How to Get Started Blogging

Posted on by Donald in How-To 1 Comment

It’s good to have a purpose… a reasoning behind publishing content on the web. Some do it for entertainment purposes, right? Others for teaching others (How-To’s). Without this focus, then why do it?

I started the aspkin.com blog long ago to be my personal notepad (a secret static HTML site), to jot down my ideas, cool things I discovered, things that I usually wrote down on my computer and forgot about. I was tired of writing stuff down and losing it.. I wanted a place to store my thoughts, and thus aspkin.com was born.

And with that my mini How-to guides were born.. I’d have a problem, figure out the solution and blog about it. I guess I would be a teaching, solution driven blogger. I solve problems. Those who solve problems make money I later found out. And thus eBay Stealth, Amazon Ghost, AutoBlogBook and SixFigureBoss were born.

All started from this blog by solving other people’s problem.

Isn’t that cool?

I have written actual books because of this blog, a real book you can hold in your hand. It’s my platform that will be around forever. It’s a platform I control.

While social media has made things easier for the masses both on publishing content and connecting with others, blogs are still going strong and carry a lot of weight.

If you were a blogger what would you blog about? At one time I had a Weight Loss blog, a journal really where everyday I would blog about my progress in losing weight. The blog was a HUGE success in it’s goal, my weight loss. I lost weight! It was motivating. It kept in my check and because it was online, kept me accountable to my peers.

Whether your aim is simply to jot down notes (like how I got started), teach others something cool or even blog about losing weight, do it! Sharing your story online is easier than ever.

This is How You Can Get Started

1. Purchase a Domain Name

I suggest Namecheap.com, you can’t go wrong with these guys. Go for a brand name, something vague.. make a nickname you use online.. something cool.

Isn’t aspkin.com cool? 🙂

2. Get Website Hosting

I suggest HostGator, the baby-package for starters. Here is 25% off coupon: aspkin25off

3. Install WordPress

Get Blogging!

The great thing about WordPress is it can be more than a blog… heck, I use WordPress for 90% of my websites, and they’re ALL different. I have Membership websites, Sales Pages, Squeeze Pages and more. WordPress is awesome!

Talk soon!


Making Money Online with SixFigureBoss!

Posted on by Donald in Intresting Stuff 3 Comments

Woah! It’s been awhile!

The past several months have been interesting… LOTS of learning and implementing new ideas. I built a WordPress theme from scratch last weekend (first time), built several new Sales Pages, Squeeze Pages, Membership websites and created hundreds of pages of content for my other projects (including video content). There has been a huge focus on growing new businesses and building out existing ones… I could use a full time Marketer on my team.

I had some extra time yesterday so I added a new comment plugin to the blog (Disqus) which I like a lot because of the community feel it brings. I cleaned up the front end (index page), added a new cache system and a few other tweaks. I like the aspkin blog again!

I created a new section awhile back called, Make Money, and it’s still there. And I was starting to build out that section and then I realized something… I could expand on it greatly and create a step-by-step guide on making money online, and so that’s what I did! I created SixFigureBoss.com! A whole website dedicated to showing a person step-by-step HOW to make money online. Go there and enter your email address to get started.

Six Figure Boss by Aspkin

Make Money Online with SFB

And it’s not just another Affiliate ‘How To’ guide, like a lot of marketers put out… rather show you how to create your own products: eBooks, Membership Websites, Virtual Products and even services which bring in recurring income. Isn’t that awesome?

It’s been a big focus of mine and continues to be a focus as it’s awesome project. It’s something I can sink my teeth into and teach others how to make money online by creating their OWN business.

The thing I love about creating new things, whether simple how-to guides or software… I learn a lot in the process. I gain a lot of skills that I can apply to other parts of my businesses. SixFigureBoss was a HUGE project, larger than all my other projects combined and it’s impact could be huge. The skills I gained will make all my other works more awesome… I’m excited for what’s to come. 🙂

Talk soon!


Value Based Marketing in Action

Posted on by Donald in Internet Marketing 2 Comments

First off what is Value Based Marketing? In this example it’s giving value to the consumer first, without expecting anything in return. It’s the best way to advertise yet not a lot of people use this marketing strategy. There have been hundreds of case studies that when consumers receive value first, whether that’s entertainment, valuable information, sample products, what have you, consumers respond positively to the product or service and instinctively want to learn more from you.

In this example, a post on Reddit links to a Bruce Lee video, where Bruce Lee is demonstrating his Kung Fu abilities. A short but entertaining video!

What caught my eye was one of the comments in the Reddit posts below: 

value-based-marketing

What you see is Value Based Marketing in action and it’s Instant Results!

A person viewed this video, liked what they saw and decided to purchase the product right away. Not only did they purchase the product right away but they announced what they were doing to other viewers which was positively received. That’s awesome!

What sort of Value Based Marketing Could You Do?

Personally I like to give as much value as possible to consumers without asking for anything in return. In my case that’s useful information, case studies, quick videos and more.

What seems to work best is video based marketing, whether it’s tutorials, reviews, testimonials; something a person can absorb quickly. Of course you’ll want to point viewers to your product or service to learn more. Video based content is easy to create, valued highly and well received.

A strategy I like to use are video series. I like to create videos with follow ups, such as “Tutorial Part 1 of 7“, keeping viewers glued to their screen, subscribed and waiting for follow up videos. It’s fun to create video series, to add cliff hangers or hooks to your content.

When done correctly Value Based Marketing trumps any other sort of marketing. Now add in series of content, subscribed viewers and quickly trust is built and you’re selling more products. It’s that easy!


I Messed UP… Live and Learn

Posted on by Donald in SEO 1 Comment

I have a friend who asked me to optimize his website a couple months back… he’s a general contractor that focuses on home painting, remodeling, room additions, concrete, etc. He moved to a neighboring city and needed to optimize his website for his new location. It’s not a big deal so I went ahead and completely redesigned and optimized his website and I asked him about keyword locations he wanted to target. He gave me a few suggestions and I went with it.

That’s where I messed up. 
Houston TexasWell, several months later my friend is ranking high for the keywords he wanted, the problem is NO ONE is searching for the city he target.  He targeted a small outskirt city outside of Houston, TX with a population of only 20,000 when he should have targeted either Houston itself or the city literally a mile from where he moved, League city with a population of almost 100,000 people.

It’s my fault really for not doing enough research ahead of time. I expected him to know you want to target large CITIES, rather small outskirts where there is barely enough people to call it a city. I guess the lesson would be to measure twice and cut once, right?

So, now I’m going to redo his website again and target the larger surrounding cities in his area, I might even target Houston, he wants to expand there in a few months anyhow. No more going after cities of 20,000 people and hoping for the best.

We go after large markets and leave the outskirts for the mom and pop shops.

That said, next time what I’m going to do is go to Google maps, look at all the large surrounding cities and target them. The cities and areas I should have targeted are: League City, Pasadena, Pearland, Baytown, Deer Park, Friendswood, Galveston, La Porte, Texas City and that’s pretty much it… with a FOCUS on Pasadena and Pearland because their populations are over 100k.

Even better, Wiki Pages seems to have a list of cities WITH their population that can come in hand. Just know if you’re doing local SEO work… target CITIES, not counties as we’ve tried before. And don’t target SMALL cities that Google doesn’t seem to care about. LARGE cities is where it’s at.



Let’s talk about Dirty SEO

Posted on by Donald in SEO 4 Comments

First off what is dirty SEO? From my perspective, dirty SEO involves on-site keyword stuffing, low quality content (including duplicate content), over-optimized titles, internal link spam and direct linking same page content. This is just basic on-site dirty SEO. There are tons of other methods people use to try and game the search engines that have worked well in the past. I have tried a lot of these methods myself and for a time, it did its job. The thing is, something that works today, might not work 6 months from now.

What about dirty off-site SEO? This includes low quality link-wheels utilizing spun and duplicate content. Direct blasting your site with tools such as AMR and XRummer, etc. This is not only dirty, but ineffective with recent Google changes. Other methods include joining or creating your own link pyramids, etc.  Read more


Amazon Suspension Guide – Amazon Ghost!

Posted on by Donald in Amazon, Featured Post 2 Comments

After many months of researching, testing new strategies and learning new tips I have finally completed the Ultimate Amazon Suspension guide – Amazon Ghost!

With Amazon Ghost I detail the exact steps you need to take in order to create solid Amazon seller accounts without becoming linked and shut down again. I detail everything you need to easily create new seller accounts, from browser fingerprints to personal account details. I show you how Amazon tracks your every move, what you can do about it and how you can not only future proof your accounts but make sure you NEVER get linked and shut down again. Even if you don’t know anything about computers, you will be able to follow Amazon Ghost and get past your Amazon suspension.

Stop wasting time trying to figure out how you can get past your amazon suspension, it will take you months of trial & error, trust me. If you read eBay Stealth, then you know what you’re in for with Amazon Ghost. My guide is easy to read and step-by-step to make things as easy as possible for you. Don’t get me wrong, Amazon is very advanced compared to eBay and PayPal, but with our help I’m positive you’ll be back to selling in no time.

Read more


For the lack of Blogging…

Posted on by Donald in Random 3 Comments

The reason why I don’t blog as much anymore is because I found that a lot of what I want to write about only helps my competition; while the common reader may find what I say interesting, they won’t take action or that they will take action and kill whatever edge I had before I decided to blog about it.

For example I wrote a guide on AutoBlogging not to long ago which is one of the methods I use to make money online. Now I didn’t think it would be a big deal to the competition because autoblogging could be used for any number of niches without effecting me. And I could make some extra money selling my guide. The bad thing is I lack the will to update the eBook to a newer version of tips and techniques I’ve learned because I feel what I edge I know could possibly die out if I give out the information. It happens a lot.

I love to help people but I’m finding it more counter productive to my online internet marketing goals then ever before. I make 5x as much with my own ventures then when I attempt to help other people. Sure another source of income is nice.. but I rather focus on my working models then teach my competition and lose what I have. I don’t want to be that person that makes money teaching other people, I want to make money doing what I preach instead.

Maybe that will explain a little on why I lack the will to blog more about what I’ve come to know.

I still want to blog, but it’s going to have to be on a different subject. 🙂

We’ll see how it goes.

aspkin,


Google Search Results based on IP Address?

Posted on by Donald in Google 1 Comment

I noticed something earlier today.

I was doing a search for a highly competitive keyword in which I knew I ranked number one for (one of my other websites). When one day and over the past couple weeks I found a competitor’s website taking my place. I cleared my cookies and flash objects and did the search again but I had the same outcome. I then called a friend up and asked them to do the search for me… and they had a different result with my site in the number one position.

I thought to myself, “well that’s good, but why on my computer I’m in the second position?”

I did another test with a friend’s computer at my house (on my network) and a competitor’s site was again number one.

I then realized it was an IP issue. I changed my IP address and guess what? My site was back to where it should be.

So even WITHOUT cookies, flash objects and or even logging into your Google account.. you’ll still receive the same Google targeted search results if you’re logged in with the same IP address. Google can track your IP address and server you up stuff they think you want to see.

How long has Google been doing this?

There systems must be incrediable to be able to do this.

Just something interesting I noticed.


Thinking About Starting An Online Business?

Posted on by Donald in How-To, Recommends Leave a comment

Are you thinking about starting an online business? You want to get away from the online marketplaces and start focusing on your own website?

Well you’re in luck! Starting a website and building it is easier then you think. First things first you need is a domain name!

Here are Five Tips on selecting a successful domain name:

1. Brainstorm Five Keywords
When you first begin your domain name search, it helps to have 5 terms or phrases in mind that best describe the domain you’re seeking. Once you have this list, you can start to pair them or add prefixes & suffixes to create good domain ideas. For example, if you’re launching a Bean Bag related domain, you might start with words like, “bean bag, chair, sac, rocker, lounger” then play around until you can find a good match.

2. Select a Dot Com (.com) Domain Name
If a person is surfing around looking for a website, and they know its name, most people will try widget.com, before widget.net or .org, etc. So for the website owner who wants their site to be found, the rule is: if at all possible, get a .com domain name. Trust me on this; it’s a must if you want a long term successful business.

3. Make Your Domain Name Easy to Type
If a domain name requires considerable attention to type correctly, due to spelling, length or the use of un-memorable words or sounds, you’ve lost a good portion of your branding and marketing value. I’ve even heard usability folks tout the value of having the letters include easy-to-type letters (which I interpret as avoiding “q,” “z,” “x,” “c,” and “p”).

4. Make it Short
Should you choose a short or long domain name? Most people may argue that a short domain name is better than a long domain name. Well, I agree. A shorter domain name is usually easier to remember. Of course, it depends on the situation. For example, “IAmADatingCoach.com” is a better choice compared to “IAADC.com” since the former is easier to remember. Yet, you won’t want to choose “IAmADatingCoachWhoHasTaughtThousandsOfStudentsSuccessfully.com”. People won’t remember such a long domain name and even if they do, it would be a chore to type. Short names are easy to type and easy to remember. They also allow for more characters in the URL in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) and a better fit on business cards and other offline media. Short is good. 🙂

5. Make it Easy to Spell
Make sure it passes the phone test, if you were to say the domain name of your website to a friend over the phone, would your friend be able to spell it correctly the first time without your having to spell it for them? If not, you’ve failed the phone test and should likely try a different domain name. Also, be careful about double letters. Take CyberRodeo, for example. Their domain uses a double R, as you might expect, but there is an uncertainty there. The two R’s together look a bit strange if written without capitalization, and a good name will not force the user to assume anything about the name. If you must have a double letter, the best solution is to buy both versions of the domain.

Once you select a domain you want to use, go to NameCheap and register your name ASAP! NameCheap is a well established trusted domain register and web host. I use them for a lot of my domains.

Once you’ve done that, you’re ready for web hosting and I’ll talk about that with my next post!


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 17 18   Next »