How to create and add your own FavIcon - Tutorial

First of lets see, what is a Favicon. Simply pu t a Favicon.ico is a tiny literally speaking very smaall custom made picture/graphic that you can see in the menu bar or the tab of any website.  If you look at the top of the bar now you will see that for this blog right now the Favicon is still the same as any blogger blog - is it the small picture with a letter B with an orange background.

At first I thought it must be so hard to create one and you have know all these graphic design things, but its turned out to be as easy at it looks. :)  You can create one right now with a couple of clicks!

Step 1:  Create the graphic/picture that you want to use

First things first.  You have to decide what logo or image you want your site/brand to be associated with.  It literally can be any picture, design, image,etc..  Once you have chosen the picture you want to use (that to say this picture can either be something totally creative that you drew yourself, bought from one of the sites or a photograph you took)  open the file in an editing program.. I personally use Photoshop so this would be my suggestion, but you can choose any editing program. also I usually buy my pictures from this one site - think its called pixmax - there is a bright pink banner on the right side of my blog! :)  They are very cheap, some free while other for about a $.


Now getting back to the FavIcon.  Once you open it in an editing program you have to crop/cut our all the possible white space.  After thats done just reduce the size of the image to 16 x 16 pixels!  Sometimes you could have a problem that your little icon is not resizing well and does not look nice when so tiny.  In this case all I could suggest is try choosing a different image/design or just play around with a number of different designs and I'm sure you will come to the best option!
As for me I have not yet changed my FavIcon cause I honestly am having a hard time on deciding on the image to use - any suggestions/associations?

Step 2 : Choose a name for your File and Save!

 After altering the image and resizing it I saved it in Photoshop under an easy name to remember - small_image.gif 
Next what you should do is go to your desktop or the folder/directory where you saved your image on your computer and rename the file, in my case to:  favicon.ico

That's it, now all you have to do is upload the file!

Step 3:  Time to upload the file to your website and do some code modicfication

After having done the above steps all you have to do now is upload the file to your ROOT directory. You might want to put it in the image directory like with all your images, but don't!
Usually once the image is placed some browsers are smart enough to autodetect the favicon, but in our case we do not want to risk it and will make it easier for the browser :)  Just some minor modification that we can do to make sure it all works perfect!
Open the page where you do all your html modifications and find the file with your header information.  Now just add this little bit of code to the segment.

Now do some testing to see if it all works out! Please ask if you encounter a problem or might have a question!!

Now after you have gone through all this and still have question there is an easy solution available!
You can just use this site to create your favicon automatically if you are not sure that all your messing about with you html code will be good.

www.chami.com

Was this tutorial helpful? I’m sure this is not the only way to get this done, so if you have a better method, do share!!!

Best or Last Minute Christmas Deal online for 2009

You know its that time of the year again when everyone is frantically trying to find the perfect gift for their loved once!This will be just a quick note to share my experience.  I love giving and receiving presents, although sometimes I love giving them more than receiving (weird, I know).  Well here is the deal.  If you literally do not have the time to spend on deciding what to give someone on their birthday, name day, valentines day, Christmas, etc what do you usually get them.  I hope I won't be wrong saying that most probably it is something from the Cosmetics line, perfume, make up, cologne, bath essences???
Sorry if I might be wrong, but this is the case with me.  I especially love buying colognes for my husband (lucky him).  I spend quite some time traveling and usually get good deals in duty free, but then about a month ago my friend recommended this amazing website to me.  I did some research and they turned out to be #1 world's leading provider of discounted designer skin care, make-up, cosmetics, perfume, fragrances, cologne and hair care. 

StrawberryNET.com

To say I was shoked by their prices was to nothing at all.  I live in Latvia and the prices here for perfume are ridiculous, sometimes for a 50ml new perfume by Escada for example you would be paying 28LS - which is about $59.  And believe me people and paying and buying. Well from that time I have only used this site to buy my cosmetics, considering that they also have worldwide free shipping, presents for new buyers and loyalty programs for new buyers with even bigger discounts.  I'm not here to market anything, but if you check it out you will see for yourself. :)
This is just a small tip if you haven't decided what to get your wife, husband, daughter, mother, father,friend, etc, - it helped me find great delas, might be helpful to you! :)

StrawberryNET.com

Top 10 Ways to Use Ad Tracking

Most companies have advertising and promotion budgets. It's almost impossible to run a business without one!

But what if you could use a crystal ball that would give you almost immediate feedback on the success or failure of your promotional campaigns? Can you image the increased profits you might realize, if you could confidently eliminate those areas that underperformed, while concentrating on those that were overwhelmingly superior?
Imagine if you could know for certain which headline on your web site created more opt-ins? Wouldn't you like to know which email subject line caused more people to click through to your web site?
Ad tracking can do exactly that. But it can do much more! Below are 10 reasons you should be using ad tracking:

1. Learn the true cost of your Internet advertising. Ad tracking eliminates budgetary guesswork because you'll have statistics such as cost-per-click and clicks-to-sale. This information will allow you to drill down and find the real and total cost of your online advertising.
   As an example, let's say you are doing pay-per-click advertising and banner advertising. Let's further assume that your cost-per-click is much higher than your cost-per-impression. Before you throw up your hands trying to compare apples and oranges, be aware that a good ad tracking program, like Hypertracker, can allow you to compare disparate mediums with ease.
   
2. Keep only those ads proven to be the most profitable and eliminate the others. Ad tracking can show you which ads to eliminate immediately (the obvious losers that are costing you real money for NO results!), but it can also show you the most productive channels. After all, wouldn't you rather trade a 1% ROI for a 20% ROI (return on investment)?
   
3. Verify the best target market or niche for your product. Ad tracking can also be used to track things like subscribers. Trying to decide the best niche for your products? Promote your opt-in list to two potential niches and you'll quickly see if one is a better potential market than the other based on the percentage of new subscribers. Can you imagine the time and money this will save you?
   
4. Compare the ROI on various free promotion methods to determine which provides the highest return. Many times, a marketing mix is based on time vs. money. And, if you're relatively new to the business world, or have a small marketing budget, rolling up your sleeves and doing some experimentation is a great way to build a subscriber list, prospects and sales! But many free methods are time-wasters that provide little in return for the hours spent.
   Ad tracking is a great way to tell if forums, articles, social networking, traffic exchanges, search engine optimization (SEO) or hundreds of other "free" methods work. Pick a few and use an ad tracking system like Hypertracker to compare the clicks all the way to sales attributed to each method. Soon you'll only be spending your time in areas that you know are effective!
   
5. Determine how much traffic your ads are bringing to you. Sure, you can check raw server logs to learn whether your traffic has increased over time. But ad tracking lasers down to pinpoint exactly where that click originated. And it can further drill down to tell you how many sales resulted from those clicks!
   
6. Fine-tune your ads. Should I change my headline? Is red more effective than blue? Should I use a header graphic? Audio? Video? Professional marketers know that what works for one product or company may not work the same for another. The only way to find out is to test.
   Ad tracking allows you to set up alternate tracking links, so you can split-test headline, colors, audio, video and more. Know for certain which element increases subscribers, referrals, leads and sales!
   
7. Develop a list of your most profitable products or affiliate programs. If you knew for certain that Product A out-produced Product B by a factor of 30, would that be of interest to you? Of course it would! Ad tracking boils all these statistics down to easy-to-understand information that will allow you to make smarter business decisions. You'll quickly see which products or services are duds, and should be eliminated.
   
8. Test product price points. Not sure which price point will return the highest revenue to you? Use ad tracking to test them! By assigning different tracking links to each price (suggestion: not to exceed 3), you'll quickly learn which price point is likely to produce the highest income. (Remember, the highest sales don't necessarily translate into the highest income!) Take the guesswork out of product pricing!
   
9. Track the entire lifespan of a campaign. It is common knowledge that there are four stages to a product's life: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. This same theory holds true in advertising and promotional methods and it correlates to diminishing returns.
   You've probably noticed how commercials change and evolve over time. The Coke commercial entitled "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" was tremendously popular decades ago, and was attributed to a large increase in the sales of this soda. But increased exposure over a long period of time creates an "advertising life cycle" known as "diminishing returns". To protect profits, it is critical that marketing knows when that commercial goes through the first three stages and its effectiveness is about to produce diminishing returns.
   Now you can do the same…without the million-dollar budget. By tracking your campaigns and comparing the results over time, you'll see whether they are still producing, or entering the decline phase. By being aware of the signs of diminishing returns, you can immediately redirect your efforts from the declining campaign to one producing solid (and, hopefully, growing!) results.
   
10. Compare online and offline promotional methods. It should be made crystal clear that online ad tracking is not restricted to online advertising methods. Your tracking codes can be used in newspaper advertising, business cards, magazines, direct mail campaigns, and more.
    By providing statistics on both online and offline marketing methods, you can compare the effectiveness of online vs. offline marketing in general, to determine which produces the highest ROI to you. You'll also be able to fine-tune the methods you use to move your offline prospects to your online assets. For instance, do they respond more to a free report offered online or a 30-minute webinar? Will they be more likely to add their name to your email list if you offer a discount coupon or a contest?
    

As you can see, there are a multitude of reasons to incorporate an ad tracker, like Hypertracker, into your marketing efforts. Although this list is far from complete, I hope it will give you a starting point to develop your own tracking criteria. By tracking this kind of information, you'll soon be making more informed decisions that will positively affect your budget – and your bottom line.

How To Make An html Anchor Text Link

First off, before we go any further there is one important thing that you should do! For Search Engine Optimization (SEO) purposes you need to straight away before you do anything else decide what URL protocol you will be using in all your "Anchor Text Links".  Once you decide for yourself, make sure you stick to it throughout.  Basically there are two choices:

http://www.yourdomain.com

“OR”

http://yourdomain.com

Note how in the first line there is the "www" while in the second one there isn't.  Let me take a minute to explain why this is so important.  First of all it is very important for your search engine ranking, you will ask why? The thing is this: For example you get 50 backlinks to your site ( and this after all your hard work leaving comments and submitting articles) - out of these 50 backlinks 20 have the "www" and the rest do not have the"www"- what you have done is you have split the "inbound vote of confidence" and for the search engines.

Now that we have gotten this straight we can move on to the next point.  If you want to have good backlinks with the right keywords leading back to your blog/site you need to guide those who are linking back to you.  Make sure you use the right keywords and make sure that you have links going back deep in to your blog/website and not just your homepage.

Lets look at different Anchor Text Link examples:

• This Anchor Text Link will open in the same browser window
  

This is one way that this anchor text Hyperlink will finally look like:

Your Anchor Link/Keyword Text Goes Here

• This Anchor Text Link will open in a new browser window

 This is one way that this anchor text Hyperlink will finally look like:

Your Anchor Link/Keyword Text Goes Here

This is what my domain name anchor Text looks like for this blog Bits n Pieces Blog:

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Anchor texts, please leave your comments or add if I have missed out on something.

If you're really considering making a living through blogging, then you absolutely have to check out Blogging To The Bank by Rob Benwell. In his book, the UK millionaire blogger reveals step by step how he makes as much as $90,480 a month from just a few hours work.
For people ready to dive into a more premium guide, you should consider Blog Mastermind by Yaro Starak. Yaro teaches how you too can master the exact SYSTEM he uses to make a minimum of $10,000 to as much as $35,000 per month, blogging part time.

Improve your blog in 7 days

A quick note - I'm currently working on an ebook which will include bits n pieces on how to increase blog traffic, get more followers, make backlinks, anchor text, writing ebooks, affiliate marketing tips, making money blogging tips and much more! Please check back in a couple of days! The ebook will be available for free and will guide you through a 7 day step by step course on what to do... and it won't be any major changes, but just small things that make a big different that you can do in just 7 days! ~: )
RSY6JN8MKNS7

10 Reasons to Produce an ebook

Would you like a way to stand head-and-shoulders over your competitors? One of the best ways to stand out among the sea of competitors is to be seen as an expert in your field.
One of the least expensive and easiest ways to achieve expert status is to write a book. No, I don't mean finding a publisher and writing a book to be physically published! After all, you don't want to wait years for something to hit the book store. If you want to establish yourself - and make money - in the easiest way possible, consider writing an ebook.
While this article talks about ebooks, the same benefits pertain to other types of information products. For example:

• Reports
• Manuals
• Tutorials
• Instructions
• Article Collections
• Courses
• Swipe Files
• Journals
• and much more!

Here are the ten reasons you should consider producing ebooks:

1. Lead generation. Imagine that you are about to list your house for sale and you are searching for a listing agent. One web site offers a report entitled, "How to Sell Your House for Top Dollar in Under a Month". Wow! That would be great information to have.
   In exchange, you only need to fill out a short form and include your contact information. After you submit it, you'll receive the report.
   This is a targeted lead which was almost free to obtain. The only cost is any promotion cost to bring you to the site.
   
2. Automatic Distribution 24/7. Your "salesman" sells and delivers your ebook around the clock. And, since it is delivered over the Internet, you can sell worldwide with no worries about the cost or time of delivery.
   
3. Easy to Update. If your industry or company changes frequently, printed material becomes obsolete quickly. When you provide information through an ebook, it's easy and inexpensive to send updates to your customers. That's a definite advantage for your customers - and your bottom line.
   
4. Search Within the Document. If you are providing a long document, like technical instructions or a large book, your ebook allows people to search within the document and easily find a particular word or phrase. This adds extra value.
   
5. Hot Link to Affiliate Accounts or Other Web Sites. Your ebook allows you to create hot links, so your readers are automatically sent to your web pages or affiliate products through your web link. By connecting within the document, you'll have more people visiting - and buying - on those sites.
   
6. Submit to Ebook Directories and Download Sites. Another way to build your list is to write an ebook and submit to numerous ebook directories. Within the ebook, make an additional offer so readers will visit your web site and sign up for your bonus.
   
7. Brand Your Ebook and Make it Viral. If you operate an affiliate program, you can use your affiliates to promote it as well. Viral marketing is a great word-of-mouth way to promote a business that can snowball and take on a life of its own. It works especially well if your free ebook uncovers a problem and your web site (or the product linked from your ebook) solves it!
   
8. Make Money. Once you've created your ebook, it's easy to list it for sale. You can even take it further and sign up at sites like Clickbank, which is a great place to acquire new affiliates to market your products for you.
   
9. Use as a Bonus. If you created an ebook for sale, you can develop 1-3 additional books on the same or complementary subject, and add them to the sales letter as bonuses. Some people buy a web site for the bonuses over the primary product… so bonuses get attention!
   
10. First Step in the Sales Funnel. If you've ever taken a sales class, you‘ve probably learned about the sales funnel. Prospects become customers usually by buying a low-cost, valuable product that over-delivers. They are then "stepped" through the funnel with ever-increasing price points.
    An ebook is an excellent way to start people on your sales funnel. Plan this out on paper and develop your first 2-3 products at least, before selling your first ebook, so you are prepared.

Use eBookGold to turn the information people need into the income you deserve! Creat an Ebook now

If you're really considering making a living through blogging, then you absolutely have to check out Blogging To The Bank by Rob Benwell. In his book, the UK millionaire blogger reveals step by step how he makes as much as $90,480 a month from just a few hours work.
For people ready to dive into a more premium guide, you should consider Blog Mastermind by Yaro Starak. Yaro teaches how you too can master the exact SYSTEM he uses to make a minimum of $10,000 to as much as $35,000 per month, blogging part time.

Top 15 Ways to Build Your Subscriber List

Today I would like to touch up on the topic of making money with your subscribers.  Its not a secret to anyone that the more subscribers you have and the more traffic the more popular you are.  Now lets see how to put the resource we have to good use, make sure it is use and not abuse!

Email marketing can be profitable for any business, no matter what kind of product or service you offer. It is significantly cheaper than other advertising methods and, if done right, helps build loyalty and trust with customers. As a result, you generate more sales and more profits!
The foundation for successful email marketing is a targeted, permission-based email list. Marketers call contact lists their "goldmine" because it can generate much of their sales revenue. If you've built up a list of opt-in subscribers that are qualified and interested in what you have to offer, then you've completed the first step and are on your way. Now it's time to "mine" for gold!
Below you'll find several list-building and retention ideas that will help you get the best results from all your email marketing activities:

1. Provide useful, relevant content. Your visitors will not give you their email addresses just because they can subscribe to your newsletter free of charge. You have to provide unique and valuable information that will be of interest or use to them.
   
2. Add a subscription form to every page on your website. Make sure it stands out so it is easy to find. If it doesn't look cluttered, you may want to include more than one on some pages. For instance, if your opt-in form always appears in the top-left corner of your site, you may want to add one at the end of your most popular articles.
   
3. Add subscription forms to your social media pages. Make sure that you don't waste this valuable source of revenue opportunities. Integrate your sign-up forms with Facebook and more!
   
4. Make it easy for readers to sign up. The more information you request, the fewer people will opt-in. In most cases, a name and an email address should suffice. If it's not necessary, don't include it here. You can always survey them once they're customers! We do recommend that you provide a link to your Privacy Policy however.
   
5. Publish a Privacy Policy. Let your readers know that they can be confident you will not share their information with others. The easiest way to do this is to set up a Privacy Policy web page and provide the link to it below your opt-in form. (Note: If you don't have one, put the words "privacy policy generator" into a search engine and you should be able to find a suitable form to use.)
   
6. Provide samples of your newsletters and Ezines. This lets potential subscribers review your materials before they sign up to determine if it's something they'd be interested in.
   
7. Archive past newsletters and articles. An online library of past newsletters and articles is both appealing and useful to visitors and builds your credibility as an authority. In addition, if your articles are written with good SEO techniques in mind, they can increase traffic to your website through enhanced search engine positioning.
   
8. Give gifts subscribers can actually use. Offer an opt-in bonus for joining your subscriber list! Write an ebook or provide a PDF business report, or even hire a programmer to create downloadable or web-based software. But don't limit yourself to offering gifts to opt-ins. Give them out when your readers fill out a survey, provide a testimonial, success story, or a great product idea. Let them know when they can expect the next gift offer. Everyone likes to get something for free! And if you pass out "goodies" throughout the year, your subscribers will feel truly appreciated − and that's good for business!
   
9. Ask your subscribers to pass it on. Word of mouth is a powerful viral technique that works great with email marketing. If your subscribers find your content interesting, amusing or informative, they'll probably share it with their friends. This can be a great source of new customers, so make sure to remind them to "pass it on".
   
10. Let others reprint your newsletter as long as the content is not modified. If you're happy to share your content with the universe, then why not! Many webmasters and newsletter publishers are actively looking for high-quality content and, if they reprint your newsletter, you'll get new subscribers, and more traffic and links pointing to your site.
    
11. Include a "Sign Up" button in your newsletter. If you're using plain text instead of HTML, be sure to provide a text link to your subscription page. You may feel that this is not required because the subscriber is already on your list, but remember that readers will forward your newsletters to others, or reprint them online. Make it easy for them to subscribe!
    
12. Add a squeeze page. A squeeze page has one goal − to acquire opt-ins and build your list. Think of it as a mini-sales letter to go along with your subscription or opt-in gift. It should feature a strong headline and a couple of powerful benefits that should make subscribers salivate to sign up! Once created, use a service such as WordTracker to find hundreds of targeted keywords, and promote your offer using pay-per-click advertising from Google, MSN and Yahoo. Now that should make a splash!
    
13. Include testimonials on your squeeze page. This is crucial. Put one or two strong testimonials from satisfied customers on your squeeze page. This can be in any format, but you may find that multimedia (audio or video) is more "believable" and inspires more people to action. To further enhance believability, get permission to use actual customer names, locations and/or urls (Don't use "Bob K, FL"). Add a note inviting others to participate. After all, it's free publicity!
    
14. Blog religiously. Blogging is a great way to communicate with prospects and potential customers, and creates a nice synergy with your email marketing. Be sure to include your newsletter sign-up form on each page of your blog. You can start a free blog at Blogger or WordPress.
    
15. Post on other blogs. Post thoughtful comments and information on similar blogs with a link to your squeeze or opt-in pages. Also comment on others' blogs through trackbacks. In most cases, your comments will be posted on their blogs with a link back to your site. This is an easy way to generate new traffic and subscribers, and get your brand out there! 

Make every campaign better than the last with GetResponse! Track sign-ups, click-throughs, sales, and more! Build your Subscriber List NOW

I hope these few pointers were good information.   Also please check back soon as I'm currently working on a free 7 day course to help new bloggers!

If you're really considering making a living through blogging, then you absolutely have to check out Blogging To The Bank by Rob Benwell. In his book, the UK millionaire blogger reveals step by step how he makes as much as $90,480 a month from just a few hours work.
For people ready to dive into a more premium guide, you should consider Blog Mastermind by Yaro Starak. Yaro teaches how you too can master the exact SYSTEM he uses to make a minimum of $10,000 to as much as $35,000 per month, blogging part time.

Blogging to the Bank Quick Review - Its not a Scam

I just thought I would do a quick post today. I have tried and purchased so many different e-books in the last half a years time that I can honestly say for whatever its worth this probably was one of the better investments I made.  this ebook actually has so much to share and from such a person who actually achieved something and is not just talking, all his methods are working and were personally tested by him and the 50 thousan plus people who bought his ebook.. let me know what you think...

If you're really considering making a living through blogging, then you absolutely have to check out Blogging To The Bank by Rob Benwell. In his book, the UK millionaire blogger reveals step by step how he makes as much as $90,480 a month from just a few hours work.
For people ready to dive into a more premium guide, you should consider Blog Mastermind by Yaro Starak. Yaro teaches how you too can master the exact SYSTEM he uses to make a minimum of $10,000 to as much as $35,000 per month, blogging part time.

How to check how many backlinks your site/blog has

Its time to tool at a very important part of building traffic to your blog. I'm sure by now you have either thought of getting backlinks to your blog or are in the process of getting them. First of all I would like to point this one important fact. You might think you are getting a good quality backlink but the truth is you are not at times.




WARNING – The Biggest Mistake Most People Make When Getting Backlinks

Their Backlinks don’t contain anchor text but just the URL

WRONG = http://www.yourdomain.com
RIGHT = Your Keyphrase

So when leaving a comment or getting a backlink this is the anchor text code that you need to use:
This means that the search engines will know what you blog is about and rank you appropriately. So keep in mind when you leave a comment, instead of just writing your blog url in the box where it asks for your email, white this anchor text with your details.

Now back to Link checkers! Here is a list with my comments on why its a good resource.

http://seopro.com.au/free-seo-tools/link-checker/
This is a very fantastic backlink checking service. Although it takes a little while (not too long) to populate the list of URL's, this is one of the few tools in this whole list that actually shows the true pagerank of the pages your URL is on. It also tell you how many links are on that page, whether or not the link uses "nofollow", the anchor text for the link. You also have the ability to check the number of backlinks for all of the pages on your site, or just the top domain. If you are going to just use one backlink checker, then use this one!

SubmitEdge's PageRank Checker Tool + Alexa Tool + Link Checker Tool http://www.submitedge.com/pr.html
This tool will just give you stats, and that's about it. No list of links, no link PR breakdown, nothing… just a few basic stats about your website. Great, for a nice quick check and then getting back to content creation or linkbuilding. It will list your PR, your Alexa ranking, whether or not you are listed in DMOZ, and how many backlinks you have listed on Google, Yahoo!, AltaVista and AllTheWeb. (The "backlinks from Google" used the "link: yourwebsite.com" method to search, therefore you'll get wack results which could do better.)

iWebTool's Backlink Checker
http://www.iwebtool.com/backlink_checker
This is a pretty basic tool. It just shows you the total number of links, the pages that the links are listed on, and PageRank (note, that the PageRank tool was showing up "zero" for every single page as of this writing. Hopefully they fix it in the future.) The benefit of this site is that it is fast loading. Other tools in this list take a while when they actually list the URLs your page is being linked from, but this is a very fast loading tool.

Smart PageRank's BackLink PageRank Check
http://www.smartpagerank.com/pagerank-backlinks.php
This is a pretty good site, because it is fairly fast loading, even if you choose the options that they say will make it slower. This site will show you the URL, the PageRank (not, it shows "zero" for sites that have verified page rank), and it can show the anchor text and whether or not it's a "nofollow" link. You can choose how many URLs are listed on each page, which is a feature I really like.

Backlink Watch's Backlinks Checker Tool
http://www.backlinkwatch.com/index.php
This is a pretty good tool for checking every 2 months or so. They cache your results, and you'll get the same results for about the next 2 months or so. All of that aside, it's a good tool for seeing all of your links, and some information about those links you've gotten while link building. The problem is that it is slow. If you have any amount about 200 or so, you will be waiting for a very long time to see all of the results. But, they do breakdown the anchor text of the link, the URL it is found at, and any "flagged" links such as those with "nofollow."

Professional Link Building's Free Website Valuation
http://www.professionallinkbuilding.com/websitevaluation.aspx
You need to sign up to their site for free to use this feature now….This is a very quick tool. It gives you your page rank, the number of backlinks you have, and your Alexa ranking. WARNING: The number of backlinks listed for your site from this tool will be way higher than all of your other tools. It is an inflated average of all of the links found in Google, Yahoo, MSN, Live, and others combined. I still use this tool to see how much I've grown by comparing it to this tool's stats from each week, but comparing this number to all of the other tools will only make you feel better artificially. They also have a little "How much is my site worth?" type of algorithm at the end.

I hope a couple of these tools have been useful! Your feedback is welcome!

If you're really considering making a living through blogging, then you absolutely have to check out Blogging To The Bank by Rob Benwell. In his book, the UK millionaire blogger reveals step by step how he makes as much as $90,480 a month from just a few hours work.
For people ready to dive into a more premium guide, you should consider Blog Mastermind by Yaro Starak. Yaro teaches how you too can master the exact SYSTEM he uses to make a minimum of $10,000 to as much as $35,000 per month, blogging part time.

Twitter introduced Real Time New Tweet Notifier

Wow, if before you could only see the real time tweets only when you were doing a search, now Twitter has brought it out even further into the front page! Now you can see in real time how many new tweets you got lined up!

There is a yellow line that says : "X New Tweets" - click on it and you will see the latest tweets that you missed! check it out and share it with others!

Top 5 phrases to make your title stick

So you have a post with some great content. Content that is so unique and could be helpful to so many people but all those people are not even aware that got a new post..why is that?

First of all, yes you might have written a new post and you probably tweeted about it, and still no result, no comments from your fellow readers?
Probably the first mistake you made is is the first line - yes- your HEADING!

You only get 140 digits to make people want to click on your post! You have to have a title/heading that people would want to click on and read more...

So lets take a look at some heading which at first might seem like old stuff to you, but trust me they work!

• Top (number) phrases/methods to do/make ( blank)

Using the word Top or Best shows people that you have already tested a number of methods and you have chosen the top something to share with them...

• The Secret of (blank)

We all want to know secrets, especially if that secret makes you rich (lol). So if you have ideas or methods to do something, intrigue people by making them feel special by sharing your secret with them!

• Here is a quick way to (blank)

Another great start, people tend to be in a hurry and don't have the time to deal with things so if you are giving them a quick way to deal with their problem or answer their question you are one step closer to getting their attention!

• Include the word like in your heading - ex: Become a top blogger like ProBlogger

This is my personal point of view here, we all tend to compare ourselves to higher standards. If someone achieved something we tend to say a business like Bill Gates got, a blogger like Darren Rowse, sing like Madonna...and you can go on..

• Solve a problem in your heading or show that you have an answers/solution to a question.

What do you think? Have you used these methods before? If yes - did they work?

If you're really considering making a living through blogging, then you absolutely have to check out Blogging To The Bank by Rob Benwell. In his book, the UK millionaire blogger reveals step by step how he makes as much as $90,480 a month from just a few hours work.
For people ready to dive into a more premium guide, you should consider Blog Mastermind by Yaro Starak. Yaro teaches how you too can master the exact SYSTEM he uses to make a minimum of $10,000 to as much as $35,000 per month, blogging part time.

Top 5 methods to increase traffic to your blog

Back in May I did a post on how I managed to increase my traffic, now its time for a follow up and some bits n pieces into how I did it - with proof that it works!

First of all a quick copy/paste of my statistics on visitors back in April '09, just from the graph it seems like the results are impressive enough ( look pretty good to me considering I was getting 2-3 clicks a day at the start of the year!) .

Back in Nov '08 was the time I started experimenting with different blog directories ( you can find a list of the directories I used HERE). Feedback was immediate. I started getting over a hundred visitors a month.

At the end of Dec '08 I didn't do much more for a couple of months and just let things flow and continued to get an ok traffic report. Sometime back in April '09 having some more time on my hands I decided to do something more than just registering on different directories.

Here are my top 5 methods to increase traffic to your blog!

1. Register on Twitter - not to promote your blog but to make connections

• Don't just follow people to have them follow you back - get to know their interested, what they are writing about.
• Don't brag about yourself too much, people should want to know more about you rather than wanting to hear less of you
• Share things you found interesting with fellow tweeters

2. Join Forums - to give useful suggestion on topics you are good at

• If you are good at something - share it!
  
• meet new people with same interests

3. Start Commenting on other blogs - comments are a great source of inspiration

• once again sharing your opinion on something you just came across is a great way of interaction
• showing your interest in the subject the reader is writing about
• having something to add to what the reader has to say
• don't just leave a one word comment like thank you, be a little more in depth by saying why you wrote that thank you. :)
• don't leave rude/offensive comments and don't spam
  

4. Optimize your blog - make it easier for search directories to find your blog

• use proper key words, do prior research
• make it easy for your readers to share what they just read, make all the buttons (digg, tweet,delicious,etc) available to them right then and there
  
• load time of your blog is very important, no one is going to wait 10 min for your page to open

5. Interact with the reader - get to know your reader

• I feel that it is important to ask for feedback from your readers on what you can improve or suggestions on what they would like to see on your blog
• see what your readers write about
  

For me the above played an important role, especially Twitter. After having joined I started tweeting continuously about my new posts, also I started reading other tweets and re-tweeting important information that I found useful. I feel that in twitter you have to make connections, get to know the people you are following and not just add them so they follow you back.

Now for the results, I copied my latest statistics to show
that today I'm getting around 500 visitors and more a
month and over 700 page views a month. This is a little post to encourage start up bloggers that if you keep at it you will eventually find your readers!

If you're really considering making a living through blogging, then you absolutely have to check out Blogging To The Bank by Rob Benwell. In his book, the UK millionaire blogger reveals step by step how he makes as much as $90,480 a month from just a few hours work.

For people ready to dive into a more premium guide, you should consider Blog Mastermind by Yaro Starak. Yaro teaches how you too can master the exact SYSTEM he uses to make a minimum of $10,000 to as much as $35,000 per month, blogging part time.

Why change can be good for your blog

I have finally gotten around changing the layout of my blog and going a little in a different direction than usual. I have now decided to subdivide my blog into categories, where I have my personal posts in one place and my bits n pieces on blogging in another place. I think this it's easier to navigate on the blog as you can go directly to the part you are more interested in. That is either wanting to know more about me as a person or getting more specific information on other subjects such as blogging, social media and etc..

Feel free to share your comments and make suggestions, as only with critiques from other can one make something better...

If you're really considering making a living through blogging, then you absolutely have to check out Blogging To The Bank by Rob Benwell. In his book, the UK millionaire blogger reveals step by step how he makes as much as $90,480 a month from just a few hours work.
For people ready to dive into a more premium guide, you should consider Blog Mastermind by Yaro Starak. Yaro teaches how you too can master the exact SYSTEM he uses to make a minimum of $10,000 to as much as $35,000 per month, blogging part time.

How much is your blog worth in USD $$$!!!!

I was doing my usual research today to get more info for a new blog that I'm working on and I came across a very interesting article written by Amarnath Prabhakar, the owner of www.unoblogger.com . His article on a site that helps bloggers see the net worth (approximate) of their blog. I think this is some very useful information so I decided to share this further with everyone. :)
I did a check up on my own blog, and although it might not be worth too much - I'm surprised its even worth this much! :) You can see below the 3 easy steps that you have to do!

Step 1

Follow this link to access the tool page of Sootle.com by clicking here - http://directory.sootle.com/website-worth/

Step 2

Copy and paste of type in your website URL in the space shown below www.yourwebsite.com

Step 3

Once you’ve entered your website URL in the field provided, click on the Check button. You should see something like this in your result!

That's it! Here you go! Now you know how much your blog is worth! Now I know that my little blog is worth$ 1,475.00!!!

Today is Our 4 Year Wedding Anniversary

I just felt like sharing this important event in my life with everyone. Today it is exactly 4 years since my husband and I got married and we still the happiest couple ever! (tfu tfu tfu) There have been ups and downs, but then which normal family does not go through those!
!HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DARLING!
Have a great day everyone!!!

Can you make money on Facebook / My Space and other social network sites

I know that it is possible to make some money by taking advantage of the new hype of social networking sites and social media marketing. The most commonly discussed today is probably Facebook. Did you know that there are over 300 million users registered on Facebook, out of which 50% daily log in to their account! Just picture the traffic, its a huge number!! If you could just get 0.1 percent of these people to visit your blog that like 30,000 people... the numbers just blow my mind!

There are may ways to get to know new people by the same interests you have. some ways include:

• Start a focus group on a subject that is of interest to you on Facebook -Invite your friends and ask them to invite their friends and so on...
• Send out a message with a link to your blog to your friends and ask them to pass it on and make comments..
• Use the marketing pay per click ads on Facebook ( its this new thing I recently read about, if this is of interest I could dig out some info and write more on this subject)
• Tweet messages on Twitter that are currently the hot topics being discussed,t his will get people to your profile and then to your blog and further communication with you!

Well there are more I'm sure, but I shall keep them for later. Do you know any ways of using social media to your advantage? Please share...

Easy Google Profit Scam / My Internet Payday / Get rich Fast Scams

I recently came across this thing and I totally think its a scam. After doing some research on the internet there are more people looking for the words "Easy Google Profit Scam" rather for the name itself (therefore without the word scam). This makes me wonder, in a way that's a great way to get traffic to your blog/site.

If there are many people looking for something opposite or trying to prove something is wrong they tend to do a lot of search for that topic and it is no surprise that words like scam, fake, replica all come into use. And I'm not only talking about sites, this can be referred to replica bags and clothes, etc...

Interesting thought to elaborate on... what do you think?

Help needed to operate a puppy - has Hernia

As many of you already know my dog recently had puppies and 2 of them have Hernia ( you can read more about this here), after doing some research it turns out that if not operated this could have a lethal end. The operation costs USD 60 for each puppy, right now I only have USD 40 for this available. Please help with as much as you can, even a dollar. And please let your friends know of this.

Are you into E-Books? Audio books?

Are you a fan of e-books?
I just came to wonder the other day, isn't it so much more interesting to read a book while you are actually holding one in your hands and turning the pages with your hand as you finish each page? Isn't that what it really means to read a book?
Also this audio books, you know you have someone dictating to you the content of the book, but have you thought about the fact that every person reads the a book differently and makes their own interpretations.

So when someone is reading it out to you ( as in the audio book case) you are automatically getting their tone and intonation and therefore straight away their attitude towards the book is passed on to you.

Now returning back to e-books, if you do like them then which type? is it more the how to do something? or tips and facts?

Please share your opinion...

We got a new cat - Don Sphynx

Isn't he just so amazing! So graceful! This is actually our first cat of this breed and neither my husband nor myself know how to look after it, as you know such breeds need special attention. I'm doing research but if anyone has any suggestions please share your knowledge! :)
By the way you would never guess what we named him... remember the 1982 movie ET-The Extra-Terrestrial ... well yuppp.. we called him ET!

Using Twitter to Attract more Readers

Have you caught on to the Twittermania? :) I got a new phone the other day, the new HTC Hero. In a few words, its a great phone and it has this twitter widget that you have on your home screen, so you have access to see all your tweets all the time and update your friends...

So I just thought I would get some opinion on how great this twitter thing is and what benefits I can get out of it!

I know that its the hottest thing on the net right now and everyone is using it as a method of marketing, but frankly speaking I still have not figured out what is so great about and how I can put this little tool to use!

So OK its great that I can update my friends with what I'm doing, but I have all my friends on Facebook and you can do the same thing there by updating your status...

So Feel free to share and tell me what you think!

They grow so fast - Shit Tzu one month and one week old!

I know it's been a while since I posted anything, but I have been so busy lately..
I'm actually starting to feel what it means not to sleep nights...
First of all they started crawling everywhere... and little rascals go to the bathroom all the time. :)
Secondly they started fighting and growling at each other - playing...
All in all they are so adorably cute I can't describe it!
I'm posting some pictures and in my next post I will add a little liveo my husband took of them playing around!

My Shit Tzu had 4 puppies!

I just had to write a small note to share with everyone that our little Shit Tzu has puppies the other day! Just wanted o post a little picture of the proud mother of 4 beautiful girls...
If you happen to have had puppies and can share your experience on what to do and when they start eating, walking and open their eyes I would love to hear from you!

What makes your blog stand out?

If you asked me what a blog is 10 years ago I would have probably looked at you blankly and started wondering what the heck you were talking about. Today on the other hand, I think blogging is like a new career that you can get into and even make a living of it!

So what makes your blog stand out?

Is it the subject that you blog about?

Is it your unique style of writing?
Is it your blog design?
Is it the colors that you chose for your blog page?

Is it just you that people enjoy communicating with?

This is just a small note to remind myself and everyone else that sometimes its small things as these that we don't pay attention to that are very important. If you haven't done so take a minute to think about your blog? Why should anyone be interesting in reading it? Would you be interested if you came across your own blog!?

Just something to think about... good luck

Reliable Dropshipping Supplier or Company

I have done a post on what drop shipping is earlier last year and after receiving quite a positive feedback on the post and subject itself I decided to write another post with focus on one drop shipping company/directory that I use myself to sell on eBay and find very effective and reliable.
The company that I deal with is DHGate which is a place where suppliers from China offer their products and buyers from all over the world. First of all their website is very user-friendly. It is very easy to navigate and find specific products that you are interested in. Secondly their product range is huge including products such as - house supplies, apparel, mobile phones, computers, make up, clothes and much more. Thirdly they use a very reliable payment system. At the moment they use the Escrow system which is very buyer protective I think.
There are many payment methods available including:

• Credit Cards
• Real-Time Bank Transfer
  • iDeal
  • giropay
  • ING Home'Pay
  • eps Online-Uberweisung
  • sofortüberweisung
  • eCard
  • More…
• Offline Payment Methods
  • Bank Transfer
  • Western Union

Although the most common/popular payment method today remains paypal. If you don't have a paypal account you can open one Here, as well as reading my recent post on "How to open a Paypal account"
From the range of products that they offer, after a number of unsuccessful chosen products to sell on eBay I decided to stick with make up which proved to be a well selling product on eBay with a good profit margin.
The good thing that I like about this website is that the suppliers easily do drop shipping for you and you don't have to buy hundreds of one item to have it shipped to you and most of the shipping is free to the USA!
Check it out, please leave your comments and thoughts here also.. :)

The Conversation - the art of Learning & Sharing

All possible and available social networks of the 21 Century

Most Bautiful and Interesting Places in the World

I decided to come up with a list of places that I personally want to visit, but its a great list and I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to see these amazing places. If you have been to any please share of your experience.

The Grand Canyon, United States

One of the deepest canyons in the world. It is located in Colorado, Arizona. Its length is 446 km, width ranges from 6 to 29km, depth unto 1600m.

The Barrier Reef, Australia.

One of natures wonders of the world. It is the biggest coral reef in the world. Its total area is 348698 sq.km which is larger than the area of United Kingdom!

Cape Town, South Africa
it is called "Paradise on Earth", this beautiful city is located on the tip of Africa and is surrounded by huge mountains, makes you feel real small....

Taj Mahal, India

On of the Wonders of the World

One of the Wonders of the World. During the building process, 20000 workers were invited and brought from all over the Empire, including workers from Central Asia, Persia, and the Far East...

Canadian Mountains, Canada

Beautiful land shaft, lakes, canyons, waterfalls, caves and much more. Protected by UNESCO

Machu Picchu, Peru

Sometimes called " The lost city of the Incas"

The Pyramids. Egypt

The Egyptian pyramids are like massive graves... :)

Petra, Reino Hachemita de Jordania

Is included in the World UNESCO list heritage...

The Great Wall of China , China

It is 6350 km long, just imagine ... wow...

Supposedly 2-3 million Chinese men died during the construction of this project...

The Iguassu Waterfalls, Argentina
Has an area of 2,7km and included around 270 different waterfalls..
Water free fall - 82 meters for some of them...
The biggest waterfall - Garganta del Diablo («mouth of a devil»)

Hope you enjoyed this little review! :)