Rita › Comments

OOh, no don't use tinyurl. The point is to get your actual domain name on there - preferably hyperlinked with your keywords. I wasn't aware Ezine Articles had ever allowed linking deeper into websites. - Lisa

Have you read through best practices at EZA? - Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct

Ezine Articles never "played ball" in the first place ;-) It's important to read their terms of service at http://ezinearticles.com/author-..., so you know what you're getting into. They offer a great service, so it's worth it to play by their rules. However, they will allow you to use your own domain in your article, so consider buying a cheap domain, and have it forward to your affiliate link. Subtle difference, but effective. - Carla Lynne Hall

actually we have a grey relationship with Raine articles and tech the correct way to do it in the challenge - Ed Dale

You're right, Lisa. I forgot. - Rita

Yes I know, thanks all. Worked like a dream when I followed 30D method (Eds a gifted teacher!) problems came when I wanted to point to particular pages. Thanks, will try that shorten url idea - also will go back to principle that main reason is to get a link to our site,not make sales from there, although some marketers probably do. Back to work on it ,,,,,,, - Inspired Writing Research

I noticed recently that ezinearticles doesn't have the same power that it used to... - Kelly Johns

yes, there suddenly seem to be a load more directories - Ezine was great in the 30D though - some of my London articles on there are still at the top! (shame they don't pay us for them lol!) - Inspired Writing Research

He is quite charismatic and will probably be considered one of the top speakers... I wonder if history will have him replacing Ronald Reagan as "the great communicator" ... Only time will tell if the peoples choice was a good choice - Mark South

It should really be interesting to see what his presidency turns out to be. I must admit that his team did some brilliant marketing. - Bridgett Raffenberg

If Obama can lead as well as he can speak, we should be fine. Unfortunately for Republicans, Bush leads about as well as he speaks. - chris grassa

I may be British, but isn't Bush a Republican and the US is dealing with conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan? - sanjeev bhadresa

Chris, I think Bush is a better Candid speaker than he is a canned speaker... he had an interview during the Olympics that was fabulous... he was a real person... unfortunately you are correct he is usually horrible when speaking officially or trying to recite speeches written for him.. it is a shame had he been a better communicator, the perception of him would not have been nearly so bad. The difference between a good and bad president is almost always perceptions (except for obvious character flaws) - Mark South

Heh Gary - miss out George W why don't you! ;-) "Every time we got into war..." - Isha (Marysia)

hey Gary at the sake of showing my political views I have to say I'm with ya but you did leave out the obvious when you left out George W. - Russ

How come nobody in the room has mentioned that Obama made zillions of dollars from the internet? It's a wonderful thing for us 30DCers to know this kind of thing. - Russ

I thought his speech was moving, and delivered with the right amount of sincerity and honor. I have to hope there are enough people who will stand up to further increases in governemtn. My own thoughts about what Obama is up against: http://www.davidnatiuk.com/mr-obam... - David

Only God can do what needs to be done. Obama, being human, will be overwhelmed very early, he is already in too deep, and will probably fall flat like his predecessors. http://www.thetrumpet.com/index... Sorry to rain on your parade there people. - Greg Martin

If a speech goes down in history, it's funny. Because what should really go down in history are actions. Would it really change anything if W, for example, was giving really great speeches? Nothing. - Rita

Gary, Bush got us into Iraq. The wealthy & corporations have been getting tax breaks for years, and the economy is tanking. I haven't seen rich ppl creating jobs these past 8 years. Unemployment is sky high. Airline pilots just got their wages cut in half, after agreeing to cuts in wages 3 times already, while each CEO takes home enough in bonuses alone to feed a small 3rd world country. I'm not following your logic. Also, it's not true that Obama wants to raise the federal budget by a trillion dollars. - Liz Tufte

Greg, How is thinking negative useful? What would it hurt to pull together and support our new president? He's got a huge job ahead, with the intention of getting us out of messes he didn't create. He never said he was God, and it's not an option to elect God for president. He's human & doesn't have all the answers, and he knows it. He's asking God for help, & he'll ask us to help do what seems best for future generations. What's with the defeatist attitude? Why rain on the parade? What's wrong with hope? - Liz Tufte

um.... you are all fine to have your discussions and all, but remember we aren't all from the USA and we certainly did not join this room to talk politics :) Maybe another forum elsewhere? - Allison

P.S. to Gary - Also, the war in Afghanistan has already been expanding b/c we ditched 'em and left them with no support while chasing after imaginary WMD in Iraq. They needed us to stay there and help them build infrastructure. Instead, we let the warlords take over & left the people with one option - to continue growing poppies instead of protecting them and teaching them sustainable agriculture practices. - Liz Tufte

Liz, not negative, it's reality. I am sure he will do a great job, at least I hope he does. But he isn't the answer we all hope for, no man is, and to allow all this teary eyed "isn't he wonderful stuff" is really deception. Hope is great if what you hope for is based on reality. Which God is he asking for help from? I heard he had muslim heritage. That's the last thing you guys need. - Greg Martin

Allison, it's a hot topic and people like to talk. I am not from the US either, and they have just got a new CEO that has made history, and remember the main guy in this room is Australian, I have been in this room since July & there has always been off topic posts, and some of them have been great. Lighten the load hey. - Greg Martin

Rita, JFK gave really great speeches that inspired the country to do amazing things and work together to become prosperous. He made mistakes b/c he's human, but his speeches inspired us to take action and make big accomplishments. Kids in school actually did well in math & science b/c Kennedy inspired us to go to the moon. It was an exciting time. It turned out that NASA was f**cked up, but that doesn't take away from the fact that kids were inspired to study & learn. - Liz Tufte

Also, Roosevelt made some kickass speeches that made a huge difference at a time when Americans were asked to make incredible sacrifices. His speeches and actions kept up the morale of an entire nation during a very scary & uncertain time. In contrast, W. has a knack for making speeches to increase fear and divisiveness. Words & thoughts create action. They can't be separated. Words are powerful. - Liz Tufte

Gary, FDR did not cause WWII. In fact, it could be argued that he waited too long to enter the war. We really didn't have a choice. It was a WORLD war -- everyone was fighting. In contrast, W. started the war in Iraq based on lies and false pretenses. On the other hand, Vietnam was just plain wrong. So we can choose to filter our beliefs thru simplistic "Us or Them" thinking. Is it more important to be right, to shout louder, and to win an argument than it is to work toward a better future? - Liz Tufte

Never sad he started it, just that he got us involved. Same with Kennedy, he took Viet Nam over from the French. Two more points. One of the FIRST things Obama promised when he campaigned in Iowa was that for change to happen, he was going to place ALL fresh faces in DC. What does he do? Brings on a chief of staff from the Clinton era. He also named the Governor of MI as an economic adviser. She brought MI economy to it's knees. I am laughing so hard my sides are splitting! - Gary Utz

promoting my blog which is also a way to promote my business website. Social networking leads customers to both right? So I want to maximize my benefits from the social networks. But there are so many to follow and if you are not active in them you loose ground. twitter, twirl friendfeed, blogcatalog, bloglog, my head is spinning! - Chris Dahl

Gosh, yes, I agree. When you've got a blog that's actually connected with your biz blog that's a toughie. I've been trying to do both too, and since I'm a bit of a gass-bag, guess which suffers... I too would love to have advice on this one, from more experienced marketers than me. - Isha (Marysia)

Well then let's hope some of our more experienced marketers share their knowledge with us. As I spend way too much time and effort on this now. I need to get back to creating material for my website and creating quality posts for my blog. (which suffers sometimes) - Chris Dahl

It's like an addiction, I am going to try and go cold turkey for a while and keep away from the twitter, it's so easy to get sidetracked, because it's fun and if you are like me and love "one-liners" and someone makes you laugh, your focus will be lost and the next time you look at the clock its time for the kids to come home from school and you are no further forward. I think the key... more... - Groobers

I have a hard time, too -- so for the community thing I stick to FF, FaceBook, and Twitter (and I keep telling myself not to read stuff all the time, but just to keep up with my stream!); for the social bookmarking thing (Digg, SU, etc.) I tend to only use those occasionally -- and to send in 3 other entries for every one of my blog posts. Not spamming, in other words, but not living there either. I live here! (you lucky people . . .) 8-) - LJF Wolffe

Wouldn't it be nice to have an assistant who would keep up with most of social networks for you, so you can concentrate on a couple of networks that you actually enjoy? I am dreaming of that :)... - Rita

You can always check in wikipedia to "get an idea" of what it is. It might not be completely right though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - Jorge Blanco

You can imagine a proxy server as a computer between your PC and the Internet. The proxy acts on your behalf, meaning that from the outside, the internet only sees the proxy, not you. This is good for security reasons. It can work both ways, protecting you from the outside, and protecting the outside from you (like blocking Facebook at the office :D) - Jorge Blanco

Thank you Jorge. Any suggestions as to the best reputable list of these proxy servers? I did go to wikipedia, but there are numerous lists and warnings. - Bluejeanslady

Proxy can be 1) a dedicated comp protecting internal network from intrusions from outside or 2) a service on Internet, or software on your computer that allows you to mask your IP address when you're surfing Internet. Ed was talking about 2. 2 can be useful if you need access to a site that for some reason doesn't work for your IP or if you surf Internet from work and don't want to leave any traces of your activity on your work computer. I am not sure if it'll do you any good protection-wise if (cont - Rita

I have just checked it. It shows OK in Flock and other browsers here. - Frans

Never mind -- it all came up this time. Reading now . . . - LJF Wolffe

My first thought is that it seems to be a super offer - for anyone that's looking for conversation starters. But you're offering a lot more than that and you could be marketing to so many more people than just people looking for conversation starters. I'd say follow the 30dc steps with it, use Market Samurai to find the good keywords and get it onto a blog, using those keywords. - Isha (Marysia)

Work on your headline, test your price point ($27), Get rid of the graphic header, put your pic below the headline or try adding a video, get rid of all those banners ads at the bottom. Try and mimic a sales page layout that you like and find appealing. Don't forget to add Google Analytics. - Mike Hill from twhirl

I don't know much about sales pages like this; but your might want to look at all your Headlines for Capitalization Consistency. (Sorry, got carried away.) 8-) - LJF Wolffe

I haven't had a chance to read the offer, but there seems to be just too many different fonts, font sizes and colors. it doesn't look "flowing". And the font size for the body of text is too small to be comfortable for reading. Also, I am not sure if it would make any difference, but maybe you could try a photo of people in conversation on top of the letter and your picture closer to your signature. Oh, and the pic of the product itself might help. - Rita

I can see it OK in Opera. - PelicanBill

"The conversion rate stinks." Why dont you change the product line! - micmol

I know this is going to sound really funny but it's almost too cheap. Why are you giving me $350 of free stuff for a $7 purchase? As a consumer I have a hard time trusting your product because YOU obviously don't think it's worth much. There's good value in something a little more expensive - this price makes me think I'm in the $.99 store clearance aisle buying my kids a toy that will surely break before morning. Make sense? - Stacy Nelson

Doh! I hadn't thought of that! Great point Stacey. I know of someone who paid for coaching because he had problems intitiating conversation, he was on state benefits I believe. I think someone with these problems would be expecting to pay a lot more. - Isha (Marysia)

Micmol - What do you mean by the product line? - Frans

Ok ... IMHO the whole "deal" does not sound genuine. Now I cant be alone because .... "The conversion rate stinks." - micmol

Micmol - Not quite the advice I needed. Like going to the doctor with a rash and he tells you to go kill yourself because you're ill! :-) - Frans

Too many fonts and colors not "flowing." No here's what you do. The top (where it talks about saying something witty) get rid of that and instead put "have you ever wanted to approach a girl you liked but felt uneasy about it because you didn't know what to say when you approached her... I'm telling you dude watch the conversion rate go through the roof. take your picture out and put some stud with six pack abs and well cut up muscles smiling with a babe on each arm. - Russ

You need to use a more readable font - Rebecca Briggs

Micmol - "Not quite the advice I needed. Like going to the doctor with a rash and he tells you to go kill yourself because you're ill! :-)" Not the way I would have put it ... IMHO its like going to the doctor who tells you to stop smoking and you ignoring him because you like the taste. Why do you think "your conversion rate stinks" Please think about your answer! - micmol

I like this!!!! Yep, that's the stuff that sells - can you say the "S" word here ;-) - Elizabeth

I should have made myself clearer: I meant pros and cons between using one or the other. - Isha (Marysia)

I think, it's a matter of personal preference. I like twitterfox because it doesn't take me out of Flock and I can instantly see when another message comes. And I don't like switching to another program (thwirl). But that's about it. - Rita

I prefer TweetDeck over them both. I like having the groups & searches all included on 1 easy app & can see them all at a glance. - Sheryl Loch

Did you use any of the other domain-checking facilities too, such as namecheap? At http://www.namecheap.com/domain-... you can put in your domain name and tick the box "Search all available TLDs" (TLDs = top level domains) and they'll come up with all the alternative endings you can have. I've noticed that a lot of UK companies and organisations do use .com. Also you might find ideas in the comments to the Sept 27th entry here: http://short.to/65f or in this thread: http://short.to/67e - Isha (Marysia)

Hi Catherine. I had the question. It seems that it all depends on what you want to do. If your market is really local and dealing only with the UK you can get a .co.uk or .eu, but need to host in the UK to get better chances to be on google.uk. Now if you have some customers in the EU or the rest of the world you will not get them with a .co.uk. If you go for a .com or .net make sure that your links are in the UK and then you should be listed for UK search. Hope that help, if you need more let me know. - eMarketing Hubs - nat014

thanks everyone, thats made it much clearer for me. Ive gone with the .com for now but I will see how it goes first if I will continue this niche and will then buy the .co.uk. The more I am doing and looking at my niche the more excited I am, I have loads of ideas but have to keep telling myself to take it slow so I do it properly and not jump ahead of the instructions. I just hope my niche takes off, I'll be gutted if it doesnt but at least I have the ideas to develop it if it does. - Catherine

Good luck and hope it takes off as you want. - eMarketing Hubs - nat014

Nathalie I didn't know that 8-}! I'll be marketing to the UK because that's where nearly all the market is, but I've paid form hosted by Hostgator, who are in the US eek! I wish I'd known... I haven't got my site set up yet - should I quickly get .co.uk? And is there anything else I can do? - Isha (Marysia)

Marysia. Was looking for domain today and found out that if you register a name with GoDaddy you can get a .co.uk name. - eMarketing Hubs - nat014

Thanks Natalie - I found out that Hostgator can register .co.uk names too. I'm not sure if that means they will be registered in the UK though. I've asked hostgator support several times, both in Livechat and by email, but can't get a coherent answer. If I buy mykeyword.co.uk does that automatically mean it's registered in the UK - does anyone know? - Isha (Marysia)

I've now bought my .co.uk domain name thru https://www.webhosting.uk.com/ All the reviews I found gave it thumbs up all round. Based in UK (good if you want to use a UK registrar) but pricey, because their min domain name purchase is 2 years. So had to pay £14 for 2 years :-( Looks like Webmaster Tools geotargeting doesn't always work too well http://is.gd/4r3K - Isha (Marysia)

Hi Marysia, I buy my .co.uk names from www.telivio.com - they're uk based and work fine with hostgator. From memory, they charge £5 + VAT for 2 years. - Simon

make that www.TELIVO.com I added an extra 'i' in there. sorry - Simon

cool! - Jolly Panda

Indeed, very - Hugh Fraser

I third that! Will use them for my next purchase. - Isha (Marysia)

as important on the tld is the host location. I host uk focussed websites on a Uk hosting site. Also try to ensure you obtain plenty of .co.uk backlinks, (far more relevant if you are not hosted in the UK) - Tim from twhirl

Thanks, Tim. My problem was that I was already using Hostgator, so I'm doing everything possible to ensure I'm in the Google UK search results. It seems that the best thing is to do as many as possible of the 4 following: get plenty of .co.uk backlinks, get hosted in the UK, buy your domain-name from a UK-based registrar such as telivo.com, and use Webmaster Tools geotargeting. If you can only do 3 out of those 4, you should be fine. - Isha (Marysia)

Thank you Ed...Though I am stuck with a PC only. Not sure what my options might be now? I don't have to use the same software he used...just something that get's me a similar effect. Video along with view of computer screen. Thank you! - Michael Roberts

Camtasia is the PC equivalent (but not quite as elegant ) but there are a few open source screen capture video options. - Allison

younger brother of Camtasia, SnagIt, way cheaper,and I love it http://www.techsmith.com/screen-... - kitmiller

Allison is right on as usual. I'll do some snooping, but I have a vibe that Techsmith will do another give away of older version, like the way their product launch formula for V5 was give free versions of older with an upgrade coupon. It was huge for them. Very smart. Will post any news. - Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct

Does anybody know of a linux alternative to Screenflow? Probably there are not may linux users in the #30DC though... - Jorge Blanco

Not personally but Sourceforge would be the place to poke around Jorge - Allison

Last time I check, you should be happy if there is something that is as powerful as Camtasia, there is one with less features available in commercial one. If I could find something in Linux, I'm switching back in no time! :) - Hendry Lee from twhirl

Here are several suggestions. 1. You could try elance.com or guru.com. 2. Or find a website you like and at the bottom of the page there probably will be a web designer/webmaster contact info. 3. Or search for web designer's forums. That's where they hang out. You can post you job there. For example, http://www.ozzu.com/job-opp... or http://jobs.smashingmagazine.com/ - Rita

I can help www.webtech.co.za - Guy McLaren

you could also check out tsemedia.com. It's a complete package website template/hosting deal with lots of flexibilty. See what you think. And it's very cheap too. I run one of my sites there. - Gregory Brassil

You all are very very helpful! I appreciate your help, and will check all this out. Thanks for the quick replies. - Michael Roberts

check out moodle, it likely has everything you need and more... its specifically for courses, has passwords, forums, wiki, video, the whole works, fairly easy to use, once you get past the learning curve. - Ron Amundson

nice work, i hope you get enough purchases to take you over the top though... - Alex Melkonian

Ahhh, Man . . . I knew they wanted multiple credit cards, but I had no idea they didn't count PayPal. My heart goes out to you, dude. See if I ever sell anything from CB! - LJF Wolffe

This CB policy is nuts. Maybe you can make a 4 items Christmas wish list (with your aff ID) on a separate web-page and ask your friends and relatives to get it for you using credit cards? - Rita

Yeh I am going to get some friends to buy a cheap product on my affiliate link, I found one that costs $3, I will reimberse them and it will only cost like $5 dollars or something as I will get the commissions for it. More than one way to skin a cat. - Greg Martin

If you have your own product I highly recommend www.e-junkie.com They're really fair! They also got a marketplace where you can become an affiliate, but I haven't tested that - for my own products, e-junkie gets an A++ :-) - Andre

Congratulations Greg! You are doing awesome! How long have you had this particular site up? Is it just from the 30 day challenge? Wish I could get a site up to that much in a month or two! - Michael Roberts

Thanks Michael, I have been a computer tech since 1993 & started on the net in 1995 but I didn't really understand internet marketing till I started the 30DC in August this year. I put this blog up a few weeks before 30DC, technically it wasn't an issue for me, but 30DC taught me how to market it like I should. I am not a blogger though, I am in MLM so thats what I use the blog for. - Greg Martin

Um, dude, I'd love to, but both those URLS give 404 errors . . . - LJF Wolffe from twhirl

Frans, are you by any chance dungeonkeeper in Tagfoot? :) - Rita

Huh! I suppose not, cause I don't know what you're talking about. :-)) - Frans

Any takers on this one? - Isha (Marysia)

It's a tough call since it very much depends on the owner. If it is "parked" look for a link that says whether it is available for sale. They might be open to offers. - Lisa

Thanks for that Lisa. - Isha (Marysia)

I've found a very reliable one that also has cpanel which wpd host gator or anyone else for that matter has not had a problem transfer of dns servers. http://tinyurl.com/45c2w2 is the link and they are very accurate, a lot of services you won't find anywhere else on the cheap. - Kenneth Hamilton

Is mykeywordS.com available? How about guidetomykeywords.com? If it's not urgent, Marysia, you could wait until December, but they will probably renew. - Rita

Rita - crafty you - sending us through your FF page like that - I must start doing the same :-) . I like strawberries - and look what I got using Cyclops - http://budurl.com/wnde - yum yum. Interesting that Market Samurai brings me hundreds of images for my keyword from Flickr, whereas Cyclops can only find 102. Goes to show just how good MS is. But shall definitely be using Cyclops, too. - Isha (Marysia)

Hi, Rita - Thanks very much for this! - David Lemberg

I don't know, how it happened, Marysia, sorry. I didn't plan to redirect you though my FF page. What would be the point? Accidents happen :) - Rita

Marysia - I'm finding Market Samurai brings back flickr photos that cannot be legally used, whereas the one's I checked in Cyclops were legal to use (creative commons) that probably why the big difference in number - Ginger G

You can have someone else do the voice. Write your copy and have them read it. - Guy J. Michaelson

I have an accent too (I am Dutch) But people are telling me they like the accent. I don't think it's a problem. And first of all: it's YOU and YOU on like to know!!! - Madeleine van Rossem

If you are selling something that you have created, do the voice yourself so that your customers know that you are a real person and feel like they "know" you. - Peter Johnson

I don't have any accent at all. Should I get one? - Andy Roberts

People love accents. As long as you can be understood it doesn't matter about an accent. This is a global market so everyone sounds different. If you are linked to your product (i.e. you are the person behind it - not a pen name) then using your own voice will help people to feel they know you - Lisa

I only have an accent after watching too much Dr. Who -- and it's a bad one. But I would think an accent is a selling point; and I do love to listen to them. Maybe you could put up a test mp3, let us friends listen to it . . . just to see if stupid Americans can understand you. If so, you're golden! If not, you can keep brainstorming. - LJF Wolffe

Rose Tyler: "If you're an alien, why do you have a Northern accent?" Doctor Who: "Lots of planets have a North" - Andy Roberts

Tee hee hee. I'm a Whovian from way back: "I can be very dangerous when I don't know what I'm doing." -- Tom Baker - LJF Wolffe

Hi Rita I imagine seasoned marketers will split test this...one group pitched to with your accent one group pitched with another accent, even split test that again????Check the actual stats and go with it???I'm not speaking from experience so its just an idea... - Ruth Howard

Thank you so much, guys, for your replies! :) You're the greatest! People don't seem to have any problems understanding me when I speak. After all, I am a technical trainer. A darn good one :) The reason I asked this question is that strangers seem sometimes taken aback by me not being native... *** I am going to sell my own product, but it's about 80% ready at the moment. So, at the moment I only sell as an affiliate. I'll try to make a test mp3. And eventually I will split-test -- as soon as I can bring.. - Rita

yeah - Constantine

I'm here, what's the test? - Corinne Mitchell

wow you guys are fast. I just started playing with aweber and am not sure if I got this new feature set up. Can you swing over to http://www.richhowto.com and let me know if a pop down box slides across the screen offering you a free ebook? - Michael Roberts

After landing on the homepage the box should appear within 5 seconds. - Michael Roberts

when you got to the page did a box slide down asking for yoru name and email address? - Michael Roberts

no box for me (flock) - Jorge Blanco from twhirl

grrr. Alright thank you guys so much for your help! - Michael Roberts

Total lag time - arggg! No, don't se the query box. - Corinne Mitchell

Has anyone implemented that pop down box from Aweber? I have seen it on another website and it was way cool, but having troubles getting it to work for me. =( - Michael Roberts

no box 8( - Constantine

Thank goodness Marysia - I thought I was the only one having this problem! - Philip

You can put anything you want into a post, images, videos, audio or flash. You just have to make sure the size of your graphic will fit within the template boundaries of the post. What you're seeing as you cruise around looking at templates are just samples so you can choose something with columns the width you want, the typeface you want, the colors, fonts and so on. - liz

You can put videos and photos into a blog using any theme -- the demo site for the themes just uses text because it's easy. I've successfully added photos to one site, and a video to another; it's not the theme, but the way you put it in a post that determines what shows up. (It helps to have the URL of the image or the embed code for the video.) I can say more if anyone's interested . . . - LJF Wolffe

Oh, thank you for your replies, liz & LJF! I've been asking these questions all over the place & was beginning to feel left out in the cold. And I've found so many other people also not knowing these things. It's the 1st thing in the 30dc that I've found not covered by the training videos: Ed just finds a theme with a guitar in it and that's it - job done... Oh, yes - say more, LJF - I'm interested! If only someone would put guidance on all this into a blog! - Isha (Marysia)

So you can't change the typefaces and fonts? - Isha (Marysia)

I typed "changing fonts on a WordPress blog" into Google, and got http://codex.wordpress.org/Playing... -- it might sound terribly technical, but partway down the article there are examples of making the change. Codex.WordPress.org is THE place to find out about WP -- from the developers themselves! - LJF Wolffe

Thanks for this, LJF. I hadn't realised that you can change things in the same way as you can wordpress - I thought that the WPD guys had tweaked it so that you couldn't change things unless you were css savvy. Now I can go to bed a lot happer... It's 3am here in London lol - Isha (Marysia)

I don't know if it helps, Marysia, but here's my blog with images and video in it. I used ordinary WPD theme. http://www.howtotelllying.com - Rita

Yes - that does help, Rita! - thank you. What an amazing site - great content you've got there - I've subscribed to your feed. Anybody else like to share any blogs? - I'd love to look at them. It would be useful to know the names of the blog themes as well. WPD doesn't have a forum - shall we start a WPD FF Room? - Isha (Marysia)

You can change just about anything you want on a Wordpress theme if you want...if you know where to go to change it and the right code to use to make the change. Yes, CSS is where you go for type, etc. But please don't forget that everything works together to build the whole. Type size for example can affect columns and spacing and changes can cause the whole theme to break. Pick what's most important to you, then find a theme that fits that bill and work around it. - liz

That's useful to know liz - thanks for that. - Isha (Marysia)

Thank you, Marysia! It was Nano theme. But be careful - it's broken. It took me 3 weeks to fix it and then WPD killed my work by overwriting it with their broken theme again. - Rita

Thanks for that warning Rita - Isha (Marysia)

Well it seems like you are getting all the help you need on this issue Marysia. Working with WP can be taxing at times so I use the "text" Widget often to add images and links. You can see my blog with samples at http://www.golfdrivingtipsblog.com/the-per... --Joe - Joe

It sounds incredible! :) Have you been following 30dc lessons only or have you done something extra? - Rita

Thanks, Bob! - David Lemberg

Hi, Rita - All 30DC. My sense is that 30DC provides all the essential elements. I can recommend Traffic Secrets 2.0 which expands on all the 30DC information in great detail. Haven't started an AdWords campaign yet and hope to do so soon. - David Lemberg

I don't know, Stephen, if you would like an advice, but you don't have to read it if you don't want to. Personalize your fundraising. Talk about your school, why you need a fundraising (what specific projects), post pics. Choose specific products to promote. Maybe even choose a theme. Like "Early Christmas shopping" or "Ego-friendly products". There are some interesting stuff there. Promote them on you blog - with the product pics. Tell readers how buying this products will benefit them. 4 example, they... - Rita

(cont) can be done with their Christmas shopping early. Or maybe they can find good bargains there. Or unique personalized gifts that their friends will love and use often. Good luck. - Rita

Great advice Rita - I'll help Stephen write a post that talks more about his school and the kinds of things their fundraising will pay for - and we'll touch on some of your thematic ideas. Really - thank you so much for sharing your ideas with us...Steve (Stephen's dad) - SteveH

If socialmarker doesn't work for some reason, you can submit your links directly to stubmbleupon and other sites. I use toolbars and bookmarklets to submit my sites. - Rita

I tried submitting outside of socialmarker but it still wont submit, but it will submit other sites, just not my own. - Frank Donnelly

Hm. That's strange... Have you, by any chance "over-submitted" you site? I mean too many submissions too often? I don't know if this is the problem, but maybe they're counting submissions of the same domain by the same person? In this case, you can use other social bookmark sites for a while 4 your site and submit other sites to Stumbleupon 4 a while... - Rita

Good looking blog! - Rita

Hey guys...well, I bought access to a template pack that I liked (only $20/year, vgd quality group of wp templates) and also had a guy I know do some vector art for me (which is where my avatar came from) I basically combined the two and then tweaked n' tweaked the back-end for some time - and I'm almost happy ;-) ! if you'd like to know any specifics just message me. - Alex Melkonian

I have. I was here through the whole thing... I had to start over in September though, because the day job and parenting got in the way in August. - Artemis

I was too... started it all over again on Sept. 5th. - Jean-Marie Moës

Me. Why? :) - Rita

Have been here since pre-season. Why? - Frans

Do you mean the original challenge, 4 years ago, or just this year? - Frann Leach

Me! - Stephanie Tautkus