Trackback Spider – A Dumb Decision for Me

I’ve been digging around in Google Analytics a little bit today. I’m pleased to see some visitors are coming. Thank you!

My original intent for this blog was to chronicle my ventures into the world of internet marketing. But, I’m finding the day to day stuff is too boring to write about. Yuck. What might be more interesting is if I focus on the stuff I’m learning — my successes, dumb stuff I do, and opportunities I become aware of.

It’s so clear that I’m still way too quick to fall for the buzz on a sales page and want to jump on new products. This is especially true when they’re about getting traffic or building links. Put a limit on the number that are going to be sold and you got me!

This occurred recently when I purchased Trackback Spider. I jumped on the bandwagon based on another marketer’s recommendation and sense of urgency. I think I made the wrong decision. Trackback Spider builds backlinks to a site by posting trackbacks on niche blogs. The goal is to attempt so many trackbacks that you’ll catch some bloggers who don’t know enough to delete your trackback or block them to begin with — and then you’ll have a backlink in a relevant niche. Everything is cloaked to help hide your identity and make it look legit.

I haven’t used it. I did watch all the demo and install videos. And I realize I’m not comfortable using it. It’s cheating and taking advantage of people — it’s spamming. I really hate spam. Why would I do it to someone else?

I didn’t really catch what the gist of the product was about before I jumped in with 2 feet. I realize now and I will back out. Lesson learned. I need to be smarter as I read sales pages, plain and simple.

A good thing I checked out recently is a product called “The Barking Videos.” Fun name and it took me awhile to figure out how the creators arrived at that, but I got it. :) The videos are short takes on about 14 different traffic generation methods. They include reference to some really cool websites that I had no clue existed. I can take these and run with them. I was already aware of each of the traffic methods and knew techniques for utilizing them, but I learned a lot of new stuff that looks effecient and effective. They’re incredibly informative and quite well done.

Okay, so I did add an adsense block to my blog. It’s a small one near the bottom of the sidebar. I just checked now and the site is indexed finally, but I still don’t know what took so long. I also don’t know if the adsense made the difference. I guess I’m on my way to learning how to test.

That’s all for now. Thanks for visiting.

Slow Indexing

I created a new blog about 2 1/2 weeks ago in the natural health niche. I have posted to it almost daily, and I am shocked to find that it is not yet indexed by google. Very interesting.

I have submitted the site to many social networking and bookmarking sites. I have claimed it on Technorati. I made some comments on several PR4-6 blogs. I ping with each post, but it’s still not indexed! What’s going on here?

The most recent websites I created were indexed in about 3 days. The 2 differences I can identify are that those sites have adsense on them, and I used Article Underground’s blog system to announce the pages.

I haven’t done either of those with this site. Actually, I chose to let go of Article Underground because I wasn’t taking advantage of it often enough to make the program worth the subscription cost. Instead I wanted to try out a couple other link building plans instead. (Whether I stick with those or not remains to be seen.) But I’m definitely revisiting my decision to drop AU and just may sign up again.

I also didn’t want adsense on the blog, but I’m going to put a block on there now to see what happens. I can always take it off in a couple weeks.

That’s all for now. Have a good one!

Success Engineering

So there’s another new version of WordPress. I don’t think I’ll move in that direction yet. I’m still getting used to the last one.

I’ve been spending some brain power lately evaluating what I’m doing online in creating a business. You know, I don’t think article marketing is for me. I had started to believe that just because I know more about that than anything else, that’s the way I need to go. But I don’t enjoy it and so it becomes such an effort.

That’s why I haven’t been posting much lately — lots of soul searching to figure out just what really fits for me, that I would enjoy pursuing for the long run.

Today I focused on creating a Blogini 2.0 blog and really enjoyed myself. That’s probably a hint. The niche is in the area of wellness and I really enjoy that topic. That’s probably also a hint.

I am currently learning to build websites in order to sell them (I can focus on any niche I want). A very knowledgeable member of the Keyword Avalanche forum is offering this training. I’m also observing the process of building a webpage/landing page that promotes eBay auctions. (The payout for eBay affiliates is set to skyrocket very soon.) Dennis Becker of 5 Bucks a Day is offering this.

I also have learned a couple models for building websites in order to sell links and other advertising. This one takes a little longer to build up page rank.

A few months ago I mentioned a program that teaches a model of internet consulting and marketing. That program has opened its doors again and I am re-evaluating how that might fit. I’ve learned of an offline source of leads and it could be very promising. I’ll need to make a decision quickly with this opportunity.

So, that’s where it’s at. A ton of opportunities and the time to start making a real business out of my efforts.

I learned of a book recently, Success Engineering by Phil Gosling, that outlines the intersection of quantum mechanics and spirituality and creating the life that you want to experience. The engineering part is the clearest method I’ve seen to actually put this into practice. That’s part of my plan here too. And that’s all for now.

Have a good one.

Blogini 2.0 on Steroids

Lots of learning going on these past few days. I’ve been putting up some niche websites, learning about silos, and doing a ton of navigating and editing in Filezilla (ftp software). These are really good skills to develop. I’ll write more about the niche websites in a few days.

Blogini 2.0 is really getting fine tuned. It’s time to look at it again if you haven’t been there for awhile, or for the first time, if you’ve missed it up until now. Ken Fox, the creator, has created a one of a kind membership site that is HUGE.

The basic premise is that you create and maintain one or more blogs. The Blogini folks then come in and build a network of keyword relevant backlinks for your blog(s) and websites allowing you to build traffic and page rank in a natural way. They call it link building on “steroids.” Very cool, and it’s worth it just for that.

But, Ken has also added an “Affiliate Help Zone,” a video portal, an article directory, an auction site, a training center, a forum, and what am I forgetting? He is absolutely committed to every member’s success as a marketer. He provides all of these options plus a comprehensive education in Internet marketing techniques.

So, you just maintain a couple blogs, they build all the backlinks and you get a great marketing education to boot!

On top of all that, he offers Boy Million as well. Seriously, check it out. You won’t believe the membership fees either.

That’s it for now. Have a good one!

Portal Feeder Decision

Got an email from Mike Liebner of Article Underground promoting Portal Feeder. He has just joined and is really excited about. What he clearly emphasizes is that it is not for inexperienced marketers or those who aren’t making a solid income online yet. The sales letter says it’s for all levels of experience and they provide step by step training. Oh well. I have decided against it, but still think it looks fabulous.

Mike Liebner seems very ethical to me and so do the guys behind Portal Feeder — actually, they seem brilliant. It’s quite interesting to learn who appears to be trustworthy among the IM gurus and who does not.

If you’re thinking of joining PF, the guys behind DupeFreePro (which I mentioned last night) are offering a very generous bonus if you order through their link. Check out DupeFreePro to find out what the bonus is.

Have a good weekend everyone!