Website hosting

There are stacks of website hosts out there nowadays offering great deals from about two or three dollars a month upwards, but did you know you can host your own site for nothing?
You would normally pay for a domain name and a host, but if you add some free server software (such as Apache) to your hard drive, you can configure it to behave as a host using your IP address instead of a domain name.
You may have noticed quite a few disreputable sites use this method so that a host cannot remove their website which will be selling fake goods or medications or worse....
So I'm not recommending this method especially as it will mean that your computer will have to be online all the time and will have to cope with any traffic that visits your site. In fact it's probably quite a bad idea, but I wonder if you knew that this could be done?

Please note, you should never click on a link that has an IP address instead of a URL, unless you know exactly where it points to. However, you could use this method for acessing files from home from another site (but be aware that anyone else could too!)

triOS Colleges in Toronto

Breaking into the job market is a sophisticated process in the current economic climate and being properly prepared is the key to getting the job you desire.

Toronto Colleges are paving the way with an innovative private college set up to prepare job-ready graduates for a new career. Typically this service would be useful to newly qualified job-seekers, those returning to work after a career-break, or even workers coming into Canada from abroad. The triOS Ontario College can offer services to job-seekers in the areas of Business, Technology and Healthcare, being a private establishment, they are not limited to the educational calendar start new classes on a monthly basis.
They offer job-specific training, careers advice, job placement, interview skills training and help with job search methods.

If I were to consider working in a new area, Ontario would be on the top of my list of places that I have visited and would like to work. If I were to consider applying for jobs in Toronto and the surrounding area, The triOS Toronto College would certainly be my first port of call for first-class preparation for the job-market.

Pagerank grumbles

I have seen far more reaction to the latest change in PR than the last PR shake-up where I seemed to be one of the few to have suffered. It turns out that it was good preparation and I would urge other bloggers to take heart from my experience.
I lost PR on my two blogs in May quite drastically whereas few others were affected, this time around, both my blogs have been awarded far better PR than they had before. In the last month or so I have noticed a lot of bloggers bemoaning that they have dropped ranks, and even some advertisers asking for promotion blogs to declare their NEW rank, not their OLD one... I seem to be one of the few who are actually very happy with the new ranks.
Take heart if you lost some rank, keep plugging on, and if you have the same experience as me, you should be back bigger and stronger than before.
My feeling is that many bloggers will lose heart this time around, and the best blogs will float to the surface (I know I considered packing it all in...). Stick with it, do what you do best and bi in it for the long run, that's my advice....

Shopping cart software

Whether you have an existing website or plan to build a site, you may be considering having an e-commerce element to your site. It may be appropriate for you to have a section where your visitors can browse you products or services and make purchases securely over the internet.
If you were so inclined, and had the knowledge and time, you might start coding it yourself - a better solution might be to purchase the service from a tried and tested software house.

Ashop shopping cart software offer a secure service that can be easily added into your website hosted on their own servers and available with full support for a monthly fee. This software will allow your customers to use all major credit cards to make their purchases directly from your site.
The advantage of such a service is that the software is tried and tested, and they also offer a stack of add-on services such as visitor tracking, keyword reports, SEO hints and tips with all you pages automatically optimised for SEO.
If you're interested in having a shopping cart to implement automatic purchases via your website, why not use a service that has been successfully tried and tested by hundreds of webmasters already?

Anchor text success

Recently I have recently begun blogging at a rate more like the daily rate that I was posting some months ago... and I noticed that the visitors to my blogs were starting to build. That triggered my curiosity, so I used Google Analytics to see where my new traffic was coming from.

I should state for the record, that I am not talking about this blog, but my blog about paid to blog schemes - the more observant readers will note the use of anchor text to link to the other blog, and with good reason... I read some time ago about the importance of using anchor text to link to a web page and how that might help Search Engine rankings. So when I embarked on a viral-linking scheme I decided t use the anchor text 'paid to blog' and have continued to use it where applicable as both anchor text and as a keyword.

I checked my analytics today and noted that I was being sent visitors from search engines (note that in the blogging world, one isn't necessarily looking for SEO as a lot of significant traffic can come from social sites and blogging partners etc..). The remarkable thing is that the search terms were all single use one-offs except for one: 'paid to blog'. Whereas every other term used to find my site only appears once, in comparison 'paid to blog' appears a staggering 22 times....

Now I'm not saying that I get stacks of traffic from anywhere, or that the proportion of traffic I am getting from Search engines is in any way significant, just the the traffic I am getting has absolutely centered on my chosen anchor text. How can this help you? well first off you need to decide on an anchor text which you think will drive visitors to your blog and then use it mercilessly. How will this impact on me? Well, I have to make sure that when those visitors arrive at my blog, there is something relevant for them to read which will keep them there...

Wi-Fi from BT

Technology moves so fast today that there is enough computing power in the modern home to run a reasonable-sized business of 10 years ago, and more technology in a single mobile phone than would have been required to run a large business of 20 years ago.

Internet access is not enough nowadays, wi fi broadband is available and widely used around the UK. BT’s wireless Home Hub is available with BT’s wireless broadband option 2 for under £14 per month for the first 6 months.

This option offers up to 8Mb download speed with 8GB download limit per month. For a small additional fee, they will even send round an expert to get your network up and running… Option 3 offers even more for under £19 per month, you get the Home Hub phone and unlimited downloads. With both these offers from BT, you even get free use of BT wi fi hotspots around the UK with your laptop (option 2 limited to 350minutes per month). Both options also offer 5GB of online storage in the ‘Digital Vault’.

BT offer good support for their broadband packages, and most users are starting to appreciate how valuable that sort of service is. BT can offer support for your PC problems as well as your broadband connection.

Blog earnings

Just about 9 days into November and I am happy to report record earnings through paid postings. My newly-attributed pagerank has given me many more paid opportunities than previously and I have already almost overtaken my previous attempt to maximise earnings in a month.

In May this year I earned $187 in 31 days, and I am looking forward to reporting this month's figures which are already within $3 of my previous record even after just 9 days. My strategy has been to take as many opportunities as possible in case there are no decent ones the next day. So far there have been plenty of tasks on offer, but there's no guarantee that this trend will continue. I really hope to be able to reach a target of $500 in November.

I am always looking for new legitimate ways to earn money via websites, and you can be sure that I will report any that prove profitable.

UK destinations

Closer to home (for me, at least), you may need to visit one of England’s major cities for business or to visit friends. CheaperThanHotels offers a service to find you last minute accommodation, often at reduced prices…

You may be interested in Hotels in London, Britain’s largest and busiest city by far. London has the splendour of a major European Capital with the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. London is packed with the culture of the West End theatres, cinemas, clubs and any sort of entertainment you could desire.

England’s second and third cities respectively are Birmingham and Manchester, both traditionally industrial areas, but enjoying a renaissance as centres of service and culture. Many British cities have made use of their industrial waterways and Birmingham has used it’s canals to create a scenic backdrop to the theatres and clubs around the city centre. A fair few Hotels in Birmingham are to be found in the same district, along with top restaurants and nightlife to suit every taste.

Hotels in Manchester offer you the chance to visit the famous Theatre of Dreams where Manchester united ply their trade along with bustling nightlife and a rich cultural heritage. Famous for it’s clubs, Manchester has always been a place to experience great hospitality

Gimpshop

Photoshop has proved an invaluable tool for website builders, photographers and designers over the years, but Gimpshop is all set to upset the graphics software market... Long hailed by Linux users everywhere, Gimp has crossed platforms onto Windows PC's everywhere. And get this: It's free, open-source as free as a bird... you won't have to pay a cent.
Website building without having to pay a penny, that's the kind of stuff I really want to bring to you. If you want more, just keep reading....
For more on this and other free software, visit this link...

EasyToBook hotel website

There are many websites for booking hotel accommodation scattered around the worldwide web, many of them offer hotels from just one company, others don't offer a great range of different types of accommodation or special deals. I have just found one website which offers the complete solution.
EasyToBook.com offer accommodation ranging from 1 star to 5 star in every major worldwide destination. There are special online deals for many of the featured hotels.
You may be looking for fine-dining Italian style in Rome amongst the historical building and unique Roman atmosphere.
You may fancy Christmas shopping at some of London’s exclusive stores whilst taking in the majestic buildings such as Buckingham Palace or the Tower of London.
You may prefer to enjoy the ‘craic’ in Dublin's fair city and the romance of the emerald Isle. Whichever destination is the ideal place for you, EasyToBook has the hotel at the right price, all laid out in an easy to read format on a well-constructed website. Not only that, but it transpires that rooms are in fact Easy To Book…

Enlightened about lamps

Today I learned a new word ‘torchiere’ I was intrigued and followed the link to end up on Farreys.com where they sell all types of lamps for use in the home or garden. It turns out that torchieres are a kind of standard lamp, but the type which is also an up-lighter… (see the photograph)

Farreys have an extensive range of lamps including desk lamps and floor lamps along with outdoor lamps for your deck or for wall-mounting. They have a neat search tool with drop-down menus so that you can quickly find all the products available in either wide or narrow search terms. You can search by brand and by price, you can specify the style, finish and application.

There are thousands of products to sort through on this site, and they are not limited to lighting, you can also find air purifiers, cooker hoods and many other products for the home and garden. Stock items are shipped in 1 or 2 days within the US, and all forms of payment are accepted. All that remains is for you to visit Farreys.com yourself….

Making money online

So much rubbish is spoken about making money online, but it is possible to make some money if you ignore all the crazy schemes that promise $1000 a day. After all if you could make $1000 a day, why would you bother to market your ideas of how others could make that money when you could put your energy into making revenue yourself if you were genuinely able to???
However, as I said, a certain amount of cash can be made online through various means, my own personal favourite being 'paid to post'. I have recently gained pagerank on this and my other blog, so you will see more paid posts here, but I hope readers will find them well-written and informative.
For more about genuine ways to make money online, please see the Livewyre.NET article. I will talk about some of the schemes I have used in later posts on this blog, but you can read about these schemes over at Munny4Hunny too.
In my experience so far, I would have said that it is possible to make about $200 a month with one blog with a PR2, but hope to find out this month, how much can be made with a PR3 blog AND a PR4 blog with paid posts.

Favourite destinations

When I think about going on a touring holiday, my favourite destination without a doubt is France. France has it all from the sophistication of Paris, the rural beauty of the Loire valley and the French Alps, to the bright light and freedom of the Cote d’Azur and Monte Carlo. France is full of contrasts, I have visited four times and have experienced something different every time.

One trip was our first wedding anniversary to some paris hotels where elegance was the watchword, We dined on the River Seine and climbed the Eiffel Tower, walked along the Champs-Elysees, visited Notre dame, Louvre Museum and experience the buzz of Paris in Springtime.

On another occasion, we visited nearby Versailles and took a trip to Monet’s garden before travelling south to experience more france hotels. In the south, we stayed in Cannes and Menton and Nice where the nice hotels were pleasant and full of character.

The south is my personal favourite, Paris is all very well, but I love the countryside and quaint historical towns (and wineries) of the south. I was caught by surprise by some of the medieval towns that are prevalent around Orange, Avignon and the quality of the Roman remains in those areas. If you are planning a trip to Europe, allow yourself extra time in France to take in all the different aspects that make up one tremendous country. (and that from an Englishman!)

Smorty - paid to post

If you are looking to monetise your blog, then I have found that paid to post programs are more profitable than most other forms of advertising. One such service is Smorty, a scheme that offers upwards of $6 per paid post and allows you to write honest opinion on a range of websites and products. Registering is simple and quick, and you will quickly hear back from them if your blog is acceptable. You are then ready to get paid for blogging. You may register multiple blogs, and each opportunity offered will be for a specific blog. Smorty also operate a points system called a smorty score which helps advertisers to identify good members of the scheme.
The greatest reason for using Smorty is that they pay up within a week of your post being approved and there's not many schemes that payout that quickly - For that reason alone Smorty is definitely worth considering as many other schemes take weeks and weeks to pay out.

My new blog...

I have used some new blogging principles and developed a new blog which I am unleashing on an unsuspecting public....
My new blog seeks to follow the progress of the England football (soccer) star David Beckham as he carves out a career in the MLS at LA Galaxy.
I enjoyed designing the new blog and was able to approach the project in a very different way than with previous blogs as (I hope) I have more of an idea about what I want and how to achieve it than I did when I started blogging a little under a year ago.
There are a few things I need to work on, but I am happy with where it is at right now - take a look and let me know what you think...

Holiday time

It's about this time of year when the chill starts to kick in, that thoughts turn to Summer Holidays and warmer climes. Lazy days by the pool, reading a good book, or hiring a car and seeing the sights. A vacation means different things to different people.

For some, it’s a hotel with all the amenities, for others, it’s staying with friends and family. I like the idea of the freedom that comes from renting a place and a car for a week or two where you can really relax and feel at home. I really enjoy exploring the surrounding areas and especially trying out the local food.

A location that suits the whole family is important too. I would be more in favour of sight-seeing in San Diego with San Diego vacation rental homes whereas the rest of my family would no doubt be happier relaxing on the beach with Newport Beach vacation homes Whatever floats your holiday boat, you may well find the answer at vacation rentals.

Maybe you own a place that you would like to have promoted at 'Goin2travel' vacation rentals, they have properties from all over the world, pay them a visit, rent out your property and maybe even sort out your own vacation at the same time…

Makeover for Livewyre.NET

I have been meaning to give Livewyre.NET a face-lift for some time, but designing can be quite arduous when there are so many factors to be taken into consideration. Now, buttons and banners I am fine with because there is a physical limitation EG. 125x125 pixels, and usually just a name and possibly a small strap-line. Complete website design is a bit of a headache because it has to work on so many more levels. I had settled on a design for Livewyre which I was reasonably happy with. However, it came in for a bit of criticism so I tried to patch it up, but was never really happy with the result... Now I am much happier with the new look of the site, it won't suit everyone I know, but then you can't ever hope to do that...
The current Web 2.0 design thinking is to use a clean template based around a white background with a dynamic graphic header. I used the same principle, but have gone for a black background to complement my black-based header design. I anticipate that some people might feel this is altogether too aggressive and masculine-looking, but at the end of the day you have to satisfy your own judgment first...

Page Rank definitely on the move...

Yes, this time PR all over the web has been rising and falling leaving in it's wake alternatively saddened or elated webmasters...
I am pleased to report that I am one of those who has been elated. I had many discussions about PR in May 2007 when I seemed to be one of the few who was singled out for particularly harsh treatment - I lost the PR2 on this blog entirely and was knocked down to zero.. My other blog dropped from PR2 to PR1, not that dramatic you might think, but I was honestly expecting to get a 3 at least... Most webmasters I spoke to had not experienced any change at all during May, so I did feel a bit miffed to lose rank on two sites where most people I know experienced no change at all. I maintain that it was probably due to the excessive linking that took place when I got involved in some viral linking - I am sure the sudden rise in link-backs flagged me up as a dodgy link-spammer... Anyhow I persevered, and am glad that I did now as my rankings have been not only restored, but boosted. This blog is now ranked 3, and my other blog is a 4 which has opened up some good opportunities for the future.
I started a thread over at mmmtalk when I first dropped rankings, and have followed it through to it's happy conclusion, take a peek if you're interested - if you want to know your own PR, check out this link...

Waterproof Memo Boards

Need to take notes out of doors or where you expect to get wet? – What you need is one of the new waterproof memo boards from waterproofmemoboards.com. They come as an A4 sized board in clear or bright yellow, with a waterproof pencil for taking notes. You can secure the board via holes drilled in the top, and you can write on both sides. Perfect for schools, sports clubs, swimming pools, construction sites or the home kitchen or bathroom.

Why not ‘splash’ out on a waterproof memo board as a birthday gift or Christmas present for the gardening enthusiast, sports trainer, bird-spotter or busy Mum?

If you have your own blog, maybe you'd also be interested in the blogging competition for prizes ranging from $5 up to $25

Some Blogging advice

I am going to try some ideas that other bloggers have revealed, namely creating a new niche blog for a subject that I am interested in, and has a newsworthiness which will mean that there will be new stuff to post almost continuously. The beauty of breaking news is that any significant keywords could be new and you have as good a chance as anyone of getting a search engine slot for a brand new keyword.
I will start this on a free host and then see whether I can pick up traffic for it - I will monetise with adsense though I am considering Auction Ads/Amazon as well. It's under wraps for now until the site is properly up and running, though it is quite refreshing starting a completely new blog (something I haven't done since January). It's a lot easier now that I am a bit more experienced at it, and the site should look a lot better than my previous unplanned efforts.