Is someone copying your site
May 31, 2006
It is a good idea sometimes to run your site through a tool like Copy Scape. It finds pages on the web that bear similarity to the text of your site.
Often a friendly email to the owner will resolve the conflict, otherwise try contacting the hosting of the company and any companies which might be advertising their products on their site, like Google for instance if they are running Adsense.
Affiliate code tip
May 29, 2006
I was watching Michael Cheney of Adsense Video fame today how he made sales over $250K in around a week.
His videos take you through how he set up the product launch and how much he made in sales.
One good tip he had was, when you create an id for an affiliate program, rather than using the name of your web site or something personal like “mikes blog”, pick something which sounds more ITish.
For example, “htmlpage” or “php5″. His theory is that some people will remove the affiliate id when they buy a product, as they don’t want the website owner to benefit from the sale. If it is something like “php5″ it looks less like affiliate code.
Beijing Olympic site to be mentioned in China newsletter
May 27, 2006
I received an email today asking for permission to link to my Beijing Olympic site. Maybe the new template did work!
Here is part of the email:
“We are focusing on the 2008 Olympics in our July issue and would like to link your blog to our website or reference it in our newsletter as a excellent resource or involve you in some way. Your blog is very informative and we look forward to hearing from you.”
Offline advertising and promotion
May 26, 2006
Yaro at Small Business Branding has written an article on how he tried to promote his business by sponsoring an event. He writes that even though there were around 2000 people at the event, the promotion only resulted in one enquiry.
I had almost the same experience when I placed an advertisment in a New Zealand property magazine. The magazine is published monthly and the ad was in three editions. It cost more than NZ$500 and I failed to generate any significant traffic to the site.
I think the problem with advertising a website in a magazine or any other medium is that the ad is “unclickable”. How many times have you seen an advertisment in the newspaper or magazine, thought to yourself that is interesting, I must look that up next time I am on the internet and then completely forget all about it.
That is why Google has been so successful with Adwords. When I ran an Adwords campaign on the site, I received targetted traffic. I knew exactly how much it would cost me to get a visitor to the site. It is possible for companies to calculate exactly how much it costs them to get a new customer and make a sale.
Creating an ebook from a website
May 25, 2006
I was thinking of bundling all of the content I have on my Tokyoessentials site into a an ebook, which I would try to sell on Clickbank or someplace similar.
I am wondering if people would pay for something they can get for free. I know from my own company, people just love to print stuff out, even though they have the data already saved.
I think it could work with a travel guide as people could refer back to it while they are travelling without having to open their notebook.
Beijing Olympic site update
May 23, 2006
I have installed a new template for my Beijing Olympic site.
I have also tried to optimize the ads in the site in a way that everyone is recommending these days.
Everyone on forums tend to agree on:
- Using the Google heatmap
- Blending ads
- Put ads in the main text of the site
The site is now indexed by Google which took a few months and is starting to rank on some keywords.
Video Blogging
May 22, 2006
I am thinking of buying a video camera to take some short movies for my Tokyo website.
I think it could create an new, interesting aspect for the site.
I have been reading some reviews and found the Sony DCR-HC90 received some good reviews and is within my budget.
DaVinci Code Movie
May 22, 2006
I went to see the DaVinci Code on Saturday night and despite all the negative reviews, I enjoyed the movie.
Tickets in Japan cost 1800 for an adult, so I only go to the movies a couple of times a year.
It seems like every media organization and internet publisher around the world is on the Da Vinci Code band wagon - including myself.
Writing my new ebook
May 19, 2006
I am currently in the throes of writing my new ebook. I started writing a guide on how to make money on the Internet. Then I started thinking, who is going to buy another “how to make money on the Internet ebook”?
I wanted to write something related to Japan, since I have spent almost the best part of 10 years here. English teaching? I haven’t done it for years and it seems like there are already a few people doing this.
Then I thought of a “Bachelor’s guide to Japan” (I haven’t thought of a subtitle yet). I registered japanbachelor.com today to promote the product. I am hoping it will offer some advice for guys visiting or living in Japan. I think it will be a totally non-PC guide guide to Japan for guys only. I am trying to put in various antecdotes and stories, so I think it will be interesting and funny even for people who will never make it to Japan.
For a limited time, I will give a free copy to the book, in exchange for a positive testimonial (and an ugly picture of yourself) to anyone who leaves a comment on this post.
Pub Con in Las Vegas
May 17, 2006
I am hoping to go to Pubcon in Las Vegas this November. Flights to the US are very cheap from Japan, so it is probably a good time to go if I go back to Australia next year.
It would be great to meet up with anyone who is planning to go.
From their site:
Whether your primary role is in web site marketing, corporate IT development, or as a technology business management, you will find something of value at PubCon (aka: Publishers Conference). It is also designed to be fun and entertaining with ample opportunity for quality networking.
