Woopra: Analytics On Steroids
One of the things I took away from WordCamp Dallas/Fort Worth was a Woopra account. Prior to the event, I had never heard of the analytics service. However, I am now fascinated by it and can’t stop playing around with it.
What Makes Woopra Any Different Than Google Analytics?
The answer is real-time stats. I can literally see who is on my website anytime I feel like it. I can also see what page they are viewing, where they originally came from, and all the brower/operating system stats I could want.
If that isn’t enough, I can even send a chat request to anyone currently visiting my site and have a real IM style conversation. It’s amazing!
It sure beats looking at delayed…
Continue Reading »Blog Post Frequency Experiment Results
Tags: Blogging, Experiments
Back on March 18th, I wrote a post about blog post frequency and an experiment I was conducting. Now that it has been a few weeks, I thought I would go back and take a look at my traffic stats ever since I started writing a little less frequently.
Here are my stats starting two weeks before the experiment through April 12th:
Not Much Change
As you can see from the graph, not a whole lot of changes took place. If anything, my traffic started increasing a little bit since I spent more time promoting my blog than writing. I did not notice any dips in traffic from not posting for a few days which was suprising to see.
The search engine traffic…
Continue Reading »My Blog Bailout Check!
If you haven’t heard, the government has decided to bail us bloggers out. The exact value of your bailout check is determined by the following attributes:
- Incoming Links
- Alexa Rank
- PageRank
- Technorati Rank
There are also a few secret things that can affect your total bailout amount but these have not been made public yet.
How To Claim Your Bailout
To make a bailout claim for your blog, you simple need to go to this website: http://www.moneypath.com/Bailout.html
Once you go to the website, simply enter in the URL of your blog and it will automatically calculate how much money you should receive as part of the blog bailout. Don’t worry if it’s only a small amount because any free money is a good thing right now.
Depending…
Continue Reading »Time To Build A Better Blog In 31 Days
Tags: Blogging
Today I want to share some news about a course starting soon and publicly commit to doing it. The course I am talking about is 31 Days To Build A Better Blog. Darren Rowse is kicking off the third installment of the series on April 1st.
What Is It?
It’s basically a crash course on blogging and what you can do to make your blog better. It’s like going back to school but for something fun to learn. Each day of the course will teach you a theory as well as a few tasks (like homework) to complete.
Darren added a new feature this year where you can subscribe via Aweber and then receive daily emails during the course. The emails…
Continue Reading »An Experiment In Blog Post Frequency
Tags: Blogging, Experiments
One of the most common questions I receive from fellow bloggers is “how many times should I post on my blog?” I usually respond with a simple and honest answer…I don’t know.
I have been blogging on and off for over 5 years now and still have no idea what the best blog post frequency is. Here on this blog, I typically try to post Monday through Friday. I’m usually too busy on the weekends to post and I expect my readers are as well. However, I do miss some days when I am either stuck on what to write or have other things that need to take priority.
Since this is question I often wonder myself, I decided it’s…
Continue Reading »7 Ways People Find My Blog In Google
A few days ago I was looking through my Google Analytics reports and clicked on the keyword feature to see what keywords my visitors have been using to find my blog. After looking over the whole list, I noticed 7 keyword phrases that make me really proud of my blog. I never would of guessed I would rank for these terms but now that I do, I love it. Haha.
So what are they you ask? Here you go:
#7. The Most Offensive Blog Ever
The reason I wrote this post was to promote a different blog but I really don’t mind ranking number 1 for the most offensive blog ever…
#6. Alcohol Is Not The Answer
It’s true, alcohol is not the…
Continue Reading »Bookkeeping And Tax Tips For Bloggers/Freelancers
Tags: Blogging, Bookkeeping, Freelance, Taxes
This weeks episode of Digital Nomad Radio is all about bookkeeping and taxes. I agree, it’s the most boring part of having a business. Unfortunately, it’s something we all have to do at some point.
The reason I chose this topic this week is because I spent about 8 hours (at least it felt that long) last night printing and scanning receipts, entering invoices, and catching up on all the books. It took me a lot of researching before I had any idea what I was doing. I have a feeling some of you are in the same boat as I was and are clueless about what to do.
Teaser:
Some of the topics I will cover include:
- Accounts Receivable - How to keep track of all your income.
- Accounts Payable – What you should be keeping track of for business expenses.
- Tax Deductions For Bloggers/Freelancers – I’ll share some of the tax deductions that you might be able to take if you are a blogger or freelancer.
- Invoicing Software - I’ll share a really useful tool I use for invoicing.
That pretty much wraps it up for this weeks episode. Click the continue reading link below (or the post title above) to listen to this weeks show.
Continue Reading »Life of Justin: Greatest Hits
One thing I have never done here on Life of Justin is put together a list of my favorite posts of all time. In other words, a greatest hits album without any music (or album for that matter).
So last night I took a long look at my archives page and went through all the posts I have written over the years.
It took awhile…that’s for sure. I’ve written a lot more posts than I thought. It’s amazing how my writing skills have changed with time. My earlier posts were pretty bad.
Anyways, I managed to come up with a list of my favorite posts of all time. I chose these posts by hand without looking at any stats or comments. These…
Continue Reading »5 Ways To Beat Writer’s Block
Tags: Blogging, Podcast, Tips, Writer's Block
It’s Monday already? Whoa! That means it’s time for another episode of Digital Nomad Radio. This week’s episode is all about beating writer’s block. A fellow blogger sent me an email asking how I managed to come up with new ideas to write about everyday and I thought I would answer her questions and share them with everyone.
Teaser:
Here’s a sneak peek of the 5 tips to beat writer’s block:
- Write Down Your Post Ideas – It’s simple. Right down your post ideas!
- Use Other Blogs As Inspiration – Check out other blogs for some good ideas and topics to cover in your own posts.
- Read Websites Like Yahoo, CNN, Etc. – Use websites like Yahoo as a place to find articles. Then spin them in your own words and add to them.
- Look Back At Your Old Posts For Ideas – You have an archives page right? When’s the last time you took a look at it for some blog post ideas?
- When You’re In A Writing Mood…Keep Going! – So you’re in the zone and writing like a mad man. Don’t stop after one post!
Click the read more button below or the post title above to listen to the episode.
Continue Reading »10 WordPress Plugins You Can’t Miss
Tags: Blogging, Wordpress, Wordpress Plugins
When it comes to using Wordpress, nothing beats plugins. They make our lives easier by doing the things we don’t want to. They add features that aren’t included in Wordpress and overall make our blogs (and lives) better.
I decided it was time to share some of the best Wordpress plugins I have been using here on Life of Justin. Some of you may already be using a lot of these but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to mention them.
So check them out and give them a try:
1. All In One SEO Pack
By far the most important plugin I have. It does everything you need for great on-page search engine optimization. Now only does it let you change your…
Continue Reading »
5 Comments