Greetings Y’all,

Well, it’s Friday, not Tuesday.  Tuesday being the day I’m supposed to get the week’s blog lesson out.  We’re going to need to make an adjustment though - let’s make that “Tentative Tuesday”.  If I can get the lesson out by Tuesday I will.  If it’s a busy week, I’ll get the lesson out by the week that the Tuesday in question lies within.

How’s every one doing?  I’ve heard back from a handful of you here and there, but not so many as are signed up for the class have I heard from.  So I have some questions:

• Where are you?
• Is everything making sense?
• Is the homework do-able?
• Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Please don’t be afraid, even those of you who are supa dupa busy.  I have broken this class down into the tiniest of bite sized pieces so that even someone who only has 20 minutes to spare a week can keep up.  So take a metaphorical sledgehammer to your internal resistance and fear and smash it to bits!  You can do this, yes you can and you WILL.

(Forgive the soliloquy I’ve seen a couple of summer blockbuster  movies over the last couple of days and scenes were filled with ‘em.  Guess it rubbed off.  Nonetheless, I’m dead serious.)

Onward and forward…

For the sake of the novices out there, I’m teaching by using associated mental images.

Z’s Blog Class Analogy Chart (to be updated as needed)

• Blog - your work of art, your Masterpiece
• Hosting Account - Your Blog’s Apartment, space where your masterpiece resides for the time being.
• Domain Name - The Address of Your Blog, and whichever apartment your blog currently resides.  This is not a perfect analogy because domain name addresses are portable and can move to another apartment  or another blog, depending on your preference.  Though for the purpose of building online credibility this is not generally advised.  One ought to be consistent with the domain name, and keep it for its original intended purposes if at all possible.

~How to Find a Park Avenue Address (Domain Name) For Your Masterpiece (Your Blog)~

You’ll need some creativity.  Most of the obvious and not so obvious domain names have been bought up by domainers.  You’ll learn about them some other time.  For now, be content to know that the smart bastard that had the forethought to  to register (buy) the domain name www.cameras.com for $35.00 back in the day sold it for $2 million dollars in October 2006.  Well, I don’t  know if the original owner sold it at that price, but even if the original owner bought cameras.com for $35 and sold it for $3500, who’s complaining?  That’s 1000% return.  The stock market rarely does that legally, but domainers are the people that have done it and are doing it over and over and raking in big bucks.  But  I digress.

Ahem.  Point being, ALL one word domain names are GONE.  Many highly searched,  keyword rich 2 and 3 word domains have been registered as well.  But I still want you to try.  Think about your blog topic and come up with  a word that sums it all up perfectly.  If your blog is about  natural health, try (ha ha) naturalhealth.com (gone btw).  But maybe naturalhealthblog.com is available…

I  went over all the tips for this last week.  Here’s the link again in case you missed it - Domain Name Help - http://zhenya.wordpress.com/2007/06/08/blog-class-lesson-2-domain-name-help-questions/

Go to Godaddy.com and set yourself up with an account and get a fitting  name for your masterpiece.

And for those of you who have already completed this assignment and are raring for more, lesson 4 is going to follow shortly.

Peace & Love

Hello All,

I’ve gotten several questions about registering for hosting with 3ix.com . I got ahead of myself - it’s NOT you!

As you start to register for an “apartment” for your blog with 3ix hosting, you are asked to either register a new domain name, transfer an existing domain name or if you already have one you are supposed to type it in.

I forgot - domain names are a whole ‘nother ball of wax - a.k.a. another lesson. I should have made “Domain names” Lesson #2 and Getting the Blog Apartment Lesson # 3 (and next time around I will put it in this order from the get-go).

So if you haven’t already stumbled your way through getting your hosting account and setting up a domain name, please hold off on this. I am going to post - as soon as I can but it will probably be on Tuesday - a lesson about domain names. Once you have chosen your domain name you can go back and register your hosting account.

If you are just eager and want to know here are some general guidelines for choosing a domain name:

1. Should contain keywords related to your chosen topic ( if your topic is about “natural healing” then you could try to get www.naturalhealing.com ).
2. Should not be too many characters or too long (i.e. www.adventuresininternetmarketingwithseochickextraordinaire.com waaaaay too long . Short and sweet is good, medium is good too.
3. Many many domain names are already taken.  So if the one you want is not available, consider adding “blog” into the domain name ( i.e. www.naturalhealingblog.com )
4. Register your domain name for at least 2 years - 5 years is better if you can afford it.  If you cannot  afford even 2 years right now, just go ahead and register for 1 year.
5. Register with Godaddy.com but  please use my affiliate URL - http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-2141496-10378406

Go forth, bloggees and get a good, strong domain name that will brand you and your blog.  Remember it’s your apartment’s address, so make it a Park Avenue !

Aloha~

Aloha,

Thank you to those of your who sent in the topics you’d like to blog about.  I will be getting back to you with suggested categories to set up based on keywords related to your topic.  I will also be posting Blog Lesson 2 later this afternoon, and since I am in Hawaii time for those of you on East Coast time you will receive your lesson tonight.

I’m attending a Feng Shui workshop led by my dear friend Marta this week - check it out here if you are interested in feng shui - www.crystalclearfengshui.com

And I’ll see you all later!  Have a beautiful day

I love this web site that I’m about to tell you about. They offer FREE (and professional) CSS and XHTML web site templates that are just gorgeous. I’m fairly certain each one of you will find at least one if not more designs that you dig. Check ‘em out here: http://www.freewebtemplates.com

You’ll need to download the zip file containing the template contents and then work with FTP and your WordPress options in order to get the template to appear as the design of your site. In other words, there are steps to make this happen.   The web site has a FAQ and technical support to help you do this.  Enjoy!

John Chow dot Com is blog that helps average people like you and me make money online. If you do a review of his blog, he’ll link to your blog so his readers can check you out.

Note to Blogging Class Students:  If you are part of my online blogging class don’t  get  too lost visiting John Chow’s blog.  There is a lot of information.  Feel free to look around to get an idea of what is happening in John’s blogosphere, but don’t go overboard clicking  here and there and spending 3 hours clicking around before you realize that  it’s 2 am!  We’re doing this in bite sizes, without  losing sleep, social life or work time, okay?

I promise you I will not leave anything out of the online blogging course.  My intention is to time the information given properly so that you don’t get paralyzed with T.M.I. syndrome (too much info).  If John’s offer still stands by the time you have your blogs up, I will suggest you take him up on his offer.  At some point in the course we will be doing a similar activity to help build links and subscribers to our blogs.

Let’s explore 5 Good Reasons Why Blogging is the new Internet Marketing Tool

Did you know that blogging is a concept that actually started in late 90s? It started out as a solution for commenting on an existing webpage, an opportunity for visitors and readers to react or voice out one’s opinion on the said page. From its humble beginnings as single-sentence commentary has developed into pages of personal take on just about anything and everything under the sun, moon and starts.

As blogging continues to evolve, online advertising has tapped into the blog’s potential. In case you need to convince your higher-ups that blogging is a great solution or just for your own knowledge, presented below are 5 reasons why you should use blogging as an Internet marketing tool.

1.Easy-Peasy as Pie: Blogging is easy. The easiest way to get your piece of internet real estate is through blogging. Very basic computer skills are necessary… an average adult can read, type and click a mouse. It’s like having a virtual piece of paper… all you have to do is write your ideas, experiences, new product reviews or announcements, etc. For the purpose of generating income via your blog, being genuine and sincere is priceless…the truth behind your words (the “voice” of your blog) will come out and hopefully entice your reader to also try products and services that you wish to promote (yours and others).

Equipment: All you need is a computer and an Internet connection (who doesn’t?) then you can blog and advertise.

Amazing concept! Soon to come on a widespread basis is mobile blogging - either texting posts via your cell phone, or calling in to your blog site and leaving a voice message that is converted from voice-to-text into a post! So next time you are driving along the highway and you have a deep thought, you can call up your blog and blah-blah-blah so that your inner genius ideas need never be lost again - as long as you have your cell phone.

2. Be Real, Yo!: Blogging is authentic. In this day and age advertising saturate our lives from every angle. Therefore it is no surpise that the public always questions the credibility of promoters’ claims. However, in blogs, real people share their real-life experiences, unscathed by paid advertising. Reading blogs about first-hand product use is like talking to people about their first-hand experience. You definitely want to buy a tried and tested product.

Take this fact to heart: Never promote something that you have not tried, tested and used first! Otherwise, your credibility is damaged and is very difficult to repair. Your credibility is one of your greatest assests online! Remember that. (more…)