Blog From Scratch

I Have Moved To A Newly Refurnished Blog, Check It Out!

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Thu, 12 May 2011 03:29:00 +0000

I'm so sorry for the delay in this post, for some reason Blogger turned this post into a draft even though I scheduled it on the 12th of May.

Don't worry I won't leave my readers behind, I know the number of readers are so tiny anyway, but here's the news, I have made a new blog that I'm never going to change my mind again, it is hosted by Hostgator and it runs on WordPress, not using Blogger is so much better I'm telling you that's a decision you will never regret making in your life.

I'm not completely against people who use Blogger but eventually you will need it, Blogger is for beginners and WordPress is for non-beginners. If you consider yourself to be I-don't-know-what-I-am then you should change to WordPress, just like I did, sure, you will have a hard time getting used to the interface but that's the only downside after all, you will be surprised at the fact that there are so many wonderful features.

To anyone who is reading this, please visit my new blog,
it is called Blog Lectures, the link is to my first post the welcome page, so you will know what the blog is about. :)

Do whatever you want with this blog, unbookmark it, unsubscribe it, yeah that's right. :D

Live Traffic Tracking Feed Widget – Feedjit

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:27:00 +0000

Ever saw that widget on the sidebar of a particular blog? The ones that looked like a miniature feed of recent visitors who have been on their site? I just found the widget! It can help you track traffic statistics, where the visitors are from, when did they come, who and which blog post they read.

This popular traffic tracking widget was created by Feedjit and is used by over 500,000 site owners around the world (that's what their site says), it has also been reviewed on TechCrunch.

"It’s pretty amazing for Feedjit to have become one of the largest widget providers on the Web today." ~ Techcrunch

There are free versions and paid versions for this widget, details are as follows:

The Free Version:

* Free Live Traffic Feed

* Live Traffic View

* Public Stats

* Ad Supported

Advanced Monthly $4.95 Plan:

* Fully personalized Traffic Feed

* Priority customer support

* Live Traffic View

* No Ads

* Public Stats

Pro Monthly $9.95 Plan:

* Fully personalized Traffic Feed

* Priority customer support

* Ad Free Pro Live Traffic View

* Private or Public Stats

* Advanced Real-Time Graphs

* Real-Time Events

* Email Alerts

There are also 3 other different widgets which they provide: (You can get all of their widgets somewhere else for free anyway)

*Live Traffic Map

*Recommended Reading

*Page Popularity

How to install? They will teach you, it's simple as, just paste the code they give you into a HTML code box on your Blogger design page.

My comment on this widget? Garbage. Why the hell would you want to use this widget anyway? First, it slows down your site, second, it is intrusive and third it draws your visitors' attention away. There is absolutely no way I would ever use this widget, but if you want to play around with this widget where you see a fancy little map on your homepage telling you where your visitors come from, then go ahead install it.

Note: You have to give them your email address in order to use it. Anyway, here's the link.

The Importance of Labels – How Digg Died From the Internet History

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Sun, 08 May 2011 08:03:00 +0000

Did you know that more than 80% of the bloggers out there do not actually know how to use labels the correct way? I have to admit I'm not using it the right way either. Labels is the default name for blogger blogs for; tags, categories...etc Things can't get done without proper and correct categorization, imagine libraries had no categorized bookshelves and everything be scattered around all over the place, what about a government without levels of branches? Chaos.

Things can't simply get done without labels even to the simplest tiniest little things. What if kindergarten kids had to study together with the university guys? That would be harsh! (I'm assuming the kids will get horsed around like toy dolls, jokes)

Some of you might think labeling is about that unique code written on the middle bit of the books from the libraries, something like 759-033. Well it is but no. (numbers are for computers)

Categorization isn't just about numbers, if it was then why the heck would China be called China, Russia called Russia, USA... USA? Why not just call it country 51? country 93? You thought so because names are just as important as labels, why has that average Joe or Tom got a name? Why don't we just call them male-88937361547? You see, you still have to label it male or female or you can have another digit for identifying the gender (instead of male-889... make it 1-889...) Should there be something like 1 for males 2 for females 3 for homosexuals 4 for lesbians 5 for bisexuals 6... just kidding that was inappropriate and off-topic I know :P , but you get the point.

My point is, everything in the world needs to be categorized, or labeled or...tagged whatever you call it. (It's just another word for classification, you should know that from science)

Okay. How to use labels effectively, for example if you had a blog about cooking recipes then presumably you need categories like the graph below, each different section is broken down into smaller and smaller parts. Of course, there were more that I could have added but these are just some of the basics.

Categorization Example (Click to Enlarge)

Oh and categories aren't just about adding that few keywords to each post and chuck them on the homepage (like I did), you'll also need to simplify it or double categorize it, use the library as an example again, before we choose our books, there is fiction or non-fiction and after that there is whatever topics you're looking for, right? And then it's placed in alphabetical order. (or by authors' names or by genres = triple categorized)

Proper and correct labeling on your blog will give you many benefits;

Respect, your readers will give your blog a higher reputation
Trust, your first time visitors will have a good impression of your blog
Tidiness, all your content are neatly grouped and clear
Speed, readers can navigate through and around your blog quickly with ease
More traffic, visitors will stay longer on your site to read more
Interaction, you make the visitors think and choose to click on something

Here's my rule for blogs about blogging: No labels more than 30. (That's my maximum limit)

Wondered how this post's headline was formed? Digg lost (still losing) a massive astronomical load of users from the internet because it had sh** categorization, I mean it, and that is how Digg died from the internet history. Protect your blog with proper labels now! Don't risk losing any readers or subscribers!

Box Tube – Red Themed Elegant Blogger Template

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Thu, 05 May 2011 10:07:00 +0000

Box Tube, a red themed Blogger Template. Each gadget if shown on your blog will be automatically created with a box with rounded corners around itself and a small little red icon saying “Box”. My blog was once on this template but there was just too much red, couldn't take it anymore.

Template Author: Dezzain Studio

Designer: Dezzain Studio, Bloggerized by Buzzmyworld

Description: 2 columns, Adsense optimized, Simple

Pros:

Good for a person who loves red
High Adsense click through rates
Dates, Comments, Authors
3 footer boxes (Where you can add gadgets)
Clear navigation bar
Built-in RSS logo and Search

Cons:

Not for reading, too much red
Boring colors (Black and Red)
Messy HTML codes
3 footer links
Small default font

If you use Google Adsense, it is recommended that you place a black or red link unit ad under the navigation bar. Additionally, to blend Adsense Ads into the content, red colored titles should be used.

Box Tube is a free red themed Adsense optimized Blogger template with 2 columns and it can be downloaded via this link. (demo available)

How to Hide My Affiliate Links For Bloggers

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Mon, 02 May 2011 11:00:00 +0000

So you want to cloak that long and obvious affiliate link? Earn 100% of the affiliate commissions you deserve now! After surfing up so many different solutions on the internet, I've finally found the perfect solution. Note: This tutorial is mainly aimed at Blogger users, for Wordpress users you could also use these methods but you have better alternatives, visit the end of the post for more information.

It has become obvious that being an affiliate for a product can earn you giant bulks of cash online, and because of the fact that we all know about this “affiliate” thing, selfish readers often copy the main url of the product and purchase it instead of buying it through your referral link, they hate giving us credit.

How hiding affiliate links can benefit you:

Generate more sales
People can't remove your id
Track Statistics (Which people buys the most)

There are two main methods for Bloggers to hide their affiliate links, both requires Javascripts (which 99% of the computers in the world has). To use html codes in your posts make sure you choose Edit HTML instead of Compose on the top right hand corner.

1^st Method

<a href="YOUR-AFFILIATE-URL" onmouseover="window.status='STATUS-BAR-URL'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">TEXT

Replace YOUR-AFFILIATE-URL with your referral link, don't worry no one can see this link unless they read your page source (less than 2% of the people do).

Replace STATUS-BAR-URL with what you want to display in the status bar in the bottom of the browser, make sure it's a valid link (don't show your referral id).

Replace TEXT with your own custom text.

2^nd Method

<FORM>
<INPUT type="button" value="TEXT" onClick="window.open('YOUR-AFFILIATE-URL','mywindow','width=400,height=200,toolbar=yes,
location=yes,directories=yes,status=yes,menubar=yes,scrollbars=yes,copyhistory=yes,
resizable=yes')">
</FORM>

Replace TEXT with your own custom text.

Replace YOUR-AFFILIATE-URL with your referral link, you can't see this link because buttons do not show a status.

Note: Test out the two methods from above on your homepage using a html code gadget, sometimes they do not work, if they don't you can use this last method that works all the time.

Last Method

<a href="http://www.yahoo.com/" rel="nofollow" onclick="window.location.replace('http://www.google.com/'); return false;">Click Here Shows Yahoo but Goes to Google</a>

Change Yahoo to the status bar url and change Google to your actual referral link, change the "Click Here..." into your custom text.

There are two downsides while using this method, if the user chooses to right click the link and open a new tab or window, then they will be literally directed to your status bar url. If a user naturally clicks on your link, they will be directed to your referral link, but the back button becomes grey-ed out and the user cannot go back a page unless they look up history.

Yes, I know, hiding affiliate links for Blogger users is such a pain, but apart from that I love everything that Blogger provides.

Tactics for cloaking your affiliate links:

For fake urls that you show on the status bar, show the link to the actual product but without your referral link. (Don't worry they won't literally type the url, they think what they see)
For texts, make them sound normal, try and not name them “Click Here”, just name the link the product's name.
Remember, never use a URL-shortening software, it is considered to be low-class and all updated browsers naturally ban them.

For more information and Wordpress users, please visit How to Hide Your Affiliate Links and How to Hide Affiliate Link. Learn more about the second method at Opening a New Window with JavaScript.

For a simpler version of the 1^st method use this Link Cloaker code generator instead. I recommend you to check both of the boxes for “Open in new window” and “No follow for Search Engine bots”.

Test out your links and generate more sales, have fun :D

Decorative Twitter Tweet Me/Follower Maker

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:37:00 +0000

Who doesn't want a free extra piece of a twitter follow me image? Especially if you have space, give this Twitter Tweet Me Follower Maker a go, I guarantee you will have an increase of Twitter followers straight away!

I found this maker when I was surfing the web, it's free and their images are really decorative, I used to have one on my site in the first box of my sidebar, but because I have switched my blog design and template, the blue twitter bird will be an annoyance to my red themed blog, therefore I no longer have one. Update: I switched back to a blue themed template again.

But if you do have some extra space, grab one and chuck it on your site, it's free and it looks “cool”. Best of all, encourage more Twitter followers!

Pros:

Fancy looking images
Increase of Twitter followers
Easy to add (Copy & Paste)

Cons:

Too little variations
Many are huge images
Maybe intrusive to readers

Take note that this website runs many Google Ads.

To install these buttons, go to your Design and add a gadget choose HTML/JavaScript and paste in the code you've recently copied from their website. Save and enjoy!

Almost forgot to give you the link! Here it is the Twitter Follow Me Maker :)

BlueSense Theme – Made for Adsense Blogger Template

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:57:00 +0000

Introducing the BlueSense Blogger template, a made for Adsense template with an extremely high click through rate of over 70%!

Template author: DoshDosh (Bloggerized by FBT)

Designer: DoshDosh

Description: A blue themed Adsense ready template for Blogger. Comes with 3 columns, a navigation bar and simple post settings.

Pros:

Over 70% CTR
Makes a lot of money
Simple colors
User-friendly
Clear fonts and writing
Blended in with Adsense units

Cons:

Too much blue
Ads everywhere
Two footer links at the bottom
Posts with images look weird

Below are the HTML color codes you will need for the Adsense units

This is for all ads except the link units:

google_color_border = F0F6FB
google_color_bg = F0F6FB
google_color_link = 064B8C
google_color_text = 064B8C
google_color_url = 064B8C

This is for the link units:

google_color_border = 064B8C
google_color_bg = 064B8C
google_color_link = ffffff
google_color_text = ffffff
google_color_url = ffffff

BlueSense is a high-quality free MFA Blogger template and it can be downloaded via this link. (Demo available)

How to Create Read More Links to My Posts on the Homepage

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 06:45:00 +0000

As seen on Blog From Scratch, I have a limit of ten posts on the front page and all of them contain only a thumbnail (image) and a small section of each post (introduction), and if the readers are interested in reading they would click on the Continue Reading link and read the entire post, of course, you could read my full posts directly from RSS Feeds or from Email but some people prefer reading it on the main blog.

Why should you use the Read More feature?

Shorter homepages instead of it having full of complete posts.
It helps you organize up your posts.
It makes the reader interact by clicking a button instead of doing nothing but reading.
A longer stay on your site. (More Traffic, Lower Bounce Rate)

Especially if you have a 3000 words+ massive awesome complete guide in making money online or something like that and it's published fully on the homepage, the readers are not going to like it.

The Read More feature is called Jump Break on Blogger and it can be easily added to your posts with a click of a button without having to edit your HTML codes. (You have to do it individually for each post though)

1. Go to a post that you want to add the feature to

Find the section or introduction you want to only show on the homepage and give it an empty line between it and the next block of text (or image), as shown in the picture above.

2. Click on the Insert Jump Break toolbar icon

Click on the icon and a gray colored line or jump break will appear at where you have last selected in your post. The Read More link will appear at the end of your paragraph when you see it on the homepage. (Shown below)

Homepage

If you press the Read More button you will be directed to the actual post.

This feature could also be easily done in the Edit HTML mode by inserting a small line of code as shown in the picture below.

If you would like to change the words "Read More" into something else you could do that by going to Design/Page Elements/Edit Blog Post (at the bottom right corner of your post widget), then change the Read More text into whatever you like.

For some custom templates you have downloaded elsewhere, you may to need to do a little editing in the HTML template.

1. Go to Design/Edit HTML/Download Full Template

Backup your template just in case something goes wrong.

2. Click on Expand Widget Templates

Press Control+F and search for

<data:post.body/>

Then add this following code directly beneath it:

<b:if cond='data:post.hasJumpLink'>
<div class='jump-link'>
<a expr:href='data:post.url + "#more"'><data:post.jumpText/></a>
</div>
</b:if >

Click save and you're done!

Have a good day! :)

Blogger vs. Wordpress – The Complete Comparison

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 05:35:00 +0000

I've seen many discussions and debates of which is the best blogging platform on the web, between these two; the Google owned blogging platform Blogger and another used my many, Wordpress. Each has its unique effectiveness and functionality. Both of the blogging platforms has its own Pros and Cons. Which is better? It really depends on what you think, but before you make up your mind you better read about these two platforms in details.

Functions	Blogger	Wordpress
Post Writer	Easy to use, user friendly and simple. Can be switched to other writers.	Simple, user friendly, Microsoft Office-like, easy to use.
Designing and customization	Provides boring very simple default templates, extremely easy to customize; colors, fonts, images, backgrounds, sizes...etc Almost fully customizable.	No template editing. Has built-in 100+ templates to choose from. Some have extra customization options. Style sheet editing is only available as a paid upgrade.
Image storage	1 Gigabyte (can be bought more) via Picasa Web Album, the only way to browse images through Blogger.	3 Gigabytes (can be bought more). Paid upgrades can be bought for more space and more extensions including; .pdf, .doc, .odt and .ppt files.
Traffic tracking	Built-in traffic tracking system, although you can use any other third-party scripts.	Has built-in stats, 2 days stats as well as daily, weekly and monthly charts.
Importing other Blogs	Only from another Blogger Blog*Spot blog.	Importable from all well-known blogging platforms; Blogger, Live Journal, TypePad, Yahoo! 360, another Wordpress blog and even more
Static pages	Only 10 static pages allowed no matter what.	Unlimited but are separate from the “posts” menu.
Custom Domains	Can be bought in Blogger via Google with Google Checkout from GoDaddy at $10 a year. All complicated things are automatically done for you. Free domain mapping.	Can be bought with Wordpress at 15 USD a year. If all you want is their blogging platform for you already owned domain, mapping costs 10 USD a year.
Private Blogs	You can restrict access to visitors and allow only invited Google readers.	You can restrict access to 35 Wordpress users. (unlimited after a paid upgrade) Individual posts can be private or password protected.
Team Blogging	Administrators and other Blogger co-writers only.	Administrators, Editors, Contributors and Authors may modify or create content.
Comments	Spam filtering and moderation options. Either leave or delete, no editing.	Akismet spam protection, moderation and comment editing.

Blogger Built-in Tracking Stats

Wordpress CSS Style Sheet Editor

Blogger Default Templates

Blogger	Wordpress	Description
Gadgets/ Widgets/ HTML scripts	Plug-ins	Third-party software applications.
Text	Text	A box of information of editable words/links/colors.
Images	Images	Simply an image. (Galleries available as well)
Blog Archives	Archives	A collection of all your posts, could be used as a sitemap.
Blog Stats	Blog Stats	A counter of visitors of your website.
Search	Search	For Blogger, you can use any third-party scripts, but the built-in search is Google's Custom Search.
Profile	Author's Box	Display information about yourself. Alternatively, you can create an about me page.
Followers	Blog Subscriptions	Displays the amount of readers who follows your blog,
HTML Editing	Meta	To modify the meta keywords and texts, for Blogger users it has to be done through editing the template.
Labels/ HTML scripts	Categories/Tag Cloud	A customizable list of labels or tags used in your posts. Blogger users may use third-party scripts.
Link List	Pages	A list of static pages or any other websites you want to display.
Popular Posts	Top Posts/ Rated/Clicks	A box displaying your top posts. (calculated with the most views/interactions) For more different styles, you can use third-party scripts from the web.
HTML scripts	Recent Posts/ Comments	An application showing your recent posts or recent comments made on the blog.
Adsense	Plug-ins	Google owns Blogger and there's no trouble setting Adsense up for Blogger but for Wordpress you need to install a particular Adsense plug-in.
Feed	RSS	Each blog when set up has a default RSS page.

WordPress Admin Control Panel

Blogger is extremely user-friendly and simple to use, recommended by many first time Bloggers, but those who chose WordPress instead find it a little hard and annoying in the beginning mostly because many extended functions require the paid upgrade, although the WordPress users get used to it after a certain time and recommend it over Blogger, basically the people out there are saying Blogger is better when you're a beginner and just starting out to blog and WordPress is the essential choice if you're an experienced blogger and you're blogging for the long run.

But that's not true and not the case for everyone out there, some people fancy Blogger more than Wordpress, it's all about whether you like it or not. For example, I use Blogger not because I don't like WordPress but because I like Blogger better (that's stupid I know), plus when you register for a custom domain all those hosting stuff Google will automatically do it for you, life is way easier with Google! Not to mention Google has many many more services that we all use, especially Adsense!

So which one should I use? Blogger or WordPress?

If you are a beginner blogger then I recommend Blogger, it is very simple.

If you are already a blogger that has blogged for a quiet amount of time, and is seem to dislike your current blogging platform then switch to WordPress give it a shot, best of all, you can import your Blog*Spot blog to WordPress in a matter of few clicks, you can't do it the other way though. (that means you cannot import your WordPress blog to Blogger).

Question Time
Which do you think is the best blogging platform?
Why?

I Make a Dollar a Day with One Blog and I Have 500 Blogs

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 08:28:00 +0000

Simple formula:
If 1 blog=$1/day
So 500 blogs=$500/day
Then $15000 a month?
Guess what?
That isn't going to work, because that's terrible anticipation. Don't know that word? It simply means expectation. If you have 500 blogs that each make a dollar a day, don't expect yourself to become that smart rich jerk who earns fifteen grand a month, not going to work, buddy.

Why not? What's wrong with the concept? Nothing really, to be honest I recommend you to use this super clever method, by all means create loads of blogs, and become rich. There's totally nothing wrong with that but only, because of the rules (Terms and Conditions) that you have carelessly agreed to when you signed up for that advertisement publishing network called Google Adsense. (and any other)

Let's be realistic here, almost no one reads that Terms and Conditions page before checking the box to sign up for something. Right?

You might be thinking, why am I saying all these stuff?

I believe the “one dollar”s you make with your blogs are all revenue generated from Google Adsense, and let me warn you that Google hates these blogs (they call it Made for Adsense Low Quality Spam Blogs), once they find out about you, they are going to blacklist your blogs, get rid of you (if you haven't learned your lesson), ban your Adsense account, or even block your IP address.

All I'm trying to do is get the message across the blogosphere is that when it comes to blogging, it is always the old saying:

Quantity never beats Quality.

Got enough of that stupid quote? Try the new word: Uni-Focus (I made that up)

I know, I made up that word myself, but I guess you know what it means, we often have that special sentence or quote we love, stuck in our head right?

The reason why I wanted to write up this post was because nowadays I still see the case happening around (although it is decreasing, but still many). No hard feelings, just don't, never ever be against Google. (Because you will never win, unless you're a zillionaire)

And no, I don't have 500 blogs that each make a dollar a day. :P

Question Time

Have you ever come across any sorts of crappy blogs full of useless content and filled with ads?
Have you ever dreamed of making heaps of blogs that generate a few bucks a day?

How to Submit My Blog to Technorati?

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:35:00 +0000

What is Technorati anyway? I assume you already know it is an internet search engine just like Google and Yahoo but instead it shows results of websites, blogs and blog posts. You can easily submit your blog to Technorati and acquire good traffic.
To submit your blog to Technorati, it takes some time and work to "claim" it with their new anti-spam system.

Submitting blogs to Technorati used to be very simple, but due to the mass amounts of spam and low quality websites submitted, the company has decided to only accept quality or non-useless blogs.

A Technorati Blog Submission will help improve your SEO rankings too, do it now! Dude, that's a free backlink.

1. If you have not registered just yet, Join Technorati Now!

2. Click on your User ID or Display Picture located in the top right corner of the Screen

3. Click on the Claimed Blogs Tab (Scroll Down)

4. Enter your complete blog URL in the box

5. Click Claim and follow the Instructions

Take note that each blog submitted to Technorati takes more than 3 days to be accepted as they have human staffs to work on this. Mine took about a week and then a few days later to appear on their search engine.

This is how their "claim blog" system works:

1. You submit your information
2. You receive a code to be posted on your blog
3. You post it and press check claim
4. It tells you it has crawled your blog and it has found the token and you can now remove the token
5. Wait for a human being to review your website (Took almost a week for mine)

Remember to check your e-mail, expect this whole submission thing to take at least one week!

Have a great day! :D

The Perfect Duo-Custom Domain Generator

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 06:40:00 +0000

Choosing a domain name for your blog is hard, in fact, it is a pain in the... you know, it's not actually “that” hard to name your website the difficult part is once you're like “Yes I got a good one!!” then you sadly realize that the domain has been taken or auctioned at a high price.
Then, you have to brainstorm another name up again *sighs*.

Fortunately, when I had to think of a name for my blog that hasn't already been taken, I used these two awesome helpers, they are free, and I chose my favorite name in a matter of few hours without hassle (a few days to be honest), they even brainstorm the ideas for you for example they would blend in my keyword with; Top 100 keywords, Jobs Related words, Suffixes and so on. It just couldn't get any better.

Name Station is the site where they brainstorm the ideas for you and mix in with your own preferred names, with plentiful of functions and details of each site, updated, different languages, over 20 name extensions e.g.; .biz, .info, .org... etc

Do not underestimate this generator, don't only use the ideas from the drop down menu from above, there are even more tools up the top on their navigation bar, explore all of its features, remember that! Don't live under a rock!

Bust A Name is a domain checker, fast and almost instant, by far the best I've used, they also provide synonyms for your keywords, jam-packed with many features and generation methods. You may also give a shot at their brandable domain generator located up the top on their navigation bar.

Want to continue your research tomorrow or at another time? No problem, save your last used preferences and have your words stay, they do that automatically for you by the way.

Both of the generators support different domain extensions, host your website at all well-known domain registrars and normally give you a special deal coupon with GoDaddy if you buy it through the website. However I highly recommend buying a domain through Blogger with Google in case you want to be in a mess while setting up your blog.

Question Time
How did you name your website's name?
Did you use any special tools that you might want to share with me?

Proper Usage of Uncertainty Words “Might, Probably, Think…etc”

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:05:00 +0000

What are uncertainty words? You know them; might, probably, maybe, I think” These words should (must) be avoided no matter what when you’re explaining something to readers.

If you use the word THINK then you are technically saying you’re not 100% sure about it and you are not certain if it is a fact or not. Therefore the readers don't know whether to trust you or not.

Although, I have written some of my posts with these words, it is not always wrong to use them, just remember to use them at the right time, this is a reason why I have a “My Thoughts” category for my blog, I love sharing personal opinions.

When is the wrong time to use uncertainty words?

When explaining facts (e.g. I think the sun is bigger than the earth)
In step-by-step guides (e.g. step2. I think you should change the template)
Conclusions of whether something would work or not (e.g. I think if you follow my guidelines it should work)
Statements (e.g. This is probably wrong)

When is the right time to use uncertainty words?

Persuasive Introductions (e.g. You might want to read the guide below to...)
Opinions/Final Thoughts (e.g. I suggest you add another widget if you have 1)
Suggestions/Conclusions (e.g. Although... Then you should probably do this...)
Guessing/Estimating something (e.g. There are about trillions of stars in the sky)
Half certain about something (e.g. I'm not so sure about this, but you can always...)

Keep in mind that using too many uncertainty words in a post no matter what category it falls into; thoughts, opinions.. it is still bad (well, not that good).

So what's the big deal about using uncertainty words?

Readers do not know whether to trust you or not, therefore they will look for another blog and quit reading yours, then obviously, you lose traffic. (I'm being broad here)

From time to time, I personally proof-read all my posts from the first post to the last post and correct any misuse of uncertainty words. Plus, you get to proof your content of grammar errors and spelling mistakes!

Top 7 Free Blogging E-books That All Pro Bloggers Read

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:21:00 +0000

I bet you 7 grand all the professional bloggers out there have read the following 7 e-books, well..., they wrote it. Without these golden eBooks, I would've already died and disappeared from the the blogosphere. You are literally going to read every single word from their books, just like I did because everything they wrote is literally worth reading. Even though each author has its own point of view you will notice the similar patterns of how they do things and eventually become a Pro Blogger.

E-books are not as boring as it might sound, to be honest I've actually read more books on the computer than I have in real life, not because I hate reading real books but because I love reading what I like what I am interested in, blogging. If you're not interested in a particular niche or topic before you blog about it then you're definitely going to fail. (everyone knows that)

The list is in alphabetical order, not listed by quality or popularity (they are all wicked though). By the way, you will need to subscribe to the authors' blog in order to download the free eBooks. (I found the sneaky links for some of them though) ;)

BigShot Blogging by Marc Galeazzi

This 63 page eBook seems to be short but it covers everything you need to know about making money online, it has 12 chapters it is a great step by step guide, it tells you things you may not know and some “secrets” he found during his experiences in blogging. The author had a website called OneMansGoal but somehow he had disappeared from the blogosphere like he got kidnapped or something (just kidding I don't know), and apparently I found on the news online, they said Marc got scammed when he tried to sell his domain to another person, since then I have never heard of him again, his domain is currently parked.

Blog Bash by Chitika

A 76 page eBook brought to you by an Ad company called Chitika (similar to Adsense) featuring 30 interviews from 30 experts and their sites. The idea of making this eBook is so clever (my opinion), Chitika got bloggers who used their program to write reviews for them, 30 of them and at the end they packed all of the content in one eBook, which acts as a free advertisement for their company, I bet they received thousands of sign-ups after that, plus, they didn't even have to write! How evil! Anyways, the book is about 30 unique experts around the world sharing their experiences and giving us their blogging advice, a great read! You'll love it!

Blog Profits Blueprint by Yaro Starak

A complete 54 pages blogging blueprint written by Yaro Starak from Entrepreneurs-Journey.com. I have personally not read this book until the very end because the book didn't have the strength to convince me to read it, it didn't have any chapters but just topics one after another, however when I did manage to read the whole book, I had to agree it was near-perfect, it covered up pretty much everything that all professional bloggers do (that they rarely disclose) and his best working methods, tips and advice in blogging, just like a blueprint (complete guide)!

Blog Traffic Made Easy by John Robinson

A short but informative 22 pages eBook written by John Robinson from SiteFever.com, it covers up many different methods in generating traffic (hence the title), I have not read this eBook (at the time I wrote this list), it doesn't sound inviting enough for me to read it, I know... I have high expectations, but I did a quick peek of the chapters, it was awesome, I know for a fact that I'm not going to need this book for the first few months because my blog has just been up running for a while and it still needs to focus on creating content, but this free golden guide is a must have for you and me! One great way of generating traffic is to provide a free eBook and that's how John's small site got famous, with only less than 100 feed readers (at the time I wrote this post). I respect this man.

Make Money Blogging by Daniel Scocco

Nothing fancy, make money blogging, a 54 pages eBook by Daniel Scocco, not too long but extremely informative and useful, it has nicely set out chapters (easy to navigate through and read). A complete guide on how to make money blogging, it covers up pretty much everything we need to know about blogging, my comment: I love it. There is probably nothing better than this eBook, it's one of my personal favorites, well, all the eBooks I list here are my favorites. :P Oh and, I bet you you are going to want to keep on reading after you've finished the book! You can visit his blog DailyBlogTips.com! (I read it everyday)

Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com by John Chow

A 59 page eBook written by John Chow, covering every single aspect of making money online not only by blogging but also by many other methods, all covered in this eBook. John Chow has a couple other more eBooks which are all fantastic, I recommend you to check them out at JohnChow.com. Man, I love this guy, he's a great author, he is smart, he knows how to make money online and he explains things in a way that everyone understands, he is also very braggy, he likes to brag about everything (he's a smart arse). I do respect this guy, he gives us high quality information from his blog and his eBooks, a must read!

Six Figure Affiliate Blogging by Zac Johnson

A detailed eBook with 139 pages explaining how to make money online with various methods, mainly on affiliate marketing and advertising, this is a great blend in with John Chow's eBook, I sometimes do wonder if they are brothers because their sites have almost the same design and they both deliver high quality information. Anyways, Zac starts off with a nice bio, and then something like a time line of his blogging life, which is great, you and I are able to learn from his past and avoid failures and mistakes. At the end of the eBook, there are 24 interviews with famous bloggers from the web, an even more updated and detailed version compare to Chitika's Blog Bash, and also after that there's a bonus section of resource directories.

These eBooks should be paid! You are not going to regret reading everyone of them, they are all high quality and are jam-packed with high quality information, yes I know people always use that “high quality information” old saying, but guess what? These eBooks are actually super mega ultra wicked high quality! :P

Of course, there are way more e-books out there than just seven of them but these seven eBooks are the ones I have actually found reading every single word to be worthwhile not crappy garbage (some out there are). I always have these e-books on my desktop just in case I need help. Trust me, you will need them! (You should have them on your desktop too)

For example, these seven eBooks is like a washing machine, if you don't have the cleaning powder you can't clean your clothes, if you don't have electricity you can't run the machine, if you don't have water you can't wash, if you don't have the clothes the machine is useless.

The moral is: Even though how tiny an ingredient might be, it is still an ingredient.

Didn't have enough of reading blogging e-books? Check out these two other lists I found earlier, Best Free eBooks for Bloggers from Bash Bosh and Top 10 Free E-books For Bloggers from Mashable. They are both wicked websites, you are going to love them! (I mean it)

5 Ways Your Blog Design Will Lose You Readers in 0.97 Seconds

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 10:41:00 +0000

No one likes reading content from flashy and annoying websites, if your blog is based on articles or product reviews or basically anything that is meant to be for reading, then your design has to be plain simple for the readers. Nothing is worse than reading from an annoying website even if you have super mega awesome content. Take the factors below seriously and redesign your blog.

I have personally redesigned my blog over (a lot of) times, and I am still not happy with it right now. (bad luck I don't know any coding stuff)

1. JavaScript Pop-ups

No one likes pop ups, in fact new visitors who sees pop-ups from your blog will leave immediately because they have already experienced a bad impression of your site.

Example of a Pop-up

What I'm trying to say is remove all sorts of pop-ups from your blog now no matter what.

However, there is one exception to this rule, and it can be modified. An example would be that when a new visitor lands on your website and a window pops up for the user to fill in their email and name for your Newsletter or Ebook (If you have one). That is one of the best ways to capture leads that almost all professional bloggers do.

2. Too Many Graphics

If your blog was intended to be a reading-based blog then you shouldn't have too many images on your website. For me, I would say have an average of one image for every 300 words. Honestly, it depends on the size of the picture, but still you wouldn't want a post full of 16x16 icons right?

Plants Vs Zombies Template

I was just talking about the posts, but what about the actual website's template? The theme itself wouldn't count as an image (e.g. the bars and RSS icons), but I classify templates like this Plants Vs Zombies one as an annoying piece of crap (excuse my French) and I'd remove the graphics. (kids love them though)

Not to mention, not everyone in the world has a mega high speed internet connection to load your graphics.

Remember, keep it simple!

3. Using Attention-Grabbing Colors

There are always advantages for using attention-grabbing colors to drive your readers into doing something say; reading your latest post or buying a product but it is actually very annoying to them, so there is a downside. Everything has a price for it, some people may not care and some people will jerk off. It's your choice, would you rather have 70% of your monthly readers stay or the normal 100% of them?

The message is don't use heavy or high contrasting colors.

4. Messy Links and Pages

The title means exactly what I'm trying to explain. A solution would be to have a better lay-out and a faster navigation system. Things you can do to increase performance:

Use a New Template/Layout
Add an Easily Visible Search Box
Add a Blog Archive
Popular/Recent Posts Widget
Remove Tags/Labels Widget

Give everything a try and track down your monthly or weekly performance and stick with the best results!

5. Too Many Advertisements

Nothing fancy about it, but here are my rules. The first view of the page (Without Scrolling Down) what people call the "Above the Fold" cannot contain more than two ads, one is enough, but if you decide to have a link unit ad that's fine. The whole blog should not have more than four ads. That will make your blog look like you're just trying to get people to click on the ads and not provide information.

Ads Bla Bla Blah

Remember, advertising isn't the only way to earn money from your blog. In fact, some bloggers do not rely on Google Adsense at all, I've heard that a professional blogger once said that Adsense only contributed 20% to his total income.

By all means, you should redesign your blog and take into consideration of the five factors from above. Have a great day :)

Learn more about Choosing a Proper Template for Readers.

How to Get Yourself Banned from Google Adsense

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 06:39:00 +0000

Ironic title, isn't it? There are many Bloggers out there who start to earn a steady income each month and suddenly one day, they lose their partnership with Google Adsense.

The blog owners never know why and never understood why. Why? Because they never read the rules and at the end they blame Google for everything.

By the time you start earning money and get paid, that is when Google sends staffs to review your blog and search for broken rules, they'd love to ban you because the money you have earned and have not taken out from your account will be pure profit to Google! (or maybe they will just give it back to the advertisers)

Here are some ways you could get yourself banned from Google (if you want to), just kidding this is a brief version of their Terms and Conditions/Adsense Rules.

Violating Content Guidelines

Illegal Content (Racial, Hacking/Cracking, Drugs, Gambling)
Pornography/Mature Content
Sales of (Ammunition, Drugs, Alcohol, Tobacco-Related Products)
Content Programs that rewards users for clicking on Ads or Completing Offers
Distribution of Student Works

Invalid Clicks/Impressions

Encouraged Clicks
Hidden Ads/Tricking users to click it
Attraction related to this (---------->ADS<----------)
Bot Clicks/Auto Clickers
Clicking your own Ads

Webmaster Guidelines Violation

Excessive, Repetitive, Non related keywords
Hidden Texts/Links
Doorway Pages
Illegally Copied Content
Spam Emails/Paid Traffic Generation

Rare Minor Violations

No Privacy Policy Page (Learn How to Write One)
Not keeping Space between Ads
Too many Ads
Ads that look alike Adsense Ads being Placed
Ad Placement (Pop-ups/Emails/Toolbars)

Normally you would receive a warning for a minor violation, but severe behavior will not be tolerated and your account be immediately suspended!

Never forget these rules or you will be banned forever by Google!

How to Write a Terms and Conditions Page

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 06:28:00 +0000

Let's talk about this in simple words, a website needs a Terms and Conditions page only if you provide a service for example; Facebook, Hotmail, Blogger...etc they all have TOS pages because they offer a service.

Don't worry, you don't have to write up your few thousand words page. I have a solution here.

A TOS is basically an agreement/contract between the user and the application on your site that the user has to agree to before using, this is the reason why whenever we sign up for something there is always that check box there "I have read the Terms and Conditions of Blah Blah Blah".

Just in case the user somehow wants to file a lawsuit against the company, the company has some backup information.

Take a look at my T.O.S page.

I created my T.O.S page with this Free Generator. Their website also has plentiful of other resources!

Remember, you only really need this page if your website has a built-in service or application for example; a forum, member log in system, and so on.

However this is not to be confused with the privacy policy, it is another different page but compulsory that all websites need, and have to comply with the laws and stuff like that, I know it's confusing but sorry that's the rules.

Since you're making this page you better know that it is compulsory to write up a Privacy Policy page for almost all websites in the world, if you are a partner of the Google Adsense program you will need it.

Check out How to Write a Privacy Policy.

How to Write a Privacy Policy

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 06:21:00 +0000

Did you know that it is compulsory to have a privacy policy page on your website (all websites in the world) and as a requirement for Google Adsense (and all advertising networks)? You better start writing one before you get banned!

Google states it clearly on their website in regards to having a privacy policy page for Adsense.

What is the DoubleClick DART cookie?

The DoubleClick DART cookie is used by Google in the ads served on the websites of its partners, such as websites displaying AdSense ads or participating in Google certified ad networks. When users visit a partner's website and either view or click on an ad, a cookie may be dropped on that end user's browser. The data gathered from these cookies will be used to help better serve and manage ads on the publisher's site(s) and across the web.

What should I put in my privacy policy?

Your privacy policy should include the following information:

    * Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to your website.
    * Google's use of the DART cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
    * Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the advertising opt-out page. (Alternatively, you can direct users to opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.)

If you have not opted out of third-party ad serving, the cookies of other third-party vendors or ad networks may also be used to serve ads on your site, and should be disclosed in your privacy policy as well in the following manner.

    * Notify your site visitors of the third-party vendors and ad networks serving ads on your site.
    * Provide links to the appropriate vendor and ad network websites.
    * Inform your users that they may visit those websites to opt out of cookies (if the vendor or ad network offers this capability). Users can opt out of some, but not all, of these cookies in one location at the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out website at www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp.

Because publisher sites and laws across countries vary, we're unable to suggest specific privacy policy language. However, you may wish to review resources such as the Network Advertising Initiative for guidance on drafting a privacy policy.

Source from: https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=100557

Fortunately, there are plenty of free privacy policy creators out there and you won't have to write your own 3,000+ words page.

Take a look at My Privacy Policy Page, I created it with FPP.

Try Free Privacy Policy, it is a great free privacy policy generator, all you really have to do is tick boxes and fill in the blanks. I made my privacy policy in under 5 minutes!

If you own and provide a service on your website, for example; an application, a forum, account system...etc and do not have a Terms and Conditions page, then you better read this and set up your own TOS page almost immediately, it is as important as privacy policy pages.

Learn more about How to Write a Terms and Conditions Page.

How to Prevent Content Thieves

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:33:00 +0000

In the U.S. every single piece of unique information you publish online is automatically registered to the original author, now I am not so sure about the other countries but what I do know for a fact that is you can make up your own Digital Material Creation Finger Print with this website called MyFreeCopyright, this company is trusted by many and will not steal your information. With my other two tricks you are going to feel a lot safer with your content.

Honestly, once you get popular on the internet, even when you're not, you'll begin to notice content thieves.

Here is what you can do to prevent content thieves but there are certain downsides to each.

1. Disallow Right Clicking

Seriously? It works on content thieves because most of them are not professional and do not care about stealing things therefore do not have a good level of technology skills. Most of them cannot be bothered trying to figure how to copy and eventually leave your site, no one is really going to literally copy your article word by word right?

Downsides are that this trick is not hard to overcome because disallowing the scripts or stopping the website before it is fully loaded, it will be possible to right click on your site. Not to mention some of the loyal users will find it annoying anyway.

By the way, what about “Control-C”ing?

2. Write a Copyright Infringement Page

As the title says, just do it, go ahead and write a copyright infringement and then put the page somewhere easily visible by everyone, most content thieves fear the word copyright and when they see it they go away. (yeah they "go away")

Downsides? What if they don't care? Some may take time reading your page and think twice about the consequences whilst some may completely ignore it. Having a page like this somewhere visible by everyone you are also surely going to receive a lot of critics in regards to being overprotective of your blog. Alas, losing visitors.

3. Gather Evidence of your Creation

Who can prove that you actually created “that” page? Just because it says created by you and it was posted ages and ages ago (Which was the first post), that still doesn't make it a piece of evidence to prove that you wrote the content. In order to prove that you were the original author of xxx content, I have found a way to prove it without doing much work. Yes, I'm telling you to use MyFreeCopyright, I'm not trying to advertise this company or whatever, I'm just saying it is something that every blog should have. Just Register and Protect your Creation. Easy.

After submitting your feed/site/podcast to them, immediately they will automatically protect your creations every time you publish a new post. In addition you can also place their logo on the bottom of your page.

3 Simple Steps

So, how does MyFreeCopyright.com date register my copyright?
Every digital file has a unique makeup of bits and bytes which is its fingerprint. MyFreeCopyright.com captures your original creation's fingerprint, stores the fingerprint in a database and sends a copy of the fingerprint to you in an email. The email contains the verified date; the fingerprint verifies the digital creation, and your email address verifies it belongs to you.

NOTE: You must keep the email with this fingerprint. This email is your date registered copyright proof and protection for your copyright.

MyFreeCopyright.com provides a third-party, non-repudiation, registered dating of your original digital creation.

From MyFreeCopyright F.A.Q.

After all, who doesn't want a free extra layer of protection? You're going to need it in the future in case you need to file a lawsuit!

Coming soon: Learn here how you can protect your email from getting hacked and as a result possibly losing your digital fingerprints.

Question Time
How do YOU protect your digital creations?

How to Setup a Custom XML Template for your Blog

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:36:00 +0000

The templates I'm talking about ain't the ones you get from Blogger itself, there surely are way better ones, right? If you don't know how to integrate a template you found from the internet and it is in the .xml format, then guess what?
I'm going to teach you how to install it to your Blogger blog!
To be honest, it's simple and almost everyone knows this basic function, this post is really just for beginners who have not done this before.

1. From your drive

Make sure you have a template on your drive that you want to upload, and the format has to be in .xml.

2. Go to Blogger/Design/Edit HTML

Back up your original template just in case, I'm not even going to explain how to do it, it's obvious that you press download.

3. Upload

Below the Download Full Template link, there is a box (Obviously), where you can upload your fresh .xml template on to. Do it and finish.

I told you it was simple, oh I know for a fact that if we change our templates we get this error below. With the options to keep or delete the widgets.

Keeping the Widgets will “force” the original ones into the new template, this normally messes up the placement and you have to move them around. (Which is the only thing you can do in order to keep the original stuff)

Deleting them and you won't even have the chance to undo it.

Beware that, if your template is somehow messed up no matter what, then take into consideration that you downloaded a wrong template which wasn't meant to be for your platform e.g.: Blogger, Wordpress or Typepad.

Professional Dark Themed Template - Magiting

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 12:24:00 +0000

Magiting was once my favorite template and Blogger Jar (my old blog name) was once using it, but due to the fact that it is so dark and gloomy it was classified as a no-no on my list for article based blogs.

The best thing about this template to me is that they have built-in wonderful little icons on the bar.
Beautifully rounded corners, widgets boxed and stuff gray-scaled.

Attributes of Magiting (Source from BTemplates)

Template author: ThemeCraft

Designer: Padd IT Solutions

Description: Magiting is a free premium blogger template adapted from WordPress with 2 columns, right sidebar, rounded corners, space for ads, twitter support and neutral colors.

Pros:

Professional Looking
Has Search Box (Not Google Custom)
Two Navigation Bars on Top
Already Setup four 125x125 Advertisement Spots
Has Pro looking Icons of Social Networks
Two Columns, Has a lot of Space
Built-in Retweet Button for every Post
Easy to Read HTML

Cons:

Dark and Gloomy
Dull Colors
When Editing, Most Widgets are Locked (Read Solution)
Confusing to Change the Banner Image

Magiting is free and can be downloaded from BTemplates from this link (demo available).

The “Literally” Only Way to Make Money Online

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 08:58:00 +0000

To be honest, and I mean really really honest, the only “actually working” way to make money online is to become a writer, no matter what you do, you have to write. The word writing sounds dull and boring to everyone but no it’s different on the internet. You can write about whatever you like and still get paid. The matter of the fact is “What you write”.
This is related to that complicated geeky word: market.

An online business is all about becoming a writer

A simple way to explain this, is the word popularity between the following two articles, for example; a guide teaching you How to lose Weight Fast and another guide teaching you How to Breed a Horse. Which of them do you think is more popular? The answer is obvious (how to lose weight fast) and just by searching the terms on Google you will be able to find out which is better in terms of popularity, More Results = More Popular.

Popularity in other words means more market, and more high paying keywords, therefore more money making opportunities.

The point is what we call the niche, or writing topic that you write on, it has to be popular.

You can become a writer to earn an everlasting income everyday. You need to understand the word everlasting here. Once you get to the stage of having a certain amount of articles published online on article directories (or your website/blog), you will be earning an everlasting amount of money because hungry searchers around the world, millions of them are searching for things everyday, and eventually someone will find your articles and then you get paid for people clicking on your ads. Yes you will be getting money everyday from doing nothing at that time.

There is no doubt I'm going to receive negative comments on the title of this post, but think about it, I'm talking about real passive income that rolls in every month instead of doing pay per lead actions like doing the so called “free surveys” that requires no effort but filling in boxes for 30 minutes.

Amazon Store

It is a fact that you can earn a couple hundred of bucks doing surveys but in turn with the time you spent on it, it is not going to be worth it at all.

Fortunately, there is a way to earn money online without doing a lot of writing, you see, you still have to, and that method is by setting up your own online store (So you're a sales). You can set up your own store across millions of buyers online and get paid selling items without having to pay for anything. Unlike in the real world you have to pay monthly or weekly renting fees for a store.

I recommend Amazon over Ebay or any other.

Take note that I'm not saying setting up a store is the only alternative to earn money online as there are HEAPS of other ways out there but this is to me by far the easiest way other than blogging.

The aim of this article is to let you know that making money online IS difficult and especially if you don't have enough patience. In addition to that is you have to become a writer no matter what you do in order to earn a considerable amount of income online.

Three Reasons Why We Monetize Our Blogs

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 10:56:00 +0000

Why would you want to monetize a blog anyway? You get money. There's no need for me to explain why you would want money. If you really had to ask me that I would say it's for charity. You've got to be lying to me if you told me you don't want to monetize your blog! We all love money! There are three common reasons why people monetize their blogs that I want to share.

1) To Work at home Full Time

I assume many people who write content online are the ones who wish to work at home and live a happy life, without having to endure your boss shouting at you in front of everyone or doing a difficult job that makes you sweat a lot in summer, or maybe if you're unemployed.

Researches have shown that E-workers live happier and longer lives. An upside is that you don't even have to pay for your daily bus tickets or petrol for your car.

Who doesn't want to be an E-worker? Plus, you get richer from time to time instead of having a fixed rate of salary that you will never get a promotion on.

2) To eventually buy a Custom Domain

Nowadays, creating blogs are free but all of the free blog creators online only offer you their sub-domains, and they make your website look unprofessional as you rely on another site.

Right?

We all know maintaining a website is not so expensive, ranging only about under $15 a month, but not many of us likes spending our money on the internet for something which isn't going to make our money back.

Plus, who wouldn't want a professional looking business card with your website on it? (I've been dreaming that for ages)

3) To become Rich and do whatever you Want

Who wouldn't want to be an e-worker?

Making a full time income online, you are surely going to be able to purchase any latest your favorite “anything” for yourself. What's more? Live in a mason and jump in your private pool and have maids sweep your house. Live life! Just do virtually anything you want while your online business sends you a fat 4 zeroes check every month. (and then maybe put them in the bank for interest rates and then get free money)

Now, come on, we have all dreamed of that, haven't we? At least twice I must say.

It's not really that difficult to become rich online, have no clue where to start off? Read our Blogging Guide!

So, What's YOUR main reason? (Or three reasons)

Top 3 Ad Publishing Networks Every Website Should Use

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 15:06:00 +0000

The main reason to why most of the bloggers blog is due to the fact they can generate a bonus source of income using (I assume you already know) Google Adsense provided by Google. Google itself gets a percentage of your income from the advertisers anyway, so I guess it's a perfect win-win situation for both of us Google and the Bloggers.

Most of you probably already know, Google created Blogger, and they recommend us for doing so setting up a blog and using their Adsense program.

It is a fact that some bloggers do make their living just from Adsense.

But it is also true that more than 90% of the bloggers in the world don't use only Google Adsense as an advertising service for their website.

To maximize one's earnings, professional bloggers use a variety of tools and programs in order to generate an evergreen online money maker (Not just Adsense). Below are some of the top publishing services that “heaps” of people use.

1. Google Adsense

Google Sample Ads

As I have mentioned earlier, Google Adsense is from Google and there is no doubt it is the top publishing service in the world, although the word “top”might not apply to everyone because it honestly depends on what you favor for your blog and how other ads may blend into your content.

Adsense can be set into different channels, so you can precisely observe how each set of ads perform in their positions. The program is not solely built for blogs, as there are 4 more locations where you can put your ads into.

Adsense for Domains
Adsense for Search
Adsense for Mobile Content
Adsense for Feeds

These money making methods are not such a great source of revenue but they do give you a nice little bonus. (I will be soon explaining these in another article)

2. Chitika

Chitika Sample Ads

Now, some of you might disagree with Chitika being placed on the second, what it really matters is, you should give it a shot and try to use all of its provided capabilities (that most of you miss before quitting). It is recommended that you only join this program when your blog receives at least 5,000 unique visitors a day.

What's so special about Chitika is, it has created the “levels of ads”. You normally start off with Bronze ads when you first join the program, and if your page visits increase from time to time, you get ranked to using Silver ads and up to Premium ads. The higher level the ads are the higher CTR (Click Through Rate) your site is going to site, mostly because you get more functions and features.

The best thing about Chitika is the advertisements do not look like Google Adsense ads and you will be able to use both of these programs together.

Note that Chitika offers two payment methods PayPal (Min. $10) and Check (Min. $50).

3. Kontera

Kontera is an advertising program based on in text links PPC (Pay Per Click). What the program actually does is look for keywords in your content and link them to ads, therefore no extra ad space is required, and all ads are user triggered, meaning this won't cause distractions to your content/website at all.

Kontera Sample In Text Ads

Besides, setting up the ads are really simple, their system automatically searches for the most relevant and highest paying keywords available from your writing and then link them.

Due to the fact that Kontera ads are user triggered and so you will be experiencing less clicks than Google Adsense ads, therefore you should only use this program when you have at least accumulated 25,000 page visits a month. Not to mention you also you get an additional free $50 bonus for setting up Kontera on your “25K Monthly Visited Website”.

No pornographic content is allowed using Kontera. (As with others)

There are literally “HEAPS” of advertising programs out there but what if one shuts down? You lose your hard worked payout. These 3 companies above are trusted by many and will not likely to be shut down. So, what are you waiting for? Join Now! If not, give it a shot, everything is worth a try!

Question Time
Have you used Chitika or Kontera before? (expecting that you are using Adsense)
Would you give the programs a shot?

How to Remove the Blogger Navbar

noreply@blogger.com (harrison8bal) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:09:00 +0000

I guess most of us hate that distracting Navbar on top of our Blogger blogs, right? Because we don't want our blogs to look like a Blogger blog, we want it to be professional! Okay, I will stop expressing my feelings but removing the Navbar is simple and it will only take under 2 minutes.

If your blog has been set up with a custom template, the Navbar should be gone, by any chance if it is still there, do as follows.

1. Go to Blogger/Design/Edit HTML

Presumably you don't need to backup your template because this is easy stuff.

2. Copy the code

#navbar-iframe {
display: none !important;
}

3. Paste the code

Paste the code just under the ----------------- or anywhere above ]]></b:skin>.

That ----- line is the box of the template's designer's information, and after that it should be “/* Variable definitions”. Paste the code in between the two.

Preview, well you don't really need to preview it just because you got some extra space.

Still got an issue? Ask for help below! All comments are welcomed.