I asked this question during our second Mastermind Sessions – now it’s you chance to vote for the topics you want us to cover. Please also suggest the name of an expert is you can so we can contact them.
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April 30, 2008 By
Topics For Our Mastermind Sessions?
April 29, 2008 By
Monochrome WordPress Themes By Graph Paper Press
Here is a cool WordPress themes developer who has managed to design some really nice and clean looking themes for WordPress. Graph Paper Press WordPress themes are versatile enough to suit most needs and feature some cool looking magazine style themes.
From what I have seen, their themes are all customisable and you can create your very own show piece blog on the web for free or for a reasonable fee.
Monochrome Gallery is a free theme that supports Ajax powered featured posts on the home page. A great way to showcase the best you have with the help of images.
The theme also supports thumbnails and widgets and would be great for bloggers with video, news style blogs or even photography blogs.
Monochrome Author is so cool, that I actually consider this for my own blog for a make over. I have fallen in love with the Ajax powered features since they allow bloggers to really put emphasis onto their best content. Images are in my eyes very important too.
They help to attract and draw your concentration to it. Plus, the neat navigation as well as the color scheme are well down my alley.
Monochrome Pro is an advanced theme from both the Gallery and Author in the same range and actually costs $75. Still very affordable considering what you are getting. Buying the theme will also allow you to remove the credits in the footer.
Like the two themes before, this one is also widgetized and supports
Monochrome Lite does away with clutter and offers a streamlined approach for bloggers who don’t want too many thumbnails or Ajax powered featured posts. The posts are still supported by thumbnails however and the CSS framework helps with customizations.
There are many more designs to be found by this very able company. Some do cost a reasonable fee, while others are completely free. They have also planned to release a new theme every month for the remainder of this year.
I shall look forward to what they release in the future.
April 28, 2008 By
Social Networking And How Peer Pressure Can Cause Security Issues
If you are not using a social networking tool, then most likely you feel pretty ancient right now. Just about everywhere we look these days, social networking sites envelope us. As a matter of fact they slowly choke us to death or at least that is how it feels with the burden of having to join this and that site.
If you don’t twitter, you are simply not cool these days. Alternatively, if you are not part of MySpace you are not in the loop. Stumblers are also a force to be reckoned with, especially for bloggers. But who says so anyway?
Perhaps the millions of people who join these sites every month to converse with like minded people world wide. Or else the trend setters. Who knows, but what is clear is that social networking is robbing us of our time.
Do you ever feel pressured to join social networking sites because it is the in thing to do right now? I find that bloggers are neatly pressured into this template of behaviour. Everywhere we look, we are urged to join yet another social networking site.
Soon enough this can become not only time consuming, but also very confusing.
But wait, there is more
Besides the time issues, the peer pressure and what not, there is another alarming trend that surfaces in social networking.
Security holes.
Many social networking sites are spruced up with the help of free applications. What many network users don’t know, is that some of these applications are actually posing a huge security threat to us and our privacy.
They monitor our online behavior, bombard us with relevant advertisements and maybe even steal private information from us without us knowing.
Because everybody takes part in these networks, users don’t think there are issues for concern. But if you are to believe an article that was released by AP yesterday, there is rising concern on whether our information really is a as safe as we’d like to believe it is.
What do you think? Do you feel pressured to use these social networking sites and if yes, why? How safe do you feel by giving out personal information on these platforms?
April 25, 2008 By
Clickbank Accounts Now Open For Malaysia
Welcome to Clickbank, Malaysians..
Now any Malaysian can sign-up for a Clickbank account without backdoor methods, virtual offices or forwarding addresses.
Clickbank has added Malaysia to their list of countries, and if you are new you can sign-up right away with Malaysia as your country and use your real address.
If you have previously signed up with another forwarding address, this is your chance to save some money and change your address back to Malaysia. To do this you need to login to your Clickbank account and request for change of address.
Since you guys can now have a Clickbank account, do also check out Rahsia ClickBank for the best system to make money from ClickBank.
It’s fun to have a Clickbank account, right not?
April 23, 2008 By
FaceBook Chat Takes It To The Next Level
I logged into my FaceBook account today and noticed FaceBook has added a chat feature! In classic Facebook style, it has a clean & smooth interface and you can basically chat with any FaceBook member that happens to be online at the moment.
With this, Facebook takes it to the next level and now it’s also an instant messenger, competing with established services like Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger and GTalk.
With millions of users, this service will spread like wildfire and I’m sure a desktop FaceBook application is just around the corner.
By the way, did you know you can add your WordPress latest posts to Facebook?
April 22, 2008 By
JomSeminar Bonus: One Hour Personal Coaching and Buffet Dinner
If you want to get personal advice and coaching from me, this is your chance. When I say “personal coaching” I mean you and me, one-on-one, to discuss any questions or problems you have with regards to creating a website or making money online.
It doesn’t get more personal than that. But there is a requirement – I don’t want to sit down and offer personal coaching when you know ZERO about making money online. Because then you don’t know what questions to ask, and it will be just a waste of time.
So what I want you to do is to attend the JomSeminar event happening this 11 May 2008 at Armada Hotel PJ, and once you’ve already picked up some basic skills and ideas, then we can sit down and discuss your plans on becoming a millionaire 
Although this seminar is in Bahasa Melayu, I will also be a featured speaker there and my presentation will be in English + BM (rojak) so you can definitely follow. Besides, your level of BM should be good enough to understand as everything is in plain language.
- You must click on this link and reserve your seat: www.gobalarecomends.com/jomseminar-b
- Once you’ve made the payment, send your confirmation email to us via email (support [at] internetmillionaires.com.my) or fax it to 03-79545277 and put your name + contact number on it
- We will contact you with the available one hour personal coaching sessions (in person or by phone it’s up to you) which will start after the JomSeminar event which is on 10-11 May 2008
- Plus, I will give you free buffet dinner at Armada with me and selected Internet marketing experts – no need to go for “teh tarik, we’ll do it with style – how about that?
This offer doesn’t apply if you did not get your JomSeminar seat by using the link above.
PLEASE NOTE: This offer is open to the first 10 people who act fast. Once I’ve got 5 people I will post a note here to close the offer.
As you know by now, personal coaching is time-consuming and you can expect to pay RM300-RM1,200 to anybody with enough experience to give you personal coaching in the first place.
So let me tell you again, what you get from me as a special bonus if you sign-up for JomSeminar:
Personal Coaching – Worth RM1,200
Hotel Buffet Dinner – Worth RM45
Seminar Ticket – RM397Your profit: RM758.00
So be quick… siapa cepat dia dapat..
As an extra safety precaution, to be 100% sure you’re qualified, look for this number at the bottom of the page:
If the number 803860 is there you are safe, if not please try again from another computer or your home computer.
April 22, 2008 By
Why The MMO Blogging Industry Is Becoming A Pain In The A$$!
Guys, I really really just about had it with the MMO (make money online) industry. Not that I mingle there at all, I gave that up months ago when I realized that to preserve my integrity I had to concentrate on things that actually make me money and try to help others with my “wisdom”.
In the last few months there has been a storm brewing on the Internet and I believe this storm will continue to build until it becomes a full force hurricane.
I’m talking about people (bloggers) like me who are sick of all the bull$hit that goes on in the MMO niche and are starting to speak up. Is it right or wrong, well, you will be the judge, as no doubt there will be some for it and some against (most likely those who are the ones taking unsuspecting people for a ride).
My pet hate are those people who blog about the MMO niche pretending they are the bees knees while in fact they really don’t have an idea themselves. But they continue to lie their ways through their blogs to the newcomers, being fully aware that it will pay them a monthly income. Then there are many A-listers who continue to trade integrity for a pocket full of cash, but you can read all about this and more in the 3 articles below.
Do yourselves a favor and read those posts if you are new to the online money game. Even if you are one of the people who spends half their income on worthless ebooks every month, check those out.
I want you to read the following posts, since I really don’t want to repeat what has already been said.
Posts you ought to read if you don’t want to waste unnecessary time, effort and money:
- ProBloggers Responsibility to Their Readers
- The Rating Blog – How to Game Your Stats
- Another Dumbfuck is Born (warning, explicit language) (Rated R)
How do you feel about the whole scenario? Are you even aware of the fact that there is a war going on in the blogosphere right now?
This could become interesting.
April 19, 2008 By
Are Theme-Based Content Websites Better Than Blogs?
A while back I posted an article titled WordPress Vs SiteBuildIt which resulted in heated arguments on both sides of the fence.
Today I got an email from Ken Evoy, which is set to take this argument to a whole new level. Overall, the content of the email says that blogging is a bad idea for small business owners, and what they should really be doing is building static, content-rich websites.
Ken’s argument is based on these things:
- A static website, like the ones built by SiteBuildIt, generally have a better logical hierarchy for content, instead of blogs that are “date-based” – (implies that by having a proper hierarchy, it helps your sites get better rankings)
- A static website requires much lesser maintenance, whereas with a blog you’re pressured to produce new content very often, or your traffic simply dies out..
- SBI’s new Content 2.0 module is better than blogs themselves, as it allows user generated content whereas the only interactivity in blogs is limited to comments
Here are some quotes from the original page called “Blog or Build”, and my comments below them:
Blogs are best used for news-oriented sites, or sites that feature “the latest” or “the thought of the day.” If you intend to build a site that keeps visitors on the cutting edge of your topic matter, constantly releasing the latest news and commentary on what it all means, blogs are a good choice. But this is the wrong direction for most e-businesses.
I’m forced to admit that a lot of blogs operate like “online newspapers” – but not ALL of them. Some blogs do take the theme-based content approach.
What happens when you stop blogging? You watch your traffic melt away. Why? Because Search Engines know that blog posts are like newspapers… good only for wrapping fish after a few days.
Yes, if you completely stop blogging, your web traffic WILL reduce but it will not melt away and be gone altogether. I see 2 different types of traffic:
- active traffic that you get when you leave comments, write new posts and get a ‘comment war’; and
- passive traffic which is residual search engine traffic that you continue to get from your previous posts that now key keyword searches in Google.
Blogs merely keep adding new posts, one after another, without editing out the old and without pulling related posts together into cohesive and fresh articles. As a result, visitors ignore the old material and have trouble using a blog for anything more than the latest news or the “thought of the day.”
That train of thought is take from a Google blog post that quoted: “Blogs usually have high Bounce Rates no matter what since normal visitor behavior is to read the newest post and then leave.”
I think this should be true to some extent. Ask yourself?
It is definitely true hat most blogger never edit a post once it’s been publisher – they focus on mass rather than quality – me included. Probably a lot of model our blogs after sites like ProBlogger, John Chow, TechCrunch, Entrepreneurs Journey, Daily Blog Tips and almost any other big blog you can think of that mass-generate content (at least a post a day on average) and we think that’s the way we should do it too..
despite all the “blog-buzz,” the failure/abandonment rate of blogs is nearly 100%. Only incredibly talented bloggers make money. High-profile and prolific, they toil in certain niches and with certain styles that work well for blogging. For most, though, blogging is a doomed choice.
I actually know a lot of people who didn’t abandon blogging. Where did those stats come from?
There are a few things I DO agree with:
- Blogs are better suited for sites where NEW content is readily available – for example if the market is growing there are bound to be new developments which translates to new content you can blog about
- We should all pay more attention to creating quality, keyword-targeted blog posts and try to rank not only for your main blog keyword but every page we put out
- It’s better to create themed blogs (or sites) instead of general ones where you talk about everything under the sky
So what is your opinion on these few nagging questions:
- Are blogs more suited for people that have the name, power and recognition to create a “following”?
- Are blogs just as good as static theme-based content sites in terms of SEO and traffic, or perhaps even better?
- Is Content 2.0 a replacement for blogs as we know it – or just marketing hype?
Read the full article here.
April 19, 2008 By
FreshPress WordPress Theme Clones WordPress 2.5
Withe the latest release of WordPress 2.5 came a lot of complaints and discussions on many blogs as to why the developers had to change things and fix them while they were still working. Obviously, updates are essential for security purposes more so than anything else and this latest update has cause quite a stir since it is so different from everything we have seen before.
Now that the waves have settled somewhat and most have gotten used to what is working and what not, Hyder has taken this concept of WordPress 2.5 up another notch and released a brand new theme called FreshPress.
FreshPress reflects the look of the WordPress 2.5 admin pages and comes across as a stylish, elegant and neat theme. It is fully customizable and has a special author highlight section in the comments to stand out from the crowd.
The bottom of the theme features a section that is divided into three, allowing bloggers to add links, featured stuff and more. The FreshPress WordPress Theme is a three column theme that takes WordPress to a new level.
I must say that the longer I look at this theme, the more I love it, because of its overall simplicity. There is no visual clutter and it looks very neat.
I’d love to see this theme released with a wider posting box and just the one sidebar but a wide on instead. I reckon that would be the ultimate, but as of now I’m just wishing.
April 18, 2008 By
Alexa Traffic Rankings Undergo Major Change
Every blogger who checked their Alexa rankings today would be in for a surprise. Alexa has just completed making some major changes to their ranking algorithm, and possibly any other service that relies on their ranking would also be effected.
In recent months we’ve heard from our Alexa users that understanding Internet usage beyond Alexa Toolbar users was increasingly of interest. Ask and you shall receive!
We listened to your suggestions, and we believe that our new rankings system is much closer to what you asked for. We now aggregate data from multiple sources to give you a better indication of website popularity among the entire population of Internet users.
In the past, Internet marketing or “make money online” type of blogs generally had much higher Alexa traffic rankings simply because more people in that market used the Alexa toolbar. With these recent changes, I believe Alexa has become a more reliable tool for estimating a website’s real traffic and overall ranking on the Internet.
I assume that most blogs in the “make money online” niche would have taken a hit, and blogs in other niche markets would have seen their rankings increase.
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