As I was working on my websites and battling CSS, I came across an incredibly valuable Firefox extension. The extension is called “Firebug”. It helps you quickly find out what line of CSS is making something happen on any website. Check out the video below…it explains it all.
Using Firebug for CSS from kristarella on Vimeo.
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Wow…I just noticed Wordpress 2.7 has threaded comments built in. Woohoo! I just upgraded my theme (cutline) to the latest version to handle the threaded comments. Comment away…I’ll reply.
I was browsing the web today and I suddenly had a revelation. I though…”I tried affiliate marketing once before and failed terribly. That must have been because I had no traffic (of course it was). I have a website that’s doing 300,000 page views per month. I should give it another shot.”
So I reactivated my CJ account only to find out that the one affiliate that I really want still won’t work with me. They automatically deny my application every time I apply. Now, I know 300,000 page view isn’t a ton. However, it makes me a major player in the niche that I’m in. A member of their marketing department even has an account on my site (because my site is a great market for them).
What to do?
Good question. I have politely emailed them. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I don’t have too much time to post here today, so I’ll keep it short. I started this blog back in early 2007 to as a way to chronicle my journey to early retirement. My tag line was, “28 years old…less than 12 years to retirement”. Needless to say, it’s two years later and now I’m about 50 years away from retirement. We’ll get into all of that later.
Anyways…I have let this site die several times. This time I forgot to back it up so I am trying to re-create it from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. As soon as I get this place up and running again, I’ll get some new posts going.
Happy 2009!…looking forward to blogging with you.
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Most people think this is nothing, but any forum owner knows what it’s like to log into your new forum and find an active user online. Today was the first day that I actually found a user on my site at the same time as myself (actually there were 2 members plus me). Even better, I don’t know either of these users (they were just random people that found my site and registered). I know, I know…yipee. Well, they both also posted on the site more than one time. Not much, I know…but it’s still a major milestone for the site.
Check out County Music Forums, the newest country music forum on the net.
Just as I was going to remove John Chow from my blogroll, I figured out why I like it. It’s the networking. So many people read that site and order ReviewMe’s, I get more from the ReviewMe’s and comments than I do from his actual content now.
A site called Community Spark ordered a ReviewMe from John Chow. Here is how the site is described:
Community Spark is a community building blog. I aim to keep this blog updated with advice on how to build successful online communities whether they are forums, blogs, chat sites or social networks.
Looks like a great site to me, so as I was going to remove John Chow from my blogroll, instead I’m going to add Community Spark. Hopefully Community Spark will be able to help me out with my forums. I read a couple of posts…great advice.
Google seems to like me right now, most of my sites went up in PageRank. Here is a list of what happened with my sites.
This seems like a great increase to me. If anyone knows anything about the most recent Google dance, I’d love to hear about it. I am starting to link all of my sites together to create a more cohesive portfolio. Beyond that, I didn’t really do anything to that I thought would bring such a broad PR increase accross my sites. Let me know what you think about this.
I’m really a creature of habit. Once I find something I like, I stick with it. That’s why I’m having such a hard time with my “Beer & BBQ” section of this blog. I basically drink one beer and grill my meat with the same marinade every time. I haven’t told you about the marinade, so here we do.
That’s it, grill your steaks while enjoying beer. Be sure to cook the steaks ASAP (As Slow As Possible), this gives you plenty of time out of the house (away from the wife) to drink beer. Enjoy!
$513.88, that’s our gross sales for today. Like I said…killer day! We’ve been averaging $200 per day so far this year, which is not bad. However, $500 is a whole new world.
Are we going to be able to keep this up?
Of course not, at least not right now. This does show that it is possible. We have had larger days, over $1000. Those days were all produced by one big order. The $513.88 was produced by 8 or 9 normal orders. Order volume is going up. That’s a great sign, you can never count on that huge order coming in when you need it. Even if it does come in, it might not be in stock.
Just thought this was a great thing to post about…kind of a milestone.
Let’s face it, everybody hates AOL talk (ie. u r the 1 4 me cuz i luv u). There’s nothing worse than logging on to your forum and noticing a rash of garbage posts by some kid that thinks this talk is cool. While it may be fine for instant messaging, it’s not for a forum. Let’s find out why.
Not Everyone Understands It
There is a learning curve to AOL talk. How many people really know what “bff” means the first time they see it. For all I know they could be talking about their “boyfriends fish” or a “big fat fart”. People don’t have the time to learn this crap. Even if they did, who cares?
Forums Are Permanent Content
I want my forum threads to grow into a great knowledge base for my niche. When people search for answers to questions, I want my forum threads to come up in the results. What I’m trying to say is, “Nobody searches in AOL slang.” For a thread to come up in a search engine, it must be written in a real language (english for me).
Try Translating AOL Talk
Many international guests use forums. Proper english can be translated quite well by services such as Babel Fish. Try translating some AOL slang and see what you come up with. I tried, I came up with a whole new language that nobody could understand. If you don’t want to lose your international clients, don’t speak AOL.
I Have Enough Money to Afford a Full Keyboard & I Can Type
This one takes no explaination. I don’t type on my cell phone, I hardly even use it. I don’t need to take any shortcuts, I’d rather just type what I mean.
Silly Rabbit…AOL Slang is for KIDS!
Kids might rule in todays world of iPods and cell phones, but remember, kids are only kids for a short time. If you want to attract a long lasting crowd, go for adults. Besides, adults are the ones with the money.
My Advice
My advice, set strict rules on your forum about AOL slang (and l33t speak). Make sure you have a team of moderators to enforce the rules. After all, if you can speak AOL, you can speak english.
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