Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

I remember a couple years ago participating in a website that gave website owners that had extra space and bandwidth the ability to offer some of it to others. Usually this was done by the host of the domain allotting a subdomain or subfolder for another to use for their own website.

The site was called Pick-Me.net This of course was a movement that was started in hopes of allowing people the following:

• To connect with each other
• To get away from free hosts like Freewebs, Piczo, and Yahoo! Geocities, and similar site
• To try to encourage better web standards in design

After some time the site had issues with the mods with time constraint and the script was falling behind because of the popularity of the website. However, it hs once again risen and is accepting applications for both hosts and hostees.

The brilliant part of the site is its two main lists: hosts and hostees. A host can look at the list of hostees needing a website, while hostees can surf around and find a host with a domain name and requirements that suit their needs.

As a note, I offer 100MB diskspace/ 5GB bandwidth of free webspace at Pixelled.com. Hostees would receive a subdomain, email account (forwarder or can be used for popmail), have WordPress installed, and can put up links from text ads. However, I require a link to Pixelled.com, Webhost-Solutions.net, and Blondish.net in a very visible spot. I also require 4 visits a month to my blog here at Blondish (which means they should comment.) My only huge requirement is that I do not allow commercial based websites. Otherwise, I allow most websites.

Some of the blog articles I have recently started to publish have been about the social media venue, Twitter. Of course, like most systems that have gotten popular, there are people who abuse it by one of the following:

• Are people racking up numbers of followers to spam and not give valuable content
• Are bots created by people that rack a number of followers to spam
• Phish the site like they did during New Year’s Eve

Of course, for anyone who has done forums, and other types of social media places, this is normal, yet still annoying all the same. Of course, there are regular people out there who are not just politicians, celebrities, and businessmen. It is very much a diverse community. However, the name of the game people have come to get into is getting the number of followers… period. There are offered ploys by many in the Twitter community to “Get 10,000 followers in 100 days” and so forth. Although I can be optimistic, I was quite skeptical. I am sure it can be done, but some of the suggestions are quite agressive and frankly, for me, although I like to follow, I also like to try to converse with others. Come on, I spend 3 hours on Tuesdays with the GNO (Girls’ Night Out or trend topic #gno – A group of women on Twitter with a focal topic each week.) However, the formula of these ploys are done by simply joining and thinking that at least 25% of the tweeps that you follow each day will follow back. I know, I have subscribed to these out of curiosity and the fact that I knew eventually I would be blogging about things like what I am blogging in this article.

Tweepl is doing and experiment with Twitter that is a non-spamming bot to collect data on the value of collected followers and trying to prove that it is not important. Of course, with a lot of numbers, your tweets are streams on all of your followers timelines. However, they are not doing this. I am interested in what they will find out and will be following their journey from time to time.

However, anyone who uses Twitter can do the following if they are trying to organically build a following… that is, a meaningful one:

• 1. Follow 2-15 people in a day (this is depending on your time) and try to communicate with them honestly. You do not always have to tell them why you followed them, but try to take an honest interest and try to talk with them.
• 2. Even if you communicate with the people the day before, do not exclude them. They are worth the time and remember that. Everyone is worth a chance and worth the time.
• 3. Try not to use the Automatic -Direct Message (Auto-DM). It really may not pertain to anyone and if you do make one and could prov annoying. If you do make one, make a webpage specifically to welcome your tweep followerers by introducing yourself (not your business if you are one.)
• 4. It is okay to follow back for those who follow you first. However, if it is merely a business with no interest in communicating anything other than their specials, perhaps unfollowing is better. There are a few businesses that are honest people and have great products, so do not rule all of them out at first sight.
• 5. Engage new topics like: Question of the Moment, Fact of the Moment, Project of the Moment, Poll of the Moment, Thought of the Moment. These might bring a wonderful conversation. These are ones I actively use myself and enjoy the feedback.
• 6. Tweet your blogs, but do not overtweet them. This one is kind of an iffy, but if you believe you have content worth a look, then tweet it.
• 7. Visit some of your followers sites or ask them to DM you when they blog something new. If you have to ask daily, then do so as a reminder. It shows you are interested in at least reading their articles and they might give you a look in return.
• 8. It is okay to disagree with another, but to unfollow them based on the fact you disagree with them on an issue is not just rude, but ignorant. Arguments/Debates are ways to grow as a person and know more. Now, unless if it is totally against your morals, then perhaps it is best to bow out politely with a DM to the other tweep. They will understand.
• 9. Follow people who have filled out their profile either partially or fully. The profile might give you a clue if they are a person or a robot. Check out their stream and see if they have anything interesting to say. It might help as a great conversation starter.
• 10. If you have no idea what to talk about, try Tweetworks. It is another Twitter tool that you can use to focus on certain group discussions based on a topic.

Anyway, I am sure there are even more suggestions and sure it is okay to follow more in a day, but make sure you can handle it. Like anything, use Twitter with caution.

Here are some articles that Tweepl shares that I think are also worth both pluggage and read on the issue:

• Why numbers are not everything on Twitter by Bud Gallant – Tells how it is more important not to focus on the number of followers but the content quality of your tweets.
• Your Followers Are NOT Following You by Tweetworks – Lists reasons why people might follow or unfollow you and how to use twitter with meaningful conversations rather than bulk up in numbers.

There are far more blog articles on the issue and the majority of them read quite similar: Numbers are not always important.

So think about it. Why are you using Twitter? What do you want to talk about? What type of people do you want to connect with (if you do want interaction… at least I hope you do)? If it is for just the numbers, spamming and not for interacton, then why bother using it? What substantial topics do you have that another can take back with them or even respond?

In the end, remember: Real people will follow you if you are truly real with them. If you want the numbers and it makes you feel good in the morning, but you having absolutely nothing to talk about, by all means do use Twitter that way too. However, if you want to effectively use Twitter for what it was intended, then take this blog seriously. I did not waste 1000 plus words to come up with junk.

Twitter is a social media venue that allows people to connect. I have found it to be a great place, even better than some of the forums I have participated in the past. However, as I see people comment and wonder what twitter is, or even ask me how they can do better, I just had to pool together my own list that has worked for me so far. Of course, I am no guru in Twitter, but what I have used has done well for me so far. Several things I have noticed are:

• I have more traffic to my personal site.
• I have met people who are interesting and share a common interest on some level with me.
• I have met people who I believe are good friends. Even though they are through the internet, we have been regular at
• I have learned a little bit from using Twitter.
• I have received web hosting business from followers just because of association with me and wanting to try my small time hosting.
• I have become more active with my website in producing informative blogs.
• I have been successfully able to produce blogs from paid-to-review sites that are not cheesy and are more of a consumer based review.
• I have been able to expand my site’s umbrella over topics I cover.

Of course, there are a lot of ways to connect with others out there, but this is one of the most drastic I have found. Also, there are a lot of more things I have taken from my experience so far with Twitter. Below are tools I had stumbled upon while discovering this social venue.

1. Tweetchat Simple site to allow you to see a live stream of tweets almost like a real chat room. They are designed around specific topics. For example, the group Girl’s Night Out, meets every Tuesday evening and they use the trendy topic of #gno to enter the room.

2. Twitter Grader is a place you can simply type in your Twitter ID and it will produce a grade on how good of a ‘tweep’ you are. In calculating this grade, Twitter Grader calculates your authority into a grade by how many you are following, who you are following, who is following you, and what you talk about. It is also a place you can see similar people from either location, profession, or something about them in their description at Twitter that may be relevant to you.

3. TwitterCounter Is a great place to analyze the growth of your following and also has a code that you can place on your site that will tell visitors how many followers you have acquired at Twitter.

4. Be A Magpie is a place where tweeps can make a little cash while they tweet away. The site produces advertisements that are placed within your streams, with keywords to not seem obstrusive. Those who sign up can adjust the ratio of how often ads are placed versus tweets. This is great for those wanting a few extra dollars. However, on the downside, it could be annoying for some followers if your ratio makes it obvious you would rather use them than get to know them. I recommend if you do use this service to use the 10:1 minimum ratio, no matter if you have 15 followers or over 15,000 followers.

5. Mr.Tweet is a place to help tweeps get connected with others who are relevant to them. The site calculates and based on the info you have given in your Twitter profile, try to connect you to others that you should follow or that could be a great influence.

Sometimes when you cannot market yourself due to time constraints or lack of knowledge, especially if your site is important to you and you want to increase your site’s popularity, it may be a good idea to invest in an internet marketing agency. One of the places I came across, Pepperjam, is highly popular and is a full service internet and search engine marketing agency.

What does that mean? Well, anyone who invests with Pepperjam will receive services that will do things like maximize the traffice and leads volume to a site. Search Engine Optimization is one of the specialties this company can provide. They focus on areas like meta tags, content optimization, and URL structure. Some of these points I have touched base on within my Webmaster Resources in the Articles section.

Pepperjam is very prestigious with it being the 75th company in the top 500 Inc. With clients like eBay, DNKY, and even Playboy, they are the real thing when it comes to what they do. The great thing about Pepperjam is that they provide services that are organic, search engine-wise so your site is indexed properly! It might cost a bit of money depending on what your expectations are, but my philosophy is that if you cannot do it, then get it done right even if it might cost. As Donald Trump says, “You have to play big to win big.”

Of course, if you are not sure about Pepperjam, they offer a free analysis and proposal which will allow you to see what they can offer.

Sometimes developing anything online can seem boring, but IDUG contest has found a way to put a real kick into producing a short XQuery. Their contest, the XLM Contest, asks entrants to produce an XML rap by simply pointing a camera towards the computer screen while you are working.
Their main terms are that the video refer somehow to XML, XQuery or DB2. The terms are fairly simple and once you are done, upload the video, post about it with an embedded file of your entry and mention the IDUG contest so others might have a chance to enter. Videos can be no longer than 5 minutes, so it is simple for anyone who might be a bit zany enough to document their experience for the contest.

Some helpful pointers is to fit in about the application are things like: security, how unique your item is, how easy your solution is to understand, and above all, how useful it is. The contest is great for students as it could be a stepping stone for future job hunts. So, if you are a developer, try out the contest even if for fun. The prizes given vary, but some of the prizes recently offered were an iPod and a Zune.

I keep hearing on the local radio stations like WDML 106.9 about the International Star Registery. Now, I have a big question: Does International Star Registry own all the stars we see in the sky, even the ones named hundred and thousands of years ago by ancient astonomers?

ISR has been a company since 1979, but what makes them able to have the right to give others the ability to name stars for a fee? As a side note, I do want to say that there is a way to name a star for free, but you have to fill out a credit application and even make one purchase to receive the name. That is not not free and is considered false advertisement.

Despite the romantic idea of having a star named after me, I think no one should charge to have a star named after them. A star cannot be reached by necessary means. It is like receiving nothing in the end. How can such a company guarantee that no one star is named over several times for several customers. None of the people of the past before this company were charged in naming a star or even a constellation. It is ridiculous and a rip off. The site even says that the company is not recognized by the scientific community!

In their FAQ, which is quite short, they reveal that the do not own the stars and explain that it is an adoption. Well, if it is an adoption, does it not go somewhere like a charitable organization or perhaps for world hunger programs, or something of the sort? Of course there are adopt-a-highway, adopt-a-dolphin, and much more, but those programs go for things like animal conservation and giving back to the community.

Here is a thought, pick a star up, research about it, make and print your own pretty certificate, and then give it to your honey. It would only cost less than a dollar! Save your money and not give it to someone who cons people out of their money thinking that it is okay to charge money to name a star when they have no ownership in the first place.

Related Links:

• Buy A Star, It’s Not Yours
• Name A Star After Somebody: A Scam
• Stellar Idea or Cosmic Scam?

Most anyone that has been through my site the last couple years know I dabble in small time webhosting. I am also into giving as many alternative resources for webhosting, even if it might be better than mine. There are so many companies that it is pointless for me to argue. If someone offers something good, then of course I am going to say a good word or two.

One web hosting site that I have reviewed lately is WebhostingRevenue.com. The offer quite a bit in shared and reseller hosting.
Now, to specify what a shared account is versus a reseller, shared hosting is where there are a bunch of single web accounts on a site. Reseller hosting is being given the ability to either host a multitude of sites for personal use or business gain. Reseller hosting is like renting an apartment room without fear of being punished for subleasing.

What I liked about their plans were that they had no contracts and no commitments, so that means anyone who signs up with their service can cancel. All of the shared hosting packages have a pretty sweet deal as they are unmetered and for about $8.95 per month

WebhostingRevenue.com’s Reseller Web Hosting
accounts are great for people who want to try their hant at webhosting. It is usually somethign I recommend as a stepping stone before treading the waters of dedicated servers. Upon purchasing a reseller account, WebhostingRevenue.com will set up your space and they offer the tools to help you get your site going right away. Try their demos for Cpanel, RVSiteBuilder Pro, and Autoresponders.

WebhostingRevenue.com is different from other hosts like BlueHost and HostGator, especially on one particular attribute: RVSkins. RVSkins helps a clients build a website when they are not proficient in things like HTML and CSS, nor even creating graphics. HostGator charges $60/year and BlueHost does not even offer this option. On top of that BlueHost has their own branded cPanel that has advertisements to several of their partner promotional sites.

If I were to be in the market for a new host, WebhostingRevenue.com would be a strong candidate for its extras that they offer as well as the prices. So I guess if any of you are in the market, I can say you should consider WebhostingRevenue.com if you like an affordable prices, unmetered hosting, and no contracts.

I am always looking for new tools to do searches. It is key when making sure my site is listed as I want people to be able to find my site. I came across the Find.com Search Engine. No, it is not google, but it was surprisingly fast and simplistic, probably because it is still developing. The navigation was clean and load time fairly quick. Again, because it is still new and has over 500 articles with the promise of thousands by the end of the new year, I have not seen anything as of yet to deter me. It is always nice to see how a newer search engine goes and I wish Find.com the best of luck!

Because of this, I thought I might try to look up the word ‘blondish.’ Lo and behold, my site actually did come up in the search. I was actually happy to see that, and I even saw links I had not seen before to my site. As I said, Find.com is new, but I would recommend bookmarking it and try to use it like to either: find people, find jobs, or even find friend. You might be surprised on what you find out, and plus having another search engine as a reference tool is always a nice thing to have when you cannot seem to find exactly what you are looking for elsewhere. I put this site in my favorites and definitely will be using it from time to time.