas for blog posts?  Journal?  Calendar? Software? Your mother reminding you?

Let me know in the comment box….and share the love by clicking the “Like” button.

Brain Block

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You know I had all these great ideas about what to do with this blog and what to write about.  And now they’ve just gone . pfffft! right out of my head.

Part of it, I think is that it took so long to get the blog up and running.  The guru I asked to help out insisted that I contemplate my navel and determine what my passion was so I could blog about it.

Don’t you love it.  Follow your passion.  Your bliss.  What you love to do.

Well, I’m here to tell you that I don’t have a huge, freakin’ blinkin’ neon light in my head that is telling what to do or what to blog about.  Sure.  There is part of me that likes to write and even like to write about specific topics.  But, there is a whole other part of me that doesn’t know what the fuck to write about, how to attract readers, commenters, subscribers, etc.

To think that the whole blogging thing is supposed to be so Web 2.0 — the social freakin’ web. The place where you engage.

Yeah. Right.

Stay tuned.

The Challenge – The Experience of Learning How To Begin an Online Business

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I had never heard of Ed Dale.  The one day while I was frittering on Twitter I saw a tweet come across from Chris Brogan.  In case, you’ve never heard of Chris Brogan, well, he’s just one of the most revered and subscribed to and followed Social Media Mavens on the planet.  All facetiousness aside, he writes some pretty good stuff, produces some insightful videos and is generally helpful.

So, when Chris Brogan tweeted about something called the 30 Day Challenge complete with a link to a YouTube video, I took a look.

I turns out that Ed Dale has been offering up the 30 Day Challenge since 2005 and the premise was this:

Don’t charge for the instructional part and keep it to 30 days.  Create videos so anyone can watch and follow along from anywhere in the world and assign some tasks to help people make their first dollar on the Internet.

Sounds pretty simple, huh?  Certainly anyone can do anything for 30 days.

Not So Simple

It turns out that the 30 Day Challenge was not so simple after all.  Life gets in the way. The products and services that Ed Dale would suggest to help get people started cost money (although the instruction was free).  People get distracted and, honestly, it’s one thing to watch a video.  It’s another to take the time to do the “tasks” like research niches, keywords, etc.

So, Ed Dale killed the 30 Day Challenge and created The Challenge.  Same idea.  Different format.  This one is seven days of videos that promise that watching the video and performing the task will only take 30 minutes a day.  That’s it. 30 Minutes.  Then you get seven days “off” to tend to life or do other things or watch Challenge TV, write in the Challenge Forum, etc. etc.

There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

As appealing as The Challenge is with it’s tag line of “There is no charge for awesomeness”, the truth of the matter is that there is a cost involved and that includes a number of products and services that everyone who wants to being an online business needs.  The real key with The Challenge is not necessarily the cost of these products and services but how well they work.  Obviously, there is the element of “what you put in is what you get out”  meaning that you really have to work with the products and services in order for them to work for you.  I’ll be interested to see how complex or simple they might be.

I also want to acknowledge that these products and services such as Market Samurai from Nobel Samurai are affiliates of Ed Dale’s and he is certainly going to get his cut of the loot.  That’s OK.  If the stuff works and it’s not hugely expensive, I don’t mind shoving some money Ed’s way.  He deserves it.

The Adventure Begins

So, beginning July 1st ( a few days ago) the “pre-season” primers started to show up.  Very basic stuff.

That’s fine with me.  I’m a very basic guy.  I need to have my hand held and told what’s what and what it’s for and why I should do it or even care.  I’m in no hurry to make a gazillion dollars on the Internet.  I realize that instant riches is a fantasy.  I’ve been through a couple of other “follow my system and get rich” courses and realize that it’s easy for someone to take your money and throw a couple of videos together.

I’m hoping that the slower format (7 days on 7 days off) and the half hour a day schedule really works.  I’ll keep you posted.

Harder Than It Looks

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I think it was almost a year ago when I thought it might be fun and, maybe, profitable to start a blog about something other than real estate which is normally my day, night and weekend job.  I like to write but, to be honest, sometimes it’s damn hard to think of things to write about.  This is especially true when you write for more than one blog and you don’t want to be redundant and spread a bunch of duplicate blogs posts everywhere.

I still write for three blogs, if you count this one, and coming up with original thoughts and ideas is a lot harder than it looks.  Sometimes I get a brainstorm while I’m driving in my car or just as I crank back the recliner to “rest my eyes” for a bit.  Neither one is ideal for pulling out the notepad to write down the idea or pull out the iPhone for the recording app.  A lot of times that great idea appears and, just as quickly, disappears.

Then there is the discipline of writing.  Sure, when the ideas are flowing it’s easy.  When they’re not, it’s easy to let the writing go and, as the saying goes, use it or lose it.  The longer I stay away from posting something the easier it is to procrastinate and rationalize.

The formula is simple enough:

  1. Think
  2. Plan
  3. Implement

It’s following the formula with anything that looks close to dedication that presents the challenges. I’m determined to give it a shot, though.  That means sometimes the posts will be Pulitzer material and sometimes they’ll be trash.  The best part is you get to pick which is which.

Are you willing to play along?