Ya, I STILL haven’t got my crap together - cause I was too busy fishin with my dad, hubby and kids. Can’t tell you how many “bluegill dinners” we’ve had over the summer. Can anyone say - FISH FRY? …

Then I came in here and made this post saying “I’m just showing my dad how to blog, sorry rss feeders!” which is exactly what I was doing. Tried to show him how to add a pic and a video to a blog page - and how completely easy it was. So I picked out - and posted the vid below, back in what, June?

Here is a funny youtube video!

Since then, I’ve just been over here doing my thing, basically. Lot’s of kid stuff, holidays, working online as usual (mostly OTHER PEOPLE’S stuff) to where I can never get to my own. Such is my way of life I guess!

I’ve started Kevin Riley’s new Rocket Product Creation course, and I think it’s pretty great. Traded him some keyword research and whatnot for the course. I missed it when it first came out, and I’ll have to ask if he’ll open it back up any time soon so I can send you all a link.

My cousin put up a really cool site, (Rick and I created this one for the most part - he’s been doing all the product additions) at www.newharmonica.com

My gosh has Danny G. done a LOT of work on that. The amazing number of harps that he has in there right now is crazy lots of work. He hasn’t even started adding the OTHER musical equipment in there yet - so that site is gonna be a killer. He’s learning along with the rest of us very well, and has been able to sell a number of harps already.

See, if I would have just created ONE site like that - and STUCK TO IT - I would be in a lot better position than I am. That cousin of mine is going to totally kick my ass online, and he just started about what - 3-4 months ago if that?

Point is, he has a great product (Harmonicas) - nice branding “Happiness is a NEW Harmonica” - great domain name “new harmonica.com” - and a PASSION for what he does. The man eats, sleeps and breathes harmonicas. He knows a LOT of “BIG NAME” folks in his biz, and he’s gonna be kickin ass and takin names.

I couldn’t be prouder of him!

Therefore - if you are looking for a unique Christmas gift for the “hard to buy for” in your family - head over to www.newharmonica.com and see what my cuz has listed. He’s got the very high end harps, and a bunch of “low cost ones” - plus you won’t find a better deal on the net. He’s slashing prices as much as he can and still enable himself to make a little profit to pay for it all.

I’ll try my best to get on here posting a bit more, but just have been busier than I wish to be, and kind of staying out of the IM world a bit. Been more out to help my pals and local biz than anything else. Get some graphics done, and that kind of stuff.

If I don’t post anything before Christmas - I wish you and yours a very Merry one.

Thanks!
Michelle

Hello everyone,

If you’re on my RSS feed, you’ve probably noticed that there have been some “odd things” coming through the feed. Apologies for that, and also for the lack of emails.

Been busier than heck, and really need to sit and read the FOUR HOUR WORK WEEK! Busy isn’t always a good thing.

When you work online, time management is so important. Something I have yet to master, sadly. I’m still working on it! Sometimes stuff just happens. The last round of fun being PC issues, hosting issues…

I had uninstalled Norton Antivirus to go with a different virus program.

Well, when I uninstalled Norton, my computer freaked. I couldn’t get online for a while, until my dad and I figured out what the issue was.

Of course we made it a bit more complicated than it really was - and I did tell my dad exactly what I had done right before the PC crashed.

He ended up finding a “Norton cleaner” that got rid of all the “leftover” Norton files, and wallah - back online. We had been through EVERYTHING we could think of, including networking issues. We even tried going back to a restore point.

It was the Norton cleaner that worked. Go figure.

THEN - after all that fun, one of my hosting companies kept locking me out of my sites. I’m in there building blogs, and attempting to work on other sites, when I would simply get locked out. Just trying to save a blog post would lock me out. Then there was no access to ANY of my sites for over 4 days. Man was I hot.

Ever felt like THIS???

Been with this company for over 3 years, so of course I had a ton of sites over there. Which company you ask? www.eprohosted.com

Don’t go there!

I had found that hosting on eBay years ago, when they first got started. They offered “unlimited” hosting for 20 bucks per month. It was easy to work with, and I liked the guy who ran the site.

However, I think he may have sold the site, because I haven’t seen him through the helpdesk for quite a while. In fact - the helpdesk didn’t even respond to about 5 tickets over 4 days. Until I started sending tickets to different departments.

Well, after no access to ANY sites for 4 days, and no answers on support, that was enough. A programmer pal of mine is in the process of moving all the sites over to Host Gator now. We’re talking over 30 miscellaneous websites, blogs, etc.

This would be why some of my sites are “down” some have “issues” and this blog here - well - it also needs a lot of work to rebuild. Looks like I have lost all the pics I’ve included in posts, tags, and all kinds of crazy stuff. Talk about OUCH!

Of all the things I’ve lost over the years, think I miss my mind the most!

That I have at least got my blog here a new look (which will be tweaked more of course) and I’ll be going through fixing all the errors. So I really apologize if you get “plinged” through the RSS feed more than once while I try to update and re-add pictures, tags, and other things to fix the blog back up.

Never a dull moment, that’s for sure!

Hope everything is well on your end, and I should be back to business in short order. Well, I’ll do my best anyhow!

Thanks!
Michelle

PS - I also got an older document fixed up with all the new updates for 2009, called Know Your Image Rights. If you already have it, and would like an update - just send me an email (helpdesk is still currently down) and I will shoot a revised copy over to you. If you have NOT seen the report yet - just go to Know Your Image Rights - it’s a goodie!

Well, I missed the Monday post/email here - and I’m now on Wednesday. Day late and a dollar short again. Thought I would post up some cool Photoshop tutorial downloads and other fun Photoshop stuff.

I just upgraded to Photoshop CS4 and had to go about replacing some of my “cool tools” that help me create graphics. Since many of you would like to know more about making some cash with graphics, thought I would run down some of the important things on that end today. I did get ECoverFX.com turned into a wordpress platform, then haven’t been able to get back to it. Never a dull moment.

Now, there are MANY different graphic programs out there, but Adobe Photoshop is still top rank in my opinion. Nothing compares with the results you can get from Photoshop. There are so many tools to use, so many cool free helpful downloads and more. If you’re going to create great graphics for cash, you’re going to need Photoshop. There is no way around that.

Well, so a full version of Photoshop CS4 extended is close to 1 grand now. Here is a tip. Get a copy that is NEW, still in the shrink wrap - that can be registered from eBay. OR - you can get an educational discount if you have access to someone who is a teacher - or that is in the educational field. They can get you an educational discount.

We can’t just flop out 1k for software (even if it is a write-off) so we look for great deals. You can also check Amazon. Be a bit more careful on eBay, because there are people out there scamming Photoshop buyers. If they have low feedback, are a new user with a nice cheap price - be very careful! Look for powersellers, and other sellers that have been around for a longer time.

That said - let’s direct you to some awesome Photoshop resources and Photoshop tutorial downloads.

On of my favorite resources happens to be Al Ward’s ActionFX.

I’ve known about that site for quite some time. I’ve been a yearly member, and will occasionally purchase a days entry to go pick up Al’s new stuff. 24 hour access for like 7 bucks, which you can’t beat with a stick. Check it out at: www.actionfx.com

Al’s type actions are awesome. He also has a lot of patterns, shapes and layer styles that you can use for digital scrapbooking projects and more. His Framing actions can make a photo look really cool in no time. The photo actions are nice too. You can get a number of photo actions that make your photos look more like works of art just by running the photo script. He also has some good tutorials in the member area.

Then there is Deviant Art. I haven’t spent a WHOLE lot of time there, but have found some great brushes, shapes, patterns, layer styles and actions. There are wonderful sources of inspiration on there - with lots of stuff shared for free between the members. You can take a look through Deviant Art Here - http://www.deviantart.com/

If you have never used layer styles, shapes, patterns, brushes and more - feel free to ask questions about that here on the blog. Or just do a google search for “how to install photoshop brushes” for example - and you’ll pull up some good info.

Now of course when you use Photoshop - there is always something that you are wanting to figure out how to do. Did you know that there are TONS of Photoshop videos out there all over the place, tutorials etc - where you can learn what you need to for free. Check this out once.

Photoshop Tutorials on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=photoshop+tutorial&aq=f

Now if you haven’t seen “Donnie’s” Photoshop vids, you are missing out. They are quite hilarious if you ask me! Wish I was that good at being funny and creating Photoshop vids at the same time.

Check out Donnie HERE! Dude is FUNNY. (Some adult humor)

There is also a nice site at http://www.tutorialwiz.com/ where you can find some interesting photoshop tutorials. Same with http://www.eyesondesign.net/pshop/tuts.htm

http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-tutorials has some new stuff as well. If you search around, you’ll find all kinds of photoshop tutorial downloads and more!

Hope that helps on the graphic end until I can finish up ECoverFX with all the good graphic info!

Thanks!
Michelle

First off, I have to apologize for for being MIA here for the past few weeks!

The boys and I have been sick off and on, even up to this past weekend. The oldest just had the flu bug again yesterday, I didn’t think he was ever going to be able to keep food and drink down. I haven’t been able to stay awake so many nights, and the nights I have been up - I’ve been cramming in work that needed done for clients. Then Jeremy Gatica and I started working on a project that has kept us both pretty busy.

Also, over the weekend - we lost a really nice guy in the Internet Marketing Circle. His name was Barry Richardson. He passed away on March 6th, in the morning. There is a thread here in the Warrior Forum that will fill you in on all the details. Very sad. He’s been on the net for a long time, and will be missed. If you knew Barry and would like to donate to help his wife cover the necessary expenses, just go to:

Tribute To Barry Richardson

His wife’s name is Martha, and she’s doing what she can to keep going. Lots of unpleasant details to deal with at home. She’ll be doing the best she can to keep Barry’s Internet Business alive, so if you were a customer of his - they are working on all the issues. Please give them time to get everything under control. Martha didn’t know what all Barry did online, so there is a lot to learn.

I did want to mention Russell Brunson’s HUGE Birthday Party Giveaway too. I don’t remember seeing one quite this large in a very long time. I’ll let you know what all we’ve been up to here in a second, but for now - check out Russell’s Birthday Bash!

There are a number of new (and older) products in there - so have fun digging around a bit to see what all you can find! You can get my gift right here - no need to sign back up. I’m currently working on another one that ties into what Jeremy and I are working on, so I’ll link that here when it’s finished. Rick Hunter has an awesome little tool he’ll be adding, when his page is done - I’ll link that too. Think VIDEO!

Now, this was originally intended for the “What Are The Steps In Creating An Online Business” mini series - so let me tell you what all I have been up to lately.

Have I been following my plan?

Well, not as great as I thought I could, that’s for sure. Things change so fast, opportunities come up, and I keep getting pulled into creating things. Go figure. I need to create some BLOG POSTS is what I really SHOULD be creating, but when Jeremy had a great idea - I couldn’t help myself!

Mostly because it ties in to what we both already do NOW. Which is creating blogs and Minisites. Combine them both together, and you get Minisite Mayhem! Or MiniPRESS Mayhem if you prefer.

What we’ve been doing is working on the product, making sure it works great, building Wordpress blogs to use for traffic, building a new base of Wordpress targeted subscribers through Russell’s Birthday Giveaway, and more. This is kind of what they call “getting the buzz out” about your product.

Right now we’ve got a few sites up that we can link our giveaway products to. This helps with some back-linking. The sites are getting traffic and new subscribers. People begin to see and hear “minisite mayhem” and “minipress mayhem” - so it won’t be totally unheard of when we finally finish it. There will be some recognition of the name at least.

Even though the product is not done yet - we’ve pulled together some “front end stuff” that will help us get the word out, and hopefully collect some beginning streams of traffic. This will be very helpful for when we ARE done - these small traffic streams will already be in place. Then we’ll be able to build on the small streams, add new streams, etc.

Well, sadly - I’m feeling a bit ill again myself. Sorry for the lack of posts and emails, but we’ve just had a ton of fun over here on the home front. Wouldn’t be surprised if I picked up what Branden had yesterday. Once everyone feels back up to par, I’ll have to write down much of what Jeremy and I are doing to get a product completed and up for sale. For now, I’m ready to go lay down.

Thanks!
Michelle

But it’s enough to really irritate over 15 thousand Facebook users in just one group over the “small” TOS

changes. Now I breezed through the TOS when I joined Facebook, as I do most sites to see what’s up… but I don’t remember being overly concerned for any reason.

Maybe I didn’t read the TOS well enough - but I didn’t feel it looked to be overly agressive. Musta been tired or something. Heh.

I first heard about it tonight (of course, day late as usual) from Coach Deb on Twitter tonight. Tell me what you make of all this:
http://mashable.com/2009/02/16/facebook-tos-privacy/

and this:
http://amandafrench.net/2009/02/16/facebook-terms-of-service-compared/

Seems to me that I’m about ready to cancel my Facebook account, and delete everything on it. Just out of principle.

Just get used to it sheep. We can do anything we want with you. We’ll break you in on your wonderful social networking sites… then we’ll be able to convert you easily from your Internet life. You too, will get your microchip implant. You will be hooked into the computer from your own flesh. And if we don’t like what you do, we can just turn your chip OFF.

You really want to know how I feel about that kind of crap? No, you don’t.

I really shouldn’t be telling people I have that site, so I won’t. But I SHOULD!

What happens when the folks who run the puppet show gain access (hell they already have it) to all your Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, email….. think about it.

Hopefully you don’t have anything remotely incriminating anywhere.

Sad part is, if you have anything on a computer - it can be hacked, it can be used, it can be abused. Facebook is just being blatantly obvious. Well, maybe not blatantly, because I don’t remember getting any email or anything that said “yo - we’ve updated TOS.”

Heh. Hide your heads sheep. We’ll pass one right over on ya when you’re not looking.

Great thing about all this Facebook TOS bruhahah - is that it goes to show how many people will stand up and say “No. I don’t think so.” One Facebook group with over 15k members in what, about 50 hours?

Check that out right here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=77069107432

So, we’ll see how this all plays out. Mark my words - it’s another way of “breaking you in” and “dumbing you down” and getting you to “play along” - getting you USED to total control of your life. It’s global. It’s not just in the US, it’s not just CHINA or RUSSIA - it’s GLOBAL.

Sorry for the rant, and getting the email out late - but I’m on a thin schedule, trying to do to much. More news later - but for now… what do you think about the Facebook TOS changes?

Thanks!
Michelle

Hi there guys and gals!

From our “survey monkey” session, we did have a couple questions about how to get Joint Ventures with some of the “more experienced” folks online. If you go to the “recommended” page of this blog, you’ll see my review of the folks I think very highly of. (Yeah, I know, I still have to change the spelling of Rieko’s name for Riley, and never did get all my links in there so you can find each person… I’m slow. I know.)

Why am I recommending PEOPLE instead of PRODUCTS? Well, doesn’t EVERYONE recommend products? Who else out there is recommending people that they think are nice, wonderful, great at what they do - and above all, can be trusted! Michelle just has to be a LITTLE bit different, come on now…

Michelle is different!

So, tonight I’m making my usual cruise through the TIMIC forum, and Willie had a great article in there. I caught it through email - but pretty much already knew his philosophy on Joint Ventures - so kind of skimmed through it. When I caught it again tonight in the TIMIC forum, I thought - “Hey, what a great way to answer that question from the survey!”

Willie has given permission for me to post this here on the blog. This is one of the best answers you’ll find on HOW to get the best Joint Ventures out there. This is exactly what the “more experienced” partners look for. By knowing this, you’ll be able to match up with the correct partner, and make sure they have no other option but to say “SURE! I’ll promote that for you!”

Without further ado:

—————————————————————————-

How I Choose Which Products To Promote
Copyright 2009 by Willie Crawford

Once it became known that my subscriber database was
approaching 800,000 (across numerous niches - some
fairly obscure), I started getting dozens of joint
venture proposals every day. These “JV proposals” are
generally just requests to become an affiliate for
their product, or to help with an impending product
launch.

Most of the proposals I get are in the internet
marketing niche, while less than 1/4th of my database
is in that niche. If a product isn’t a perfect
match for a niche, I don’t consider offering it to
that niche. Experience has taught me that offering
inappropriate products is one of the quickest ways
to lose your list!

I thought that it might be useful to share some of
how I decide which products to promote and why those
criteria matter. This should prove useful to both
product owners looking for joint venture partners,
and to those also trying to decide which products they
will promote.

Here are some of the questions that I consciously ask
myself:

1) What does it do, and is this something that my
subscribers both need and already want? If they want
it but I don’t feel that they need it, then offering
it to them may cause an ethical dilemma. I don’t
compromise my ethics! If they don’t want it, and
aren’t already looking for it, then making sales can
also be an uphill climb.

If it’s too difficult to explain what it does, then
the sales process will have to be protracted. If it’s
just “the next shiny thing,” then telling my
subscribers about it is probably more of a distraction
than a service.

2) Does it really work if my customers will just
use it? A skilled copywriter can make burnt toast
soaked in hemlock sound appealing! What value does the
product actually add to the stream of life?

3) Do I know the product owner and feel that they
are reputable and someone I want to trust with
customers whom I care about and nurture? I work very
hard at building a relationship with my customers
and trying to actually help those willing to be helped.
I won’t do anything to un-do years of hard work.

4) Has the product owner ever promoted one of my
products and how much effort did they put into it.
Many people have been trained to point out that they
are a subscriber or customer in a joint venture proposal.
My question then becomes did you become a subscriber, or
buy my $5 product, just so that you could stick that in
your joint venture proposal. Did you register as an
affiliate, and then promote no harder than making one
blog post… which barely generated 10 clicks?

5) Are they a member of The Internet Marketing Inner
Circle, my membership site, where they are both exposed
to the culture of my online operations, and I get to
interact with them… and get a feel for them and their
business acumen and standards?

This my mastermind where we discuss many complex issues
related to marketing, and running an online business.
If you are a member, then you will have been exposed to
many important concepts necessary for success, and that
puts you ahead of many of your competitors.

6) Does this compete directly with one of my own
products or projects, or one of my clients’ products
or projects? As a business owner, it’s generally
foolish to sell a direct competitor’s product instead
of my own… though not always. I also feel an
obligation to promote my clients products before
promoting those of someone that I don’t have a
relationship with.

7) Is it appropriately priced for the value that it
delivers? After testing/using/studying the product,
do I honestly feel that it’s worth the price being
charged? Will it deliver many time that much value
to my customers who actually use the product?

How good is their customer service? How do they
provide customer service? Will my customers who have
problems be able to easily reach someone? Do they have
a helpdesk so that there is an easy way around email
deliverability issues? Do they have an easy to find
phone number and mailing address? Is it clear WHO
owns the business?

9) When is it being released, and how will the release
or launch be handled? Is there sufficient lead time to
sequence it into my calendar without interfering with
one of my own or one of my clients’ projects? Will the
tools that I prefer to use have time to work, or am I
forced to only mail for a 2-3 day period after which
the product is no long available? How much hype will
surround the launch, and what long-term impact will
this have on my customers?

10) Will there be long-term demand for this product,
or will the market forget that it even exists in a
week? Can I use tools that will deliver a steady
stream of orders over the long-term, or is this a
product that there might be alot of short-term demand
for but that customers will likely set aside in favor
of “the next shiny object” next week?

11) One year from now, will my customers be happy that
I introduced them to this product? Is this something
that is easy enough to use, and that they can easily
sequence into their business processes/systems in a
way that they will still be benefiting from the
product a year from now?

12) Would I buy the product if I fit the profile of
“the ideal customer?” Knowing the product as well as
I do, after thoroughly studying it, would I buy it if
I didn’t already own it, IF I were the target customer
that it was designed for?

13) If I did a previous promotion for them, did the
product owner pay commissions promptly? Running my own
business, where I pay numerous professionals for their
expertise in a timely fashion, I prefer spending funds
recently paid to me over tapping into capital that I’ve
already invested/employed in other places.

Late payments combined with a lack of communication WILL
result in my refusing to ever do future promotions for a
given company or individual. If they mistreat a business
partner then they will likely mistreat my customers.

14) Am I really satisfied with all of the answers I
gave myself to all of the questions above. Am I being
totally honest with MYSELF, and am I… by promoting
this product, living up to the standards that I set for
myself?

If I can answer yes, to all of the above questions,
then I will consider promoting a product. If not, then
I should politely decline promoting that product,
pointing out why if asked.

—————————–

Willie Crawford is one of the world’s leading Internet
marketing authorities, and an in-demand joint venture
broker. Most of his mentoring is done in a group
setting on the member-only discussion forum at:
http://TheInternetMarkeingInnerCircle.com Join that
discussion to experience phenomenal business growth!

——————————————————————————

Personally, I think there are a LOT of words of wisdom in this post from Willie. Read it again, and really THINK about it. If you’re going to create your own products, what better things to think about? If you are going to promote affiliate products, why not treat your people right and be PICKY about it? After all, your folks would expect that, wouldn’t they?

If you’re going to Joint Venture with someone, - and I mean a true JV Partner that can really get things done, can you match up? You almost HAVE to now days, because you know what? Many people CAN’T match up.

My hope, is that this post will answer much of the JV questions, and if not - please post here so I know if you need more information. I’ll be happy to answer from my experience, or dig up the info if I don’t already know it.

Next time, we’ll continue with rebuilding ECoverFX - (I’m being techy for the folks that want the “step-by-step” kind of stuff) - because that is essentially how I start every blog. I also want to get to outsourcing here soon, because not only have you guys and gals asked about that - I need to get on it myself.

Questions? Post em here on the blog for others to learn too!

Thanks!
Michelle

We have had three winners for the contest I had the other day for the Valentine’s Day site.

Karen wins that one!

Michael wins another site that I think he’ll be able to do something with, because he has more experience.

Don will win yet another site - because I think it will be a good one for him. Only having a couple of hours a day I think this one will work out best for him.

Karen, I think I have your email address already, and will send you login information this evening before I go to bed.

Michael and Don, please shoot me an email to mkbrouse (at) gmail.com, and I’ll let you guys know which sites I’ve picked out for you.

We’ll have to get Karen busy tomorrow if we can, and then I’ll go with Michael and Don next.

Thanks!
Michelle

All right, it’s 7:30PM, and I’m able to type with the “quickness” now that the nails have been trimmed.

In the previous post, we have backed up all the files that were on the ECoverFX website, deleted the entire 1.3 Gig site using WHM (Web Host Manager) - then recreated a new Wordpress site on ECoverFX.com. Then we added a first post to the site so people know it’s being revised.

Next steps are to configure Wordpress correctly, add the plugins I need, find (or make) a theme for the website - then we can start adding .html pages, products, paylinks, posts, etc. Since I have the old site backed up to the hard drive, this will save me some time. I won’t have to create a whole lot of NEW material right off the bat, it will be mostly a matter of revising, updating and using some of the old pages from the other site.

So let’s get started. First I’m going to try creating my own theme with Artisteer. Artisteer is a program I purchased a while back after Beta testing it for a while. They just updated it to create Drupal and Joomla themes too, but so far I’ve only used it for Wordpress themes. First I’m going to dig out my old header.

Hmmm, since it’s been so long ago that I created this header - the .psd file is probably burned off on a disc somewhere. I’ve got a screaming 4 year old in the office, so I’m in no mood to dig for that file. Let’s handle the screaming kid first. Ok, digging for dinosaur bones will work for about an hour I’d say - let DAD take over for a while!

Another thing I’m going to have an issue with is the text on the header. I’d like to keep the text on the header as it is, but Wordpress is going to overlay another set of text on top of that. We’ll worry about that later. For now, I’ll crop the navigation off the bottom of the header, since I no longer need it - and add the header into Artisteer.

8:45 PM, and after much tweaking around, I have finally come up with a template I’m liking for now. It’ll do. I was able to make the header text and the subhead text “really small” 8 pnts. - and made them black in color. This will allow me to keep the header text on the site, but since it’s small, and of the same color as a portion of the header - nobody will notice it being there. Here’s what we have so far:

New ECoverFX Theme created with Artisteer.

I have exported the new theme from Artisteer, now all I need to do is install the theme on my server. Here’s how to do that:

1. Log in to your website using FTP.

2. Load the new theme folder into /wp-content/themes folder on your server. See pic below. It’s important to remember to have the file unzipped, and the folder for the theme (with all it’s contents) loaded on the server. If you for instance have /ecoverfxtheme/ecoverfxtheme/”files in second folder” - your theme WILL NOT WORK. The reason it will NOT WORK is because you have an extra folder (the first folder with nothing in it except another folder called /ecoverfxtheme) You need to load the SECOND folder. If that makes any sense. If you just open the folders until you see all the “FILES” back up one level - and that’s the folder you want to load. The one with the files in it, not the one with the extra folder - THEN the files.

Ok, Here’s what that will look like.

ECoverFX theme loaded into the Correct Wordpress Folder.

Time for a short break, walk around, check on the boys, get some hot tea, restroom break, etc. Sitting here too long starts to hurt! (Of course I’m sure sitting cross-legged on my chair has NOTHING to do with that.) When I get back we’ll go through setting all the Wordpress settings on the blog.

9:43 - and I’ve just logged into the backend of Wordpress. I’m a little unfamiliar with the newest version at the moment, but the “themes” link on the left hand nagivation was easy enough to find. I’ve clicked on themes, and here is where I’m at for the moment:

New ECoverFX Wordpress Theme Ready to be Installed.

Now all I need to do is click on the new ECoverFX theme to activate it. All right, I did that, and now we have a theme issue. My guess is that due to Wordpress updates, Artisteer has been unable to keep up - and will have to create some updates for their own software. Which, kinda puts me a bit behind now, because I’m going to have to search out a theme that works with this version of Wordpress.

Uhg, Theme Issue. See? There is no light table, the background shows through.

Never a dull moment. No, I do not want to go through the hassle of trying to fix the theme, because I know from experience - that it will take me so much time goofing around with stuff like that - the settings will never get done tonight. Plus I have OTHER things to do, and can’t waste time right now. Best to just search for some new themes.

I know I bookmarked a page just last night of some different themes, so let’s take a look there first.

Here’s the first theme page I’m going to look at. Then I’ll skip to somewhere else if I don’t find a theme here.

Hmm - although nice, they are “gallery themes” which are made more for a photography site for instance. Not usable here so I’ll do a quick search. Here are some more nice themes - one I’m liking is “curious”. I’ll go ahead and download that one, then look for some more. I’ve heard the “revolution” theme is good, so I just might search for that. Another one from the same site here that I like is this one “Monezine”.

Then here is the Revolution theme (or one of them anyhow). Here are a few more Revolution themes - and I’m not sure that they are the ones most folks say are good, but this is what pulled up on a Google search. Looks like those are “paid templates” which is fine, but for now I don’t need a paid for template.

Well, I have two so far - let’s load them up and take a look. 10:00pm, and I’m still messing around with themes. Par for course.

When I unzipped Curious and Monezine, I found in Monezine something a bit different than what I’m used to. Here are the instructions to install that theme. (Always make sure you look for readme files and other stuff when you unzip ANY file.) I always head straight for the “readmes.”

Ok, they want WP-Navi installed, and Popularity contest. That’s cool, because I was going to install wp-navi anyhow, and never used popularity contest. Here’s what it looks like to install Monezine:

Installing the Monezine Theme.

Installing Plugins for Monezine

Be sure to look at each image in the “larger format” by clicking on the images above, then by clicking on the back button on your browser to come back here. You’ll be able to see the paths where you should be installing your themes and plugins in general, not just for this theme.

Ahhh heck, OK, break time again. My oldest needs to install some batteries in this little handheld spelling unit I gave him a couple weeks ago. 10:10 pm already? No sleep for the Momma tonight!

If your house is anything like mine, I’m sure you are beginning to see why it takes me so long to get stuff online done. hehehehe. It’s now 10:30 on the dot - where were we?

Still on the themes. Honestly, getting a proper theme on the proper blog can take me longer than just about anything else. I tend to be a bit picky on the graphics, and as we have already wasted about an hour or so creating a theme - then had to go back and FIND one - that’s a lot of wasted time. Hey, at least I DID TRY to get a custom theme on there, and will be able to use it later once I figure out why the table isn’t showing up in front of the background. But quicker and easier to just move on. That kind of stuff can always be tweaked later. I can hire someone to look at it, or send a note to Artisteer with the problem, etc. But not right NOW.

With all that said - keep in mind, if something doesn’t work - select the easiest path for you at the moment, and JUST MOVE ON. Don’t let something like a theme issue waste 5 hours of your time when it really is NOT necessary. Got it? Good!

Back to the theme installs.

Here’s what we have now after loading up the last two themes. If you do not see a theme listed in Wordpress that you just got done uploading to your server, it’s probably because of the folder issue I talked about earlier. (Live and learn!)

New Themes Ready to be Installed.

You can see that both of the themes I just loaded are in the themes section where the ECoverFX theme popped up before. First let’s take a look at the curious one, then we’ll take a look at the monezine.

Hmmm - Well All RIGHT! I’m looking at the Curious theme, and I’m liking it. Wish there was some purple in it, but it’s nice. I like the Georgia font, looks like it will work just fine. One nice thing about black, is it’s a great highlight for bringing out the content of your pages (especially when the mid section for the posts is a very light color) and any other color will go with black. Think banners, my portfolio graphics, etc. Plus for anything “graphic” “photography” etc - black is great. Here is what the curious theme looks like:

I'm LIKING the Curious Theme!

Now let’s give the other one a shot and see what it looks like. It also has the black in it, so either one might end up working better than my own theme. We’ll see how it goes. For now, let’s look at Monezine.

Well, first thing we get is an error. Not good.

Theme error right on install

This tells me that this particular theme is going to take some time to work with. It’s not THAT nice for now, is it? Do we really need to spend more time goofing around with themes? No. Besides - when I ok the error, we now have this look:

Blank space that will be time consuming to fill.

So guess what. I’m going back to the Curious theme for now - so I can at least get through the SETTINGS. Heck, I’m no where NEAR posting at this point! 10:53 PM, and I’m still not done messing with the theme. We’re wasting time here folks, so Curious it is!

I’ll now separate the posts again, and go through the settings on the next post. Seeing how it is almost 11:00 PM, and I still have some graphic work to do for others, I’m going to “be done” with the ECoverFX site for tonight. Almost a full 12 hours today so far, but truthfully, I’d say a good 6 hours were spent on the ECoverFX site today. That’s a lot of time to not even be to the point of setting all the settings, installing plugins, etc. Time to give it a rest and move on to something else.

You guys and gals learning anything yet?

Thanks!
Michelle

PS - I’d rather be HERE - at this song of the day - than any OBAMA Rally. Who Rules?

Ok, the time has come to finally rebuild ECoverFX.

I’m going to write down everything I’m doing as I get this site rolling. First I’m going to have to back up the old site. While I back the site up, I’m going to map out exactly what I want on the new site. Now of course I want to re-create the site into a Wordpress blog, so to do that - I’ll back up the site, then delete everything off the server. Yikes. Scary!

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You know, it’s days like today that make you wonder what the heck you were thinking.

Now, I sent our Monday newsletter out, and just re-read it in my inbox. Ok, who says you can’t be on YOUR OWN list? Got any better way of catching your own stupidity?

When I re-read my own email, I “says to myself… SELF… what kind of CONTEST is THAT? What you have created isn’t a CONTEST, it’s a DRAWING. There IS a difference you know. Best brush up on your vocabulary. Oh, and by the way, WHO is schooling your kids?”

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Make Money At Home?

One of the questions that were asked on the survey from last week was exactly how did I make my first few bucks online. I’m going to tell you exactly what I did here in this post. When you make money at home, you’ll try a number of different things, some will work - some won’t work…

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We now have all the results back from the survey monkey on how we’re all gonna run my newsletter for a while.  Yay!

Survey Monkey was a nice system to create the survey through, and it’s been a fun little project getting to know what everyone on the new subscriber base thinks.  I’ll leave out a lot of the “comments” because I don’t want to add folks comments out here in public without their permission.  It didn’t track who made what comment, but still.  We’ll keep it simple.

Below I’ll link all the screenshots from survey monkey - they will be small here in the post - but just click on each pic to get the full sized image that you can actually READ.  Just remember to click the “back” button on your browser to come back here, I haven’t figured out how to get the pics to pop up in their own window yet.

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Hey, I’m hoping that everyone had an awesome roll over to the New 2009 Year.

We watched the ball drop on TV.  Hooray!  The hubby fell asleep about 2 hours BEFORE midnight… the kids and I woke him up long enough to say Happy New Year, and off he went back to bed.  Hmph.  Old timer.

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Well, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to post anything on the “what are the steps in creating an online business” due to the holidays and moving.  Yep, we have finally been able to move into our “new” house - and spent the night for the first time on Christmas eve!  We still have a lot to move, but I do have my PC set up as of last night - so now I can go back to working my nights away.

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In part 2 of our small “Define Blogging” series, we’ll talk a bit about keywords.

Keywords are incredibly important to blogging as I have found.  They are particularly “key” in getting ANY website ranked in the search engines.  If you know how to choose the correct keywords, you’ll be able to get just about any blog ranked pretty dang quick.  Combine that with some strategically placed well written articles, and you’ll get traffic.  Talk about “define blogging” - this is how you do it.

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In this category, we’ll Define Blogging - and how I am using Wordpress blogs to create residual income.

Making Residual Income By Using Wordpress Blogs

First, we’ll go through what I think the best blogging platform is.  There are a couple well known blogging systems, but personally I like Wordpress, and here is why:

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Just came across a report that tells you a bit about CPA Networks, which I think will be a real nice addition to my blogs.  It’s called The Arbitrage Conspiracy - and I’ll tell you about it below.

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What are the steps in creating an online business?

WORK!

Have I mentioned that 4-letter word lately?  Heheheh.  Well, that’s what I’ve been up to lately - WORK.  Nasty little 4-letter word that makes a person focus, and concentrate, and not get sidetracked, right?

Working In The Graphic Mines!

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Well, it’s been a while before I could continue the What Are The Steps In Creating An Online Business series.  Some kind of stomach bug has had me down for almost a week now.  Seems like it goes away, then comes back about 6 hours later.  Have no clue what’s up with that.

Anyhow, we were creating a plan of attack for our businesses.  Right?

We’ll need to start with the end in mind first, then we’ll begin backtracking.  I haven’t wrote this down anywhere else yet, so here is the end goal…

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Part two in the series of “What Are The Steps In Creating An Online Business!”

Ok, since we’re starting with a BUSINESS plan, which includes Goals, Dreams - what have you… let’s begin!

I’ve had these basic ideas in my head for a while now, but to put it down in “type” will help me “stick to it” I’m hoping.  This will all come right from my head, (is there any other way?)  and maybe we’ll even get into some of the “whys” that are behind the goals, plans and dreams.

Let’s start with my number one goal.

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What are the steps in creating an online business?

Baby Steps!

Well, honestly there are a number of different ways to create an online business - so it actually depends on WHAT YOU WANT TO DO online.  Are you good with graphics?  Good at writing?  Like doing research?  Are you a programmer?

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Wrong Way!

Just redid my entire blog due to an internet viral marketing theory that was a real nice push for me.  Long overdue, the FREE ebook by Alex Jeffreys is called “Guru’s Dream - The Dream They Sold Me.“  Wish I would write more reports like that myself instead of constantly being so “busy”. Heh.

If you are interested in reading it - I give it a huge 3 thumbs up, because it’s RIGHT ON. Many things I’ve already learned, or have been thinking a LOT about lately, are in this report.  You can go pick it up HERE! Internet viral marketing takes a u-turn is right.  He does what many more people should do, and that’s to help others by giving away excellent content for free.

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