Yup. There are at least eighteen billion and two website statistic tools available online. I have tried a lot of them and many are useful. However, I recently came across a stat suite called Clicky and decided it looked pretty cool. I decided to install it on both this blog and another website that I keep a close watch on for incoming visitors.

One of the things I like best about Clicky is that there is a plugin available for Wordpress so I don’t have to visit the website when I want to check up on my statistics. There are, in fact, two Clicky plugins for WP, but I choose to download and install the one designed by Joost de Valk. I use several of his other plugins and have never been disappointed. The Clicky plugin allows you to decide what you’d like to track and also has options for a URL shortening feature and automatic Twitter posting when you update your blog.

The Clicky website itself has a Wordpress widgets page where you can download goodies to install on your blog. These widgets range from an all-inclusive tabbed beauty to others that offer info on most visited posts and number of visitors within pre-determined time periods.

Clicky is not free, but this shouldn’t surprise you given the massive amount of information and easy of use. The free trial – allowing you to track one site with up to 3,000 daily page views. The paid plans range from $4.99 a month (3 sites, 10,000 visitors) to $49.99 a month (50 sites, 200,000 visitors). Clicky also offers customized plans for site owners who need even more coverage.

Though the $4.99/month Blogger package seems to offer little more than free Google Analytics (not considering the awesome widgets you can place on your blog), once you reach the Pro and Super Pro plans, you’re getting a ton of customizable information that is definitely worth the price – especially since you get 50% off if you pay anually. For $59.99 a year you get all the statistics you could ever need – and more.

Just because you have a statistic system that is working for you, don’t forget that new solutions are being created every day. It doesn’t hurt to spend a bit of time reviewining what you are using and doing a bit of poking around to see if there is anything new out there that might be even better. You might just find a gem like Clicky.

It’s been awhile since I posted about Giveaways so here ya go:

Starrs Giveaway

This giveaway is huge. It’s packed with all types of gifts in any marketing category you can imagine.

Russell Brunson has an incredible deal right now as part of his 12 Month Internet Millionaire 2.0 program that is scheduled to launch next Wednesday, November 11th. This package of freebies is really incredible.

First off, you’ll get instant access to a 90-minute Behind Closed Doors video of Russell discussing how he catapulted his income from 6 to 8 figures, increased the value offered to customers and the seven strategies he uses to blow the competition out of the water.

You will also be able to instantly download a free copy of the IM Myth Report: The 7 Steps to IM-Proof Your Business. This 70 page ebook will teach you how to use offline tactics to be sure all your eggs aren’t in the Internet Marketing basket. You’ll learn how to identify buyers versus freebie-seekers, how to build and maintain a successful offline mailing list, ways to establish residual income and much, much more.

After you have watched the video and read the report, if you comment on what you’ve learned you’ll be entered to win a free copy of 12 Month Internet Millionaire 2.0

By referring just a few friends to this site, you will be given access to a 60-minute interview that Russell conducted with Vince James. Vince took a simple idea and – in less than two years – created a $100,000,000 business. In the interview, Vince explains how he laid the groundwork for this success, starting with a basic handwritten business plan.

And, oh yeah, for every person you refer to either Russell’s 12 Month Internet Millionaire 2.0 site or his interview with Vince, you’ll earn $1 in affiliate commissions. In order to get paid you need to refer at least 20 people and they’re going to monitor closely for fraud so don’t get greedy.

As if this promo isn’t stacked with enough awesomeness, if you are willing to pay less than $10 for shipping, you can have a free MP3 player sent to you pre-loaded with the audio of Russell’s $2,500 MicroContinuity seminar. No catch, no tricks, just pay $9.97 and you’ll get a brand new MP3 player loaded with Russell’s outline for creating your own Micro-Continuity site that has helped a lot of people begin bringing in money within 24-48 hours of learning the system.

So those are the basics, folks. This is one of the best and most interesting deals I’ve seen in a long time. Especially since Russell is known for being a guru to the gurus. The 12 Month Internet Millionaire 2.0 course launches in less than a week so if you want to grab these bonuses, I suggest you jump on it right away.

And, in case Russell reads this, I’d like to thank him for being so generous with his knowledge. What an awesome package!

I own upwards of 30 domains. I have switched domain registrars several times over the years, but have finally settled on 1&1 Domain Name Registration. I’m not going to make this a long post, but I just wanted to share this great service with you.

Since I already have a hosting account, I don’t host with 1&1, but their domain registration service is fast, inexpensive and they offer free private registration. This is relatively rare for a domain registrar. Generally registrars take advantage of any extra fees they can charge.

It is also extremely easy to complete a DNS redirect and set up your domain on your own host if you choose not to use their web hosting services. If you are looking to register a domain name anytime soon, I highly recommend 1&1 Domain Name Registration.

I have written about Netspend before but after trusting them with my money for almost two years now I want to give you an update. I still love this service. This won’t be a long article, but I’m going to outline my five favorite things about using Netspend.

Number Five: Referrals

Each time you refer a new user to Netspend, you get $5 in your account and so do they. It’s not much, but a fun little promotional touch – especially for those who still don’t quite trust their money on the internet.

Number Four: Choice of Fee Plans

No, you don’t have to pay money to use Netspend, but certain fees apply if you use your card. To avoid this, you pay $9.95 a month to avoid fees when you use your card as a debit or credit card. This might seem annoying, but if you read number one, you’ll see why my $10 a month is totally worth it. You can also choose to pay $69.95 for the whole year. Or you could pay nothing and just pay regular fees for certain transactions. I’ve never regretted paying a small fee for this great service.

Number Three: Instant Balance Update

Netspend is completely mobile – from their website to text messages letting you know whenever your balance changes. If you want to check your balance you send a quick text message and within seconds you know how much money you have. But the real bonus is that you can choose to have a text message sent to you each time a transaction is processed. This means that I can see right away if strange things are going on and I always know how much money I have.

Number Two: Money as Soon as you Need it

This reason is really two in one. First, Netspend is extremely compatible with PayPal. Instead of waiting days to transfer money from my PayPal account to my Netspend account, it takes hours – tops. Usually it’s virtually instant. I have a PayPal debit card, but I rarely use it anymore because the money can be transferred to my – supersafe – Netspend account superfast.

The second part of this is that Netspend is constantly releasing new features. My favorite new feature is the instant new debit number. If your card is lost, stolen or highjacked, you can cancel it and Netspend will immediately issue you new – virtual – account information that you can use online or over the phone to purchase things or pay bills. While you are waiting for your new card to arrive, you won’t be left hanging.

Number One: Customer Service and Protection

I am constantly signing up for random membership sites so I can review them for this blog. This means that my card details have occassionally been stolen. Last year, some lovely porn addict signed me up for several porn sites. Because I get text messages whenever money goes in or comes out of my account, I knew within seconds that I had paid $49.95 to a company name I’d never heard of. This wasn’t odd because of all the membership sites I join, but what was odd was that when I looked up the company online it turned out that they owned websites with – albeit funny – clearly porn-related URLs.

I called Netspend and let them know I was going to try to get the subscriptions cancelled. I talked quickly to a real person who understood the problem and they said that if I called the company who’d charged me they might remove the charge. The customer service rep said that if the company wouldn’t cancel it, they’d step in and help and also put my card number on a porn blacklist. The company ended up cancelling the charges and Netspend did indeed add my details to a blacklist. And that was the end of that problem.

Netspend has a ton of other great features from graphs to show you where you are spending your money to excellent customer service across the board. I haven’t included my affiliate ID in this article because I want to be clear that I really just love this service and am not looking for referrals. I hope you’ll check it out and enjoy it as much as I do.