Elite Eternity

Why I’m Not Switching From Aweber to MailChimp

2012-07-25T16:06:49-07:00

Listen, guys, if you’re not building an email list, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to make money online. How do I know? Well, because that’s what I’ve been told ever since I got in to this internet marketing thing.

I have never made a cent from my email list(s), but that’s mainly because either I’ve been too lazy to build them out, or I’ve been working on building them, rather than marketing to them.

But the point remains the same: if you have a list of opted-in subscribers that you can directly e-mail to, you are just increasing your money-making potential.

So …

I’ve been building my email list on several of my different sites for the past few years with Aweber, and paying them $30/month for the past, well, forever. Then, a client of mine needed a newsletter sending overhaul, and I figured we would give Mailchimp a shot.

I’ve been fairly impressed with MailChimp, so I thought, heck, they have a free plan, and I’ve been paying Aweber forever for an email list that probably isn’t getting any bigger any time soon, why not just cancel my aweber account and switch to the MailChimp free account and save myself $30/month, until I get serious about building my lists again?

So I finally got serious about it and made a free account with MailChimp, started importing my subscribers, and then boom! Things started not working, as I needed them to.

So, here are my reasons why, at long last, I have decided not to switch from Aweber to Mailchimp.

Reasons Why I’m Not Switching

No Auto Responders on Free Plan
No Affiliates Allowed
Free only up to 2000 subscribers

Even with the little email list building action that I see, I still need to send out an auto responder. i.e. they give me their email address for a free e-book or whatever. And considering that I’m an affiliate, and affiliate marketing is all that I do with my email list, I’d rather not build up a list on a service that isn’t affiliate-friendly. You can see where they ban affiliates in their terms.

Everything considered, I may as well stay with Aweber because the Mailchimp plan that I would need costs the same $30 that I’m already paying Aweber.

I think I wrote this as a consolation post. I’ll come back and read it every time I see the $30 debit from my account each month from Aweber.

Time to get to work on making that investment worth something …

The post Why I’m Not Switching From Aweber to MailChimp appeared first on Elite Eternity.

Remove “Product Description” Heading/Title WooCommerce Single Product Page

2012-07-20T10:01:15-07:00

This is how to remve the “product description” heading from your WooCommerce single product page.

No thanks to this thread, which seemed to help the poster, but nobody else. Doesn’t make sense to me.

So here’s how it’s really done.

Find description.php which is found in wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/templates/single-product/tabs/

In description.php you will delete:

<h2>< ?php echo $heading; ?></h2>

From the code:

< ?php
/**
 * Description Tab
 */
 
global $woocommerce, $post;

if ( $post->post_content ) : ?>
	<div class="panel entry-content" id="tab-description">
	
		< ?php $heading = apply_filters('woocommerce_product_description_heading', __('Product Description', 'woocommerce')); ?>
		
		<h2>< ?php echo $heading; ?></h2>
		
		< ?php the_content(); ?>
	
	</div>
< ?php endif; ?>

Then save, and overwrite the file on your server.

Warning! Be sure to either remember how you did this, bookmark this page, make a backup of the file, or all of the above, because as soon as you upgrade your woocommerce plugin next time an update comes out, this will be reset.

The post Remove “Product Description” Heading/Title WooCommerce Single Product Page appeared first on Elite Eternity.

Life After Thesis & Studiopress Themes

2012-07-15T18:56:36-07:00

The Confession

I admit it.

I drank the kool-aid.

I’ve been in a box for the last two or three (at least) years with my blinders on.

I was under the distinct impression that if a blog / website wasn’t developed on either Thesis, or Studiopress that it just sucked. Plain and simple. Well, my friends. As great as Thesis & Studiopress both are, I came to a realization the other day — with the help of Utah Internet Marketer Dave Parkinson — that *gasp* there are OTHER options out there. Thesis and Studiopress are not the only WordPress frameworks / themes that pay astute attention to SEO & design detail.

The Rub

(^I hate that expression)

So what is this crazy talk?

If there really are other WordPress themes on the web that are as great as, if not *doublegasp* better than Thesis / Studiopress then what are they. No, WHERE are they?

Let me introduce to you, ThemeForest (affiliate link). Sort by Rating and you are sure to find some winners. I have lately, and I’ve gotta admit, I think I’m done with developing with Thesis / Studiopress for now.

While they are both great themes, there are better options out there. The only reason that I am just noticing this is because back when I started blogging, there really weren’t any great theme options. So I plugged in to what was the best at the time, Thesis & Studiopress, then put my blinders on, and chugged along.

Both frameworks have served me well, but I think it’s time to move on.

All this really means is that you can expect for this site to be redesigned in the next few months.

The post Life After Thesis & Studiopress Themes appeared first on Elite Eternity.

Shoemoney Redesigns Blog. Looks Like Every Other Thesis Site on The Web.

2012-02-26T15:51:33-08:00

Haters gonna hate…

So I was excited when I saw Chris Pearsons tweet about Shoemoney redesigning his whole site with Thesis. I thought maybe, just maybe I’d see a stunning variation on the bare bones look of Thesis that I’m so used to seeing. Nope.

You see, I used to be part of the Thesis circle jerk, before abandoning it for what I now feel is a much better-looking, easier-to-look-professional alternative.

Shoemoney. Love ya man. But I hate your redesign. Of course I don’t expect you to care, but why, oh why would you ditch your last design for this standard, out of the box, gray nav bar, Thesis look? Maybe Chris offered you a preview of a new version and you wanted to play with it and experiment during a time where maybe your blog traffic isn’t what it once was.

Maybe the performance metrics are a touch faster than your previous theme. Hell, I don’t know.

I do know though that I’ve liked all of your previous redesigns much better than what you’ve got now.

And for you Chris Pearson: You’re obviously extremely intelligent. A kick ass coder. You know your stuff. I don’t question your skills for one second. But I don’t understand why in the world a dude with such an affinity for typography lets an out-of-the-box-look like this fly:

(…maybe it’s the mathematically proper use of typography ?)

But Chris, maybe that’s the point. You build a nice framework, and then it’s up to people to customize and beautify it. That’s fine…but nobody does.

I have no doubt that with a huge wad of cash, I could pay a coder to snazz the hell out of the default Thesis theme, but it seems to me that one of the main selling points of Thesis is that it’s so incredibly easy to customize. Yeah, it’s easy to change from different column layouts, adjust font sizes, etc etc… but who really wants to deal with all of that shit for the most part?

Maybe I’m a noob, scratch that, I know I’m a noob. But the majority of your Theme users are too.

You can watch a blog designed on Thesis over time and you’ll see colors change, a layout change perhaps, but common among all the sites is disgusting looking typography, and cookie-cutter nob jockeyness.

Chris: make your theme less lame out of the box. I’ve never understood why you are on a typographical high horse when 99% of the sites on the web that use your theme display a tragic use of typography. And you’re enabling them! (see above photos).

To those considering purchasing Thesis: Unless you enjoy fiddle fu*#@ing around with html, css, php, and typography, like some people (myself included sometimes), I’d look elsewhere. Right now I like Genesis. It’s a thousand times easier to launch a good-looking site right out of the box, than it is with Thesis.

Enough of my bitching.

Cheers to everyone developing themes and frameworks. I am in your debt, and I am unquestionably unqualified to question your work…

But that doesn’t mean that I won’t anyways.

The post Shoemoney Redesigns Blog. Looks Like Every Other Thesis Site on The Web. appeared first on Elite Eternity.

Inspectlet: Perfect Blend of Crazy Egg & Clicktale, & Cheaper Than Both.

2011-12-15T00:57:19-08:00

Now you can peek over your customers shoulders as they browse your website in real time!

Inspectlet is a new real-time analytics, and website heat mapping + screen capture tool that allows you to take a peek at how your customers react with your website as they browse. This means that the software literally takes screencapture videos of users cursor trails as they navigate from page to page on your website.

Inspectlet was kind enough to give me a free demo of their platform, and despite a few issues (the most substantial being a speed issue with my site after the install, that they immediately fixed after an email), the features provided are well worth the price. Their basic plan is even cheaper than the most well known heatmapping solution, called crazy egg – and crazy egg doesnt even offer the ability to record user sessions – inspectlet does.

So if you arent in a position to pay the huge monthly fees for a robust solution like clicktale, yet you arent happy with the cheaper, more watered down solution that is crazy egg, then inspectlet is probably right for you. They offer a free one week trial so you can test the waters.

I have personally tried crazy egg off and on over the last several years, and the data I harvested just didnt justify paying the monthly fee. Especially when there is no screencapturing! Im no analytics pro, but when i compare inspectlet with crazy egg and clicktale, inspectlet offers the most bang for my buck.

I wish that they would add the option to filter out my IP from data gathering. This is actually a critical feature that needs to be added asap. Or maybe they already have. Its been a minute or two since i last logged in and they are usually quick about fixing things.

So give inspectlet a try.

I almost felt like a spy when i watched my first recorded screencapture. Try it. You will too.

Note: password and other sensitive information fields are obviously censored out, so dont get too excited.

The post Inspectlet: Perfect Blend of Crazy Egg & Clicktale, & Cheaper Than Both. appeared first on Elite Eternity.

3 Things To Know Before Buying Thesis Theme

2011-10-20T13:23:28-07:00

I’ve used the Thesis theme for the last few years and for the most part, I’ve been really happy with it.

Clean code, good SEO control, and a great support forum with very helpful users. And if there’s one feature I’m repeatedly glad for with this theme it is the fact that there is a responsive support forum, because I’ve spent a huge amount of time in the trenches there.

Nothing but love for the gods and girlies on that forum.

So without further ado, here are 3 things that I wish I would have known before jumping on the Thesis theme bandwagon. I won’t try to talk you out of Thesis, but depending on what kind of person you are, what you’re looking for, and how much you love to tinker, there may be better options for your first (paid) WordPress theme.

1. Thesis is Ugly

Right out of the box, the thesis theme is pretty darn ugly. It is minimalism at it’s finest, and the simplicity of a fresh install may be quite underwhelming for some new customers.

If you’re looking for a theme that impresses, visually speaking, right out of the box, you’ll want to look elsewhere, because to make your Thesis theme you, you’re going to need to get your hands dirty, or pay someone else to do the customizations for you. Which leads me to my next point …

2. You Need to Know Code

Or at least be comfy copying/pasting it, and or manipulating it. I guess this argument could be made against most all themes if you want customization of any sort, but I’ve probably learned more code trying to modify my various Thesis websites than I learned from reading my first big HTML coding book several years ago.

If you decide to run with Thesis, you’re going to be copying, pasting, modifying, and experimenting like crazy. The good thing, though, is that there IS a lot of code out there that’s easily accessible. And the Thesis site has tons of tutorials that do a good job at telling you what code to put where. The thing is, most of my Thesis sites have turned into massive code playgrounds.

I’ll spend night after night modifying code: php, html, css, etc… and finally get the right mix for the look I’m trying to put forth. The bad thing is though, that I’m not a designer, nor a coder, so my website usually reflects my skill level with both. So I usually get to a point of discouragement, and I go around searching for other good-looking thesis themes that I can mimic … and then I usually discover that there aren’t many that are all that impressive. They all wreak of the same relatively boring layouts, choppy typography, and boring nav bars. Sure, the nav may be located above the header on one site, and below it on another, but that’s usually the extent of their customization.

I’m just being honest.

Take these sites for example. They are even featured on the DIY Themes (Thesis) home page as some of their best examples.

http://daggle.com/
http://6767.com/
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/

Impressed? Meh, me neither.

To be fair, here are some of the better looking ones:

http://www.nerdist.com/
http://www.spring.org.uk/
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/
http://mattbites.com/

But they obviously spent some time & no doubt money, customizing the bare bones Thesis design. And to be fair, thesis never claimed to be good looking. They focus on building a solid framework so that you can build on top of that.

3. Their Marketing Advice is Priceless

Here’s the deal.

Even if my two previous points made you think twice before getting your hands dirty with Thesis, you should not think twice before checking out & subscribing to their blog.

They consistently post incredibly helpful articles dealing with wordpress seo and modifying your site for better marketability.

These are just some things to think about.

As for me, I’m taking a break from Thesis (at least on this site). Right now I have an out of the box studiopress [affiliate link] theme installed. I think it looks at least as good as, if not better than, the Thesis theme that I was running here a few weeks ago.

The post 3 Things To Know Before Buying Thesis Theme appeared first on Elite Eternity.

Mass Redirections With WordPress [How To]

2011-10-16T12:18:29-07:00

I have been forced to do tons of mass URL redirections on several of my WordPress sites as of late.

It’s an unfortunate, but necessary biproduct of messing around with URL structures.

For instance, on this blog, a URL to a post used to be: http://eliteeternity.com/category/post-name/

But now, it is http://eliteeternity.com/post-name/

(If you want to learn more about permalinks (wordpress URL structures), and how to modify them on your wordpress blog, there is some really good information here.)

But back on point …

In the example above, I removed the “category” portion of the URL, so since I did that, all of the posts that I have indexed in Google with the “/category/” prefix are now dead links.

This is bad.

For instance, if someone were to search for something in Google, and my site was ranked for what they were searching for, and then they clicked the link to that specific post on my blog, there is a really good chance that they would get a “page not found” error.

That’s obviously not good for the user; nor is it good for me.

So how do we fix this?

How do we redirect all of the OLD URL permalinks to the NEW permalinks that no longer have the “/category/” prefix in them?

How To

Download & Install the Redirection plugin for wordpress. Found here.
Get the list of old OLD URL’s that you need to redirect. If you have Google Webmaster Tools set up for your site, this is easy. Go to Diagnostics > Crawl Errors > Not Found … then “Download this table” (at the bottom of the error’d URL’s).
Point OLD URL’s to NEW URL’s. Once you’ve got the list of old URL’s, you’re going to need to point them to the new URL’s. Download this spreadsheet I created, and make appropriate edits for your site.
Make Edits. Open the file redirection-worksheet.csv you just downloaded, and paste your old URL’s in the specified column. Now, right next to the old URL’s, you’re going to find the updated URL on your website, and paste it into the NEW URL column. Leave the “hits” column blank.
Important: Once you’ve updated that spreadsheet with the old and new URL’s, SAVE IT AS a WINDOWS COMMA SEPARATED (.csv). This is especially important if you are on a Mac, I think. If you don’t save it in the proper format, it won’t work, as I pointed out in this support thread.
Now, go to the Redirection plugin settings within your WordPress admin, under “Tools” on the left sidebar. Click the “Options” tab at the top.
Import .csv. Now you will see a headline that says “Import”. Click Choose File, and select the updated redirection-worksheet.csv that you just updated.
Now upload as Redirections, and you should be all set.
Now just wait for Google Webmaster Tools to realize that you made all of the redirections.

The post Mass Redirections With WordPress [How To] appeared first on Elite Eternity.