The silence...

Making the move to WPress, today, please read this...

2010-03-08T17:26:00.000Z

I am going to make the move to WordPress, I post this last post here in blogger format, this is mainly because I know the feed will go out, and it allows me to update the most important people, you, the readers.

Please note this will be down at some point though not for long, maybe you are reading this when it's still on blogger, or maybe whiles it's on wpress.... who knows, anyway, wil be making the switch, nothing should need to be done by you, unless my feeds mess up and you may then need to resubscribe, but doing that when it's on Wpress of course.

Thanks to you all.

Not happy with blogger or godaddy, forced to consider WPress now...

2010-03-06T16:37:00.000Z

I am not happy... many others are also not happy, this mess with blogger and their recent shafting of FTP users could have been dealt with alot better than it has been, wasting hours trying to sort this out has pissed me off no end, the reason we used blogger was for it's ease of use, yet here we all are having to deal with technical crap.

I was using blogger long before google went and bought it, as usual they piss everyone off, don't get me wrong, I like and use google for lot's of things but they ain't covered themselves in glory with all this mess, like they never when they buy half decent stuff and let it die...

All credit to Rick Klau though for being the only blogger staff who seems to help any of us, blogger should have hired him YEARS ago!

This FTP situation with blogger and this blog, plus godaddy and the DNS stuff is really pissing me off, godaddy say I should "park" with them so I can change DNS settings using their total DNS, yet that would mean this blog vanishing, as it is, there is no way that is going to happen.

I do want to sort this mess out but feel blogger has let us all down the way it's been done, will they change something else in two years and piss us all off again? Who knows?

They should never have allowed us to use FTP of they had no intention of supporting us properly, they only did that because everyone was dumping them for WordPress, people wanted to stop using blogspot, especially after so many were deleted, to combat more crap happening like this they wanted people to be able to use their own domains so allowed us to do so, using FTP so we host our own blogs, like I have here, yet they went and changed it all again with custom domains, basically they shafted us, they want you to host with them so they have control, whatever happened to the "don't do evil" mantra google shoved down our throats?

They should have started with custom domains in the first place, I take anything they say now with a huge dose of salt, do I trust them? Not really!

Yet, I don't really like Wordpress, many others don't either, but this mess is forcing us to think about it, me included.

I have yet to hear from anyone who has used godaddy for their domain, and their own host for the blog who have sorted this mess out, who I can ask how they did it.

Are you one who has sorted it using godaddy etc? Any advice?

I am running out of patience with it to be honest, it's a shame, I was one of those who argued with WordPress users, sticking up for blogger over the years, never again will I do that.

As things are, I am now waiting to hear from my host in the hop they can help in some way, if they can, I am going to give it three months and see how it fairs, if I have issues, I will dump blogger and use WPress.

I think blogger screwed up big time, they could have done this a whole lot better.

FTP migration for blogger is near, a video walk-through...

2010-03-04T01:07:00.001Z

Looking like FTP migration tool is coming tonight if it is ready, but for those who have a blogger blog you host, there is this video explaining how it is used, I just watched it myself and it all sems pretty straightforward.

I am ken to move this and see how it goes, whether I stuick with it remains to be seen, considering some of the benefits WPress has over blogger and the fact I would be hosting it too, having complete control over it etc, not that we don't control this but we ARE in some sense at the mercy of blogger and google when we use it.

Anyway, I am as you know a blogger fan so I am keen to see how it goes.. it means this blog will not be at the main domain robsellen.com (which I will probably do something with I think, if it's usable) so this is likely to be put on a subdomain, like blog.robsellen.com or something more creative, keyworded... not decided yet

Hoping it all goes well, backlinks are preserved etc, PR (page rank) stays as is.

Dump the IM bullshitters and hype if you want to make money online

2010-03-02T00:53:00.000Z

Internet marketing (IM) has some great advantages, but it also has some seriously greedy and deceptive liars in it too... having just seen another bullshit video and pitch from some self proclaimed "guru" I think it's time this IM niche cleaned itself up.

Someone is watching...as always, something these bullshitting hype marketers could do with taking note of, many of you have been selling the fake bullshit dreams and hype for a long time now and in the process taking the piss out of people, taking their money, misleading them and letting them down.

I am just about sick of these bullshitters in the IM niche and the sly underhand tactics they use to lure people in, and I do mean lure... they more often than not just rip you off.

I unsubbed from so many of the list we in the IM niche get sucked into many months ago, a few I kept over the time and now they are gone too, so I am now only subbed to 3 and it's staying that way, these 3 deliver good stuff, solid info that will help most people in this niche but they are not geared to noobs in that sense.

I won't be telling you who is crap and who isn't, my advice is stay off them all!

Now though, we have something else to help kick these assholes into touch, social media and the way people share and spread things so fast, it means these assholes can't hide, rip someone off and it will be told somewhere.

So, these sly bastards are new playing a new card, the "woe is me, I did wrong but I am a new person now" angle is coming out... I just hope people don't fall for it, it's bullshit that will cost you big money if you do!

The problem is these sly bastards are know realising they can't keep doing what they did, they know they can't hide anything, they know FTC is on their backs, they know they would be in deep shit if they get found out, it's likely they will get found out, well I damn hope they do.

Is it likely the new disclosure rules and the fact they can't use their bullshit testimonials from "friends" has triggered it off, they are worried and changing tactics, yet only so they can try and fleece more money from the gullible masses, yes they are gullible!

Bullshit claims of 2 hours a day work for 50 grand a month and that sort of crap, people fall for...amazingly!

You have to question your own greed if you fall for that crap, those bullshitters are only worried about their own greed, but you can't complain if you fall for it, if you do...you are being a hypocrite because it was your own greed that made you fall for it!

Right?

Thought so, so what are we to do about it, those in this IM niche get tarnished with the same brush, which is a damn good reason to start doing something about it, no matter how small it all mounts up.

Let's face it, Internet Marketing is not going anywhere, it's just the medium being used for marketing, it's the way it's used that needs to be looked and changed, it can only be us who force the change...

There are some great marketers who are ethical, decent and deliver what they promise...simply because they don't lie about what they can deliver, quite often they will over-deliver which is great for you, me and anyone who buys from them, follows them, these people should be supported.

The rest, ditch em and if they rip you off, shout about it loud and clear, wherever you can, blog about it, tweet it, whatever just don't let it lie, because who know who they will rip off next?

We all owe to ourselves and everyone else to use some common sense and at least always do your due diligence... that alone will save you money, heartache and pride.

The sooner we boot out these assholes the better for everyone, it's funny but the biggest most important thing we have is our reputation, yet these assholes don't care about theirs...at least till they get found out, then it's too late.

Three things... Mind, Wallet/Purse and Reputation!

Don't let these idiots put crap into your head, if what they say sounds to good to be true, it probably is!

Don't spend anything until you get a decent second opinion, even then be very wary of what and how you spend, some of this assholes used sly forced continuity scams.

Strip everything else away and you are left with reputation... what's theirs like?

What you then do also has an influence over YOUR reputation, don't let these assholes bad rep ruin yours, and always strive to keep it intact, it's you main asset.

Save your money, if you must spend it, don't waste it on bullshit systems, instead get something like these videos, use them to find YOUR niche and then work on that by delivering decent content.

Get involved with decent like minded people who can help you, also help them where you can and you won't have any need to worry about the bullshitters taking the piss out of you.

Don't you agree?

Are those horizons yours?

2010-02-25T16:30:00.004Z

Wherever you fit in with the world... is supposed to be where you feel happiest, it's not always where you are from, (sometimes it may be that way), but for everyone that's home in the heart.

Sometimes it takes getting away from where you grow up to appreciate the good parts of the place you grew up.

No matter where you are from, it will always be a part of you, but it doesn't mean you should stay there.

I find it amazing there are very old people here on the Isle of Portland who have almost never left the island, indeed a few who have never been off the island, yeah, never!

Take a moment to consider that, an island about 4 miles long by about 2 miles wide with a road connection to the mainland, and you spend your whole life there, never going over that road.
Imagine suppressing that curiosity to see what's out there...all that time!

Amazing!

It's not always about broadening your horizons, reaching your existing horizons is good, its growth.
Horizons are there to be reached for... that's natural to us.

It's not all visual horizons in life though is it, we all strive to do better, know more, learn new things, and yet some never even try, shame that really.
That is our greatest thing, to be able to think about it and act, grow in a way no other species does.

We are told we can't do this, that and the other, too often by those who have no idea what you can do.
We are unique, our horizons are unique, our path of life is unique, only you know what is right for you.
We create our ow horizons.

The world really is your oyster, physically and otherwise!

So, where are you going? :o)

So, what's the buzz about the buzz? My thoughts...

2010-02-24T00:57:00.000Z

Oh, a new ~~tool~~ ~~toy~~ social network stream, from google too... not one to get my hopes up with the let down after the hype of wave.

Let's see what all this buzz is about, why are people buzzing about it?

Being touted as the facebook beater, even by google, if their adword ads are anything to go by... some say it's like twitter with more to it, and slightly less than facebook without the app crap, has some attributes harking back to friendfeed.

Sounds good... so far.

Plenty has been written about it too, from various angles, geeks and photographers, social network die-hards and the average user.

Some bad stuff was spreading about privacy issues... facebook did the same crap but, with facebook... did they gain a bigger "public" user-base for it...you bet, just as google did, tried, intentionally or not.

They ain't daft, neither of them... gotta give them that, sly maybe.

So, having looked at it and have a little play with it, but not really in depth as such, I can see good potential there, also though I felt it is getting some unwarranted hype... hype just ruins stuff in some ways, we could say the fact google kept it quiet till it went out means they learnt some lessons with wave, avoiding it was probably a good idea, the irony, buzz released without buzz, which gained overnight buzz.

The fact it's in gmail is a good thing, as been said elsewhere a few things need sorting out, no doubt they will be looked at too considering that google are listening to users.

After all they cleared a little of the sharing mess with the google reader contacts etc at the start.

One thing is I'd like see google allow us to cloak our email addresses on our profile pages with our chosen name as seen in buzz... that would be nice, I think these google profiles will become an important and decent central hub for us all who use googles products, it also mirrors facebooks use of real names should we choose them, the current choice of numbers or email is not good, we didn't have the choice to use anything other than our email at the time if I remember right, number or email.

With the cloaking of email address on the profiles we would feel better, and it makes sense considering all these contacts could be stored in gmail, cloaked, it would be good to have list in there and have email permissions, non permission choices with list, or individuals...so only those you choose ever get to see your email address, and vice versa. The rest, cloaked.

Give us the control to make it the best central place we could have, as it's a great semi private place, gmail, I say semi as it is private really but feels like you have people in there...email is used more than anything too so it makes sense to have buzz in gmail.

It makes sense to make gmail the central for everything google, mind you being able to connect with real offline friends via gmail and such is going to be a better thing for me, just getting them on gmail if they aren't yet, I could describe buzz to those friends as facebook without walls and crap, in fact that's another point, buzz does look similar to lite.facebook, which I already wrote about what they should have done to make that the twitter rival.

I'd like to stop filling up the sent folder with buzz though, please sort that out Google.

Also I'd like to see them allow better use with picassa, it seems like they want us to fill it all up fast so we start paying for storage... who wants to pay for duplicated pics across albums?
If you try to add one picture from an album direct to buzz it won't, it allows you to upload the whole album?!

Odd, we already have them there... sheesh.

Emailing a picture as an attachment directly to buzz works better but then I have to download the pic again from picassa, attach, then delete the pic again... no need for that really.

Then it adds another folder called..buzz! Why?

Although picassa works nice on our profiles, and looks ok in buzz, the pics being what as they are.

Nice to be able to directly import our blogs too, can't help think what blogger have now got up their sleeves... I'm sure Rick will be spilling ideas...oh wait - one good idea right there! (Rick will find this, meta data! I better keep an eye on you!)

That gets me more excited... I can see several subdomain ideas coming up with blogger on them!

We are the master of our domain, we should utilise it better, I should too.

Buzz... oh yeah, that...as for being any sort of twitter rival, in a sense I think it can, but I also think it's limited... as I have a shade under 100 followers I am not getting a big respoense yet, I follow less then that as well and even then I don't know how others can follow 1000's... it is alot less screen-space than twitter yet twitter gets bad if you follow so many.

Of course, numbers, they matter in many ways.

Having followers is different of course, and though it's better to have more, still there is a limit to what we can deal with.

It reminds me more of friendfeed in the sense of those who have most followers and activity seem to dominate the stream, still something they are working out, actively, so no doubt there will be ways of lessening the noise, with list or filters, make it simple.

Twitter doesn't quite have that issue, it's a different issue altogether. at least on that people who are drowned with followers can live in the @replies tab.
I am seriously having to sort out echoes of duplicate tweets, etc.. I think I will be keeping twitter off buzz for now, having only imported Greader shares and my blog(s) post into buzz. Twitter itself I will sort out over the next week or two...

If you are on twitter and want to follow me on buzz, I'd be happy to hear that... and hope it either adds to what we already do, or enriches one side or other, twitter, buzz.

I think facebook, twitter friendfeed have all different uses, aims, communities, so I don't think buzz will be much different, once they start building up.

So far I like it, but it could be more, then again, there is something else, it can be a time suck, just like any of the others, or a tool to utilise, or simply another social space for community building, that is it adds to what you do if that's what you do. (IE a photographer building a fan base)

So, the question is finding out how you will use it, where does it fit into what you do, rather than just get stuck in and play, waste time, get distracted.

For me, I am yet to realise how I will use it but I do think as a blogger user it looks like a good addition to our armoury, something we can utilise with blogger and such.

There lies something important, that is, it's OUR space that really matters, our blogs, sites, forums, etc, whatever it is you "own" and that is where the bulk of the efforts should go, if not then at least the direction your efforts should lead to it, that is these tools should be helping in getting them from these places to your space, if not it's just a case of spent time... a toy!

I think it's to early to say what buzz means for me, what I will utilise it for and how.

Is it worth looking into?

Yes, I think so, at least if only to see how you can use it to benefit you, if possible, if not, drop it.

You should sort out and format your google profile page, set the privacy settings you want, add your links and sites, blogs to it, use it as a profile.
Then in buzz set up your "connected sites" and add the ones you want, see how it fares.

Also, maybe follow me on there!

How do you find it?

Pause for thought...

2010-02-23T18:23:00.000Z

Pause for thought! A powerful thing, yet...

Do we do it enough?

I know I don't, not sure about you, but I'd bet not alot of us take enough pauses in life, a pause to appreciate the good bits and a chance to break free of the negative thinking, the crap that gets us down, bothers us even when we try to not think about it.

Power naps have now been thought to clear short term memory, pausing for thought may well clear us of immediate thought jumbles that are in our heads, stopping and acknowledging it gives us power to let it go and thus to forget about it.

Just a thought!

Can I make money online? Wrong question...

2010-02-23T12:48:00.000Z

Thousands wonder how to make money online everyday, not surprising to know they go looking for answers too...thankfully the kum-by-yah bloggers don't rank for that search term and mislead people, while it's true I don't rank for it, I don't try to and importantly I don't mislead you either.

I had noticed a couple of emails and PMessages on facebook after the recent break where I was asked this, "do people really make money doing this?" and "isn't it just all hype?"

Those who rank for it are the ones who know what they are talking about, that's why they rank for it. (hint: I have linked to one in previous post, Grizz) and if proof was ever needed it's there to see for yourself.

As for hype, it's everywhere!

Whatever it is you want to learn about, use the search engines to find out some things for yourself before asking on forums and such, you are just reading opinions when you do that, opinions that may have no bearing on the reality, the SE's are a filter... use them, they have done some of the crappy filtering for you.

Then you go asking for stuff to back up what you read... then act on it!

So.. how to make money online then?

I am busy working that out for myself, you know... not going asking in forums and such, I am doing things that need to be done in order for me to learn what I need to learn, and hoping what I learn leads to the right answers for me!

No-one has the definitive answer to that simple question, who could possibly know what will work for you?

Only you know what you are willing to do.

At least if you go looking, the free info you find tells you something you can learn from, and there are answers out there freely shared, finding the nuggets in that lot is the work you start with, even then you gotta do something, you know - take action!

You're never ever ever going to make money online doing nothing, while that may be stating the obvious you would be surprised at the amount of people who think it really is that simple...they don't do anything other than post to noob forums asking lame questions like "how can I make 3 grand by Tuesday?" ... then sigh and bitch when no-one tells them how!

When someone points out that there are boring, dull, mind-numbing things to be done, often described by that neat little four letter word "work" all hell breaks loose..."what you mean work, ain't got time to work, just need this money by tues!?"

Crazy, c'mon, when someone just starts turning up your door and handing you money for nothing but a smile, that is the day you find what you're looking for.... till then, gotta get something done.

It all starts with you and what you are willing to do, what effort you put in and where you put it, only you will know the answers to that, no matter what you read you won't find the right answers, just do what you are good at then see what branches off that, what you learn doing it is worth far more than what some ebook says and it's not plain sailing but doing is better than not.

I have started five new blogs in the last few months, I am hopeful at least one of them works out well for me and I can build on that, it's a case of seeing what works for you and doing more of that, sowing the seeds so to speak... find what sprouts and water the damn thing.
.
Simple as that really, for me.I am aiming to find just a handful of good ones then dump the rest and build up on the good ones as much as possible.

Experience, experience, experience.. do I need to go on? :o)

Who doesn't want to make it pay?

Let's face it, most of us who have websites and blogs want to make money online with them...else it's just a hobby that's using up time, time for pleasure, time we could be with family.

Wasting the most precious commodity for a means to an end...

In my case I have the weekends with my lads, so in the week I can write something, anything, as much as I need to anytime, do anything anytime, read what I need to, act on what I need to, so I do... last night got to bed at 4am, after writing a fair bit, woke at 9.30, wrote more stuff today, sorted a few things out I am working on, had a play with google buzz too for half hour (just cos I go it, and its a massive distraction if you let it be), it's now at time of writing this... 4.15am.

See what I mean? This stuff don't do itself! (went to bed at this point! lol)

So, another day...

I am living alone, I can do this...for most people that's not the case, with families, housework, and jobs and whatnot to occupy the time.

It's cramming it in at night for these people, when they get a spare half hour, hour, or two, dropping the weekly soap on the brainwash box (TV!) to do something productive... half the time they are to shattered to do anything and those who mange to try...most LOSE sleep, we've all been there - It's mainly about lifestyle, that itself works both ways... we want to do this to create a better lifestyle, yet our lifestyle limits what we can do...at least until it starts working out the balance.

What no shortcuts?

Not really, shortcuts are often seen after they happen, what you may think is one...isn't, but then something else happens, you learn something, do something and later realise that was a shortcut.

The only shortcut of which you could at least say seems to be a shortcut is mixing with the right people and helping each other out, this is present everywhere, people say tribes, cults, whatnot are bad with the "us and them" mentality and indeed I have said it on here... the problem is you or me, or anyone else is never going to make it all alone and manage to do all you need in order to get where you want.

The problem with this us and them crap is it often excludes people in the wrong way, like mods on forums often single out certain people...it becomes an "I don't like that person" situation... even if that person does contribute, help, and is an "ethical" person by most peoples standards, it becomes "personal"... not good.

Help those who help you and it grows, expands with reach, people prefer to help people who also help themselves, no-one wants to waste their most precious commodity (time!) helping someone who does nothing with it or throws it back in your face, on the other hand, if you are seen to be helpful, decent, others not only do the same for you but they will tell their friends about you too...that's the way it goes.

You could help others make money online and you make money online, that is if you know how, there lies a problem you see all to often, people teaching what they don't know rarely works!

But also don't do it the way the A-listers tell you, they only make money by being an A-lister.

I'll say here and now, it took me a while to realise that, I am in a way a social blogger with this blog, yet this blog makes squat really, because that was never the main intention as I had other blogs set up for that, that's something these A-listers don't have, they talk crap because they don't care if you fail...as long as they succeed and half the time they pay someone else to do all the shit I have to do, you may have to do, they do the "self praising" and take the glory while preaching to do something they don't even do....

Chances are you or I won't ever get to be "known" like they are (not that I'd want that, misleading people and milking them, no thanks) so, we have to do things differently.

We have to do it the way it's known to work, they way others clearly show us works...yet they are still too many variables to be absolute.
Simply put there a million and one ways to do it and you have to find what works with you, then rinse and repeat, or go wide or deep.

Whatever means you aim to go for, find those who really know what they talking about with that means.
That itself is the best "shortcut" (if there is one) you will have.

All common sense... that is the best thing you have, use it and it will help, sadly common sense ain't too common!

So, what's the answer?

There isn't one, not to mention answers don't do squat... only taking some action gets results, the real question is what action should you take to get some form of result?

That depends on you, what you can do, what you are willing to do, then doing.

In my opinion the question itself is one that everyone has to answer for themselves.

That is what I am working on, answering it for myself.

An unexpected break changed my path...

2010-02-23T03:26:00.000Z

Instead of banging out articles, researching using the system of videos and the tools they help with, doing make money online stuff, working on the other stuff like back-linking that has to be done, I've been awful quiet lately, - some would say, "damn, makes a change that!" - not just here but in general, I hurt my shoulder and muscle in the back of my arm, it also hurt my neck a bit and the back of ribs - typing and using a mouse doesn't help.

I also need to sort out my seat, change a few things, revamp my workspace, one interesting odd change is to take my damn wallet out of my back pocket, it makes me sit crooked... not nice.

It was also half term so my youngest stayed over for a few days which was, as always, great, so it was good to have a break from all this online crap, typing and whatnot, let's face it when you do it most of the time it gets tedious and can't be healthy, it's made me think about it all alot. I am so close to kicking the smoking habit too, which is the most important change and one I must implement asap!

The break did reveal some interesting insights for me.

I stopped checking mail, social sites etc, everything really, just logged off and slipped into forget-about-it mode!

Coming back from that break of sorts revealed alot, mainly the build up of crap I usually spend time going through, using, reading, sorting, etc... all those emails, RSS feeds unread, buzz's unread (buzz is for another post, on second thoughts, I won't bother till I have used it more!) all the spam to deal with, all the tweets, facebook stuff, blog posts, comments, among much other stuff that I have...

I realised what a sheer amount of time it wasted and did I really need to be wasting that time?
It stressed me out bad, I had a migraine the other night thinking about it all... crazy I know!

Couldn't I use it better?

If we are to spend any time doing this stuff we should be maximising it, getting the most out of it.

I am in this for the long haul so that also means staying in better health while doing it, which means spending less time doing it for me, as too much if it is not helping my health, the main plus is it's making the focus tighter, a good thing.

We have to compromise with anything we do, whatever it is we do, a balance between health, safety, happiness, sanity, and time.

Sitting on my arse looking at this screen all day, not necessarily online either, writing, reading, researching etc...only punctured by eating, getting out for air and sleeping is not good.

Without health you got jack shit.

Doing too many things is driving me nuts, not doing enough of the right things is driving me nuts, I don't fancy being nuts so I have had to give it some thought and decide what I should and shouldn't do.
Whether I get it right or not remains to be seen but I have to try because I ain't happy at the moment.

None of us want to do shit that doesn't make them happy and I am no different.
I need to cut down on time wasted, use it better and on crap that works.

I see the main two ways it breaks down to for me...it's now understanding it better for me, meaning what best suits me, then making the choice and going for it big time putting all efforts into one path.

I envy those who have only got a few blogs or sites, (say 10 at most) and they make a good living income from them, I envy those who have lots of sites (100's) earning a little each and it mounting up to alot in total, either way works, one of these paths is what most people take, or try at least...

The bottom line is they all do it to make money, nothing wrong with that, as we all have to make it somewhere...

Both take bloody hard work, lots of hassles, trials, and frustrations along the way, and time... like almost anything in life worth going for, none of it is easy, but it can be easier depending on us, what suits us, what is most likely to work for us and that is where I need to get it right, choosing the better path to take as I am not likely to try and do both, though some do... and it's right money should be made, all that effort.

The degree of it all depends on so many factors, the effort put in, where it's put, the niche it's in, the type of content, the angle you take, the marketing of it, the connections it makes and whom of them share it, the conversion of people to buyers, you know, so many things can make the difference, trying to analyse all that is a nightmare!

For me, I am not getting the niches right, not getting the right keyword phrases to target, (open to any advice or keywords, in confidence of course! )
I am spreading myself to thin in some ways too, also using up too much time socialising, things I have to address.

This blog itself is one I want to spend effort on, more time spent making this better, so I should maximise and monetise it better, with the upcoming FTP (self hosting this blog) cut off and having to move this to a subdomain, or even use WPress, I will have a chance to make changes, and that I will do.

But in order for this blog to make me any income it depends on me doing better content and it depends on you buying, sharing, linking to, helping, or whatever...after all, it's link clicks that get sales and someone has to click them.. and on this sort of blog adsense is never a good income generator, to be honest it's crappy.

I don't have blinking ads all over the sidebar, big adsense blocks, affiliate stuff, or much else, so no wonder it makes little, even if the content was great (not that I think it is) it ain't set out to make money from anyone...

Other than a few links in the sidebar on the top left, and the odd link in the post as I have done in the start of this one, oh... and the beer icon which is for anyone wanting to tip me a beer (cheers!) ...it's not much.

Even then, with these links they are good products from people I know well, and the money paid goes to me, likewise once you have them, you can also link to them on your site and earn 100% of the income from clicks... yep, you would be helping me out, and would only need to sell one yourself to have got it free.

So, as you can see, by not having the "money maker" links on here it's unlikely it will make any!

But I won't just promote any old crap on here and never have, so anything I do promote I either have it, or I've already tried it and know it is ok, worthy, useful, whatever, if I am to make anything myself I have to share them with you, obviously.

So, just a little about why I have been quiet lately, now I am feeling a bit better and more focused so, it's been a blessing in disguise really.

It's made me think about the path to take, where to put my efforts and spend my time, while making changes to improve life in general, and part of that is to do better in the effort to make money online with this blog and a few others I am definitely keeping.

And should you buy anything here, thanks.

A-listers? No thanks, what I read and you should too...

2010-02-10T12:10:00.001Z

A few interesting things to share today, get a cup of tea or coffee and let's get stuck in...

This blogging lark is good fun and it should be, it's not all tedious, depending on what and who you read, lately I have seen some interesting stuff and met a few new people who tell it as it is, not kissing ass and we all know asskissers are a pain in the ass!

People making out it's harder than it is, write, promote, backlink, get involved with the community, mix it up... all there is to blogging, the important thing is bolded, it's not a case of this or that, it's a mix of everything.

As for making money doing it... well, there is plenty of great advice out there on that, Grizz himself has posted thousands of words for you to digest, if you really want to know go read his whole blog, I mean the whole thing from back to front.

One FACT is it takes work, no-one gets money for nothing, except maybe the ~~third~~ turd tribe who IMO already scammed over 2000 people who paid to play in an empty space.

Grizz did a great and revealing post regarding traffic stats the A-list wont tell you, which he also gives the answers to in the comments, be sure to check them out too, some of it didn't surprise me, after all I know RSS feeds are inflated by various means, means the A-listers wouldn't admit to, they just like to pretend it's all real.

Trust agents... whatever, Brogan is that guy, bitchslapped by a pot smoking dude... (good man!) I know who's opinion I'd trust, and he ain't no agent!

You might feel John (linked to above this) is a bit brash with it, you'd be right there, that's his style, I like it, he is straight up no bullshitting you, telling it like he sees it, don't let that put you off though because he talks some truth, well at least you've been warned... ;o)

The bottom line is these A-listers pick and choose the airy-fairy-you-are-great types of people to converse with, not people like John who tell it as he sees it.

I had some punk telling me (anonymously) I shouldn't be linking out so much because I am "leaking" page rank... who gives a toss?
Not me, page rank means squat in the big scheme of things, this blog is PR 3, was 4.. do I care it's dropped? No... I linked out a few times the last few post because they were worth linking out to...and I want people reading that stuff because it matters. (Think maybe it was a turd tribe undercover agent slyly said that to me, if so, lame, piss off, this is my blog, I link to who I like and when I like)

Linking is the currency of the web, every blogger should know that... if not, well, look here...

Allyn wrote a superb detailed post on everything you need to know about backlinks, something every blogger should be doing, even me and I don't do enough of it, but I know it's important stuff, after all the Internet is built on links, I am lucky and grateful Allyn writes about it too, seeing the hassle I have with videos with my crap ears... be sure to watch them though, your ears work, use the damn things ;o)

Just get the basic understanding of links and how they work, why they matter, then check that blog out when Allyn does the follow up's to this post because it should be interesting.

I share these with you for one main reason...

It's important to be careful who you read and mix with, that's an obvious thing to say but online there are some right idiots who only care about themselves, what they can get out out of you, they will slap you down in comments when anyone pipes up the truth, I have seen it plenty of times with ~~copyblogger~~ copybragger (good one John on that name) slapping people down on other peoples blogs... it's lame, it's pathetic and it shows them up for what they really are.

These kum-by-yah bloggers are not doing anyone any favours, only themselves.

Grizz will tell you social traffic is crap, in the case of making money it probably is, though there is nothing wrong with being a social blogger, if you are social with people and interact with them in a way it works for you, by all means do that... just don't expect to monetise it.

So, go read these post and think about what they are saying... it's not all as it seems... mind you is it ever that way in life?

The best advice I could give anyone who is blogging or thinking about it is to be yourself, read the right stuff, listen to what your own head tells you, then act on it.

Thoughts?

People need people, the benefit of comments...

2010-02-08T17:21:00.000Z

... in my back yard, but you are always welcome to comment! :o)

Comments, the community around any blog is built there, nurtured there and in some cases censored too.
Those that seem to censor the comments, there are a few, also say transparency is important to them... yeah right!

Anyway, reading feeds in Greader I am missing out on some great communities in the blogs comments, far to easy to just read the feed and move onto another...

While it's ok to keep the noise level down to a manageable one it's a shame to miss out on the communities on the blogosphere and the great characters within them.

You don't need to join a cult though.

For this reason I am starting to choose the RSS feeds to read in the reader and visiting the blogs I feel have good comments and a good community to them, like one puts it... why your comment section should be like a forum

People need people.

That's the bottom line, sitting here all day typing shit and doing this that and the other can get pretty boring and at times lonely, may sound odd with the millions within reach...but it happens.
People need people to have any sense of connection in the world...
Being deaf I know what a great thing it is to be able to do, if you can't use a phone this is the phone!

If you have a blog do what James does and interact well with the commenters, after all, it's your blog! :o)
If you're like me and naturally social online then it shouldn't be hard.

I'd swap all my almost 2000 twitter followers for a regular 100 commenter's on a blog any day of the week.

What about you?

The third tribe suckers

2010-02-07T03:36:00.001Z

Yesterday was interesting regarding the useless third tribe, saw a few other blog's post after Grizz opened a can of worms that needed opening, Grizz also linked to a few, me included, (thanks Grizz, now hurry up with the 10k post, ;o)) - then go back to your make money online antics.

Interestingly, I have to say here, I have NOT seen the inside of this "third tribe nonsense" - all three tribes explained so well by Grizz - as I have no desire to ever hand over a monthly chunk of money for an empty space and a "promised community to share pipe dreams, and pimp each other out" of which ~~buyers~~ suckers just paid to create...- CREATE - again in case that point is missed.

I find it very telling none of those creators have gone to comment on Grizz's post, there is no way they could NOT know about it and it already has 100 odd comments from others.

After all, they are quick to post on those blogs that their fanboys have.

Anyway, so I haven't ~~seen~~ been duped into paying to see the ~~"inside of the third tribe"~~ empty space.

Should you become a tribal member? ...Asked...a tribal member!

They a sucker too?

Not really, they did it to see for themselves, so, smart for going in and checking it out first before blogging about it...at least they have a real view of what it was...which amounted to sod all!

But I don't care that I didn't also check it out first...mainly because I already guessed it was going to be crap, empty, just promises, and I sure ain't gonna hand over money just to confirm it!

Won't even need to now. :o)

I mean, of course any Internet Marketer (those they slam in tribe 1) will tell you memberships are a good passive income, but I bet they have a big drop out rate on that crap, it's nothing but a "club" and they are hoping enough "fanboys" will ~~join~~ fall for it and build that crap up for them, all the while THE OWNERS make money from YOUR ~~efforts~~ stupidity and naivety in joining an empty place and filling it with the same crap that's all over their blogs, just rehashed and still not working!

After all, that's what they ~~teach~~ bore you with, that's what you'll know and do... all the while paying to do your bit, while losing money, probably!

Membership sites, they work, they're not usually empty though...

But it's a valuable "touch-point" they cry... bah humbug - bugger off with the stupid catchphrases and "buzzwords" they are pathetic and mean nothing.

At least be honest with yourself, it's a big "jerk circle" (as those on that side of the pond keep saying) and if that is what your after, whatever rocks ya boat! (I'll do my own thanks!)

Crazy, that crap is saying an awful lot about them.

But, it's also saying an awful lot about those that join, those who willingly fall for that crap.

The numbers though... I mean let's be really conservative and say they have at this stage 1000 members, (probably alot more suckers by now) and at 47 bucks each, EVERY MONTH... that's a huge sum of money every month for an EMPTY space...with promises.

They ain't daft, they are just banking on you buyers being daft!

It will fill up fast with nonsense, but to sell it when it's empty and banking on those buyers creating and paying for the content is...well, shit.

Easy money for them... what price stupidity?

Third Tribe, more useless crap!

2010-02-05T15:49:00.000Z

Some interesting goings on this last week, with new batch of "cool aid" - as those across the pond say - being sold to daft newbies who either seem to NOT be learning as they are going along or new noobs who are just getting sucked in.

This blogging A-list crowd is getting worse!

I knew it as soon as I saw it in my inbox with the lame pitch and tweeted that it was a joke, before seeing the interesting few post from people who know what they are talking about, who slam the cool aid floggers!

I would never say I know it all and there are plenty of people who know more than me on all this stuff, blogging and internet marketing wise, but even so, if I can spot this crap a mile off I am bemused and saddened many can't and to that end I am glad people are starting to stand up and say "hang on, this is bullshit".... not that I've ever shied away from doing that :o)

Let's face it, those who are falling for this crap who already read the supposed A-listers blogs and other crap they write are either not getting it or they are pure fanboys, no other way to describe it, how can there be if they still don't twig that what they ~~learn?~~ read on the blogs is useless and just going to be reworded for the "tribe" crap or forum or whatever.

Call me stupid, but this crap "join us and we'll be friends, that will make you money, just cos you are "in" with us" ideal is obviously a bit lame, is that what they call a business plan?

Join us, we will make you a cool blogger?! Lame!

Look, I don't dislike Darren, Chris, Brian, Simone... they are all great writers, I just think this third tribe thing is BULLSHIT.

I know some say, you are cynical bugger Rob...thing is I just don't like seeing people getting ripped off!

Being charged to have your hand held and then misled along the way... no thanks.

So much is obvious on the blogs alone.

Darren doesn't do SEO in his words, well I can see that, you can't even anchor link in a way to benefit those (misguided) guest posters, check if you unsure... no doubt due to some of them being wanna-be-famous-like-you guest posters, they don't mind being linked using their names.

Ah well, Darren's take on this third tribe thing, useless nonsense.

Reading one of the best rants about this whole situation, I doubt the writer Grizz would like a useless link, maybe as he knows what he is talking about when it comes to the make money online situation he would prefer this! :o)

Andy Beard also, I have known Andy for years online, read his stuff alot, he shares alot on SEO tips .. maybe Darren and the other cool aid sellers should read his stuff too!

So, these people wanna charge $47 a month!

To hold your hand and tell you "you are cool cos you are with us" all the while reading their rehashed crap and fawning over them.

Just my opinion and I am entitled to it, keep ya money, use it on something else or buy ya loved one something, hold their hand instead!

When they start showing they know what the hell they are talking about, then maybe we start to listen to them, till then... steer clear is my advice, go read Grizz's blog if you want the real nuts and bolts on how it all works.

Change and resonating with readers...

2010-01-28T17:53:00.001Z

I have been busting my nuts over what I should do with this blog, as you already know from a recent previous post I will have to get off FTP and with the benefit of the speed increase the happens after that, I can and will be editing and changing a lot here.

It's needed and I already started! ;o)

Having had a tidy up with my hosting and sorting files, folders out and generally maintaining things, it's all looking better prepared for what I want to do.

As for the blog posting via FTP... at the moment it's a nightmare to deal with, I am looking forward to ending the damn nightmare too!

Anyway... (shrugs)

When I have got off the FTP I can sort things out in a few days of solid action and hopefully, doing that will boost my motivation for it and in turn do better from there on, I might change the template therefore the look of the blog too, why not...a fresh start.

As long as I stick to the blogging rules...

When it comes to blogging, there are no damn rules... not real rules but to me there seems to be plenty of guidelines to what makes a good blog, I read enough of them and as you already know, I think you have to be better reader if you want to be a better writer.

Because when it comes down to it, that's all that really matters, words, writing. But what power words have!
The pen is mightier than the sword, as the saying goes... gotta be careful them words there!

I need to improve the content you read, but also for it to differentiate from all the other gazzilllion blogs and sites out there I have to be different somehow.

I know I need to narrow the focus of the blog, then edit what I can to improve it for that chosen focus, improve content, even on older posts, delete what I can keep that what fits, just generally improve things all round.

But what to focus on?
That's my dilemma, doubt I am the first to have this dilemma and doubt I'll be the last, maybe a better thing to ask is...

How can we write what resonates with the reader in a way that matters?

People always write that following your passions, expertise, and writing around that is the way to go...while I can see why and have said myself that its a good way, but mainly to start out and get you going without letting procrastination stall you, if it's an obscure thing, its a good practising start to move on something better and if it's a reasonable "niched topic" with a good chance to doing well anyway, carry on and ramp it up!

If you read anything you are already in a position to know what pulls the reader in with that topic, giving you some idea of what and how to write what appeals to them, if you can so it makes sense to blog on something you love to write about, but to really resonate with readers you gotta do something special, out of the ordinary, something that gets noticed by those who's attention you want. Zig to everyone else's zag!

But only if it will be worth while, that is it's not just a case of doing it for the sake of it, after all, you put alot of emotional and mental effort into it and you know... it's hard work!

So, you gotta get something out of it too, whatever it is you choose as the reward, benefit.

If something does stand out from what I learned with experience and have seen happen elsewhere (too many times to be a coincidence) is being consistent is probably one of the biggest factors altogether, if you start resonating with the right readers with your content, however it happens, then be consistent with that.

It's no coincidence that this blog doesn't get as many post(s) commented on as a few of my other blogs (why it needs improving), take Portland Bill for example, because the niche topic is specific, targeted and I write about things that resonate with the readers, they read it, comment on it, almost every post... after all, they live(d) or have been here too, I am provoking their own thoughts, experiences and memories with what I write about and share, which encourages them to share theirs too. It helps leaving the ego at the door but allowing others in.

Learning from your own experience, not just what others say is so.

Whatever it is you do, if you stick at it, drop the crap, ramp up what works, learn something all the while and consistently improve no matter how small the margin... you are getting somewhere, no?

It doesn't all have to be pretty and amazing though, it just has to be tried.

You don't have to do one outstanding blog, you could be trying lots of little niche themed ones, seeing what works and building on that or something else entirely... whatever works for you works, be consistent in that.

So many egotistical people with an agenda tell you what you should do, usually it involves buying whatever it is they sell, but they have no idea what you need... don't bother unless you know it will do something for your own benefit and growth, really in most cases, if these people are that good, then you can learn plenty from seeing what they do themselves, rather than from them telling you to buy something.

Not to say everything out there is useless, because that would be wrong but to say, usually, you can learn what you need from doing, rather than listening to and reading, remember, you learn plenty watching what they do, not what they say. ;o)

It's great to learn from others, it's worth listening to what they say, reading what they write but don't take anything as gospel unless you try it yourself...the only proof and results that matters are your own (not illegal and black hat stuff though!) ... don't take my word for things I say on here, if it works for me, it might not for you, same anywhere with anything.

Everyone is a marketer.

I love getting stuck into marketing, marketing is everything in a sense, being passionate about it is great, the experience gained over the years is worth it's weight in gold and every aspect of life is in some way effected by marketing, whether it's from or too you, it's entwined with human behaviour, itself fascinating.

The internet itself has just changed marketing by taking it to a new level, adding a better dimension to it, it's just a new different platform with a better reach and possibility of measured growth.

It's not just businesses, it's everyone, everyone is a marketer...

It's not about "pushing" something onto others etc, it's about making the most out of everything you do, bettering it in any way possible in order to get the most from it, being aware of those on the other side of the screen, whoever that is and bettering what they see, share, use whatever it is you do.

The shift needed is getting from the customer or reader mindset to the marketers mindset, once that shift happens everything changes, overnight with some (me) or a bit longer with others but it happens and as you know mindset is everything too, it's that important, it's a different way of thinking.

Once that shift happens... you realise that you were a marketer all along, just the awareness of it in every part of life has sunk in, be it and when you then look an the internet, it's never the same again!

Everytime you share something, you are marketing someone, everytime you write something (even a facebook status or tweet) you are marketing... even if it's only marketing yourself, intentionally or not, you have the power to build up and pull down, awareness is all you need.

You also realise the power you have if application is made to use it and with your marketer hat on!

You could make change!

Everyday people are making change...

The internet I am starting to think is the idea platform, nothing is better as an idea platform, and the value of the idea is the real currency and people are getting them ideas, thoughts, notions out there, some remarkable, some not, and plenty of middle of the road stuff... where's your stuff fall in that?

I wouldn't profess to saying I could change the world, but I could say my world.

Same as you, but collectively it matters and makes change.

I now realise what I want from doing what I do, to change my world, I don't to be sat on my arse all day writing mediocre and varied stuff anymore in the hope it works out, testing, trying more, I want to write less often but with better impact, shouldn't we all aim for that?

I want to improve the things I use to do this stuff, I want to improve the way this stuff gets out there, improve what it is that works on doing all that and keep doing that.

That's the thing striking me about having a blog and writing, it changes you, it is almost empowering some form of self growth, self awareness, self education, naturally you learn alot doing it and you grow, one post a time.

Not that I am writing about self growth etc, just that it's a part of the process itself and I really do think everyone has something important to share with others, it's just finding that something.

I just realised we have to write stuff that resonates with us first, from this post I see I need to keep making the changes I am making. :o)

I put some effort into this post, that's the thing I have to keep at, make every post worth writing... my reward from you? If you like it, would you share it using the button below? Comment?

So, what about you?

Utilising Internet marketing for local businesses

2010-01-25T23:04:00.001Z

I realise I know more than I think when it comes to this "online malarkey" and thought it's about time I utilised that to help local businesses and traders here on Portland.

Anyone who has blogged for some time or dabbled in Internet marketing in some form or other is way ahead of the masses when it comes to doing the basics online in the right way.

Also you are a long way ahead of offline business owners too, this is one area that internet marketers and good bloggers can help businesses locally to you.

I felt in a position to write about Portland businesses, and change, it's happening anyway...and what I can see of the possible changes and the impacts of it, if possible I'd like to help them anyway I can, one area in that could be to promote their businesses by way of a post or advertisement on the Portland-bill blog itself, giving them not only possible traffic but a decent backlink too, they are the real currency of the web, links.

We want our local businesses to succeed, their success or failure reflects and effects all of the surrounding community, so it's in our interest too.

If you are into internet marketing, or a good blogger with some experience of the way things work online have you considered helping local businesses, paid or otherwise?

I ask because we all know one of the surest ways to make money is to help others make money, as the saying goes... To get more of what you want, help others get what they want.

Businesses only want one thing, more sales, more referrals, more customers... do you think you can help your local businesses with that by utilising your skills online?

I am pretty sure most good internet marketers and bloggers can help in some way, however small, simply because you will likely know when you see any business, or their website what online tactic(s), system would fit into it, remember you are way ahead of the curve online.

The important thing I think is that it's not about their website, it's about the business, no good saying to a business, stick a blog up, or facebook fan page, twitter account, etc... it's first and foremost about the business itself, not changing it, but enhancing it where it matters and where you can.

As any internet marketer or good blogger knows, there are way to many different aspects to online marketing to say what works for any particular business... it wholly depends on the business, each on it's own merits..

That is part of where I am looking to grow, help local businesses implement what aspects (if any) they can which would help them grow and adapt to changes.

Without naming local businesses, I have seen some terribly bad websites, now that's not to say, they are bad for the business as I have no idea of that but as a user of the website it was...well, bad, from that standpoint I felt there was alot which could be improved and make a difference.

I couldn't see how in my opinion those websites were growing their business.

The bottom line was... would I buy from them, or do whatever it was they wanted me to, whatever their "call to action" was? (If any!) In some cases, it's a big no from me..

Some businesses had no website altogether, which due to the nature of the business I thought was very odd, short-sighted.
I hope we can rectify that. :o)

What about you?

If you have being in the trenches so to speak, doing all this stuff, have you checked you local businesses websites and such?
If not, why not consider it and it could be one way of diversifying what you do, even a way to grow what you already do, a way to help you make money online.

Foe me it's time to utilise all that internet marketing and blogging has taught me.;o)

The final hurdle seems to be the hardest too...

2010-01-24T19:19:00.000Z

Just a shortish update on the battle with the baccy, which is still raging, I am annoyed with myself for not yet stopping smoking, this last few weeks have been a nightmare with it, though I have made some progress because I have cut right down, stopped smoking in the home apart from the kitchen, so the place smells better, feels better.

Just need to now stop in the home altogether, meaning other people too, soon as I stop, they do!

But, while I have made progress, it's that last bloody stretch that's driving me nuts.

I don't wanna have to start using alternative methods which while they may work, it's not really for me, there are many different ones, but I don't think it's a good idea to be putting focus on smoking, alternative or not...

I mean, instead or a real ciggy, use a false one...

I don't want to be faking it, really!

Can't see myself being comfortable doing that and even if so, how long do you walk around using that for?

Just gotta stop!!

Not create an alternative to it, replacing bad habits with good ones is fine, what habit really makes a good one to replace ~~smoking the~~ poisoning ourselves with that crap, as in the most likely to get into fast?

Saying, eat fruit, or whatever is fine... but it doesn't stop the baccy craving, or stop you sticking a smoke in ya mouth, which we can seem to do without even realising it...that's a habit alright!

I think I will have to get nicotine patches, at least to stop that craving, the other part, stopping times and situations where I usually smoke, is another awkward one, will have to do it.

I owe it to my kids and myself to stop this shit, and NOW!

So, that's the next thing for me really in the damn battle I will win... nicotine patches...change my situations where I tend to light up, though I have been cutting it right down to the few or even two a day on good ones, it's that last bit I am struggling with.

This week I'd like to stop altogether...let's see if I can do that!

FTP is finished on blogger, the right move, so this blog has to move!

2010-01-23T22:00:00.000Z

Interesting news from blogger and I knew it was coming in some way because it was an obvious move you could see happening, it's been obvious that it's blogspot on which the blogger team are focusing, not that I blame them either.

Not the first time I have said that, so, now there is a deadline to move so, I have to make the move and hopefully it will be simple and straight forward enough, I should done it a while ago when Rick the CEO of the blogger team mentioned it on his twitter to me.

But back then, I was a little wary, and rightly so because fellow blogger using FTP Louis Gray mentioned there were a few hiccups along the way, but it seems his success going from main domain to the subdomain he uses did give me a boost, though I thought I would just wait a little while and see what happens, as wordpress was crossing my mind though I prefer blogger.

Now though, it's do it or move to wordpress, I would rather stay on blogger, so I probably will move it to blog.robsellen. com and benefit from the improvements they have made.

Just from using the blogspot set up on other blogs I know there are some great improvements made and Rick has stated in the blogger buzz post that 2010 promises to see more changes, improvements.

I look forward to seeing them, whatever they may be.

As I understand it, I could keep my hosting, just direct people to the new subdomain where blogger host the blog...Rick has confirmed FTP is going to be ended, Rick is great, he is reachable and no doubt I will get there and as he uses the same set up himself I am sure he will be saying "I told you so!" :o)

So, that's my main task next, get this blog sported out, moved, and then because of the publishing speed improvement over FTP I can set about editing and tidying up the blog.

Hopefully you won't see much change really, but you will see improvements, provided I don't balls it all up!

Blogger sloooowly stalking wordpress, new pages - step in the right direction

2010-01-21T21:54:00.000Z

Blogger in draft has seen more changes added... :o)

Now we also get pages, up to 10 per blog and wordpress no longer has that advantage. Woot!

So I had a little look last night to see what it's like and what possibilities it allows me, I thought about doing it on here but decided on a blogspot hosted blog, it's what blogger want us all using so test on that first, I like to dive in, so I gave it a go on "how to use blogger tips" with just a tester page on "why I started blogger-made-simple".

Looks good in some ways, I can obviously do much more with it but the fact the url of the page is set up like this means good for the keyword theme you aim for, remember it's good to have a blogspot blog for testing anything without worry.

So, it has not got me rethinking my whole blogging strategy, not only one the others I have but also with this blog you are reading, I feel keener to move this to a sub-domain like blog.robsellen . com. while allowing me to keep some hosting in place for other important things, this is stuff that I don't need to explain here.

Just allowing blogger to host the sub-domain itself and the blog content would be good for getting off the dreaded FTP set up... which is getting to be a pain in the arse!
And typing in this current url would just redirect instantly to the sub-domain.. so this blog is still the same, just a new url.

The ftp is so slow, getting off that for that reason alone is worth it, editing and such is so much faster.

Blogger tends to have dropped FTP users to the bottom of the list, targeting the blogspot users and I understand why, don't blame them either.

The fact I could use sub-domains means I can do several blogs on each domain, not that I necessarily will but it available to do while benefiting from the blogspot pros, losing the FTP woes.

So, if you are using blogger, are you using the "draft" version of the editor?

If not, simply go to the bottom of your blogger dashboard page and you will see a link, then after that you see a small blue box near the top of your dashboard with a tick, to make draft the default.
Draft is where the new additions and benefits roll out first.

Blogger is upping the reasons to stick with them, but I hope we will see even more changes soon, the changes have been a long time coming anyway and that was what allowed wordpress to gain the following it did.

I am off to create some pages! :o)

Good, Bad, whatever...speak up I can't hear you...

2010-01-20T18:39:00.000Z

What do you choose to see?

Isn't that the world we live in, one of choices, one of free will to decide for ourselves, what we do and what we believe?

We decide for ourselves ..to a point, the fact society is "moulding people" to "fit in" through various means, schooling, media, morals, peer pressure, all real examples you can relate to.

You know, it's depressing to look at any of the news because that's what they do, dumb em down and spread fear, just how the establishment like it, genuine bad news is understandably reported about, the earthquake recently for example, but on the whole it's all manipulated depressing roof-is-caving-in-crap!

It's nearly all propaganda crap, designed to create a mass fear.

The way things work is now shifting though with more people starting to use real time media to get facts and stories direct without being filtered as such like it is for mainstream and that's also changing the way people are influenced, by what they choose to see, where they choose to look for that information, how it changes they way they think about things, around them and elsewhere in the world.

But...

Where is all the good news?

Good news? ... um, joking or what?

Seriously, why is there not a purely good news channel sharing what is uplifting with the world.

You could say we create that ourselves by choosing what we see online, if you ignore the TV, newspapers and only look at good things, uplifting news, whatever gees you up, inspiring writing, stories that motivate you.

Why put crap and depressing shit into your head in the first place?
Remember you almost never forget anything...you may think you do, but it's there, somewhere.

The internet really is changing the mass of thought out there in the world, collective conscience is changing... the establishment have manipulated that collective conscience for so long and now they are losing that grip.

You could almost compare it to the social change of the 60's... that was a massive collective conscience change too, it changed society as a whole.

Now it's our turn to change society, collectively.

Right in front of you, is a fantastic tool... you can't underestimate what it can do for you, those around you and indeed people all over the world.

Because of it, YOU are the media...

The responsibility of the media falls down all of us now, not the establishment, we collectively have more reach and therefore more power and responsibility with it, we are already unleashing it.

The modern generation take all this for granted and are less influenced by the mainstream than my own and older generations, we had a TV with 4 channels! (can remember it being less than that) and the usual crappy newspapers, telling us what they wanted us to know.

Now there is a massive range of choice, so many channels vying for your attention and the chance to influence they way you think, see things, act and influence others.

Make your time they desperately grasp for worth your while and be picky, picky in what you see and therefore share, but overall as with the old saying, "don't believe all you read" mum was so fond of, it still matters, yet...

That's the real power in your hands, the reach from what you share, the recent "rage against the machine" being No 1 in the UK charts being a great example, another is the more recent "bra colour" viral status campaign on facebook, they were just ideas, "was it possible to do this?" and that is the internet, a field of possibility, or a factory of them.

You never had the opportunity to spread things like that before, nor so fast, use it wisely, you have more influence than you realise, even if it is just a status, or tweet!

Share your voice, loudly, it's unique and valuable.

Consider why you read some books, blogs, profiles, whatever, usually it because of the voice behind it, not the person as such, but what they say and the way they say it, it's their voice (written voice) that usually grabs you, for whatever reason, fun, witty, sarcastic, rude, or just plain old nice and easy reading.

I see some people who write some great status's and tweets and yet they have no other platform like a blog or such which I think is a shame, they could probably build a great blog audience.

You know, you can have as much as 100 readers a day on your blogger blog after a few weeks and yet though 100 is not a massive deal you still have some influence, depends who reads it, shares it, only takes one tweet, blog link, status shared from one of these readers to explode the growth of your audience and again your possible reach to new readers.

You already say and share more than you think... what may be nothing to you could be a huge thing to another...and you'd never even know it.

So, why aren't you sharing it with the world?

The signs are there, eventually you ask...

2010-01-20T00:50:00.000Z

There is alot of people now starting to see the merits of doing "stuff" online, whether they started with a hobby frame of mind, or as a result of following their passion, whatever that may be and it's lead them on a path of questions, possibilities and opportunities.

I have seen some "hobby blogs" and such starting to show signs of the owners realising it for themselves.

It's how alot get started yet there is something, a question, that always draws people like a magnet... the possibility of doing it for a living...IE "can I seriously make money online doing this shit?" (with a sarcastic nod to their pc)

After all, they are already spending a few hours a week writing, or other content (videos etc) and doing all the "stuff" that they need to do, it's just a case of asking what else they could do, try, or maybe look for the perfect "plug-in-and-away-you-go" easy money maker.

The slippery slope beckons...

The downside the shillsters don't tell you about when they sell you their "secrets" and crappy "get rich quick" formulas, that they probably don't even do themselves (they just get rich quick selling the crap) - is the sheer work and boring repetitive crap that needs to be done in order to get anywhere, it can be demoralising, more so when it takes a while to get results in this day and age of "instant gratification" and over-hyped promises.

Sometimes we all get downhearted doing this that and the other, mind numbing shit that needs to be done cos there ain't never been results without work, you know action on something rather then sitting on facebook and twitter all day doing bugger all but natter like many do, or if sensible at times, sharing a real worthy tweet!

But don't you need a system? ...

While it's true you do need to follow a system, you really need to create your own system, not meaning you need to start from scratch either... I came to realise all you do is take what works from different systems, actions, tips, knowledge and adapt them to suit you and to maximise your strengths, whatever they may be...the only way to do that is to actually do, test and improve.

I tell you this, it doesn't get any easier along the way as many would have you believe, each new thing you get past is great but there is always something else to do, to get past, and it continues but it is a journey, not a destination.
Learning is just a part of life, why should it be any different online?

Everything leads to more questions.

It seems it's still getting started that comes across as the hardest part of the journey for many, oddly, I wouldn't say it's as much now as it was, it's hard to make the start in some ways, then once going like everything you wonder why you "fretted" over it and these days it's easier than ever to just do something.

Something's just sound harder than they are, yeah some of it can sound a little daunting, but how will you know till you do?

So while this system would just help you in alot of ways you could just use the most relevant part(s) of it, lets say you research for a topic to write about based around something you can deal with (keywords) then get started immediately writing quality articles based on what you find worth doing, then set up a basic blogger blog to post some of the articles to, while posting a few to the main article directories, always having a "resource box" at the bottom of each article with a link to your blog, these directories then get you traffic and links back to your blog.

Then tell others about your blog too, while tracking the traffic coming in.

Rinse, repeat with new articles, and even start other possible topics on new blogs, and rinse, repeat again.

Simple, no?

But then, no doubt various questions go through your mind now...that's the way it works.

"How long is this gonna take to show me results?"
"Is it even going to work?"

The answers to those questions only you have, and they only way you will find out is to do.

So, how long have you got? No, seriously..

If you are seriously considering all of that, you should also ask yourself this...

"Am I willing to do stuff everyday and commit to it for 6 months with NO expectation of reward, knowing I may screw up many times before even hitting the right spot, where I see a monetary result?"

If so, go for it, if not...don't waste anytime trying, because it ends up very...trying!

If you really have the drive to get started, or have started already but are yet to see the potential to adapt in a way it will benefit you in a monetary kind, then by all means think about it, act on it, if it fits well with you there's nothing stopping you.

In reality, anyone can make money online.

If you really think, "yep, sounds interesting but where to start?

Write down the 5 things you are most passionate about, knowledgeable of.
Write down all your strengths.

Try to find some overlap of the two and start with that, if there is one, you will have a better chance of staying motivated and it won't feel like "boring work" then get researching using the systems information for the right starting point within the overlap, if there is one.

Then write at least 10 well keyworded long good quality articles with solid information for the blog and post them one a day, write 10 short but good teasing 3-400 word articles for the article directories and submit them one a day without forgetting to put a link back to your blog in the resource box at bottom of them (which is why you tease them, you want them coming to your blog for more).

Then share the blog URL with others, in bottom of outgoing emails, on social site profiles you have, just get it "out there" and get the ball rolling, join forums and comment on blogs where you "get involved" with your ideal target market, they will click on your signature link under all your post.

Then write more articles, rinse repeat and do it consistently until you have enough data to decide if it's worthwhile...if so, get monetising by way of adsense, affiliate links, ad-space, whatever works, (yep testing again!) it's why the research part is so important, two or three extra hours researching could save days, weeks in the long run.

If you find something is working, keep at it and then consider how to grow what works, drop what doesn't..(yep more testing... see, it's never ending.)

Don't do or follow what you don't need, just improve whatever it is you do and know works, if you use blogger as said above you could then decide to grab a domain and use it on the blog (so simple to do) as it will pay to do so.

If it doesn't work out, consider just starting again with something else or another angle, no need to delete what you have done if it's costing nothing anyway, IE its a free blog!

Whatever happens, you will have learnt valuable lessons the first time and nothing teaches like experience.

While I like facebook, I am sick of the app spam crap...

2010-01-18T22:58:00.000Z

I like Facebook, it's been a great re-connector for old friends, with the walled garden privacy settings being one of the main reasons for it's growth, which they are now trying to reverse without a care for the users, not surprising to hear 50% of people have ~~accepted~~ been duped with it and left the change to public.

They need it open to the public for the simple fact the search engines will index them, send them more traffic.

Many are still using the private settings, myself included, though I have given that some serious thought recently as it's only there I have set private, elsewhere online it's not the case, but then elsewhere online I am not connected to so many real friends, people I actually know in the "real world" and that makes it different.

I love the fact I can interact with local friends and old friends I haven't seen for years, most of them are set to private too, it's what got them comfortable with facebook in the first place...

But the apps, and fake groups and more crap are driving me nuts!

I have to groan when I keep seeing crap apps, stupid fake groups like "we won't pay to use facebook" which is just laughable! (HINT: facebook CAN'T afford to charge people and risk losing anything up to 350 million users!)

I remove almost all this crap from my profile and I know it will bother some who have posted and then seen me remover it and thought "oops".. now don't worry if that's you, nothing personal in it at all, I just don't want the crap all over my profile, I have seen friends profiles and they are nothing BUT that sort of crap.

But if you have set yours to open, are you comfortable with the fact every tom, dick and harry can see what crap gets posted to your profile?

Does it really reflect on you as a person, some say I should lighten up and chill, but my profile is this way for a reason and I write this so you who say "chill" can get an idea why I do it and why I don't want that crap posted on my profile, why I don't want to join crap fake groups which are "viral" in the way they are named, yet meaningless.

The apps and crap make you look sad, uninteresting in some sense, to some people!
Children's stuff!
Need I say more?

No offence to any person, it's just perception, and my perception is, in all honesty, influenced to a degree by the perception of many, do I really want others seeing that crap on my profile? No!

But... it gets worse, because people blindly click any old shit, they are spreading viruses, trojans and the like, I KNOW this because my PC stopped a trojan yesterday, and I do NOT click any old link, the problem was who's link it was, not that they did it on purpose or anything, just that it's FRIENDS... we tend to put more weight of trust on things relating to the person behind the link.

Natural, but it nearly caught me out.

I have to say I have always had friends contact me on facebook saying this has happened, my pc wont work, or similar, what do I do?

I always help, but why not all help yourselves...

Well, one thing, stop sharing crap, think about what you click a bit more before clicking it.
Use common sense!

Facebook is a haven for that sort of crap, so many users, so much "trust" between friends, so much ease of going viral... it's WHY they target it, and groups are created to simply build a mailing list so they can spam your inbox with CRAP!

The next thing you could do, is when you use an app and it ask you to send invites and such, really think about who you are sending them to, do they really want that whatever app invite?
Will it annoy them?
Does this crappy app really mean anything?

Then you may consider not spamming your friends with it.

Consider what others think, more so if your profile is open, consider what your profile looks like and how it reflects you.

Just a thought... ;o)

Do it right, or they will get you...

2010-01-15T19:35:00.000Z

Love em or loathe them, they are out there, the Grammar Nazis picking away at any misspelt, badly written, grammatically incorrect, wrongly formatted writing they see.

They matter though.
Because they care.
Even if a little to much, at times.

Like I said recently, your writing will never please everyone, depending on the reader and the intended audience, I spoke of intent briefly on writing, but it's intent which on different levels, some we just ignore at the time..

Your intent of the message. (why you write it, will they get it?)
The audience that intent is aimed towards.(who you're writing to)
Assumed intent of non intended readers. (will your next boss see that?!)

I am often wondering, without insulting anyone, if people abandon all common sense sometimes when they write something online, be it a status on a social networking site like facebook, twitter, or a blog post, forum post, whatever.
Perception is important itself, more so when it's so easy to find what people have written online, all indexed here there and everywhere.

No wonder people are catching partners out on social sites and more, bosses are looking up prospective employees, potential partners are searching information about them online.

It matters when it comes to some of the potential audience.

The smart ones are often fishing for the right audience... without it even seeming that way.

It's no coincidence some smart writers have gained work because of it, but you can bet those people also write at least the right way even in status's and tweets, they don't sweat the small stuff so to speak.

You can imagine it, a boss in some niche of sorts, comes across someone on a social site, forum, or similar, liking the style then looking into other writing by them, blogs and websites and similar, thinking "I like this, I could pay that person" ... to write a few post a week, or something like a column a week, whatever.

It happens!

And it's not limited to any niche, topic, passion, business.

Someone with a huge fishing forum and blog getting 20,000 hits a day, everyday, and making £10,000 a month could be reading you, yes you the... "always writing and talking bloody fishing" in your mates, partners, families words... and yet that forum/blog owner thinks... "I like your style, passion, voice, and now I have seen your consistency" and emails you with a great offer!

Why could that not happen to you?

Whatever you do write, wherever it may be, do it consciencely and consistently.

Does posterous have a weakness here?

2010-01-14T20:26:00.000Z

Soon you will see I have posted this very post here to the comments in this SEO post on posterous by the co-creator of posterous, in the actual comments! (IF it works as it did earlier!)

Not something that was meant to be part of the experience, I only found out by complete accident, a slip of the key literally.

Why I am doing this right now, like this, is to highlight it, is it a possible "comment spam" risk? I think so.

I get the irony of me doing it to an SEO post, but then that is what is what's wrong with SEO, it's gaming the system in some way, what I am doing here could be a form of gaming posterous and the search results maybe just to spread the content...which is why I am not exactly saying how I did this here, but it needs looking into.

Maybe they know it's possible to do this, maybe not, we will soon know, how long it could have gone before someone realised and started abusing it no-one will know.

That fact is I have done it here. It is a potential issue.

You know where to find me posterous guys. :o)
No offence but I had to show this to you and thought the best way was to do it.

Be a better reader if you want to be a better writer

2010-01-14T14:40:00.000Z

Your writing is as good as your readers.

I have great readers...

The job or your writing is to be read but it's important to realise you will never please everyone, so never try to please everyone, just write more because those who do like reading your content will come back for more and hopefully tell others, the more readers you get the better your writing must be, right?

If you really want to write, start reading more as well, reading is, as you know, so important in the communication progress and it does matter, I would have struggled to talk without reading lots and in turn writing.

The Internet has created a generation of great writers according to Penelope Trunk, maybe, maybe not too but it's certainly changed the way communication is made, improved in some ways as people are more often connected than not, but it has also got worse with the written word being txt speak a little to often and basic grammar often being ignored altogether.

Maybe it has it's place...um, yeah, phones? ...Twitter?

You could say twitter has the argument of creating brevity with the limited 140 character count, which hints at the reality that twitter was started with phones in mind.

Granted the Internet has unearthed some good and great writers, no doubt they were already good storytellers, communicators, after all that is good writing - great writing. (I'd hope, humbly, that I would fall into the middle of them somewhere!)

I get told I am a good writer, while flattered and pleased it's hard to see in yourself what you do well, without being ego-influenced, but I have also always written, and I am even more of a reader, as I always have been, I mentioned it earlier I had to in order to talk properly and also to keep me from "falling behind" at school as I grew up... It helps!

Nowadays though young people are doing it even more, they are growing up without knowing any different, IMing, txt'ing, twittering, blogging, using facebook, etc etc...also reading more online.

Nevertheless it's hard to escape the fact today's young people are writing and reading at times most in my generation didn't when we were young (pre mobile phones!) that is, usually at school for us and only then...these days the youngsters are online, using iphones or similar.

It matters because its changing alot of society, good and bad, communication on the whole is changing at a rapid rate, let's not forget never before has everyone had the opportunity to share with so many, so easily and at anytime they like, hence there are more people writing overall.

I mean, it's now 3.30AM* I have been writing lots over the evening, not only here, and yet, it's ok, nothing stopping me from doing so, I can still click publish and share it... I could just save it and crash out in bed, get up and carry on...millions of people are doing the same! (*I will "publish" it later today, timing counts!)

That is the beauty of the internet and having the platform to share whatever, it has emboldened people to do so, while not everyone gets great results they do have the same basic opportunity, and they take it.

It just so happens as more and more do so, your writing will have to matter and stand out to rise above the noise and be noticed.

"Ah"... the marketers cry, "but the write it and they come is BS" ... um yes, marketing is fundamental to anything being spread on or offline of course, but if the writing is good, better still, great, then more people will find it anyway, people share good stuff and it only takes one person to start that ball rolling, yourself or someone who shares it the first time.

It's no coincidence Penelope is a good writer and although probably not seeing herself as one but she is a very smart internet marketer too, that combination is always going to get you somewhere.

The underlying thing I have realised (and it's just this way with most things) is intent.

Without intent, it's all pointless. Just words.

A 20 minutes a week holistic health approach

2010-01-12T16:16:00.000Z

As part of my aim to get healthier and rid myself of bad habits, I have over the last few months been looking into what I can do to boost my chances of success.

Knowing my own doubts on my willpower I felt I had to at least utilise this amazing tool we call the internet and see what I could find out for myself, never know until you look.

People talk of "alternative" therapies, medicine and such, not sure why its called alternative, holistic is more the truth, and it's no coincidence ancient approaches were holistic, even Native Americans, Aborigines use a holistic approach.

I remember coming across a great article a few years back, I shared it on a forum I am no longer a member of, it was about our cells, DNA and how we are, in a sense, holographic, that is each cell is a mirror image of our whole.

It was a fascinating article, written by a man and woman who were Russian if I remember right, I has it bookmarked but due to the small fire on my pc a wee while ago, which had to be rebuilt I lost it, damn!

No matter, I will find it again I have no doubt.

Regardless, the information in there struck me and stuck in my head so I was surprised a short while back when I started looking into similar things without realising it or doing so without intent, the path it lead me on was fascinating mentally and spiritually, not only that...the "browser history" in chrome also interested me, the way I went along the right path almost wholly guided by my sub-conscience.

I am glad it happened.

I came across something else that reminded me of it, something that got me thinking about it again and with clarity because I felt it really encompassed all that I had been reading about.

What I started looking at a few months (4 or 5) back, it started because I was at a friends house and a fascinating program came on the TV about quantum physics, mechanics, it was in some ways mind-blowing stuff.

Nevertheless getting to understand it as best I could it opened up some fascinating realms of thought for me over the few days afterwards and it was this that got me thinking about the article I shared on the forum, how this quantum fits on a human cellular level, what could we do with it and learn more about it.

Through the wonder of this tool called the internet and reading whatever the path showed me I learnt way more than I thought I would

It lead on a funny path of mixed things, from the water test with words, through to photons, even stuff regarding 2012 and whatever that may bring.

Like I say, a strange path yet in the end it all made sense, enlightening you could say!

The real answers are in us, or if not, they are externally...in nature.

The notion of the "experts" calling 95% of DNA "junk DNA" is almost an insult, do they really expect us to believe that nature would waste so much DNA?

It's not "junk" just because we don't fully understand it, that's absurd itself.

If anything it's that the lack of understanding that probably scares them.

Anyway, I stumbled on something I have to say is of interest and maybe you could also benefit from it, this is something I did a few months ago and have since set 20 minutes a week to redo, I also approached it with an open mind and no preconceptions other than intent for it to work.

It works on something we have no real control over normally, because it speaks clearly to that part of us we can't speak to with intent.

The message being given to your bodies intelligence, not your intelligence in the sense we know of, what we think for ourselves, but to that of the unseen intelligence your whole body has, something we rarely even acknowledge let alone use.

Taking just 20 mins to get started on reprogramming yourself, your DNA, your conscience, sub-conscience, your cells, cleansing and healing yourself on a quantum level. Quantum physics to heal mind body and soul.

Realigning your original blueprint, in other words.

What do you have to lose by trying it?