Erik’s Blog: Board Shorts and Business Suits

 Look at that, I’ve been blogging for almost a year and I’ve made it to my 200th post on this blog. Now overall I’m around 700 posts for all of the blogs in my network, but I think it’s and interesting milestone to hit, any century multiple on a blog is reason for announcement. Plus I thought I would update you all on my progress.

Blogging
For those of you that don’t know, I started blogging last November, November 12th to be exact with the hope of creating a blog, a site, or a network of sites that received over 500,000 visitors a month. Well, I can honestly say that I’m way, way off from that.

However, the process of trying to get there over the last year has allowed me to learn so much that if I didn’t have that goal of 500,000 visitors I probably wouldn’t have learned nearly as much. I more than likely would have become one of the millions of bloggers that try it out and then drift away after about three months. If you look through many bloggers blog rolls you’ll find these blogs, especially if a blogger hasn’t cleaned up his/her blog roll lately.

But I’ve stuck with it and I’ve actually expanded from just this one blog into a whole network of blogs called Blogtown Press Blog Network. The network launch is coming along, however I feel as though it would have been a little more successful had I practiced what I recently preached over at Blogging on Empty about building content before a launch, but I’m a “do then learn” type. I’m still working on promoting and hopefully my Blog Network Launch Contest and blog network gets picked up by a big time blog and helps spread the word. (Hint Hint)

Forum Building
I’m working on a much needed forum (I have one called the Rants Forum over at Sprint Rants). I want to wait on the launch of that forum but hope that it is not only successful but also helps a lot of people out. I’ll be looking for some “beta testers” soon so let me know if you’re interested.

I’m also busy on some super top secret stuff that I can’t mention at the moment.

Thanks to everyone who has kept me motivated and kept me going at this blogging thing. I never thought I would actually have started a blog let alone 13 of them and continued blogging for over a year.

Yeah that would be a nice 18 round golf score, (one with a few holes in one I would think), but that’s not what I’m talking about. For the first time in this blogs short existence, it broke 51 readers via the rss feed. I use feedburner because I like the tracking of readers it does, and the tracking site is pretty sassy and easy on the eyes.

I’ve been hovering between 44 and 48 for about 4 months now (pretty pathetic, I know) and have been waiting for a time when I could write this dang post. Not sure why I think 50 is a good number, and I’ve read before that you shouldn’t even show your readers your feed stats until you’re over 150, (sorry no link couldn’t find where I read that before, but it must have been a credible source ), but none-the-less I am going to keep my stats up there for all to see.

I think when you see someone’s stats you feel like your becoming part of something, even if it is my small little something, it’s something.

I’ve found a renewed vigor to keep going on this online craziness that I’ve gotten myself into. I keep thinking of new ideas and finding new ways to make those ideas come to fruition. My brother is also helping motivative me which I think is helping out a lot and we are going to begin working on a joint project in the coming months that could turn into something good.

Thanks all you readers and I hope I’ve been helpful and entertaining over the last few months.

SprintRants.com, which is seeing a surge in both traffic and quality ranters now has a forum. It’s my first attempt at a forum but it was pretty easy to start and install through netfirms. I’m using phpbb and they basically do the whole install for you.

The forum is just an extension of the rant board and will allow users to interact to get their questions answered and their rants heard. We’ve had a sprint customer service supervisor hanging around the rant board lately and helping a lot of people out so I thought it was fitting to begin the forum now. Hopefully people won’t be shy and head over to it and begin posting.

So if you have sprint and want to support a good cause, check out the Sprint Rants Forum, sign-up, and talk about your sprint service, phone or anything else related to sprint PCS or Nextel.

I was recently directed to a great tool for doing keyword research. It uses the overture database and then estimates the monthly searches in Google and MSN (probably from released search percentages).

The best part of it is that it offers keywords that are similar and related and shows you numbers for those as well. This save you a lot of time digging through overture, and estimating all the numbers yourself in a spreadsheet (or am I the only one that does that).

They also supply quicklinks for every single option you could think of:

Overture Bid Price

Google, Yahoo, and MSN Search results

Yahoo! Suggest

Digital Point Wordtracker

Nichebot

Google Trends

AdWords Google Traffic Estimator

Google Suggest

Google Synonym

AdWords Keyword Tool

This puts some of the best market research tools all on the same page! You can use all of the tools, or none of the tools.

This can be found at SEO2020.com’s Keyword Suggestion Tool

I made a quick switch today to the my blogs layout. For those who have visited some of the sites within my new blog network you may have noticed that the layout to all of these blogs is essentially the exact same. The only differences are the color schemes and a few of the ads to optimize for particular content. Aside from that they are the same. This has allowed me to spend more time on content development and promotion rather than worrying about all bells and whistles of the design. I am also using this method so that when people visit one of the blogs in the network they will know it’s a quality blog and know the publishers.

As for why I am switching from my previous rounded corners layout to this blog network layout?, the sweet video idea. I have been searching around Google Video, YouTube, and Myspace video recently for good world cup highlights and always noticed the embed video option. Wanting to put a video into my blog just cause you can I never could find the right time. Then an idea crept across the cobwebs of my brain and I decided that I would feature a new video every few days on my blog. Kind of a treat for those of you who visit often.

From there it just made sense to switch to the new blog layout. I like the advertisement placement that seems to be becoming standard on blog networks and also the square that is used for ads on my other blogs, will now be used for the featured video. You should be able to click on the play button and the video will just play. Don’t worry it isn’t advertisement, just a flick I thought you might enjoy. I’ll give a little blurb about it at the bottom and then let you decide if you want to play it. Since you have to click to play it the video shouldn’t interfere with load time and it has to be faster than the JavaScript rounded corners I was using.

Well there you have it. I am still working out all the kinks but I like the new look and I really think you will all enjoy the videos I select. This first one is the online Nike commercial featuring Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho Gaucho. Hey does some fancy dribbling skills at first and then appears to boot the ball off the cross bar of the goal several times returning it to his bottom each time. I have read several articles that claim this ad is bogus but it’s still a sweet commercial to get you psyched for the World Cup!

Go USA!!!

Sound the trumpets, I’m finally practicing what I preach and just going for it.

I have been working on my own little blog network space on the web for about 2 months now. I guess you could say that I have had somewhat of a network for a while now, with this blog Aloha Update and Sprint Rants. Those are still going strong but too them I have added 6 more blogs on various topics from sports to Hollywood. None of the topics are groundbreaking, just interests of mine to get the network jump started.

I will post a little bit about each of them here over the next week or so but want to give all of my regular visitors a chance to check out each of them before I do all that writing. Feel free to subscribe to feeds, let me know what you think, and spread the word if you feel someone would be interested in or benefit from any of the writing.

And the blogs are…

Blogging on Empty - helpful hints on how to blog like a pro on little time
Getting to Scratch - tips for golfers chasing the dream, as well as golf news and a general resource
Wicked Backhand - who doesn’t want a gorgeous backhand, a tennis resource for players and enthusiasts
Financing Wealth - financial tips and motivation to realize your financial dreams and find the wealth you’ve been looking for
Rumor Patrol - chasing down all of Hollywood’s rumors from several sources online
Fueling the World - a resource for alternative energy news, follow the changing laws, technology, and breakthroughs

I hope you find some of them enjoyable. If you feel like you would be able to contribute some good articles to one or more of these feel free to contact me about writing for them as guest bloggers. Guest blogging is a great way to promote yourself outside of your own blog world. I have found that it’s like free (well you have to write) promotion to a whole new audience that you didn’t work at trying to attract. Let me know if that interests you.

One last thing, I don’t really have a name for the network, I couldn’t come up with anything catchy like B5media or weblogs inc so erik’s blog network will be where it stays until I, or someone like you (hint hint) comes up with a better name.

I have officially been blogging for more than 6 months. I have learned a lot about the online world and have basically become attached to my computer during any free time I have. I took the immersion approach to learning about online publishing and marketing and somehow have stuck it out. If you have been with me here since the beginning you’ve read several times about my ability to get really excited about things then not finishing them. It’s really what this blog has been developed for. To keep me accountable for my goals.

Back on November 12th, 2005, spurred by Steve Pavlina and his amazing statistics both traffic and monetary I decided to start my own blog. It has been a fun and interesting road and I don’t plan on stopping or slowing down. While I haven’t had the traffic success nor the money success like Steve, I have learned a lot about the online world and what opportunities to find financial freedom there are on the internet. More or less infinite.

I average about 35 unique visitors a day, sometimes 25, sometimes 55, and have at most 43 people subscribed to my feed at any given time. This is really just a drop in the bucket when you look at some of the top blogs. But then again I’ve only been here for 6 months and 43 subscribers, when compared to similar blogs, is good numbers. I have yet to find a great niche following but am hoping my “appeal to the masses” technique will produce results.

Sure most blogs are focused on one niche or another, and most “how-to” articles say find a niche, but I’m opting to try for something a bit different and enjoying the road.

I haven’t made much, from the online world but haven’t really focused on it either. Now that I have what I would call a good base built up with my internet skills I plan on focusing on the monetization of my websites and hopefully building an income from them.

What I’ve Learned

I’ve learned much too much over the past six months to put it all into one post but I can offer a few insights into the two main things I have found bloggers have trouble with.

1. Consistent Posting

The key to consistent posting is to just post. I know that sounds to simplified but the worst thing for posting productivity I find myself engaging in is the dreaded this post isn’t good enough routine. You know the feeling. You read pillar articles by successful bloggers and then compare each and every sentence you write to those articles.

The thing is, if you look back, way back, back to the first six months of most successful blogs you will find stumbling posts, short post, unedited posts, and just that, posts, posts, posts. You have to experiment with what your readers might like, what your writing style will come to be, and have posts back logged or deleted because they weren’t good enough will bring no traffic to your blog.

Just post it baby!

2. Getting readers

As you can see from my numbers I have issues with this part of the successful blogging equation as well. Although my numbers aren’t super they are seeing improvement on a month to month basis. I have hit kind of a lull since February but I attribute that to my lack of blog promotion. I have been working on several projects and neglecting finding readers.

You need to work on a system that works for you, be it forum posting, commenting, or cold emailing other bloggers, but you need to focus at least 20 minutes a day for the first 3 months of your blog promotional period to hard core promoting.

Get out there and promote!

I hope you all are finding my posts helpful. Feel free to spread the word about my blog and blogging endeavours. Maybe someone you know would benefit from reading about how someone else is trying to do it all with a full-time job.

During the past week I have been working on developing the Wordpress template for my blog network and have tried to locate and install a few valuable Wordpress plug-ins. (Plug-ins are addons for Wordpress that perform some function valuable to the publisher) Below I have listed and linked the top 5 Wordpress plug-ins that I am using and a little bit about why I feel they are so useful.

1. E-Mail to a friend wp-email - word of mouth, in my opinion the best online advertisement method. This plug-in allows you to easily install an email this post link and form to any page. A very well developed plug-in, although I still had to figure a few things out, I think this is a must for everyone.

2. Related Posts or Entries - Don’t let your viewers leave your page, give them something else to click. This wordpress plug in uploads quick, and inserts quick, with basic and easy formatting options. Keep your visitors where you want them, surfing your blog.

3. Recent Comments - Another great Wordpress plug-in from semilogic, recent comments is useful for your front page to encourage viewers to read others comments and post responses. A great way to increase commentors on your site.

4. Contact Form - Could a form be easier than just posting your email address? I guess for those not wanting to post their email to the world this is a good plug-in. Also most of the big name sites use a contact form so there must be something to it. This Wordpress plug-in will quickly insert a form wherever you ask it to.

5. Feedburner Redirect Plug-in - Although I have been unable to get this plug-in to work on any site other than my root Wordpress blog install (no doubt issues with Netfirms, my structure, or both), this plug-in or Feedburner is a must for stat crazed bloggers. Feedburner allows you to track subscribers and have yet another traffic stat for yourself or published to your viewers. This plug-in redirects all of you feed traffic using a randomly generated feed.

Enjoy these plug-ins and let me know if you have any questions on them. There is pretty good support out there for all of them and as I said I have had my difficulties with them as well and worked through most all of the problems.

Some of you might remember a while back when I signed up for Google Analytics. Yeah, it was 4 months ago, I signed up a day or two after analytics went live and was a day or two late! They put me on a wait list as they ironed out the bugs from the software they recently purchased from Urchin, a great site stat provided.

There main issue was said to be that too many people signed up too fast and had too many visitors for their servers. In other words, the biggest search engine on the planet didn’t have enough server power to handle the loads of traffic from it’s new product. Whatever it was, I was too late and needed a solution. This prompted me to search out some alternative stat counters which I listed here. I ended up using addfreestats and sitemeter, both of which work well and offer different things.

Well, this past week as I have been working on getting my blog network up and running I received the invitation to join Google analytics. I quickly signed up and installed it on this site. I have only been using it for a day or two but see some things I like and things I don’t like. One good thing right off the bat that I noticed was that they allow you to track multiple sites, up to 5 for me now, which I heard wasn’t the case. That was a nice surprise and I hope there will be more to come.

I am going to continue to use the stat service and come back here with a review of what I think of it. It seems like it will off quite a bit of site optimization stats which will help if I end up sticking with the service for my network but all the services seem like they will take a bit of time and searching to figure out how to best use them.

For those of you who might have recently signed up for the wait list, it took me 5 months. Hopefully they’ve lowered the wait time for you.

I’ll keep you all posted.

As you may have been reading in a few of my recent posts I am working on creating a blog network and I am starting out with developing a design that I can apply to multiple blogs easily using CSS and wordpress. I have developed several blog looks and those keep evolving as my design skills evolve and I learn more about what attracts and keeps a visitor.

With my blog network design I am spending a little more time on the design, looking at all the current network layouts (why reinvent the wheel) and also looking into sites that I like to visit and think have a nice layout with a little flare. Searching around has brought up the question, “Do I go simple, or simple and Web 2.0ey?

What is Web 2.0? Well basically it has come to mean white space, bubble letters, bubble icons, and a few vibrant colors. Coincidentally JC over at jcCommerce recently posted an article about Web 2.0 that had quite a few useful points and links. I guess I would call it more of a rant than an article but he basically ranted about Web 2.0 and how some feel just making their site look good or “joining the fad” will make it popular. He voices his opinion that a user should be more concerned with content at first and less with design.

Well, I see his displeasure with people joining the fad, and I also agree with him that for a site to be good you need to have quality content that contributes something to people. Just look at how simple Steve Pavlina’s site is and he gets a lot of traffic and repeat visitors. However, I like the way “Web 2.0″ sites look and I find the rounded corners, color patterns, big print and faded backgrounds enjoyable to look at and usually keep me on a page.

Since posting that article and since I began writing this JC has actually made his page a little more web 2.0ey and the color scheme is pretty nice, check it out. The reason for mentioning his post was that he found some interesting sites that I think would help anyone looking into web design and creating a more in the now web page.

One of the best sites he linked to deals with a basic description of Web 2.0 called Web Design From Scratch. It has tons of great resources about what exactly Web 2.0 is and examples of interesting Web 2.0 Sites such as 9 rules (evolotion of their design), mozilla, and iomega, among others. I think also they could have added technorati since that’s one bloggers are most familiar with but you’ll get the idea. There are also links to other example sites at the bottom of that page of which I found Web Creme to give a lot of good 2.0 Designs.

There are tons of great site designs out there and a few decent explanations of designs as well. I am working hard to come up with a great design and will be sharing my search, design, testing, and publishing experience with Web 2.0 as I go along. The links above should get you started and on your way.