Number 401; A Pattern Of Steadiness
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Apr 16, 2009
This is my 401st post, and as I do after each century post, I’m going to give a recap of the past 100 posts. I’m also doing something with this post that I haven’t done for any other posts in the past 100, that being I’m skipping three days before this post, as my last post was on the 13th, in honor of what would have been my parent’s 52nd wedding anniversary if my dad was still here now.
When compared with number 301 and, oddly enough, number 101, the more things change, the more they stay the same. First, compared to 101, it took me six months to write my first 100 posts; it took me just under 3 months to write my third 100 posts. This time around, it took me four months to write 100 posts, which makes a bit more sense. One hundred posts every four months comes out to 300 posts a year, so if I keep that up I’ll hit 600 posts by my next anniversary; “if”, that is.
Also, most of the categories remain the same, but the order of posts concerning those categories has changed. Three of the top categories from my first 100 are still here, and from my last 100 four are still here, but this time around, I’ve added two new categories, which means that my top five is, for this month, a top six. Here they are:
Internet – 18
Marketing – 15
Research (new) – 7
Affiliates (new) – 6
Writing – 6
I find it interesting that “research” entered the top five/six this time around, because that shows, at least to me, that I’ve had more things that I’ve tested or investigated to share here than I could have had early on, mainly because I hadn’t had the time to evaluate anything. The thing about researched posts is that they take a long time to write. Steve, our friend the Trade Show Guru, compliments me all the time on my output, but researched posts show that I don’t just write everything off the top of my head, that sometimes I put real thought and real time into it all. Just thought I’d point that out. That blogging is at the top of this list is somewhat surprising also, because I’d really thought I had been giving more time to internet marketing topics this past quarter or so, and, though they’re both up there, I’d have thought they would be in the lead; nope.
Next, my most popular articles during this time period. Four of the five were written after #301, which is a good thing for the most part, but one of my articles came beforehand, and I’m kind of surprised it’s still popular because I’d have thought, with more people moving to Vista (or maybe that’s in my own mind”, that this particular post and tip would have dwindled. It’s at number four on this list of visits:
Visa Black Card – 155
My Big RSS Subscriber Contest – 144
Getting Google Desktop To Index Thunderbird – 143
The Keys – 140
Next, comments during this time period. This fourth period showed more growth in comments, as it went from 1,344 for the previous 100 to 1,804 this period; I like that. I still wish it was much higher, but I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. My most commented on articles were:
My Big RSS Subscriber Contest – 60
At Least Be Professional In Your Writing – 55
So, there’s those stats for this past group of articles. Now, on my quest towards 500, I’m going to change up a couple of things, because, well, it can either be an experiment, or it’s something that just needs to happen; let’s hear what your thoughts on it are overall. One, I’m thinking about reducing the output of my articles a bit. I’ve been averaging 5 articles a week, and though I can easily keep that pace up, I’m wondering if the number of articles actually keeps the number of comments down. Maybe the output is so much that it’s hard to keep up with each article. I’m not really sure, but I do know that I visit blogs where there might only be one post a week, possibly two, and I see hundreds of comments on those; you see my highest is 70, and that’s over four months time.
Two, I’m thinking that the longer posts, stories notwithstanding, get less activity, for all the work I put into them, and that’s problematic. My solution is to think about breaking them up into multiple posts while spacing them out. So, if an article goes more than 750 words, I’ll break it up into two separate articles that may come in around 370 to 500 words each, since I’d have to add a few words in rewriting a second article to blend in with the first part of an article. That could mean that, for some of my posts, there might be 3 or 4 parts to it, but maybe that’s what’s needed to make sure everyone has a chance to see everything, and maybe the first part drums up interest in seeing the rest of the story, or, if no one’s interested, then the second part helps me with my SEO part. Of course, this can’t be standard, because some posts will have to go over 750 words for cohesion, but I think it’s time to consider it. I want this blog to grow, and though it’s growing, it’s not growing as I’d like it to. And, as I’ve seen how easy it is to post-date articles (this one is actually being written six days ahead), I could easily go out an entire month’s worth of posts, and if I need something more current I always have the option of adding something anew, even if it’s just a quick little video that I like at the time.
And three, I’m thinking that I might add a weekly post of deals that some of my affiliate marketing companies offer, along with codes and the like. Commission Junction and Google Affiliate Network products always have their advertisers sending me new short run specials, and sometimes you can save upwards of 15% if you’re given the code to add onto your sales page while you’re checking out. I’m not sure how popular that would be for everyone, but hey, one has to find new and unique ways to market themselves and their products, right? This one I haven’t fully decided upon, though; I want to think about it some more.
And, one final thing before we move on. I still want more RSS subscribers, and obviously I’m not afraid to ask for more subscribers either. Just to throw this out there, Technorati has finally, FINALLY, bumped me up, and now I’m sitting around 85,000, which I’m not upset about at all. But I want more readers, more visitors, more commenters, and more people talking about me and writing about me. Folks, I’m looking to not just be popular, I want to be a movement! So, get out there, spread the word, share my name and some of what I write on your blogs or Twitter or Delicious. If you haven’t noticed, one thing I often do here is use someone else’s post to write a post of my own, but I link back to it. It’s a good tactic, and even Sire got into the mix by mentioning John Dilbeck in his post against Google’s new advertising policy. It’s works great.
Anyway, by the time you see this, I’ll probably have already put some of these things into practice. Doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way, of course, but for awhile, unless I have a story to tell, this may be the last article you see from me that is more than 1,000 words at a time. For now, please enjoy what I’ve produced up to this point, including this post, and let’s see what the heck 100 articles brings.
Ten Websites I Find Interesting And Fun
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Apr 3, 2009
I’m learning that folks love lists. I’m the same way, and, for some reason, this post I read on 15 Disturbing Documentaries got me thinking about another top ten list.
Well, top ten doesn’t quite fit it, but I’ve got ten websites here that you probably don’t know about, although I’m sure someone will know at least one or two of them. So, without further ado, let’s get there:
Instructables is a site that has how-to’s of some of the oddest things you probably haven’t ever thought about, ideas and links to free stuff of all sorts, and many other fun things that will waste your day.
How Stuff Works is just what the title says. It’s got a large database of information on, well, how different things actually work.
Exit Mundi is a site that could depress you, enlighten you, or entertain you; it entertains me. It talks about all sorts of categorized doomsday scenarios, stuff that could or could not cause the demise of life as we know it. Unfortunately, some of this stuff is going to happen one day, but a lot of this other stuff is a major league danger that we just can’t do anything about.
Sunsets are one of my favorite things in the world, and this is a site of sunsets. One in particular on this site is from my college town, which was on the shores of Lake Ontario, and is what drew me to this site in the first place.
Quizilla is the site for you if you like taking all sorts of quizzes to either learn how smart you are or about some aspects of your personality that you didn’t know about.
Shoetubs is definitely a site for only women, as it’s all about shoes, shoes of any type. One of the things they have on this site is a weekly video on the latest stylish shoe. In case the guys are wondering why I know about this site, I almost got a contract to optimize it, and it could still happen one day.
Roadside America used to be one of the ugliest sites I’d ever seen. They’ve cleaned it up some, but I still hate the colors. Still, it’s one of the most entertaining sites if you like to travel across America looking for the offbeat, or just reading about things you may never see if you do travel.
Dumb Laws is a site for when we want to feel superior to politicians (which is always for some of us) and see some of the stupidest laws in the country. This one I’m betting a lot of you have at least heard of.
Virtual Plastic is for the inner geek in all of us who have blogs and like computers in some fashion. It’s a site of all sorts of tweaks and downloads for Windows computers.
If you’ve ever been sent something called Frog In A Blender or Gerbil In A Microwave, you got it from Joe Cartoon. Whenever I need a laugh, this is the site I go to, and if I click and watch any movies with gerbils, frogs, or flies (yup, flies), I know I’m going to bust out. Matter of fact, I want to share the link to one of my favorite video cartoons of all time, which stars my friend the gerbil, called The Boss. This isn’t for kids, so if you can get past that, it’s one of the funniest things in the world, and something I’m betting will make a lot of people who’ve been laid off lately wish they could have done.
And there you are; I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Mitch Mitchell
Services And Stuff
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Mar 3, 2009
Probably only one or two of you know this, but I do have another website that I’ve never talked much about here. It’s called Services And Stuff, and it was my attempt to create a different kind of web portal, i.e. web directory.
Let’s face this fact; I don’t like most web directories. It’s a bunch of categories that all look the same, and you’re crowded in with lots of other people without getting to really stand out in any fashion. The format is also the same on all of them, and that just makes them all really boring.
So, I came up with this thought about changing the model a little bit. I would have categories and allow people to list their links for free. They would also get to add a short, one line blurb about their site, and all of the listings would be relatively consistent, so that there weren’t lots of words getting in the way. And, since I wasn’t charging anyone for their link, I would put in my affiliate links instead, and only charge people if they wanted to advertise somewhere on the site.
It actually worked kind of well for awhile, then it stagnated. What you see now is the second redesign, and I’m not quite sure I’ve still fully got it the way I want it. One of the problems with even minor directories is that they fall outside of the realm of what one needs for proper SEO processes, i.e., enough content on each page to do it right. How the site has maintained its PR3 throughout all these years is beyond me, since I also haven’t done the best job of internal linking with it. The page I’m most proud of is my articles page, although I’ve always wished I could get it up to at least 100 articles so I could create categories for them also. And there’s also a blogs page, which could be used instead of a blogroll. The one thing about this site is that I can add people at will if I so chose to, as it’s been established that one can do that unless requested not to, and I added one of Sire’s site to the mix because, well, we’re playing email chess, so I figured I owed him something for all those beatings he’s taking (yeah, like that’s happening all that often).
Still, it’s my site, and it’s out there, and I wanted to introduce it to all of you. When I start writing squeeze pages for affiliate programs, or other items, I’m going to link them off this site, as it’s best suited for it. Yeah, some folks would say to create a new domain name and advertise it that way, but I’m thinking that if I’m buying new domains, I’m either popping another blog on there or I’m creating an entirely new website. Truth be told, many affiliate marketers use one of their websites to promote their products, and it’s not a bad model if the website already has some web prominence, which this site does have, at least.
Anyway, take a look, if you will, and decide if you’d like some link love to the site, or if you’d like to do some advertising on the site, or if you hate the model totally. I still think the idea is sound, but the process might be Wed 1.0 instead of Wed 2.0, and of course we’re moving quickly towards Web 3.0.
Let’s Learn Affiliate Marketing Together
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Jan 19, 2009
Check out my Big RSS Subscriber Contest after reading this article.
As many of you know, our buddy Yan wrote a post early in the new year called 2009 Is The Year Of Internet Marketing. As I read that article, I was thinking how, for me, last year was supposed to be my year of internet marketing, and I can’t say it turned out all that well. Sure, I made some money, probably my best year ever, and yet, when it’s all said and done, I don’t really think I learned much this year to push me to the next level.
And I’m not alone. Let’s face this fact; there’s a lot of us out here who are trying to learn this internet marketing thing better. We buy the books and manuals and CDs and videos, and, well, we probably don’t get to most of it. I know I got to just under half of it, and, oddly enough, the one thing I really worked at, that I read deeply, was Joel Comm’s Adsense Secrets, and my income did drastically increase from it, though not on the blog, but from my other sites.
This proves that sometimes this literature and stuff we decide to invest in does work. And yet, it doesn’t take care of everything, does it? Let’s take a look at this affiliate marketing thing. Last year, when I started this blog, I decided to add some affiliate banners and products to my blog. I put either a link or product at the end of every post; I didn’t make a single sale from any of that in 2008, so obviously it takes more than that. Well, I did more than that a few times; I actually wrote entire posts about some of the items I was advertising because they were things I was using and I liked, and the only one I know about that a few people actually clicked on and signed up for was Tweet My Blog, and yet I never earned a dime from them (maybe I don’t understand how they’re supposed to pay, but I know at least 3 people went ahead and downloaded the product based on my recommendation) through Clickbank; sigh,…
Enough of that. Time to stop whining, and time to start learning. Obviously I don’t know it all, but I’ve learned a bunch of things, and y’all have learned a bunch of things, but we’re still missing it. So, here’s the challenge. Let’s put together our list of questions, things we want to learn as it pertains to this thing called affiliate, or internet, marketing. I have met some big time internet gurus in the last year, and if we can put together a package of questions, I will contact one of them and ask them if they can answer our specific questions. How does that sound?
I’ll start with mine:
1. Is the list really the most important thing to making consistent sales, or any real sales?
2. With Clickbank, do we write our own squeeze page to then send someone to the squeeze page of the product, or is there a way to work around that?
3. What is the best way to sell our own products?
4. Going back to the list, is it really ethical to always gather email addresses when giving out free items, then bombarding people with sales offers?
5. How does one really go about asking for the sale, especially on a blog?
And there you go; my questions. What are yours? Or, if you can answer those above, what are those answers? Let’s all learn and grow together.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Mitch Mitchell
Websites We Can’t Live Without
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Jan 14, 2009
Check out my Big RSS Subscriber Contest after reading this article.
I happened to come across a pretty good article on a blog called TechRadar.com titled 50 websites you’ll wonder how you lived without, and, of course, it lists 50 websites that the writers believe are essential to our lives in some fashion. Whereas I’m not sure I’d want to go out on that kind of limb, I figured that I would highlight a few of the websites mentioned that I like.
Slide Share is one that I actually learned about before I read this article. A friend of mine uses Slide Share to upload every powerpoint she creates, and it helps spread the word about presentations she gives around the country. I’m giving this one a lot of thought as to whether I’m going to join in or not, because, whereas it’s fascinating to see some of the presentations, sometimes you feel a little bit lot when all you see is an image, or a few disjointed words that you’re not really sure what the author is communicating to you. Still, as a business tool, it’s pretty cool.
DaFont is just that, a site with literally thousands of different fonts. I’m kind of a font fanatic when it comes to some of the presentations and newsletters I create, and I love being able to change some things up.
Of course if you saw this post of mine awhile ago, you know I already participate in the affiliate program for Imagekind. It’s way more than just an affiliate program, though. The site has hundreds of thousands of images, and some are images that the photographers allow you to use for your own sites or any other reason without having to worry about copyrights. You just have to pick the right photographs, and you’re all set. But being able to actively look at pictures that you might also want to purchase makes visiting this site worth it.
Since I mentioned DaFont, I have to also mention 1001FreeFonts.com, which also has a plethora of great fonts. Yes, some are duplicated on the other site, but many others are totally original.
eHow is a site that gives you information and answers to many questions covering a wild gamut of areas. I’d also been to this one before reading the article, and have found it a great resource for many things (such as trying to figure out where those blue stains come from in the washer sometimes when we know neither one of us in the house left a pen in our pockets).
Anyway, those are my five favorite sites that they mention, but that means there are 45 more for you to check out, to see if there’s anything there you can use. Enjoy reading!
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Mitch Mitchell
I'm Just Sharing is where I share my thoughts on internet marketing, writing, blogging and many other things. You never know what I'll be posting on. So keep coming back, read, enjoy, and buy something! ;)
