Keyword searches for SaveSaveSave

It's always fascinating to find out where people find SaveSaveSave in search engine queries.  Here are a few of my faves (I am so proud to be ranking for these particular phrases):

poem on maggi noodles  (Banjo Patterson, eat your heart out!!) 

cellulite stadium 2   !?!?!?! (I'm sorry, I'm afraid I missed Cellulite Stadium 1!)

wacky toilet seats  (this one actually makes sense, I did do a post on wacky toilet seat designs)

naked people crossing  (I'm not going to ask why people are searching for this!) 

quinny  (er... use your imagination!)


And best of all, if you type in Google:

i need toilet paper for my bung hole.... acdc

you will find me.

I finally rank for "bung hole".

A dream is achieved.

Nice Apps and Add-Ons

Eureka!!  Here are a few Firefox Add-Ons and Apps that make life a little bit easier.

I have a sneaking suspicion that every time you log in and out of Twitter, sift through unnecessary emails and cut and paste links, a fairy dies.



1.  Bit.ly sidebar - you can get this from the bit.ly home page and drag it on to your sidebar.  It shortens your links at the click of a button.

I can't understand why I have been cutting, pasting and opening and closing bit.ly all the time.  Duh!  Work smarter, not harder!!






2.  Hoot Suite - Wow.  If you have a couple of Twitter accounts and keep logging in and out, this is the Twitter App for you.  Hoot suite has a "Hootlet" bookmarklet for super easy tweets straight from the source page.  It has an app for Iphone too (what doesn't?)

 Soooo much easier to manage everything.  Great if you want to schedule Tweets (for different time zones, for example)






3.  Feedly - All-in-one feed App.  Imports your feeds from Google Reader and various other sources.  Nice!

4.  Yahoo Mail Watcher - Doesn't use your username and password in a way that could be compromised.  Checks your email while you are doing other things.  Notifies you when a new message comes through.

Heaven.

technorati tags: add ons, firefox, twitter, apps, iphone, feed, applications, RSS, news

Top Ten Post Ideas For Your Blog

1.  Write about a current event.  Read today's latest headlines and inject your opinion into the post.  Your content will be fresh, in demand and will provide a new perspective on the issue.

2.  Take some time to thank your fave bloggers and give them some link love.

3.  Write a silly post.  Sometimes, say, if you write a serious political blog, this may not be appropriate.  But if you can, people love to laugh and if you can think of something silly or funny your readers will appreciate it.

4.  Find a much-blogged about topic.  Then add your own opinion and perspective.

5.  Memes.  Some people love them, some people hate them.  I personally don't participate but if you are searching for blog material, a meme can keep the blogging process going.  Try Wordless Wednesday or Music Monday for starters.

6.  Review a site.  Do you love/hate Tweetdeck?  Do you use Facebook?  Talk about the features that work for you and provide screenshots to illustrate.

7.  Review a product.  You don't have to send away for samples, the product could be a recent purchase (say, an Ipad).  Provide your readers with a detailed review to provide value and insight.

8.  Add a Recipe.  Are you a master in the kitchen?  Just learning?  Make a video or write your recipe for your best dish.  Remember to provide lots of pics (yum!)

9.  Interview another blogger.  John Chow may be a little busy but if you have someone else in mind, this can be a great way to increase your blog's audience.  You can do a podcast or email them the questions and publish the answers in a post.   

10.  Write a top 10 list.  ;-)

technorati tags: top ten, top 10, ideas, blog posts, blog idea, interview, Tweetdeck, Facebook, Ipad

Inventor of Words

I have been reviewing my posts over the years and noticed that I seem to have invented a number of words and/or phrases. No, you say, some of these words were already invented when I posted them. Yeah? Well, I... didn't know about them at the time so it still counts as an authentic invention. I think.

Fun Words and Phrases to Expand Your Vocabulary:

Nad Whack - (Verb)
What happens when you swing your arms while walking and don't realise there is an unsuspecting and rather vulnerable bloke behind you.
Ref: Keep Your Hands By Your Sides At All Times

Runnething - (Verb)
Sort of like running but... more.
Ref: Fresh Pots!!!

The ol' sidewinders - (Phrase)
Something you would be showing if you wore a particularly hideous style of jeans. Hint - it involves hair.
Ref: Bikijeans

Mascara Malfunction - (Phrase)
Doing your makeup too fast.
Ref: Mascara Malfunction

Bunker Rage - (Phrase)
What happens when you land in a massive bunker and simultaneously forget how to play golf. Includes new words such as Graghph and Ruh!
Ref: Bunker Rage

Rasthermathugraaaa!!! - (Noun? Verb? Expletive?)
What you say when you unexpectedly get your first birdie.
Ref: Birdie Comes Before Par

Hannibal Lecter Dinner Set - (Phrase)
Something characterised as highly innapropriate.
Ref: Wacky Gifts for Wacky People

Flavor Wave Alien Incubator - (Phrase, Noun)
That thing Mr T. sells on the infomercials.
Ref: Mr T and the Flavor Wave Alien Incubator

Flame Grilled Microwave - (Phrase, Noun)
Hungry Jack's secret cooking technique.
Ref: Hungry Jacks Flame Grilled Burger

Sadistic Gift File - (Phrase)
List of items to buy for people you either don't like or wish to torment for no reason in particular.
Ref: Sadistic Gift File #1 - Gong Alarm Clock

Shopping 2.0 - (Noun)
When shops and nerds collide.
Ref: Canadian Deal-Finding Website

Shopputting - (Verb)
Un-stealing something. For example, sneaking into a supermarket and putting something of yours on the shelves. Note: At the time of writing this post, I was not aware of the term.
Ref: Security Supermarket Threat.

On-Footpath Shopping - (Phrase)
The opposite of online shopping.
Ref: Deals Direct: An Online Shopper's Utopia

Big Hairy Man Boobs - (Phrase, Noun)
The credit for this one goes to a 6 year old girl telling me and my partner about her Dad.
Ref: From the Mouths of Babes

Goat Bagging Mushroom, Frog's Nest Entrails With Lark's Vomit - (Phrases)
Direct result of writer's block.
Ref: F@ck! F@ck! F@ck!

Bat Faeces Soup - (Phrase, Noun)
A good reason to be a vegetarian.
Ref: Bat Faeces Soup

Wedding Sausage - (Noun, Phrase)
Ok, I didn't make this one up. There exists an actual deli item called 'wedding sausage'. But seriously, can you not see a joke here?
Ref: Saving on Groceries

The Hairy Soup Diet - (Phrase)
Rather effective weight loss diet consisting of soup. With the addition of a hair.
Ref: Waiter, There's A Pubic Hair In My Soup!!

Oh, and for those arriving here through the Google search "pubic hair soup", welcome to my blog!!

And... you need help.

technorati tags: shopping, golf, fashion, jeans, new terms, phrases

John Chow Is Not Always Right

My Adsense ads have been successfully set up for some time. The ads have been making a reasonable amount of cash but considering my stats and PR, I thought it could be doing better. So I turned to the experts. On John Chow's blog he suggested that the 300x250 box ad was a more profitable format (eg shown below).






Always ready to try new ideas, I implemented this tried and tested format.

The result?

Nothing.

Nada.

Zip.

Not a sausage.

I have now resumed my previous format 468x16 text links and 468x60 banner and sure enough, the revenue instantly came back.

This is an important lesson. What works for John Chow's blog may not work for yours. There will be hundreds of ideas from various bloggers as to which ad units will work best with your site.

The truth is, your site is unique - a cookie cutter approach will not always be the most successful. If it works for other bloggers, that's great - make sure you don't keep unprofitable ads on your site just because it works for someone else.

Experiment with formats and colour schemes until you find the magic combination for you. The only true way to get the right ads for your site is to test, test and test again.

technorati tags: adsense, advertise, google ads, google adsense, how to make money, makemoney internet, make money online

Online DVD rental convenience delivered to your door. Watch the latest trailers and get free delivery and free return by post. And no late fees.

Add Video To Your Site

Sometimes being a blogger isn't easy. I know that in the course of a week I will find myself tinkering with html, css and various other bits and scripts to develop my blog and explore new possibilities for marketing.

The problem with this approach is that you cannot do everything yourself. There aren't enough hours in the day and logically, it isn't an effective use of your time. You can't be expected to learn flash, html, css and javascript just so you can insert one element into your blog. Something I have learned in the last few years of blogging is that it's quicker and easier to hire someone else to do some code, a presentation or a flash element that will come out looking professional. This will also free you up to do what it is you do best - blogging. If you spend all your time coding and tinkering, you won't be focusing your time on writing quality blog posts.

The consensus among the blogosphere's notable bloggers is that video is the big selling point. If you are marketing your own or affiliate products and wish to capture the reader's attention, video is often the most effective way to communicate your ideas.
















Whether you are branching out into Corporate Video, DVD production or creating a sales pitch to present to visitors to your blog or site, you can create a much better impression with a professional touch. You wouldn't run a real estate website and feature a youtube bumpy, fuzzy amateur video as your selling point. You can make your site instantly interactive and create a deeper interest as well as standing out from the rest of the websites. Richter Studios have been creating corporate videos for over 10 years and have a proven record for making sales for their clients.



Brought to you by Richter Studios.

Twitter Twitter Twitter!!!

I don't know...

Is Twitter good for your blog? I have gained 300 Twitter followers in the last 2 or 3 days - I wonder what that actually means in real terms? What does anything mean anymore? I get around 250-300 emails a day. By the time I've finished deleting and actioning them, I don't have time to post anything!!

And does this make me any money? Well, yes. But that's not the point. I don't have TIME anymore. And that is the thing that is most precious. Especially to a blogger like myself.

I have become a little disillusioned with the whole Twitter/Digg/whatever culture of late. I can't say that I've learned much from other Twitterers so far. However I know this is a growing thing. The news and current affairs programs keep plugging their Twitter pages so perhaps somebody knows something...

Forgive me if I can't see where this is all going as yet. I don't want to be the person who laughed at the formative ideas of the first aeroplane or computer either. It's just that I get a lot of "make money quick I'll show you how." direct messages in Twitter and I'm getting a little tired of them. The most interesting conversation (yes, as in an actual back-and-forth conversation) is completely unprintable. It involved spontaneous outbursts of rude words. I suppose it's kind of equivalent to writing on the toilet door, except it's a bit quicker.

I could possibly hit 1000 Twitter followers by the weekend. But what does that mean? Have I achieved something? What can I do now that I couldn't do last week?

Sometimes I feel like primordial ooze in a council meeting of intelligent alien life forms.

Alien #1: You just whack the doohicky, splat the cosnarp and bang! You're in and you can snark!

Alien #2: That's so easy, I thought you had to grapsact the fookart first.

Alien #3: No dummy, that was in version 2.0 - we've fixed that now.

Primordial Ooze: Shclllurrrp!!!!



Yep, that's my understanding of quite a few things that are happening on the internet at the moment. And I grew up programming computers!!

Sometimes I just want to yell "Just spell it out in plain English!!! I'm sure I can target keywords within a single bound, break the light barrier and create niche markets. I just don't know why the f@%k I'm doing this when I could be sitting out in the sun reading a book!!!

Slowly I will get to understand the technobabble and when I get a spare ten seconds I will actually watch the hundreds of videos and PDFs I have downloaded "to watch later".

But I've realised something...

There is no later!!!!

Decide what you want to do and forget the rest. Life is too short.

technorati tags: Twitter followers niche market keywords

Entrecard Changes The Rules

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K...

There are some changes going on at Entrecard, least of which is the "above the fold" rule.

The rule was proposed that if your Entrecard widget does not appear above the fold (that is, without needing to scroll down at all), your account would then be in violation.

Thankfully, the rule has been amended to the "one page scroll" rule.  This means that you are in compliance if your Entrecard widget appears after one page scroll.  I'm not sure what effect the "above the fold" line would have created had they not amended it to a more sensible criterion.

I have a feeling some will be leaving after the recent changes are implemented.  I'm not sure that I am absolutely comfortable with a "dob in a fellow blogger" Gestapo-type system of reward. Get someone reported and get credits!  Get someone deleted and get thousands of credits!!  It's not good mojo, good karma or good Feng Shui for that matter, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The system will be converting to a real cash economy - I will be interested to see how this turns out.  You basically exchange your credits for cash and begin to sell ads on your widget. As I understand it, Entrecard will then pay you to buy your credits back.  You can also sell credits through your dashboard.  Hmm.  Clear as mud.   I would like to learn more and see how this will actually work.

It will be interesting to find out what others think about these changes at Entrecard.

technorati tags: entrecard rules change TOS blogging

Web Hosting - Which is the Cheapest for Your Site?

A lot of bloggers are moving their blogs from the main blog providers to become self-hosted. Sometimes a self-hosted blog with its own domain can rank higher in the search engines and open up a lot of opportunities for bloggers. I have not made the move yet, I am still deciding which web hosting service can offer me the best deal. It is a decision for the individual blogger, and there are factors to consider such as:
1. Page Rank - you will initially lose your page rank, and it will build up again over time. For many it is worth it. For my PR4 blog, I am hesitant at this stage. For others it will be an easy decision to make.
2. Alexa will need to be recalculated from scratch.
3. When you move the blog to your self-hosted domain, it will be 100% yours. Nobody can delete it for violation of terms of service and you are basically the owner with no drawbacks.
4. You will need to resubmit to Technorati - your authority will begin again. If your blog is relatively new, it is a good idea to make the move early to avoid having to build up these stats again.
5. You will need to forward all your traffic to your new address. Some people will keep their old blog running and direct all traffic to a new blog that begins where the old one left off. This has been an acceptable method of moving for some bloggers.
If you are wanting to move your current blog, continue an older blog on a new hosting service, or start a new blog altogether, you can compare the cheapest web hosting rates and features at webhostinggeeks, which has been running reviews and comparisons of webhosts since 2004.

Many of the current web hosting services are relatively cheap (ie. many are offering webhosting for around $5 or under per month) and some include unlimited lifetime domain names, which is very handy if you have the perfect domain name and don't want to ever give it up or renew after 2 years. For those who do not have a lot of site building experience, many of these companies offer email and phone support to help with set up and site maintenance. The site currently features the 2008 winner for blog hosting - Bluehost - offering $4.95 per month and free setup, domain hosting and unlimited storage. For those who have next to no web programming experience, there is a drag-and-drop site builder and 24/7 support.
The webhosts are rated by a five star system:

You can submit your own ratings of your current web host and share your experiences and information to let people know which are the most reputable and which are the webhosts to avoid. By reading others' reviews you will get a more complete picture of each webhost and the services experienced from the customer's viewpoint.

technorati tags: webhosting domain name blog self-hosting

BlogMad is Closing Down

I was sorry to learn from Blogetiq that BlogMad is closing down on the 12th of December 2008.















It's a real pity because I know of many people (myself included!) who know and love the site and surf through blogs regularly to earn credits at a 1:1 ratio. I have noticed a number of sites are closing down including matched.co.uk and various others. I wonder if it is due in part to the credit crunch? Or credit splat more like it, since that's the noise it's going to make when it hits its rear end on the bottom of the ladder. Eeek! I hope this doesn't affect too many sites because the rise of interesting blogging resources is required more than ever. We need to know how screwed things are just as soon as events occur.

Fingers crossed we get ourselves out of this mess.

BlogMad - farewell old buddy, I'll miss the creds!! If I had a lazy bunch of US$ lying handy I'd buy the domain.

technorati tags: BlogMad closing down December 2008

Deals Direct Blogging Prize - Lenovo Laptop

Christmas has come a little early for me this year. I was thrilled to get the email announcing I had won the Lenovo Laptop from the DealsDirect Blogging competition.

The laptop arrived complete with Windows Vista Business, 1.66Ghz, 1G ram and 142 GB storage. (happy dance!)


The prizes were as follows:

Winner - One Lenovo Laptop

Runner Up - One 22" Monitor

10 X Runners Up win a 10MP Web Cam


Here is the laptop in all its glory:




A big thank you to DealsDirect. I am now a mobile blogger.


You can read the winning entry here.

technorati tags: deals direct blogging competition laptop

Top Entrecard Droppers

Dropper # of drops cheapdanny 31 1993 Honda Civic Blog 17 Lap Band Progress 15 Free Printable Fun 14 The house that Koen & Claire (re)built.com 13 The Inspired Self 12 Monkey Fables And Tales 11 QShifter Hobbies 10 Theme lib dot com 9 Nice2All 8

Thanks to all droppers! I have enjoyed visiting your blogs too! I think Entrecard works when people actually read the articles and leave comments rather than dropping like a mad panda. I have found a lot of new bloggers that would otherwise have been undiscovered - hooray for the Monkey!

Technorati Tags: top entrecard droppers

Easy Money - NOT!!

UPDATE: SCAM ALERT!

This turned out to be a nice idea right up until the time they stopped paying me. The website stopped receiving applications, stopped paying people and generally started acting scammy. At the time they closed up shop, they owed me around $250.00 

Avoid like typhoid...

Recently I trialled a passive income stream called freebies4webmasters that seems to have turned out to be profitable. I was skeptical at first - actually, I was skeptical right up until the time that the payment appeared in my account. Now that the money is there I can't argue with it.

The process is simple - you put a code on your blog displaying a rather unobtrusive ad on 3 different pages. If you have a blog with more than 3 posts or a website with more than 3 pages this is very simple. Then the fun begins.

Firstly, you are paid 10 pounds (Oh joy for the exchange rate!) for signing up.

Secondly, you are paid 5 pounds per month for leaving the ad code on your site. You don't have to do anything else.

You can put the code on multiple sites if they are approved, thus doubling your income or tripling it or more!

You have nothing to lose so why not give it a try? It's a good place to start if you have never earned money from your site.

SCAM ALERT!!!
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Despite initially making an initial amount money from this company, they have since shut down and hightailed it with around $200 still owed to me. Don't bother!!!

technorati tags: freebies4webmasters earn make money online monetize blog website affiliateads

My Top Entrecard Droppers

Here is the part where I get to revisit the top Entrecard droppers on my blog. Will they be the same people getting the linky love or will there be some new faces?

Dropper	# of drops
Lapidary Queen Wannabees	25
cheapdanny	22
Heart of Wisdom Homeschool	19
Heart at Home Homeschool	18
SexyAdsBlog	12
Blogging 101 for Christians	12
THE PAPER VISION	12
Lap Band Progress	12
j o s h u a o n g y s	10
IXELA	10

Keep dropping your Entrecard here to make it on to the next Top Droppers list!

technorati tags: Entrecard drop top droppers

How You Can Make The Front Page of Digg With 1 Digg

If I can do this, so can you.

It works like this - you submit your article to Digg, choose a category, etc.

When the submission has been successful, switch to the front page of Digg and click "upcoming".

Press Alt+PrtScn

You have just captured yourself on the front page of Digg.

For example, here is my front page Digg story - "Chinglish Delivery" - it made it to the front page around 4pm today.


How long did my article stay there?

About 10.5 seconds.



P.S. Please Digg me for being a smartarse.

technorati tags: digg front page

Entrecard Droppings

I thought I'd mention my top 10 Entrecard Droppers here and give them a little linky love xox

Dropper # of drops Lapidary Queen Wannabees 28 cheapdanny 24 UnderHeavens! 19 Heart of Wisdom Homeschool 14 Lap Band Progress 13 MamaFlo's Place 10 Heart at Home Homeschool 10 IXELA 10 THE PAPER VISION 10 j o s h u a o n g y s 9

Thanks guys! I've received 69 drops today. I think I'm going cross-eyed from dropping Entrecards and leaving comments. I've discovered heaps of new blogs - some funny and some giving me some new savings ideas. Some just make me wonder (you know who you are).

I will list my top droppers from time to time to show all you lovely people how much I appreciate the droppings! I mean drops!

:-)

technorati tags: Entrecard drop top droppers

Technorati Errors Still Stand

Hello? Is there anybody out there?

Unfortunately my three Technorati support requests have gone unanswered. This is unfortunate and a bit disturbing.

I am still down by 40 for blog reactions
and 48 adding me as a favourite.

My Technorati authority is now artificially down by 10 points.

The only comparable level of blog reactions for my blog was back in September 2007.
The last time I had so few adding me as a favourite was in May 2007.

All the work I have done since has been reset and I am very slowly crawling back up again. This is unfortunate because I think it damages Technorati's credibility as a ranking system for your blog. I have been using the service since 2006 and I still find it to be an easy way to track incoming links and favourites. When clanging errors such as this not only occur but go unnoticed, it gives one pause to wonder whether this problem will ever be rectified.

technorati tags: technorati errors problem

Technorati Not Taking My Calls

Hi, this is the third support request I have put through. The first two were to ask why my fans went from 78 to 30 suddenly in February this year.

The second has just happened. Please reply to this one because still have no reply and I feel I am being penalised for errors at Technorati. Two days ago I had 147 blog reactions. Great right? No, because today I have many more blog reactions and the total comes to 107.

So, in summary:
I've lost 40 blog reactions and 48 people who have added me as a favourite.

Please reply.

LJP
SaveSaveSave

technorati tags: technorati favorites blog reactions error

Tips on Blog Design

I am always looking for ways to improve my blog. I have tried many different designs, hand-coded everything almost from scratch, thrown it away and started again. It would make sense that everyone is looking for that one design that will make their blog memorable and to stand out from all the others.

I found a design blog that provides information on everything from the basics of web design to how to create the best Adwords advertisements.

Judging by the look and feel of the site, I consider it very important that a web design blog be well designed. This sounds obvious but it is something that many web design blogs and sites occasionally overlook. In the case of Stylish Design, this blog is well designed and innovative, with a format that is fresh and unlike most blogs I have seen in my daily surfing adventures. Well worth a look if you are interested in blog design and web issues in general.



This post brought to you by StylishDesign.

F@ck! F@ck! F@ck!

I can't think of anything to write and it's driving me mad. Does anybody else go through this while writing their blog? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGRGHGHHHHGHGGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
THBLELBLBLBLBLBLB!!!

F@ckity! F@ck! F@ck! F@ck!


LABALALALALALALALALALAALLA

WOK TOSSED SALAD

FROG'S NEST ENTRAILS WITH LARK'S VOMIT

GOAT BAGGING MUSHROOM

WAKAKAKAKAKAKA

FRAG

SPLAT

technorati tags: blogging