March Ebay Category Changes Forthcoming

That's right, more category changes for eBay. The announcement of the category changes for the month of March can be found here. Hopefully you are not building by category anymore, but by search terms only. You will drive yourself crazy trying to update the category database in BANS, that is for sure. Build by the category 2 method instead and hopefully no category at all if using PHPBay. They claim these changes will be live in late March. We all know that those words mean nothing, you need to act as if they happened yesterday.

Knowing Where I Left Off

My office is cluttered. I have to clean it every week, especially my desk. I do not keep it organized throughout the week at all. On the flip side, I have the great ability to keep my online work organized. Every site I have has notes attached to them. Some as crude as notepad files, others as complicated as excel files. Any time I do any work on any site, I update those files so I know exactly where I left off. I especially find it most useful to track my backlink building. I know the articles I have submitted and to what article directory sites, what anchor text was used and so on. I like to build backlinks slowly and methodical and as natural looking as possible. It helps in my opinion secure a firmer hold in the search engines as well as not sticking out like a sore thumb. To do this, I backlink build in spurts. It is much easier to work on a different site every week by knowing exactly where I have been and where I left off, the moment I open those files. Regardless of the system you use, you should journal every thing you do for every site you work on. Not only is it helpful to pick right up where you last left off, it can be used as a blue print to follow in the future on sites you have had success with. Now if you would excuse me, it is time to clean this mess of an office.

.COM/.NET Prices To Increase July 1st

Effective July 1st of this year most diomain name registrars, such as GoDaddy will be raising their prices on .com and .net domain name registration due to VeriSign raising their prices. VeriSign is the registry for .COM and .NET, and have notified registrars of the increase in prices. .COM domains will go up 7%, while .NET domains by 10%. If you have a domain name that renews after July 1st, you may want to consider renewing it early to take advantage of the old pricing. If you own as many domains as I do, this can save quite a bit of money. Mark your calenders now to remind you about this very important date. Consider this your heads up.

Confusion With Twitter & EPN

I had a very confused BANS user contact me in regards to using Twitter as a means of promoting their niche and BANS site. They were under the impression that using Twitter will get you canned from EPN (ebay Partner Network). Let me clarify a few things as told to me by my EPN account manager a while ago. You can use Twitter to promote links to YOUR sites, you can not use Twitter to post links to products on eBay that include your affiliate code. Yes, yes, I know. You see tons of people on Twitter promoting links that include their affiliate code and go straight to ebay. I see them as well. All I can say is the end is near for them. Many likely are already terminated as most are automated feeds set to post into the users Twitter account. Twitter is full of those. The same goes with any site you do not own like Blogger or a free Wordpress.com hosted blog. If the domain name is not registered to you, you can't post Ebay products on it. The exception right now is Squidoo and Hubpages at last check, but you must already have an approved EPN account to use these. You should read up on both of these sites rules and regulations first before using though.

Special 45% Offer On The Best Spinner Ends Friday February 26TH

I finally received confirmation that the current 45% off discount on the Best Spinner will come to an end on Friday, February 26TH. I have received no word on any future promotions and suspect it could be quite a while before you see any similar type deal. Judging by all the additions made to it since even I purchased it, I can see why he needs to get more than $47. Today alone, I spun 5 articles in about 75 minutes time. I then produced 10 spins of each article and have slowly started this weeks article submission process for 5 different sites of mine. I also produced a [spin] format file for each as well to get submitted to Free Traffic System for this week. I have been doing this every week since I purchased. It has tripled some of my production of article marketing. I do not know what time on Friday the offer ends, so you are on your own as far as that goes.

ETA: Remember that you have a full 30 days to try out The Best Spinner and see if it does all that it promises to do.

Are You Being Framed? Try The Frame Buster Wordpress Plugin

We all have either seen it, done it or had it happen to one of our own sites. A whole site or specifically a page that is served in someone else's frame. Depending on what the content is or isn't, many do not mind this as long as eyeballs are on it. In my mind, I hate to see anyone monetize any part of my site regardless. Some of the latest URL shorteners do this as well. In fact you will probably see more sites do this as the norm as an attempt to keep trying to convert a surfer after they click a link linking elsewhere. I have started to see this more and more as of late.

If you are running Wordpress, you can use the free plugin named Frame Buster. It is light and does the job. I have used this on two of my own very high traffic sites for a month now with no repercussions or problems. These two sites have notoriously been targets of framed content. Not anymore though. If you have a non Wordpress site such as BANS, you can just use a free javascript frame buster type script if you so choose. Framekiller is one of many. Just use Google to search out a free fram killer or buster.

Understanding Keyword Research The Downfall Of Many

A reader asked me on the BANS forum, where do most new people in the niche site building process go wrong. He also sent a link to his new site that he finished as well to look at and give opinions on. The site was better than most, it had good unique content, looked pleasing to the eye and was moderately optimized. The niche was not broad and on the surface looked like it could do well without me diving deeper into it. What the site was way off base on, was it's keyword focus. Not only for the home page, but interior pages as well. I did some quick research with Micro Niche Finder and immediately found some better alternatives for the home page as well as product pages within. Quite a few with strong monthly numbers with very low competition as far as ranking will go. The site will need a handful of backlinks and a little refresher of on site SEO, but now has a chance. Many BANS users have even bought the BANS guide, but fly right past the keyword research stage. It is quite obvious looking at the sites.

Most people do not know how to properly research keywords, what to look for or even where to start. They build sites just based on a niche and go from there. They usually attack high competition, highly used keywords and while they have great content, people never see their sites. Assuming you know how to use whatever platform you are building with, be it Wordpress or BANS, the next step is to learn how to research keywords. Pick a tool to master and master it. If you are new and need videos to spell things out bit by bit, use Market Samurai. If you would rather read up on the process and implement, Micro Niche Finder may be more up your alley. Both get you to the same place. Market Samurai may have a few more bells and whistles, but you can get by just fine with MNF. I own both and most of the time use MNF, but often double check some things in MS. It depends on the mood sometimes. Just pick one and learn the process from the tutorials before you build your next site. It is like finally bringing an AK-47 to a gun fight instead of a plastic butter knife.

Light SEO Wordpress Plugin

If you have been faced with All In One SEO Pro Pack upgrades and are wanting just a plain version of the old All In One SEO Pack (AIOSEOP) plugin minus the advertisements and do not need support and such, I came across the Light SEO Wordpress plugin by Alden Torres. It is free and easy for beginners to use and set it up. It is almost like the original All In One SEO Pack plugin and very light weight as well. Give it a try on your next site. The new Pro version of the All in One SEO Pack is very over rated and not worth the $39. If you haven't upgraded to the Pro version from the free version, don't do it.

Best Spinner 45% Off For Limited Time Only

The Best Spinner is back on sale for a limited time and is currently 45% off for ONLY $47.00 a year. This spinner is a steal at full price so you should not miss this opportunity to get it at an even better price now. The software continues to be updated almost ever other day as Jon Leger continues to add more features to it. The latest being the ability to submit right into his article directory upon completion. There are rumored to be other cool features to be added as well. I am not at liberty to disclose those as they have not been set in stone. Trust me though. I have hated spinners in the past, but if you do as much article marketing as I do, this tool is a gift from heaven. I have not been told how long this latest discount will last, so hurry with your decision.

Market Samurai Introduction To Monetization

Not enough can be said about the Dojo training videos offered up my Market Samurai. They truly are high quality and and show off the true greatness of the program as well. I use both Micro Niche Finder and Market Samurai every day. Both continue to grow and advance in what you can do with them. The latest Market Samurai video series is on monetization. You can watch the introduction below and when done go watch the other 8 in the series under the Dojo tab. I highly endorse the software should you be in the market to buy it.

FireLinkReport Firebug Extension

I came across FireLinkReport 0.1 Firebug extension addon today and it is quite a useful tool to use to view information about links on a current page you are browsing. If you are not using the Firebug addon yet, you are way behind the times as well. Firebug is a must for web page elements. Getting back to FireLinkReport, Ann Smarty has a great run down at Search Engine Journal on using the extension to research on page links. It can give you a quick snap shot of ever link on the page for better understanding link structure of a well ranking site or who that site is out bound linking to. This is a great tool to quickly help examining your competition.

Article Directory List

A reader wanted to know which article directories I submit to. I use quite a variety of these type directories and never like to lock myself in a pattern for every site. I will use EzineArticles and GoArticles on nearly ever submission, but tend to mix it up after that. If you are looking for a list to pull from, I believe I have posted this Article Directory List before. You can sort the directories by 4 different ways, but I am linking to it by PR sort. Article marketing is very effective, but like anything else should be only a part of your backlinking plan. Also you should not overdue it either. Submit to 10 or so at a time and then wait a week. Imagine if Google noticed you getting 100 article backlinks in 3 days from sites foot printed like an article directory. It is liable to set off a red flag. Think natural as often as possible. Keep an excel file with where, when and what you submitted. It is much easier to keep track of.

Do You Really Know What You Are Buying?

Time and time again I see people who buy a site off of Flippa or a web forum thinking they are getting a great deal. What I see most is people falling for a "great looking" site instead of buying a site that is PROPERLY keyword focused and is full of great ORIGINAL content. Usually these sites are fluffed up with garbage traffic stats and most are barely earning any income. I never buy sites this way. Why? I can build my own that I know are done right. Another thing you have to ask yourself is, if it is such a great site, why is it being sold? I know when I build my own sites, a ton of time, effort and research goes into the site. There is usually a great deal of time and or money put into unique content as well. Also my initial backlink campaign is underway shortly after launch as well.

People make a living turning out these sites and selling them off to unsuspecting newbies. Why? Because they can not build sites that earn good money for themselves. They have great design skills and it ends there. They offer moderate SEO and rely on selling these sites with poorly spun or duplicate content to someone who does not know what they are buying.

I am not saying there are not some good sites out there for sale, but I would expect to pay a pretty penny for them though. Ask the seller what the keyword targets for the site is before buying. Research those keywords yourself and see if they indeed are valuable keywords. Research the age of the domain and the history of it as well. Read the content and search for duplicates or poorly spun junk. Treat it like you would if you were buying a home or a car. Know what you are buying. Odds are you can build a better site yourself for half the cost than you can buy a site from someone who builds it in a day and is just a great graphics designer.

Neil Patel tells It Like It Is

The great Neil Patel posted yesterday about the 7 Harsh Realities of SEO. There is no way in the world I could ever of said it better. Patel really hits it on the head here albeit with nothing really earth shattering. I think you will see that most everything I try to convey in my own blog, runs parallel with what Patel says. People do not want to hear truths like these, but facts are facts. Everyone is constantly looking for shortcuts without following the realities of this business. I think Patel puts TOO much emphasis on exact match domain names, but common sense should tell you that if you can grab an exact match, grab it. It should not be the deciding factor on whether you tackle a niche or not though. If I had to rank the 7 harsh realities he posted, I would put exact domain name match last. Nonetheless, the post should be bookmarked and referred to on occasion as a refresher.

Free Favicon Generator

Where did the time go today? I have been working pretty much non stop on things since around 8 this morning. I turn around and 12 hours is almost gone. Today I wanted to point out a free favicon generator I came across a long while ago. I had a reader email me yesterday about how to create one and I pointed him to this site. A favicon is short for "favorites icon" and in a nutshell is an icon associated with a particular website or webpage that is displayed in the browser address bar next to a site's URL. It also shows up in the bookmarks of readers that bookmark your site. All you need is a perfectly square image to start with and the generator will take it down to a 16x16 pixel size and give it the .ico extension. The generator tells you how to add your favicon to your webpage as well. Bookmark this site for sure.

Free Text To Movie Site

I came across a great online site that allows you to create animation movies by just dropping in text and animation. The site is called Xtranormal and if you use your imagination, you can create some great commercials or mini movies. You can upload them to Youtube or Vimeo as well. You never know what type traffic it may deliver and perhaps you just want to add some video to your site. The site offers a members forum as well. Pretty nifty site to play with when you get the time. Let your imagination run wild.

Saturday Around The Web February 13th

It has been a while since I did my Saturday around the web type post, but I am back on it today. Here are a few items that caught my eye towards the end of the week around the web.

FreeNuts.com has a break down of the top 10 Websites to convert text to speech online for free. This is great for doing short videos up on Youtube.

Chris Crum goes over reasons to have a Facebook page and ways to make it better. These are some great tips to start you off in the right direction.

Michael Gray wonders if Wordpress is good or bad for SEO. There is also some great reading by following the links off of his post as well.

Is Link Building Worth Your Time? Chelsea Blacker examines buying links on Search Engine Journal.

Search Engine Watch gives 9 Google updates including a Google Buzz update. Some great links off of here as well.

Micro Niche Finder MOB Measure Of Backlinks Video

A reader of mine wanted me describe the MOB (measure of backlinks feature) of Micro Niche Finder to her as she had problems understanding that newer feature in MNF. Instead of having to type it out, I was able to point her to a video that MNF put out on MOB. That kind of sounds like a governmental code language. The feature is indeed great, but do not put too much stock into it. Make sure to look at the top 10 results it gives you instead of just the number. Looking at that number can sometimes be deceiving. It is just one of many factors you should use when targeting keyword phrases. Video is below on MOB

Bing Updates Webmaster FAQs

Bing certainly is carving out a little bit bigger hole into the share of search engine traffic. They are a ways away from over taking Google, but it seems their following is gaining steam. I have found myself Binging it a few more times as of late as well. I was really amazed that Google also showed up on Super Bowl Sunday with a commercial. Seems they may be feeling a little heat as well. Competition makes everyone better in my opinion.

Bing announced they have revised their Webmaster frequently asked questions into a 28 page PDF document. The document can be downloaded and read right here. It consist of 82 detailed questions and answers and is segmented into 12 separate categories.

Critical Update For PhpBay Pro

Unless you missed it, Wade has an update ready for PHPBay to accommodate the new link structure for Ebay EPN affiliate links. Wade does a fantastic job support wise on ALL of his Wordpress plugins and if you have not yet purchased PHPBay or PHPZon, you really ought to consider it. They really are fantastic plugins that will make your money back in no time.

Below is the email Wade sent out.

Yesterday morning, EPN made a sudden announcement regarding a new link structure for Ebay affiliate links. As you can see, the information was vague at best and lacking in any details.

A group of phpBay Pro forum members and myself spent the day researching, and early this morning, came up with a fix to the new linking structure for phpBay Pro users.

The good news is, only the auction.php file is affected, so you will only need to replace this file on your sites (if using any 3.x version).

There are two ways you can obtain the new auction.php file:

1) Login to your store account and download the latest .zip file(s) for phpBay Pro for Wordpress and/or phpBay Pro API. This email is being sent from the phpBay Pro store to all phpBay Pro customers.

2) Login to the support forums using your forum account and visit the Critical Update thread.

This update, the auction.php, affects both the Wordpress and API versions of phpBay Pro. You will need to update your sites with this new auction.php in order for your affilite links/clicks to track properly with EPN.

This update nor the EPN changes affects phpBay Lite or versions of phpBay Pro prior to 3.x. If you are using those versions, there are no changes needed.

I do apologize for the inconvenience. This was a sudden and unexpected announcement from EPN with virtually no information, that threw us all into overtime mode to come up with a quick fix.

Kind regards,

Wade

New Ebay Category Changes Are Now Live

If you are running ANY platform that uses eBay Partner Network, you need to check all of your sites this morning. eBay has made live several new category changes and yopu were likely affected by these numerous changes. Here is a page that list the category changes. Also, Sonjay from the BANS forum has a tool up to let you know what is in what category as well. These category changes have affected BANS as well as PHPBay, so do regardless of whatever platform or plugin you are using to show listings, you should probably sift through ever page on every site to be on the safe side.

Rotating Ads Wordpress Plugin

I received an email from a reader asking what is the best Wordpress plugin to use if you are wanting to rotate ads. I am not sure if it is the best, but I will tell you the one I use and like the best. The plugin is named WPAds and it is free to download and use. With WPAds, you only need to define the position of the ads and what ads you want to rotate in each position. The plugin will show your ads randomly. You can use it to show contextual ads like Google AdSense, Yahoo Publishers Network and Chitika and also regular image banners and text links should you so choose.

Learning From The Super Bowl Ads

Today is the biggest day in sports in the United States. Super Bowl 44 is upon us. One of the best things about Super Bowl Sunday is the commercials. people will go to the bathroom during game action in order not to miss the ads. I admit, I look forward to the commercial myself. I love to get new ideas for my own promotion. I like to watch how companies try to get their message across and try to embed their brand in the minds of viewers. There will be no shortage of places to re-watch the ads following the game as well. Youtube is the place to start. In fact, several companies are already releasing their teasers on Youtube. So take a break and enjoy the big game today, but in the back of your mind see if you can learn something from these million dollar ads that you can apply in the same or smaller scale to your own site promotion.

Below is a cute Etrade baby commercial outtake video:

Best Spinner Now $7 For 7 Day Trial, Then $77 A Year

I can tell you that several people took advantage of the early bird deal that Best Spinner had. That deal ended early this morning, but you can still try the Best Spinner for 7 days for only 7 bucks. After that trial period, you will be charged $77 dollars should you decide you want to keep it. After you use it, I do not know why you would not want to keep it.

Is $84.00 still a bargain? It depends on if you use it. Should you only spin 1 article a month, that would cost you $7.00 an article. You will pay that to have an article written by a service. To me that is breaking even only spinning 1 a month. Should you decide to use it as a tool on a weekly basis, you can get creative and set up an outside "Link Wheel" along with submitting totally unique copies to the different article sites.

Most people will buy this tool and spin only a couple of articles and let laziness take over. Others will buy it and use it and get creative with it. You have to decide which group you are in. The tool is easy to use, but you have to use it. It will not serve it's purpose if not used.

10 Things You Probably Did Not Know About Me

I thought we would have some fun on a Friday. I put together a list of 10 things that most people, including my friends and family, do not know about me. Can you relate to any of these things?

1. I can usually identify most cups of coffee by brand after just one cup. Friends and family call me the Rainman of coffee.
2. I would not and did not eat caramel until the age of 40. I thought I hated it! Now I can not live without it. I will put hot caramel on ANYTHING I can.
3. I was once named the top Dominos Pizza manager in the United States based on several ranking criteria. This was back in the late 80's.
4. I am a recluse obsessive compulsive person and I absolutely love it. On a normal week I might spend 6 hours a week outside of my own house. I am not a person that has to touch a door knob 20 times, but some of my obsessive compulsive rituals are quite unique. I absolutely love it. I attribute it to most of my success.
5. I forced future Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith to fumble twice in one game while we both were in high school and played against each other.
6. I am that guy that orders bacon cheeseburgers plain. Just meat, cheese, bacon and bread. Cooked medium rare as well.
7. I hated mowing the lawn as a kid, but now it is the highlight of my week during Spring and Summer. I love it so much, that it is one thing I must do on my birthday every April if it is not raining. I consider it a present to myself.
8. I consider Excel to be the greatest computer program of all time. I love numbers and stats and what you can do with them.
9. I left home at the age of 17 with only my car and my clothes. Lived on my own ever since.
10. I have every piece of recording that Andy Gibb ever made. He was the younger brother of the Brothers Gibb, better known as the Bee Gees.

The Warrior Forum Is No Place For A Newbie

Let me start off by saying, I love the Warrior forum. I dedicate an hour a week to surfing around and reading there. There are really some great tips, ideas, ebooks, tools and products that are hocked there as well. All of that said, it is no place for someone new to this business to be. The problem lies in the fact that a newbie does not know what the good stuff is and what the bad stuff is. They are the ones that fall for the guaranteed number 1 in Google products and the submit your site to 2000 search engine type post. There are more things that are sold there that are a waste of money, than good stuff. If you are newbie and insist on surfing there, do it with the intention of just reading first. Read everything. Read the whole thread, not just the sales pitch. Get to know who the most reputable posters are there. Yes, I am a regular there, but you will not recognize my name. I am easy to spot after you have read there on a daily basis. If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is. Remember that in this business there are only methods and plans. Anything that sounds like a shady cheat or practice, is one. The search engines might not catch you now, but they will. The good stuff on the Warrior forum usually, but not all the time, rises to the top. All of that said, a newbie should learn the basics first and learn how to make $5.00 a month with any site before jumping head first into the Warrior forum. It is the deep end of the pool with Playboy bunnies and drug dealers. There are no lifeguards there as well and you can drown very easily and noone would ever know it.

Get Best Spinner 45% Off Until February 5th

The Best Spinner software that I mentioned back in January is now out of Beta mode and now requires a yearly subscription. If you got a chance to try it free, you know how good of job it does in spinning articles. If you did not get a chance to try it free, I can attest that it does live up to it's name as the best spinner. I spun 10 articles for article directories and everyone passed a Copyscape test and a review from Ezine Articles as well. Like anything else though when it comes to spinning, you need to try to spin as thorough as possible and keep the article as natural sounding as possible. It is good for both the surfer and the search engines. From now until February 5th, the introductory pricing is only $47 a year (45% off the normal price). After that date the price will jump to the normal $84 a year. I will continue to use it for my article directory submissions as the time saved and quality output justifies the yearly price. Watch the video below on how it works.

Using The Ask.com Q&A Feature For Ideas

I have been playing around with Ask.com the last few days to see what is new with it. I have not actively surfed the site for a long while. I do like the new Q&A feature though to spark some ideas of article topics and related questions surfers ask in regards to a niche. I used it more for an idea launcher more than anything, but did unearth a great keyword phrase and niche today, by just playing around on the site. I plan on building a site around the niche using the Commission Ritual method and am very confident it will do reasonable well in no time flat. By reasonably well I mean at least $100.00 a month site according to my projections and research. Play around with Ask and see if you get some ideas from it's newer features. Pretty cool.

A Newbie Needs To Learn Method First

It is so confusing to those new to this business, especially those with no web experience to start with. Newbies are bombarded with marketing of things they do and do not need right out of the chute. They are easily influenced by one little success story and will chase it as if it were a magic bean. Tools are great, plugins are great, but in the hands of the newbie that does not understand the process, they are worthless.

When a newbie can actually see the results of a process they learn actually make them money, then and only then can they begin to get serious at expanding outwards from their. Many try the "mud on the wall" approach and while a few make a few bucks, they can never reproduce the process.

I see many, many IP's come and go through this site and the BANS forum. Very few ever earn more than $100.00 in their affiliate marketing careers. The failure rate is incredible, just like any business. The 2 best places for a newbie to start in my opinion is first reading and learning the Commission Ritual process and earning money that way. Then graduate to the Niche Site Guide to learn how to implement products listings into a site.

The best thing about the Commission Ritual process is that it also addresses using, installing and setting up Wordpress. This is something every newbie struggles with. Try it for $4.95 for 7 days. You will see that this is a must for a newbie and will get you earning money to start recuperating your start up cost. Once you learn the method, you have the hard part behind you. Don't buy another tool until you learn the method of making money the right way in this business.