Announcing Perfect Affiliate Wordpress Theme

Posted by admin | September 12, 2009.

It has been almost three weeks since we launched Affiliate Theme and the response has been INCREDIBLE! We already have a TON of people telling us how much more effective their affiliate marketing site development has become, thanks to Affiliate Theme.

We are proud to announce that we have completed the first major upgrade for Affiliate Theme – version 1.1.

All NEW, User Requested Features in Affiliate Theme v.1.1

This new version of Affiliate Theme contains a wide variety of new useful features and functions. In fact, ALL of these new features are user requested. That’s right, we have been working so closely with our Affiliate Theme members that all of these new features have been user requested.

So, what is new? Version 1.1 packs the following new features:

Separate Blog Functionality with Layout Control
One of the most popular user requested features was to be able to maintain a separate blog using Affiliate Theme, while at the same time using the homepage as landing page for affiliate offers. Well, separate blog functionality is here! You can now set your blog posts to only appear on the “blog” page and the rest of your affiliate offers will populate the landing page and the rest of the site.
Display Media Boxes on a post-by-post basis
Some people have mentioned they do not want to display Media Boxes on certain posts. Well now, you can enable Media Boxes on a post-by-post basis.
Display images and now VIDEO in Media Boxes
Another popular user request has been to display videos in the media boxes. You now have the option to paste an embed clip directly into the Media Box to show any kind of video.
Call To Action Buttons now have rounded corners
To make the Call To Action Buttons more closely resemble actual buttons, we have added rounded corners to all of the buttons. These are 100% CSS rounded corners, so you can change the color and still have rounded corners.
Control over the what header graphic/logo link to via Theme Options
We wanted to give you even more control over the outgoing links on your landing pages, so now you can control what the header graphic links to, if anything.
Control border color and border size to the page via Theme Options
Now, you can add a fancy border to your page, all via Theme Options. This was another no-brainer feature, as a page border can dramatically enhance the look of your affiliate marketing site.
Modify sidebar title and list item font, color and font size via Theme Options
Again, we want to give you as much control as possible over the look and feel of your site, so now you can change the font and style of the sidebar widgets.
Improved footer navigation controlss
Choose to display pages, categories, hide the navigation or even exclude certain pages.

Also featuring…

Control over the “Read More” except tag wording
Various styling enhancements to entire front-end
Various styling enhancements to Theme options panel

Check out the Affiliate Theme’s More

Posted under themes | 207 Comments

An Affordable Web Hosting Plan – 3 Top Companies

Posted by admin | September 8, 2009.

Looking for an affordable web hosting plan has become a simple process in the last couple years. Web Hosting is an extremely competitive market now. So that means for us that pricing has become cheaper and cheaper as companies compete with one another.

So how about other considerations besides price? Sure they are cheap, but how do the companies stack up in comparison with…

Customer service?
Server Up-Time?
Tutorials?
Bandwidth?
Memory?
How many domains can be hosted?
Do they offer re-sellers accounts?
Dedicated server accounts?
Is the Control Panel navigable for beginners and experts alike?

These are the questions that need to be asked when looking for a great web hosting company.

Here’s a list of 3 companies that are generally rated excellent by customers on the internet. These three companies are extremely cheap, usually less than $6 or $7 per month depending on promotions. They all answer the questions above with over-delivery of options. Perfect since the price is right.

Just Host- Just Host is a great company that takes pride in doing one thing well…”Just Host”.
Fat Cow- Fat Cow is a fast growing company that has recently moved to 100% wind power at their facilities. Their pricing is extremely competitive as well.
Host Gator- Host Gator is a very popular company that over-delivers with options. Host Gator separates itself by selling great dedicated hosting services as well as re-seller accounts as well as cheap shared hosting.

These 3 companies have proven themselves to thousands of customers over the years and all offer an affordable web hosting plan that will be right for your situation.

Posted under Blogging | 165 Comments

How to Get Backlinks to Your Blog

Posted by admin | September 8, 2009.

One of the most effective ways of increasing your blog’s ranking in the search engines is to get back links.
A back link is simply an incoming link to your site from another one. The more backlinks you get, the more traffic you will have to your blog, and a higher search engine ranking. Here are some simple steps to get backlinks and visitors to a blog.

1. Make a Squidoo lens and post a link back to your blog. Squidoo lens often rank high in Google.

2. Write articles and have a link to your blog in the resource area. There are many article directories you can choose from, just don’t use identical content in all of them. Change the title a bit and some of the content.

3. Write on Hub pages and again, link back to your blog.

4. Participate in network marketing forums, where you can post your blog link in your signature line.

5. Betternetworker is another site that is ranking well in Google. Become a member and add good content and you will get more visits to your blog.

6. Visit other blogs in your niche and leave comments. Just be sure to add a couple of sentences and don’t just say “nice blog” but make a comment that shows you actually read what the blogger had to say. Then you are more likely to get a visit back.

All these activities can result in visits back to your blog, which will give you back links, and help you rank higher in the search engine. This will result in more traffic, but more importantly, it will be traffic that is targeted to network marketing.

Posted under Blogging, Traffic | 1,126 Comments

How to Choose the Right Blogging Platform

Posted by admin | September 8, 2009.

When you’re a beginning blogger, you might be confused about which blogging platform to use. This article will describe the two most popular blogging platforms and the benefits of each. The two most used blogging platforms are WordPress and Blogger.

Blogger is a free blogging platform from Google that is beginner friendly and easy to use. Here are some benefits of using Blogger:

1. It’s free.
2. Easy to use.
3. Dummy proof (almost).
4. Easy to get the domain name you want (but you will have .blogspot following your domain name).
5. Easy to post entries.

Some of the negative aspects of Blogger are:

1. You will never “own” the blog.
2. Limited amount of functions.
3. Your domain will forever have .blogspot its name.
4. Limited amount of templates.
5. Customizing options are limited.

As you can see there are many benefits to this blog platform. Basically, Blogger is used for beginners and its good for getting your feet wet before diving into a paid platform.

WordPress (WP) is another popular platform and is directed towards more advanced users. WordPress is also free, however, the majority of people who use this platform buy hosting and and a domain name. Here are the benefits of using WP.

1. There are a ton of plugins (some are good, some are really bad).
2. You will own the site (if you buy the domain name).
3. There are many more theme options.
4. It’s easy to customize the appearance of each blog (Some .css knowledge might be required).
5. Looks more professional – almost like a real website.

Some negative aspects of WP are:

1. Most people who use WP pay for domain names and hosting.
2. Might be too advanced for beginners.
3. You need to know a little .html and .css if you want to customize templates.
4. The widget options might be too overwhelming for beginners.
5. Not as user friendly.

As you can see, WordPress is targeted towards more advance users. My recommendations are for beginners to try out Blogger and once they get an understanding of how to blog, then switch over to WordPress. This way you can obtain a free domain name, practice on the free blog and then when you’re ready, switch over to the more advanced WP platform.

Posted under Blogging, Design, Make Money | 166 Comments

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