May 28, 2007

Blogging: Appologies :)

If I didnt say before sorry for going off the boil a little back there :)

Since joining Stomper net I seem to have been swamped with ideas and new projects to get started and the blogging thing sort of took a back seat! I am happy to say that I am starting to get a bit more organised again :)

Mark.

Posted by Mark at 8:14 AM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

January 16, 2006

Blogging: Rich dad poor dad!

You know im always getting asked how to make more money! Everyone thinks the answer to ALL their problems is how to make more money. It ISNT!

The answer to ALL your financial problems is NOT more money! It is however learning to manage what you have got. I reccomend ALL of you read "Rich dad Poor dad" if you want to make more money and then actually keep hold of it in 2006!

Mark.

Posted by Mark at 10:18 AM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

January 11, 2006

Blogging: Dont take a holiday

My god its been hard to get back into work this year :( I guess this is the trouble when you take ages off work ehh Still im sort of back now!

As you may remember we started to optimize this site for the engines way back in June (God is it that long already) Anyway here we are 6 months later and are top of msn for one of our best keywords "web page design" well top of page two. Google is being a pain but thats because they altered radically the age algorithmn with the jagger update and with this site being a 2003 site we are a bit young. Still we are working on that one. Just goes to show how FICKLE search traffic is though, one change and bang go your results!

Lots of exciting new stuff for the new year and also some new secrets im going to reveal to your for FREE as always :) Watch this space...

Mark.

Posted by Mark at 1:27 PM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

January 5, 2006

Blogging: A nice break

Well it's been nice to have some time away from the blog to be honest >:) But as the new year is well underway now I thought I would gradually ease myself back into the swing of things. I'm going to start a new traffic series on monday so watch for that.

Mark.

Posted by Mark at 9:22 AM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

December 22, 2005

Blogging: How much time do you waste reading?

Now you might think that is a strange title for a blog post? Afterall Blogs are about reading right! But how much of your reading is benefitting you in some form or another and how much is regurgitated secondhand storys? Dare I say Crap?

The internet is like a sponge and it can suck up your time faster than you can beleive possible. I often find my self aimlessly clicking storys on Digg just because they are there! And then spending my valauble time reading about some guy being snowballed in World of Warcraft or that France has legalized P2P.

All very interesting stuff im sure but my time is a very valuable commodity and I'm sure your's is too! I'm not sure where this new found craving for information of any kind is leading us to be honest. Perhaps nowhere fast!

Mark.

Posted by Mark at 7:33 AM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

December 12, 2005

Blogging: A Dig at Digg!

I thought long and hard about this post and to be honest it's not really a Dig at Digg :) I love Digg and Del,icio,us and all these amazing services that we technobods drool over! So before the wonderfully critical people (oh yes you are) over at Digg slay my post :) I should say It's a digg at our language and communication with each other as Human beings.

So what do I mean? Well as I said im a technobod. A gadget freak if you like. A person which delights in all this technology. I assume you're one too as your reading this Blog so at least you know your way around :) We speak to each other in a language that we each understand. But herin lies a glaring problem with our communication and this is filtering through to mainstream sites (like Digg) and worse still becoming the norm!

We assume that our readers understand on some instinctive level what we are talking about. We assume they know what a tag cloud is or a technorati tag for that matter. Take a look at Diggs FAQ Over Here

"What is digg?

Digg is a technology news website that combines social bookmarking, blogging, RSS, and non-hierarchical editorial control. With digg, users submit stories for review, but rather than allow an editor to decide which stories go on the homepage, the users do."

Ok fair enough you might say I understand that. But this is a FAQ written for people that already know or are indeed familiar with the ideas the language and the concepts. So wanting to test my idea out I enlisted the help of three people I know who are moderate to heavy internet users.

My Sister
46
Call centre supervisor
Struggles with "save as"

So I ran this description past my sister who is a moderate user of the internet and it totally floored her! She did not have a clue what Digg is about and did not understand the language at all. She does use a computer each day and also in the evenings too. She was worried for some reason about social bookmarking even after I tried to explain it!

My Nephew
Work? Whats that!
20
Heavy Internet user

So I ran it past my nephew who is of the computer generation and was brought up with me his uncle soundly thrashing him at C&C Red Alert. I also introduced him to UO so he is familiar with MMORPGs. He knew what a news site is and he knows about blogging but that's about it! He lives for PSP's, Xboxes and playstation 2's He speaks my language but didnt understand what digg is or does. He had no idea about social bookmarking either :(

My best friend
32
Senior Graphic Designer
Web designer
Photographer
Very heavy Internet user

Now my friend here understands blogging because we have had endless conversations about my blog. He did'nt know what RSS is mind you or indeed what it does and his eyes clouded over when I mentioned tag Clouds.

Now these three people might not be representative of most internet users but then again they might. I think they are. I think that if we want to open up blogging, the internet and technology to even more users then we need to move away from all these wonderfull acronyms and techno descriptors and actually use plain old English to describe in detail what things do what they are for and more importantly how they can benefit you.

As I said earlier this is not a dig at digg :) I can think of many other sites that fall into the trap of only speaking to their specific user community and using their language.

Mark.

Posted by Mark at 7:59 AM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

November 7, 2005

Blogging: Are you original?

I dont know about you but I sometimes struggle for content for my blog. You know you sit staring at a blank page and just cannot think of anything meanigfull to write!

It seems lots of other bloggers suffer the same fate as more and more I read posts that are not actually posts at all, they are just links to other posts and so on. In fact there are so many links within the post the only original words are the Ands ifs and thes that the blogger inserts between the links! Maybe that's good maybe not I guess it depends what you read blogs for and what information your looking for.

Mark.

Posted by Mark at 11:29 AM | Comments (6) | Blogging | TrackBack

November 4, 2005

Blogging: And this is what Blogging is for!

Blogging and the internet are such powerfull tools I am suprised that large corporations are seemingly blind to us!

Sony have goofed big style with their XCP protection software and as Bill Thompson writes Over Here I bet they didnt even know what cloaking is ha ha

Mark.

PS

Dont buy CDs with copy protection on them is the simple answer to this issue. Then they will stop making them! Either that or install a real operating system like Linux :)

Posted by Mark at 3:06 PM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

September 23, 2005

Blogging: Blogging is dead! Long live the real bloggers :)

Yep that's the latest buzz I read on a marketing forum :)

Oh how I laughed when all the Im'ers dropped on blogging as the "Next latest Thing" What they did'nt bank on is that a Blog is not one of their "Set it and Forget it" automatic streams of income!

It takes nurture, hard work and time to be a blogger. So yes I can well see that blogging is dead for some of them. For us? Well we will just carry on like we always have I guess :) Adsense mini site anyone?

Mark.

Posted by Mark at 12:48 AM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

September 5, 2005

Blogging: The information overload age!

Do you ever get that feeling? You know the feeling your missing out on something, some piece of news or latest SEO secret! Some latest piece of software that's going to magically transport your web page to the top of all the engines :) (Especially Google).

Well even us so called experts get it :) Now there's a bit of honesty for yah!

It's the bane of the internet age and it's called information overload. My advice would be to concentrate on one project at once and dont move onto the next until the first one is nailed and running on autopilot.

Mark.

Posted by Mark at 12:55 PM | Comments (2) | Blogging | TrackBack

July 5, 2005

Blogging: Comment spam buggers!

My god the little buggers are having a field day with me at the moment!

I am getting over 500 comment spams daily at the moment! Thankfully with all the measures I have in places it's an easy matter for me to just check all, delete. Thanks Jay for MT Blacklist :)

Mark.

Posted by Mark at 8:37 AM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

June 7, 2005

Blogging: Blog readers becoming Blog buyers?

You know I do think us bloggers are a vain lot :) Not to mention sensitive (what writer isnt)! Thing is how many of your readers are actually becoming buyers of your wares? Or are all your readers other bloggers and so round and round it goes? We massage each others egos in an endless cycle of self-abasement! Baring our souls to the digital age. Maybe you dont sell anything so dont care.

Personally I dont care as I enjoy my Blog immensely and am gratified if someone deigns to read my humble musings! let alone comment :)

Race report tommorow :( Tinbasher I did'nt need your Donkey because as usual the Met office got the weather totally wrong! LOL.

Mark...

PS

Here is an interesting slant on a previous post of mine over at Aussie Net Suite Blog

Posted by Mark at 9:18 AM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

May 10, 2005

Blogging: Blog Bombs

Im trying out Kurts BlobBomb on some of my domains at the moment.

If you dont know what a BlogBomb is? Well essentially it's a way to grab RSS feed content and then display it in a rotaing fashion on a web page using SSI (Server Side Includes). In this way you can have all the content and articles you desire appear on your website and better still they are written and updated by someone else (cool)

Here is one in action on one of My Niche sites

Mark...

Posted by Mark at 1:26 PM | Comments (1) | Blogging | TrackBack

March 18, 2005

Blogging: When Blog readers demand of Blog Authors!

I had a funny email yesterday regarding my blog here. The author of the email complained about my recent post about Humbug my new oh so cute Mini Shetland.

He basically said that he enjoyed reading my blog, but why did I have to post stuff that is not related to internet marketing all the time. At first I was annoyed it has to be said! Afterall this is MY Blog and I am the author and therfore it's up to me what I decide to write about. Isnt it?

But that got me thinking who is right here? The author or the customer (reader) It's an interesting point with regards to Blogs because if you dont keep your readers happy they WILL delete your feed and go elsewhere. Still in true English oddity and style I dont care :) This is my blog and I am happy that lots of people like it, read it and post comments and such.

BUT

I decide what to write and also when which is why its called slightly off centre. The diary of a slightly off centre internet marketer which means posts about anything at anytime and not always marketing or design related!

Mark...

Have a great weekend and I promise next week to renege on the above and post a whole bunch of money making and marketing stuff just for you :)

Posted by Mark at 12:59 PM | Comments (6) | Blogging | TrackBack

February 28, 2005

Blogging: Keywords

I had a few emails over the weekend asking how to get keywords into your RSS feed. I guess I should have actually described that in the post huh! So here it is for you.

Place keywords in the title of your feed
Place keywords in the item of your feed
place keywords in the description of your feed

If you are using Movable Type (like moi) or some other publishing platform your feeds will be created automatically. In this case you add your keywords when you create your new entry. These will then be used when your feed is updated. If you are creating your own feeds then you can place them manually when you create the feed.

I also update my live bookmark in Movable Type which can be found here in my

Main Index template
Master Archive Index template
Category Archive template
Date based Archive template
Individual Entry Archive template

For me it looks like this in each of these templates.

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Internet Marketing and Web Design" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/15dnBlog" />

Hope that helps

Mark...

Posted by Mark at 1:06 PM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

February 23, 2005

Blogging: Blog profit Series

I feel refreshed :) I have killed of that nasty bug that was coursing my system and am just about back to normal now. I thought I would start a new profit and ideas series for you, just to give you an idea or two each month on how to promote and profit from your Blog. So without further ado here is the first idea...

Have a keyword optimised RSS feed. Yep simple ehh. If your Blog is about home cooking then have an RSS feed with "Home Cooking" in it. This will greatly improve your listings and traffic.

Mark...

Posted by Mark at 2:09 PM | Comments (2) | Blogging | TrackBack

February 18, 2005

Blogging: The Curse of Blogging

I have managed to delegate just about all my tasks while I sit wrapped in my quilt sweating profusely. I have downed every potion known to mankind for making my life less miserable and funny thing is they never seem to work that well!

BUT

I cannot delegate my Blog to anyone can I? It wouldnt be me then. I know some use ghost writers but not me. So here I am sitting at my PC wrapped in my quilt blogging whilst ill. The curse of blogging. Or am I a fanatic? Hmmm a thin line I guess. Ardent bloggers will know what I mean.

Have a good weekend I am off back to bed

Mark...

Posted by Mark at 8:16 AM | Comments (5) | Blogging | TrackBack

February 10, 2005

Blogging: Miss Agnew I presume...

I readily admit to being an avid reader of Michele. One among many I know :) Anyway she is running one of her famous games Over Here

Trouble is I cant even figure out my own damned clue ROFL LOL :( I am sad to say that I am pants at Michele's games :( Can you find it?

Mark...

Posted by Mark at 8:34 AM | Comments (2) | Blogging | TrackBack

January 19, 2005

Blogging: It Appears

That Blogspotting has either died or gone to that great "You can buy this domain name" in the sky graveyard!

Mark wonders if it was hacked or cracked! Anyone know?

Mark...

Posted by Mark at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

January 11, 2005

Business Blog Awards 2005

Well the nominations are now live over at BOB

So head over there and get nominating away for your favorite business Blog. We will be sponsoring the BOB awards for 2005 with some very cool prizes :)

Which reminds me. If you have not seen it or indeed have not entered, we are giving away a full Movable Type install with Skin in this post here...

Good luck and happy commenting.

Mark...

Posted by Mark at 1:10 PM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

January 5, 2005

Business Blog Awards

The guys over at Business Blog Awards are as you can imagine from the title running awards for 2005. Check them out and enter your Blog if its business related.

We will possibly be sponsering them, Well I offered anyway :)

Mark...

Posted by Mark at 9:45 AM | Comments (1) | Blogging | TrackBack

January 1, 2005

15dn Competition and Happy New year

A very Happy new year to all of my readers :) I hope 2005 is a prosperous year for you all.

As a way of showing gratitude to all my readers I have decided this year to run a small competition, a way of giving something back to you. Let`s face it a Blog without readers is a bit like a shop in a desert! It may look good but if no one comes through the door it will soon go out of business :( This competition is to show I appreciate you all.

We at FifteenDegrees-North are always looking to improve upon our services and design`s and as a general rule I know most of the Blogging community to be a fair minded lot :)

So this is how the competion will work.

I want you to critique my website, you can do this by commenting to this post. I will keep this post`s comments open for the whole of January and then close them off. At that time I will go through all the comments with my design team and between us we will pick the comments we feel we can get the most value from.

Your comments need to be in these areas.

1. Overall look, feel and content of the Blog?
2. Overall look, feel and content of the website?
3. Ease of use and navigation elements of the website?
4. Is it readily understandable what we do?
5. Any changes you would make or like to see.

That`s it. Nothing nasty please its meant to be fun :) Let`s be constructive! I will moderate the comments of course, but I am very fair and will not edit them in anyway unless it`s offensive. No copying of previous comments is allowed, you must be unique in your critique (I should be a poet ha ha)

The winner will get...

1. A Movable Type personal or commercial Blog (5 users, your choice of license) installed to a location of your choice and then skinned by my top desinger. You will be allowed 3 iterations of skin. Once your Blog is installed we will install Jay`s Great anti spam tool MT Blacklist for you (if you wish). This whole package is a $600 value :) Not bad for giving me some valuable feedback ehh! Well it is the new year and I`m a happy soul :)

2. A FREE copy of my Adwords Masterclass course. Value $50

3. A FREE copy of my RSS-Masterclass course (the new unreleased version). Value $97

4. 5,000 visitors to your Blog from Blog Explosion paid by us. You open the account we will fund your account for the visitors.

Second place will get...

1. A top logo design. Value $150

2. A FREE copy of my Adwords Masterclass course. Value $50

3. A FREE copy of my RSS-Masterclass course (the new unreleased version). Value $97

4. 2,500 visitors to your Blog from Blog Explosion paid by us. You open the account we will fund your account for the visitors.

So there you go, critique away, good luck to you all and may you have a great new year wherever you are...

Mark...

PS
Fortune favours the brave as the saying goes. So to deter you all sitting there thinking I will wait and comment last (as if you were)! The first person to comment will get a favicon created for their Blog or website. Favicons would charge $100 to create one for you.

Posted by Mark at 12:00 AM | Comments (9) | Blogging | TrackBack

December 28, 2004

Successfull Blogger

Chris is buying himself a Beemer then :) Im not sure I agree with him when he says...

"And folks, you can't get much better than BMW"

When he gets really successfull I`ll lend him my 550 Maranello he he!

Mark...

Posted by Mark at 12:50 AM | Comments (3) | Blogging | TrackBack

December 27, 2004

Checking my Emails! Honest

Well I finally got round to installing Jay Allens MT Blacklist

Of course this is only for MT users, but a very handy script it is indeed. Mark tips his hat to Jay. Ta very muchly :)

I had been using comment moderation, but I have recently been getting hammered by the spammers and so thought I would become more agressive in my defences. Anyway if your an MT user I highly recommend you get it.

Mark...

Just checking my emails dear :)

Posted by Mark at 9:15 PM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack

December 15, 2004

The Blog Awards 2004 :)

Well there's always next year I guess :)

The Blog awards are in and you can catch them All here

Congrats to all the winners. Perhaps we will get a vote next year. Must work harder on winning FLorida!

Mark...

Posted by Mark at 6:43 PM | Comments (2) | Blogging | TrackBack

November 2, 2004

Why I Blog

I am always getting asked why I blog?

Well I enjoy telling stories and passing along information but to be honest I always found the net to be a rather dead and lifeless place, a bit like reading on your own, you never meet anyone and it's so quiet.

You visit a website, read some sales patter, buy the latest Ebook and that's it over and over again. The eye candy may look different but there is no interaction with the sites owner. It's all left to your imagination. Blogs on the otherhand enliven a website for me. They give me access to real people and not just reams of sales copy text. More importantly they also give me a reason to go back!

I wanted this website to be alive, so I collated all my old Blogs and back filled them here in this one (no small task) and then determined I would post often.

I also wanted to be a little different than your normal run of the mill "GURU" ahem oh how I hate that term :) Internet Marketer. Try and get to speak to Corey Rudl and see how far you get :) Perhaps there is a fear amongst business people that if they show they are REAL people with hobbies and interests outside of business, then clients will somehow be turned off from them! I would disagree.

I firmly believe that on the Internet one must show a Human face to potential clients as much as possible. People prefer to buy from Poeple and not from eye candy websites with the latest GURU sales copy!

Mark...

Posted by Mark at 9:24 PM | Comments (0) | Blogging | TrackBack