Mark McGimpsey › Comments

wpthemes360.com, - TrafficBug

This is where I did my research. http://wordpress.org/extend... and http://www.wpthemesfree.com/. There are so many of them, it is a good idea before you start, to lay out requirements for what you want first (2 columns v. 3 columns, business or casual tone, color groupings). Shopping for themes is fun. The best of hunting! - Frank Dobner

I found some really nice themes with extra features on http://wprocks.com/. I used one on my art site http://endofday.beyondart.info/ - Susan

hostgator have loads of great themes, can't remember if you have to have an account or not - JayP from twhirl

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008... is one of the best lists I know. - Jonathan

Thanks to all that have replied - smashingmagazine is pretty cool with its search function. Does anyone have a theme that you can adjust the header? A lot of them wont let you, unless there is a way to customise that I haven't found yet... :) - san

Another suggestion is http://www.themehybrid.com - Greg Guitarbuster

I second themehybrid as being one of the best available - it's one membership I am happy I paid - although you don't have to pay to use the themes - they are gpl - Ginger G

@JayP: *Hostgator* have free themes? I've looked at their site & can't find any themes - am I missing something? http://www.hostgator.com/sitemap... - Isha (Marysia)

Hi Marysia, Hostgator home page, then click on learn more ... in Hosting box top left, then Free Website Templates on right, fourth box. Cheers - JayP from twhirl

Created with an iphone App called iAmbigram. - Mark McGimpsey

I have visions of thousands on people getting strange looks from people in the room as they stand up and try to look at this upside down..lol - Mark McGimpsey

A bit Illuminati - Steve Fallon

Tried and still cant make anything out of it - TrafficBug

I think it say's thirty day challenge? - Beage from twhirl

That's cool :) - Art Y.

Thanks! But actually it was Groobers who thought of it :) - Art Y.

Then a well done to Groobers too. ;-) - Mark McGimpsey

Wondering when I should finalize it... Hmm... - Art Y.

I'd let Ed do that when Molly recovers. Meanwhile anyone else can add their name. - Mark McGimpsey

Could U add my name 2, I am taking the 30dc 2008 challenge now - Beage from twhirl

JP - JayP from twhirl

Ok. Sounds good. :) Sure Beage. No problem... - Art Y.

Thankx - Beage from twhirl

Thanks for adding my name Art, I think your Get Well Card is Simply Perfect. - Groobers

Whos Molly? - TrafficBug

Ah, TrafficBug....You're not following Ed Dale on Twitter - (you've given yourself away). ;-) - Mark McGimpsey

Neither am I -- but I follow him here. Molly is Ed's daughter, who recently had toe surgery. She's a cutie, and should love the card! - LJF Wolffe

Well have been too busy with twitter I really didnt see about the Molly - TrafficBug

Your bid is too low for your keywords - are you getting an indication saying "some of your ads are not showing - here's why". It doesnt take more than 8 hours for approval so that is not the case. If you are bidding on very competitive keywords with low bids this phenomenon may happen - TrafficBug

the diagnostic tool says that it's not showing because "You have reached and exceeded your budget", but I haven't spent nothing so far! And I set my daily budget correctly with a fair amount - Willian Zolnowski

Hmm need to look into your account to see what the problem is - you can try contacting the Adwords support but they are notorious for not responding at all - TrafficBug

Again this depends on your own country and it's laws. Some countries accept only confirmed opt ins as proper lists. Besides a double opt in is a better prospect. - Mark McGimpsey

I've always used double opt in, currently using Aweber - Greg

I use double opt-in so I have a no-spam policy with the autoresponder vendor and clients. Keeps you Can-Spam Act compliant and above board. If in America see http://www.ftc.gov/bcp.... - Wendy Merritt from twhirl

I know that Trey Smith recommends immediate opt-in because he says that it gives prospects less of an opportunity to get excluded (by not responding to subsequent optin e-mail confirmation messages) from the resulting a weber subscriber list. - Frank Dobner

Seriously, free is bad. I've only heard horror stories. - Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct

^O^ Really? Mind sharing some of the stories Ed? Just so I know what to expect... I only want to use a free one temporarily, until I can earn enough to get a paid one... Getresponse has a free account too, but it comes with ads in the mail... - Art Y.

Don't bother - all you will do is get hazzle by trying to go free and probably lose your Isp. There are recorded 'Do not eMail' lists out there - sent to someone on one and you have problems. - Mark McGimpsey

Hi Art micronet here. One "big" issue with a free autoresponder is deliverability. The services like Aweber,Getresponse and only a couple others work hard at making sure your emails get delivered because of spam filters. Also you want to make sure you are using a sequential autoresponder which mean you can send out a series of messages not just one - Colossal Marketing™

Stick with Aweber - TrafficBug

I thought aweber/getresponse had ad-supported free versions? Did they cut that out? - Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah

Oic...Then I guess I'll just wait and save money until I can purchase a paid one then... Thanks everyone. Does anyone have any opinion about whether GetResponse or AWeber is better? Or should I say, has anyone used both of them before? - Art Y.

They are both equally good, however there are more IM video courses on using Aweber. - Mark McGimpsey

Oic. Ok. Thanks Mark - Art Y.

Thanks Art for asking this, and thanks Pam, Ed, Mark, Ron, & TrafficBug, for your voices of experience - they are gold for many of us. - Isha (Marysia)

Hmm... Come to think of it, even though I don't really have a list... But I sort of do... Can I consider all the people following me on Twitter as my list? When I send out a tweet, they read it. And if I put a link in to a blog post, they read it too... - Art Y.

There's not a lot of difference between having Twitter followers and having a list... Well, there is but I feel like it's a sort of list too. It might probably be even more effective than an email list. Maybe... Most of the time I don't even read the emails I get while on a list.. On Twitter at least I do because it's straight to the point in 140 characters... - Art Y.

Instead of having a service which says, sign up to receive news and put your email here... It might be the same just to put a bird picture there and say Follow me on Twitter. But of course, not everyone uses Twitter... But... you know what I mean - Art Y.

That could work, but you need to be very careful in what you post because people not into marketing will drop you like a bad habit if you look like you're selling or marketing anything. - Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah

Alright! I don't need a list! I'll use Twitter :D - Art Y.

Good free autoresponders do not exist. Go Aweber or GetResponse. Free options will only screw you up right when you begin to get busy....You then realize you must go to Aweber or Getresponse after all, in which case you will lose your subscribers (most of them anyway). - Gary- GanderCo

Gerry, you have to highlight the bits you want to change and use the choice tools to provide the possible phrase alternatives. If you want it to suggest those automatically, I think you have to upgrade. Better manually I think so you compose the phrases. Then when you run it it chooses randomly from all the choices to make up the different spun articles. - Mark McGimpsey

Mark - makes sense. Will give it another crack as suggested. Thanks. Instructions on quick run through were not so clear. - gerry

Mark, do you know why they are asking for your Clickbank user ID before you can download? Joshua.alain21 - Joshua

Yep, that is in case you upgrade to the GOLD level - but I wouldn't consider the gold level worth it unless you are going to be creating a large number of spun articles. The free level gives you 25 at a time but only allows you to download several of these each day. (No restriction on the amount or download for Gold members). If you are only looking to create a half dozen spins for uploading to the sites mentioned in the 30DC, then you don't need the upgrade. I actually use Content Composer which I think - Mark McGimpsey

is slightly better. However as a freebie this is pretty good (CC is $297). - Mark McGimpsey

Try https://www.articleproductions.com/registe... - I am not affiliated with them - TrafficBug

Excellent. Thank you. alain21 - Joshua

Somehow the link given does not work for me. It didnt work yesterday either. - TrafficBug

Only until the record of new ownership propagates across the Internet. This can take up to 48 hours for everything to settle. How new is the domain? - Mark McGimpsey

I know its more work but I always register my domain at a different place than my hosting provider. This way if you need to move to anothet host they do not control your domain. - Haim Schlesinger from BuddyFeed

Mark - about 5 weeks old. Even more intersting was doing a reverse IP. It says Hostgator owns about 70000 domains (don't remember the exact figure as I did that a week ago). Will have to check out a few things on Hostgator and see what their FAQs say. - gerry

I buy my domains through NameCheap That way I own them. If I want to change hosting then I have full control of where the domain points. I have bought through a host & got in a real bind when I wanted to move. They must release the domain but, it may be in their own sweet time. - Sheryl Loch

Peter, that's a great article - bookmark it. Also, be aware of other peeps' copyrights. - Isha (Marysia)

I wouldn't invest too much time at the legal stuff at the beginning. If you don't have revenue flowing in, then I would say it's not that important. I would focus on generating revenue first, and after thant, setup a corporation and hire an accountant. A couple of years ago, I had a Yahoo Store where I sold dog supplies. I setup a corporation and did all the tax, accounting and legal... more... - Hector Sanchez

Wow! Do we really need an accountant? - Art Y.

he he, good job I am an accountant anyway! - Catherine

No, you don't necessarily need an accountant. All your records are on the net or in your emails, so should be pretty simple to prove your income and internet/computer expenditures. Hector, I'd agree. I've been self-employed since forever, have never been a corp and always done my accounts myself - keep it simple I say until you see Complicated on the horizon. I hired an accountant one... more... - Isha (Marysia)

Stay clean, abide by the rules (eg privacy statements where required, Terms & Conditions of various affiliates & online services, acknowledge other peeps' copyrights, don't spam esp if that's against your country's laws, and abide by any other laws such as Data Protection Act in the UK), and as soon as you start having money come in contact your tax office to find out what they need from you and when. It's all reasonably important but they were all probably things you were going to do anyway. - Isha (Marysia)

Depends who is asking. If you are a newbie I would say " sounds like a question that should be asked ONCE you have built a business" until then it is a ready made excuse to waste time procrastinating thinking about it - Allison

Great article Mark. That is exactly what I was looking for. I am a lawyer and I want to find out about the legal issues that confront internet marketers. Thanks for your help. - Peter Johnson

http://ezinearticles.com/... Here it is! - Art Y.

Oic... Umm...does any know which type of revenue we get from online needs to be taxed? Like, are donations subject to tax? If people donate money to our blogs... - Art Y.

I'd say phone your local tax office. That way you can both chat with someone and get them to send you any info & leaflets that they think you'd find useful. Tax laws are going to differ from country to country. - Isha (Marysia)

Ok - Art Y.

Art. If you are in the USA, or are a US citizen, you have to pay income tax on all income earned from any source. Donations are taxable income unless your site is part of a non-profit corporation. - Peter Johnson

I'm not living in the US though... - Art Y.

I am considering it just now. I have watched the video on the sales page, and read the sales letter. It talks about an update, but the update is not dated. - Haim Schlesinger

Anyone else here a member? - Haim Schlesinger

Yep, I am a member and very happy with the investment I have made. There some exciting stuff happening at the Edge. You also get the #30DC+ material when you are a member. $97 is a lot for me. I live in South Africa and it is USD1: ZAR10. I am excited about the opportunities and know that I will make the money back 10times over this year... Well that is the plan. - Lorenzo Rheinicke

Its not a lot of money, just wondering if this is the whole thing. The problem with most products/memberships I saw was that they did not have complete information to actually do what they promise you could do. For instance, I know more than most how to actually build a site (including programming - Haim Schlesinger

... you can check one of the sites I did from start to finish here: http://www.magic-info.org/), but if you started it would take you a lot of time to figure all of these out. - Haim Schlesinger

So, will this membership include everything I need to make money (assuming I am applying what I learn) that can be made - and be profitable, or will I need to go other places (and pay for other products/services) to actually get things done? - Haim Schlesinger

Everything is there, you just need to apply it... but honestly try it out for yourself. I have not made any money yet... because I have not stick to the process. I am looking forward to the new course Dan Raine is about to teach and it looks highly profitable. - Lorenzo Rheinicke

Thanks for the info :) Did you do the 30dc first? - Haim Schlesinger

Actually Haim one of the great things about Immediate Edge is that they are active in going out and partnering with other folk to bring products and services to Edge members for free. Several of the tools I am currently using are free through Immediate Edge but I'd have to pay hundreds of dollars per year to use them otherwise. - Paul Williams

Can anyone provide info on how to redirect the current url to the new url if I switch? - 22Hicks

I quit the paid service offered by WPD because the auto posts were far too ambiguous compared to the content I wanted. But what of those paid up members? Surely if this is true about google, then it is not a resource worth paying for? That's not to mention the work people have put into their blogs in good faith... - san

Plus, the 30DC team will need to update their videos (day 6 in particular) as it explains you can use the free hosting domains. Any new person will be screwed if they view this and opt for the free hosting option. - 22Hicks

There are a few ways to redirect an existing site. If you can, use the cpanel redirect option to send traffic to the new site. If that's not available you can use this code: <html> <head> <title>Moved</title> </head> <body> <h1>Moved</h1> <p>This page has moved to <a href="http://www.example.org/">http://www.example.org/</a>.</p> </body> </html> - Kimbah

How do I access cpanel? Just in case you haven't noticed I'm a novice. Thanks. - 22Hicks

This is more than a slight goof. I have seen people complain that they worked hard and still were not indexed. If this is true then Ed should certainly amend his 30DC recommendations for using this service as it can really hinder someone's progress. I stopped trying to index mine, bought and hosted a domain, because I was always paranoid about it. Don't get me wrong, the services WPD offer save time and it's a good concept, but if their free hosted sites are getting slapped then "free" is of no use. - Peter Gibson

Hi, thanks for this post/comment/discussion. I've jz started the 30dc and am now on "Day 9 - how to create more backlinks". Knowing what i know now, I will definitely be finding a new solution. I already hv a bluehost acct so i might consider buying a domain name. Any other free suggestions? - rachellim

The free domans are banned by Google, this is a fact. Just run a search on Yahoo for ruqqa/topicster and then take any site found and run a Google search. None of the sites are indexed in Google. Again, WPD doesn't seem to believe this is a priority. Might help if someone from the 30DC team pushed them on this. - 22Hicks

@rachellim free alternatives are the old standbys, blogger, wordpress, e.t.c... You can google "SEO for Blogspot" and see what it comes up with (to enhance your on site SEO".) @22Hicks I have pushed WPD on this issue, more than once. In fact I just left a message on the forum yesterday. No response as of yet. :( - Peter Gibson

Ok - a few things here - Im checking the deindexing of the free sites. If that's true we will sure have to amend things. here is the thing - if you go back to the challenge you will here me say time and again the free services was a very genourous and very TEMPORARY option for people with no resources. Hosting your own sites is the way to go, always was, always will. Does this mean I would not recommend WPD - no way!!!!!! - We use WPD all the time and it works brilliantly. Now about auto-posting... - Ed Dale

How many times do I need to say - dont use this feature in the context of the 30DC (or use it as a collator and then use your editorial judgement to select content.) In the context of the 30DC you should be putting up your own content. - Ed Dale

Mine are still ranking with Google - I used brighterplanet not ruqqer or topicster - Kim Baillie

Why go free anyway? Hostgator have been brill for me and the price is negligible. See the 30dc training day 6 - Setup hosting. It's a no-brainer. - Isha (Marysia)

Hmm i have heard some good things abt VodaHost today - TrafficBug

I bought into the hostgator deal and use WPD works fine. - Claudia

Blogger works fine for building a respectable presence in the blogosphere and has none of the restrictions of WP.com. WPD got blocked for creating too many splogs, methinks. People too lazy to create content, sad :) - Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah

Downside of blogger though is that it doesn't rank well and quickly so not good for quick market research tactics of 30DC - Lisa

Probably would rank faster if it was being pumped through the newer social media sites like FriendFeed. Twitter could help as well if you have a decent following. - Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah

just to expand a bit... if you self host and run in to trouble you can brave the forums at .org, but more often you will use the links inside your blog admin area to take you to view template options and plugins that are hosted at .org. Also if self hosted you still need to sign up for a .com account so you can get an "API" number that you will use for your Akismet plugin and webstats plugin. - liz

Thanks for your help Mark and Liz. Now Liz, I have to ask another questions - What is Akismet Plugin? ( I assume Webstats is just what it says.) Thanks. - Janelle Cranston

Trouble is - you miss everything that makes WPD special - and thats all the SEO development that they have built in. Watch out for the internet Marketing this week podcast for when I go head to Head with Lynn on this ;-0 - Ed Dale

I use WPD and I am thrilled with it. - Edward Kimble

Thanks Ed & Edward - I will definitely listen in to the podcast. I do find it easy too, except when I do a New Page I can't seem to get the fonts how I want them and it looks really flat. Why can't they have the same versatility on the new page as they do on the blog page? Also I though it might be a education for me but I'm keen to start a new blog on something closer to my heart so why waste time, hey? - Janelle Cranston

Ed, when will the new IMTW episode be out? - Haim Schlesinger from BuddyFeed

When is the podcast Ed? - Graham Hunt

@Ed Dale, is there a gunfight in the midst? lol!! @Janelle, while I read Lynne's blog and understand where she is coming from, anyone using the 30DC the right way should be considering WPD. I can't see why anyone wouldn't really. So much of the SEO work is already done for you. Plus once you are used to using Wordpress, customizing your WPD is easy and painless. So when is this podcast anyway? I'll even forego the next episode of House to listen in :() - Peter Gibson

WordPress.com is hosted WordPress. WordPress.org is for downloading WP and installing it on your own domain. - TrafficBug

I do have time and would like to learn, should I use something like Dreamweaver? - Si Stock

You should at least learn enough so that when you do outsource, you are knowledgable enough not to be taken advantage of. - Mark McGimpsey

If you've got the time then learning is always the way to go. Dreamweaver is a great start - many others are just simpler (and less powerful) tools. It also mean you can make quick changes to a site without having to go back to a site designer. - Kim Baillie

Thanks to all, been a big help... Anyone know any good books or anything else on the subject that I should have in my library? - Si Stock

do the thirtydaychallenge, learn it all - JayP from twhirl

I honestly cannot say that I know the whole story... All this news might not even be true... And it may be wrong of me to talk about this so openly, but I don't believe in covering important matters... And just a heads up for everyone... As I myself do not like dealings with people who cannot be trusted... - Art Y.

Partnering with Google may be a good product, but I am not able to say as much for the person who made the product... Therefore, if all the news which heretofore as been said is true, I would not buy the product regardless of how good it is... - Art Y.

And I seriously think that IMers should get more background info about someone whom they don't really know that much about before actually promoting his product or recommending his product to his followers... I may be wrong. Feel free to put me in my place... My apologies... - Art Y.

where I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Pepsi aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. The Pepsi is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water. I put the Pepsi on the... more... - Brian Lucas

back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do. At the end of the day: the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter, the flowers don't have enough water, there is still on ly 1 check in my check book, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and... more... - Brian Lucas

see what you have started Ed <grin> - Gordon Martin from twhirl

When you find them Ed consider this product for anything you might 'lose' again : www.keyringer.com - Mark McGimpsey

One of the activators can be a fridge magnet for a central finding point. - Mark McGimpsey

Car keys...car keys...Oh, God! I have a car? :-) - Dave Pancost

LOL - Avant Waves

Cool, thanks for liking it. I am open to all feedback, comments and criticisms. My email is paul@frienddeck.com - Paul Kinlan from Friend Deck

Great work there Paul! Nice layout too. - Mark McGimpsey

Hi Mark, thanks :) - Paul Kinlan

I like it already! - Ange Recchia/angesbiz

Ange, Excellent, thanks :) - Paul Kinlan from Friend Deck

setting it up right now...thx! - Margaret Campbell

Prolly best not to merely copy mine as I now see that it doesn't contain Google Adsense's required statements. - Isha (Marysia)

Guys and Gals, please be very careful with your privacy and terms etc. Google "Are you a duck at the fairground shooting range" for important information on how NOT to into legal trouble. - Mark McGimpsey

Marysia - wherabouts on your site did you put it? - Inspired Writing Research

Oh. Thank you for that. I never read that before... It's so way at the bottom... I'll put a privacy policy right away - Art Y.

Inspired Writing Research, it's the 3rd tab along the top, or go straight to http://www.30dc.bzblgs.com/privacy... but since I've read Mark's ezine article I might be changing it. Also, I notice that both Google Adsense and Google Analytics have suggested privacy statements, so best to go by them and not by the privacy policy on my site. - Isha (Marysia)

Thanks for that suggested Google search Mark. V interesting and useful EzineArticle - Isha (Marysia)

Ok - Art Y.

Err... Is it ok to copy a Privacy Policy from another person's site without permission? Because I found quite a nice one... - Art Y.

No!! They may have had an attorney make it for them exclusively.Take a look at this one that I just put together in about 10 mins.http://demotestsite.info/temp.... If that will work for you Here is where you can create it http://209.204.219.152/free_ut.... If you go with this let me know and I will show you how (free)to customize it easily and fix a "bad" Link hidden in it.Your call. Another really good place for all kinds of documents is DocStoc http://www.docstoc.com/ - Ron"micronet"Harwood

Oh. Ok. Then I better take off the one I'm using then. Thanks! - Art Y.

Ok. I want to go with this one Ron. Can you show me where to fix the bad hidden link? - Art Y.

I got my free template here: http://www.website-law.co.uk/privacy... but if you're using a free template or document generator you could still be breaching copyright so please do read Mark McGimpsey's excellent EZA article warning about it http://ezinearticles.com/... - Isha (Marysia)

Found a site where you can use their Privacy Policy for free as long as you keep the link to their course. If interested: http://www.webmastercourse.com/privacy... - eMarketing Hubs - nat014

Yep. - Mark McGimpsey

We have a winner YAA You got it Frank! - Ron"micronet"Harwood

It depends on the SEOC and the SEOTC taken together i.e is the SEOTC 10% or 70% of the SEOC. The lower % the better. - Mark McGimpsey

I am aware that SEOC of 30k or less is preferable - I was wondering if there is a fixed number or ratio that is preferable in terms of the SEOTC. Does that make more sense? :) Should I just assume that the percentage-based advice above is the best way forward...? - Nik

Hi Nik, i don't know of an exact figure but as long as your SEOC is within the target area you are working towards (ie: 30000) then I would consider starting with the lowest SEOTC first, i hope that makes sense. - Wayne Brewin

Me too Buff Toast - Isha (Marysia)

Looks like it might not work properly in Flock? http://forums.binaryturf.com/viewtop... - Isha (Marysia)

Yep. That's what I discovered too. I wonder how Mark got his pretty colour tabs for Flock2. - Buff Toast

He's Marrcus in the 30dc forum - I've just PMd him. - Isha (Marysia)

Thanks Marysia. - Buff Toast

Unfortunately, you are right. It's not working properly in that respect. It's just the background that you can change (the deep blue) in mine. You can get rid of the edges round the white tabs by changing the preferences to 'Generate colours by Domain Hostname' and going to presets and enabling 'Enable Preset Domain Colours' and changing the colour picker to your background colour, but unless you add all your favourite domains and set the same, you still end up with - Mark McGimpsey

a random coloured edge to your tabs when you type in a domain outside of these choices. I guess we'll have to wait for a new version. - Mark McGimpsey

Thanks for the link anyway - it looks great in Firefox - just gettin used to how to identify which tab I'm on before I close the wrong one by mistake, since they're all coloured (whereas without Colorful Tabs the one you're on is white & the others grey) - Isha (Marysia)