Link Love

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Well … I love to read other blogs and I “get to” as many as time permits throughout the week.

I’ve always loved when other bloggers share their favorite posts and I’m going to share mine from this week (they were not all written this week but I just discovered them LOL).

In no particular order:

Comply With the FTC’s New Blogger Disclosure Rules With Amusing Icons

Adam Ostrow wrote a post and included some awesome (funny) icons designed by illustrator, Jeannine Schafer. They are icons/images for those of us who are trying to comply with the new FTC rules. Check them out!

 

Looking To Get More Twitter Followers? Then Check Twitfever.com

Daniel Scocco, Daily Blog Tips, has a new Twitter tool (Twit Fever) that will help you get new (targeted) followers. It has some awesome features including: multiple account management, follow from profile tool, auto follow tool, mass unfollow tool, auto tweet tool, retweet club, statistics, and more.

I’m currently trying out the tool and I’ll be doing a full review here soon.

 

Why I Created My 100 Fresh Blog List of CommentLuv for Daily Comments?

I ran into an awesome list of blogs written by Hesham, Zebida.com, where he’s outlined blogs that use the CommentLuv plugin. I honestly didn’t even know I was on the list LOL … but I am and I’m thrilled to be there.

 

How Much Did We Make on Amazon This Month?

I read this awesome post by Wanda and Paula, AffiliateBlogOnline.com, where they discuss their decision to integrate the Amazon affiliate program into their niche stores and they are kicking ass with it! This really motivated me because I’m just getting started with Amazon now that my eBay earnings are headed south.

This is a must read for affiliate marketers!

 

I AM NOT HAPPY AS I CLOSE MY DAY!

Well, I was saddened to read Ginger’s post on AttentionTargetShoppers, where she posted about how her BlogSpot blog was flagged as spam and could be shut down by Blogger. I have never been a fan of using a hosted/community blog service for a business blog and this is a perfect example. She posts awesome coupons and shopping help so at her busiest time of year it’s natural she’s going to post more frequently … this should NOT cause her to lose the blog she’s worked so hard on over the years. I will reiterate … BlogSpot/Blogger and WordPress.com blogs are great for hobby blogs …  but not for business!

I’m so sorry this happened to Ginger and I’m happy to see that she’ll be moving over to a self-hosted blog (UPDATE: New Blog: http://attentiontargetshoppers.com/).  

Do you do any link love type posts on your blog? As a reader do you find them helpful and/or interesting? How was your week? What do you have planned for next week? *SmiLes* Suzanne

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Problems Adding Video to the Blog …

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As you may, or may not have noticed, some of the videos I have added to the blog take longer to load than others. This usually happens when I host the videos myself due to their size and/or length (as opposed to embeding them from YouTube for instance).

I’ve added several videos to my blog for the Blogging for Bucks BootCamp and I’ve never run into any problems while doing so. I’ve been trying to troubleshoot this and make sense of why this is happening.

I don’t know yet but one guess is that for the BootCamp I posted the videos on static pages as opposed to using a blog post type entry.

I’ve tried the same video format that I’ve used in the past and I’ve even played around with some other formatting and it’s pretty much the same result. I have always used the video upload button in the admin section (image below) and I use .swf format like I’ve always used in the past) so I’m not sure why this is causing so many problmes.

video-upload-button1

I have posted the last video lesson/tutorial (Keyword Research) onto a static page and then I’ve link over to it … and we’ll see if we have better luck with it this way.

I have edited the post here: http://www.suzannefranco.com/keyword-research-my-tactics-and-formulas-video-tutorial/ and I’ve placed an image of a player there so that when you click on the player it will take you to the static page with the actual video. Here’s a direct link to the video page if you want to check it out: http://www.suzannefranco.com/keyword-research-video-tutorial/.

I’m hoping this will cut down on the load problems we’ve been experiencing, as well as, the problems with the RSS emails that go out when I post.

Meanwhile, I will be searching high and low for some answers so we can all learn from this. Thanks for your patience. *SmiLes* Suzanne

P.S. Did you have any problems loading the posts that had video in them? If so, which ones? What browser were you using? Do you use video on your own site/blog? What format do you suggest I use? Any feedback and/or help would be greatly appreciated. ;)

P.S. To create the videos … I’ve used both Camtasia screen capture software and I’ve used my Flip Ultra camera and then imported the file into Camtasia to edit and product it.

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Brainstorming Your Business – What If? (Part 3 – Audio Tutorial)

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I did a couple of posts about brainstorming (Part 1 and Part 2) and if you did the exercise you should have two lists of topics that you are passionate about. Do any of them jump out at you? Are there any topics on there that if you spent several hours a day researching, reading, and writing about you would lose track of time? Something that you’d talk and/or write about whether you got paid or not? If so, you might want to explore it further for a new online business.

Now … here’s the part where I want to interject some wisdom.

I want you to answer this question … honestly. How long have you been thinking about starting an online business? Has it been two months … six months … a year or two? I meet and converse with a ton of people online and I am always amazed (and sad) to hear how long people have been searching for the “perfect” online business … so they NEVER get started!

What If?

I’d like to ask you something … what if??? What if you just picked one of these topics and got started … NOT knowing at all what you’re doing … having no business plan … but just decided TODAY that you are going to give something a try??? How does that feel to you? Scary? Exciting? Relief? Come on! Let’s do this! Quit researching, reading, and writing your ideas down … and watching what seems like everyone around you do this … just do it … TODAY! OK?

Now with that said I want you to know that it’s almost certain that you will start more than one online business so the one you start with does NOT have to be perfect … or even great. You just need to get yourself started and you can make changes and adjustments along the way. You can even scrap it and start all over if it’s not working right?

So … are you willing to get your new online business started? I’d personally suggest getting started with a self-hosted WordPress blog because you can do so much to that platform that you can start almost any type of business with it … and again … you can always make changes down the road as you get the hang of things.

I’ll make you a deal. I use and promote HostGator hosting and I love them. If you’re willing to use my affiliate link for your new hosting account (or transfer to them) I will personally help you get your hosting set up and get your domain purchased and pointed to your hosting account. Then I will help you get WordPress set up on your new account and give you some basic pointers on where I’d start and we’ll get you up and running for your new business very quickly. Basically you can get your business started with my assistance and guidance for under $8 bucks using the links and coupons at the very bottom of this post!

So … what do you think? Are you ready to quit sitting on the sidelines and start to play this game? I can help … so just let me know! *SmiLes* Suzanne

Have you been searching the net looking for the perfect business? Are you afraid to get started? Do you want my help with this? Please reach out and tell me what’s up! Let us hear from you in the comments below (or via Contact page).

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Brainstorming Your Business – Problems and Solutions (Part 2 – Video Tutorial)

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frustrated_ladySo in my post, Brainstorming Your Business – Finding Your Passion (Part 1 – Video Tutorial), we looked at all of the things that make you happy and that you really enjoy in life. 

Today we’re going to take a look at any problems you’re having in your life (or have had). You want to especially think about topics that you think of that you would go search the internet looking for answers and/or solutions. 

This could be a parenting issue, how to get rid of debt, a medical issue … or how to get a stain out of clothing or carpet.

Again, don’t try to second guess anything about the topic – just write down everything that comes to mind. You can analyze these topics and ideas later. It’s best to just write down everything that comes to mind.

OK … watch the video and see what you come up with.

Was this harder than you thought? Was it a good exercise or do you feel like it sent you off into the wrong direction? Don’t be upset … just do the exercise and we’ll discuss each of your lists in the next lesson. Let us hear from you! *SmiLes* Suzanne

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Brainstorming Your Business – Finding Your Passion (Part 1 – Video Tutorial)

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Outdoor fresh air thinking and creativity backgroundI recently conducted a poll here on the blog and I asked you, my readers, to take part in it (Where Are You at in Your Online Business). If you haven’t done so I hope you’ll take the few seconds to check the box that most closely fits for you – it will really help me give you the best content and information here on the blog. After reading the results I found that there are some of you who still need some direction in finding ideas for your new online business. I think those of you who chose answer one or two, that you’d like to have an online business but don’t yet have a topic in mind or that you have a topic in mind but need some help getting started, will benefit greatly from this tutorial.

If you have an online business and you are not truly happy and excited to work on it you’ll want to listen to this too. I for one know that I’ve “happened onto” some businesses that I don’t truly have a passion for and it makes it really hard to work on the business without feeling like I’m “working” LOL. If you have a business that you ended up in for whatever reason but you’re not truly happy with it then maybe it’s time for you to too to see what other business options are out there. Working a business that you don’t truly enjoy is almost as bad as going to work every day at a job that you don’t enjoy and none of us should put ourselves in that position – don’t you agree?

Now, before we get started with this lesson I want you to get out a pen and a piece of paper (or your notepad or journal) because as we go through this lesson I want you to write down EVERYTHING that comes to mind as it pops into your head.

NOTE: These notes differ a little from the video so I suggest if you have the time you not only watch the video but you also read this post.

This is what I want you to think about and to start writing down … and for now don’t worry about spelling, penmanship, what order or which number they fall under … just let your ideas and thoughts flow out and onto your paper OK? 

Let’s get started:

***In fact … as we go through this exercise … I don’t want you to try to figure out if ANY of these could actually be monetized or not … we’ll be looking at that in a different lesson … so for now … just make sure that every single thought and idea makes its way onto your paper.

OK … let’s continue: 

  1. Write out ALL ideas you have … or have had … for a business (don’t worry about if it could be made into a blog or business or not. 
  2. Write out ALL of the things you’re interested in (i.e. sports, hobbies, what you do in your spare time, where do you travel to (or where would you like to travel to?), what you like to read about, material possessions you have or want … think about what magazines you read or subscribe to (or wish you did) … what type of shows you like to watch … what interests you and captures you? Are you crafty? Do you make things? What do you make?
  3. What’s a subject or topic that you’d research and write about that you could care less if you got paid for that work or not? Which topics could you do this work on and hours have passed before you even know it?
  4. What do others tell you you’re good at? Are you a good cook? Baker? Good with relationship advice? At organizing? Cleaning tips? At decorating? At event planning? Do others come to you before they make a purchase? If so … of what? Computers? Cars? Boats? Appliances?
  5. Write out WHO you are (i.e. woman, divorced, engaged, parent, mom, soon-to-be step mom, Christian, like to help and teach others, tall, etc.)
  6. Write out what you are experienced in … for instance what did you study in school? What types of jobs and careers have you had? (i.e. legal assistant, list cars on eBay, cell phone business, direct sales, sales, marketing, people, etc.)
  7. Write out ALL of your causes or passions (i.e. politics, religion, environment, advocacy issues, etc.) 
  • Write out EVERYTHING that comes to mind
  • Nothing is too silly to add to the list
  • Do NOT try to figure out if you could make a business out of this (that’s another step we will get to … I promise) 

Once you are done, you should start to rearrange your list putting the top 5 – 10 towards the top (they don’t need to be in an exact order) and then try to filter on down as you see fit. 

That’s it for the Brainstorming Part 1.

I want you to put that aside for today and tomorrow we’ll move onto Brainstorming Part 2.

NOTE: I made this video some time ago and even though it says for “blogging” it definitely pertains to any type of business you’d like to start ;)

Was this helpful for you to get some ideas about what you actually enjoy in life? Are there things on your list that got you really excited? Did you find yourself asking, “Wow! What if I could actually make a living around “blank”? I hope you’ll keep adding to this list as other things you enjoy pop into your head. Let’s hear from you below! *SmiLes* Suzanne

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Homepage Excerpts Plugin (Video Tutorial)

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Anthony was mentioning that the posts on the blog were taking up way too much space on the main index page … and he’s right. Today I remembered a plugin I’d read about months ago that is designed to help you manage how much of each post you want to show on the main page and how many posts, etc.

The free plugin is from Daniel Scocco of Daily Blog Tips and it’s called Homepage Excerpts WordPress Plugin.

homepageexcerpts

I’ve done a video to show you how to go download the plugin to your hard drive and then go into your WordPress admin panel and upload the plugin there. I also show you how to activate it and how to go in and configure it the way you want it to display.

Not only will this clean up your main index page and make it look much cleaner it can really help your SEO efforts too. When you hear about duplicate content it is referring to having duplicate content on the same domain name or URL. And if you think about the way a WordPress blog is set up you are putting up a lot of duplicate content (without even knowing it). While a new post is on my main/index page in its entirety it is also being placed in its entirety on the single post page for that post. So if I only post a portion of it on my main page that will definitely help with this problem.

It also strips the html out of the post on the main page (removing links, images, audio, video and such) so I’d imagine this will also help with the load time of my main page (please let me know if you were experiencing any problems with the load time).

Here’s the video:

So … what do you think of the new look and feel on the main page? Do you use excerpts on your main page or do you post articles in their entirety? Have you considered using excerpts? Did you understand how to add and configure this plugin? Let us hear from you! *SmiLes* Suzanne

UPDATE:

P.S. I want to thank those who reminded me about the excerpt feature that’s in your WordPress admin panel. Some prefer it because they can decide how much of each post they’d like on the main/home page on a case by case basis. I’m still making my final decision between the two and I’ve enjoyed hearing the different opinions on this. I do miss seeing images on the page … but I also like the clean, uniform look that the plugin creates.

Please keep sharing your thoughts on this ok?

Screen shot:

excerpt-arrow

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Friday Link Love!

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I read a lot of blogs, and I mean a lot! When I see something that could help everyone, I’ll save the links, and post them for you! Let’s just say its my gift to you on Friday’s! I hope you enjoy them, and look forward to your comments!

How to Build a High Traffic Blog Without Killing Yourself

A great video on how to build a high traffic blog, the easy way!

10 Small Business Social Media Market Tips

We all want to work from home, right? Well, its time to talk Social Media

How to Defeat Burnout and Stay Motivated

Tips to keeping the mind motivated

Scrapblog’s QuickMix Is A Dead Simple Tool To Make Digital Scrapbooks

Do you like scrapbook? Anthony we blog remember? This post should get your ideas on the fast track!

Business or Pleasure – You Must Have a Blog To Be Seen!

Give your readers a reason to read your blog. Maybe even come back!

Make Your WordPress Blog Mobile Ready

Is mobile WordPress the wave of the future?

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Q & A – Conversation with Julie (Part One)

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We’re excited to get started with our Q & A series here on the blog. We want to thank Julie Mautner of Provence Post for allowing us to share her questions and my answers to her. We’ve exchanged several emails back and forth and we’ll be posting them here in a series. There’s a lot of good information here so be sure you follow along. If you have any questions or comments please leave a comment below or use the Contact page. Enjoy.

From: Julie Mautner 
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 5:47 AM
To: Suzanne Franco
Subject: Re: Money Making Ideas – Suzanne Franco

Hi Suzanne

Your letter was touching and I hope your honeymoon was divine! I’d love a copy of the e-book when you have time. I won’t pay but I will value it!

Thanks!

Julie

From: Julie Mautner
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 7:52 AM
To: Suzanne Franco
Subject: Re: Money Making Ideas – Suzanne Franco

In a message dated 10/19/2009 7:43:43 A.M. Central Daylight Time, Suzanne Franco writes:

Hi Julie ~ Thank you for your nice email. We are trying to get the eBook ready this week *fingers crossed* and I’ll announce it on the blog.

Great!

I was looking over your site and I wanted to ask you what your keyword phrases are for the blog?

Funny you should ask. I keep hearing about keywords and I understand the concept but I can’t seem to find anyone to tell me what to do with those words!!!! Can you? I’ll be your best friend forever. I assume my keywords would be Provence, France, South of France, French Travel, French Tourism, etc. Is that correct?

Also, I wanted to link to a post from my Twitter and I don’t know much about blogspot but it wouldn’t let me get the direct URL to one of your posts???

There’s definitely a problem linking to Blogger blogs (Google’s blog program is called Blogger. The word Blogspot is the site I guess. But it’s one and the same. ) to Facebook. There’s a way around the problem which I can tell you if you’re interested. I’m not sure about linked to my blog from Twitter (although it would be awesome if you did!) Here is a direct link to today’s post…does that help?

http://theprovencepost.blogspot.com/2009/10/tour-dargent-cellar-sale.html

Weird. Do you use any type of SEO plugin (do they have that on blogspot?)? Sorry … I’ve never used Blogspot so I’m not familiar with it at all.

Ha, I know less than you! What is an SEO plugin?

If you have a second … go to my blog and leave a comment on the newest post (maybe just what you sent me below) and for name you could do something like travel to provence – Julie and then with a link back to your blog. This will give you a good backlink to your site with that “anchor text” telling Google that’s what your blog is about.

I’m going to do this as soon as I finish writing you. I love the ideas you are giving me and am very appreciative.

Also that way when I reply others can see what we’ve said to each other and it helps them out too. *huGs*

P.S. Stay in touch any time and let me know how I can help.

Are you willing to give this kind of help for pay? I’m looking for someone to provide me with just this kind of help. Can we discuss?

THANK YOU!
Julie

From: Julie Mautner  [mailto:Julie Mautner ]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 7:55 AM
To: Suzanne Franco
Subject: Re: Money Making Ideas – Suzanne Franco

In a message dated 10/19/2009 7:43:43 A.M. Central Daylight Time, Suzanne Franco writes:

If you have a second … go to my blog and leave a comment on the newest post (maybe just what you sent me below) and for name you could do something like travel to provence – Julie and then with a link back to your blog. This will give you a good backlink to your site with that “anchor text” telling Google that’s what your blog is about.

Suzanne, on which of your blogs should I do this? Should I do it here?

http://www.suzannefranco.com/category/affiliate-networks/

Thanks!

J.

From: Suzanne Franco Land [mailto:Suzanne Franco]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 8:28 AM
To: ‘Julie Mautner ‘
Subject: RE: Money Making Ideas – Suzanne Franco

LOL … this is VERY valuable feedback for me … last night my husband was reading my RSS email and he didn’t know how to get to my blog from there either so it’s a great post idea ;) Try this … go back to the original email with the title “I Wrote You a Letter” and in the body of that email where you read the article try clicking on the Title of the Post and it should be a hyperlink … then you can scroll down to the comments section (at the very bottom). This is very important for you to learn to do and it’s a GREAT way to get traffic to your site (and new subscribers). If you don’t have the email or don’t understand this don’t waste too much time on it but again this is a great topic because I know a lot of people reply to the RSS emails directly to me and I have a feeling many don’t know how to go back and comment. ;)  

From: Suzanne Franco Land [mailto:Suzanne Franco]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 8:31 AM
To: ‘Julie Mautner ‘
Subject: RE: Money Making Ideas – Suzanne Franco

I know how to link from both … but the strange thing was that when I clicked on the title of your post it should (and it did) go to the individual post but the URL in the browser bar should change to the whole long URL like the one you sent me. I can see it when I hoover over it … but it should be up top so I can do a simple copy/paste. I tweeted about your post using your main URL because I was being lazy and didn’t want to have to type out the entire URL (LOL). When I tweet it goes onto my Facebook page automatically so you might get a bit of traffic from it. 

From: Julie Mautner  [mailto:Julie Mautner ]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 8:00 AM
To: Suzanne Franco
Subject: Re: Money Making Ideas – Suzanne Franco

PS: The solution to linking to Blogger posts from Facebook seems to be to place all the info, including the link, into the main message box…and ignoring the link box completely. With regarding to Twitter, I’ve never done it so I don’t know whether it works or not. And thank you for the very nice comment you just left on ProvencePost.com!

Julie

From: Suzanne Franco Land [mailto:Suzanne Franco]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 8:34 AM
To: ‘Julie Mautner ‘
Subject: RE: Money Making Ideas – Suzanne Franco

Hi Julie ~ I don’t know exactly which one of these would help you the most but for sure the keyword tools and checking out the competition …

The keywords you gave me earlier were too broad! I did a quick look before I emailed you earlier and I think “visit provence” and “travel to provence” jumped out at me (but that was without doing the whole process) … I also have a tool here that will help but I want you to understand this process before I put it into the tool for you.

http://www.suzannefranco.com/what-is-a-niche

http://www.suzannefranco.com/keywordresearch-tools

http://www.suzannefranco.com/checking-out-the-competition

http://www.suzannefranco.com/keyword-research-follow-up

NOTE: These are some of the lessons from BootCamp. If you are not signed up for BootCamp please use the Contact page and let me know you’re interested. I’m about to close it to newcomers.

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Fix / Correct Image Alignment in WordPress Blog (Video)

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Yesterday I decided to add the Tweet Meme plugin (far left – button that allows you to easily retweet this blog post) and I decided I wanted it to appear on the upper left of my post. I usually align my images to the left of the text so I decided it would look better if I moved the images to the right of the post.

I logged into my admin and did the edit to move the image to the right but it didn’t work. It showed it moved right in the admin panel but it wouldn’t move on the actual live post. I googled the problem and found a fix (so I thought). I decided to turn on the screen capture so I could show you how to “fix” this problem. I followed the instuctions and it didn’t work. As I was scanning the style.css file (where I was to put this “fix” code) I noticed some image code already in there. Sure enough there was an error in the code on this file.

Now … this might be a little advanced for some of you but I want you to watch this video so you can learn from this. If you do enough with WordPress (or any blog/site) you will eventually have a reason to dive into the code to look for something or to make some adjustments. (Hey … never say never! LOL).

The one mistake I made that I want to stress is that I should’ve copied that file on to my desktop BEFORE I started messing around with that code! That was if I did anything that didn’t work or “broke”something I’d have the page that I started with.

NOTE: I’m sorry the audio on this video has some weird background buzz … sorry about that!

I hope you enjoyed the video. I plan on doing a lot more of these videos to capture what I get up and do each day for “work.” Let me know if there’s something specific you need to learn and if I know how to do it I’ll do a video for you. *SmiLes* Suzanne

P.S. So … how do you like the Tweet Meme? If you enjoyed this post please try out the new button and give this a retweet! LOL Thanks!

UPDATE: My husband had the same problem on one of his blogs and I realized that I didn’t post a link to the code I was referencing in the video. (Sorry). So here’s a link to the post on the WordPress forum: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/202431

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Ouch! Attacked on My Blog … Happy Hour Anyone? LOL

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istock_000009139632xsmallWell … After announcing that I’ve teamed up with a new business partner (http://www.suzannefranco.com/exciting-news-introducing-my-new-business-partner/) we received an insulting comment from reader, Alex. It’s the first time I’ve felt personally attacked online but I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last. LOL.

I commented back to Alex and you can read his response back to me below in black … with my responses to him in blue.

I’m both confused and saddened by his remarks.

But I did feel it was a good way for me to share a little bit about my journey here on the blog and maybe it was a bit therapeutic too.

I don’t really want this to turn into a bashing session … for me or for Alex … but I would love to hear your comments and opinions (hopefully you can keep them civil and respectful to all).

Here we go:

well sorry if I offended you, you probably are a great person after all.

Yes, Anthony is a great guy! I’m glad to see that you’ve reconsidered your attack on him as he hasn’t done anything so far that could possibly deserve your hurtful (rude) comment/s.

Before I go on to respond Alex … I’m going to state right here that my gut tells me that you’re a good guy too. But a guy who’s been frustrated with your time online trying to build and grow a business … much like the rest of us. I’m not going to fight with you on this. I’m a good person who tries very hard to help others (and I have a feeling you are too and that we both want the same thing here). I will take some of your comments and see how I can better myself and my blog.

Note: I will say … I am always amazed at how people think that just because they’re “online” they can act and behave in ways that they would never act in person (well – I sure hope you wouldn’t act like this in person LOL … if you talked to me like this in person my husband would … well … we’ll just leave this alone for now).

But from what I’ve seen let, let me be honest with you both suzanne franco and anthony btw im surprised my comment is still there but anyway here’s what I think of why you both are full of s**t so here we go;

I always appreciate honesty. The comment will stay because I believe in freedom of speech – period! I also believe you learn a LOT more from your failures then you do your successes and I’m always willing to learn from others. Please do keep in mind that my kids read my blog (especially my 14 year old son, Austin, who’s a blogger himself) so if someone were to post something that wasn’t “family friendly” I would remove it from my site or I would give the author a chance to revise it.

Ive been subscribed through blogger folow gadget for like a few months, never found something helpfull here apart from those income reports, and neither did they help me much because you dont say how you got to where you are.

Well, there are a few things that come to mind here because I really want to learn how you’ve used and processed my site. When you first found my blog what did you like about it? Are you a subscriber? If so, why? If you eventually found that it wouldn’t help you why are you still here reading it? Have you ever searched the blog to find helpful information on a subject that you need some help with? I’ve written many articles that were not related to my income reports so you might use the “categories” section and see if there’s any help for you there (or the search field).

As for the income reports, I promised my BANS friends/readers after that first post/income report that I would continue to post my earnings … so that’s why I do so. I’ve posted some very good information about BANS on my site and when someone is interested they’ve always contacted me directly about the product. If someone purchases BANS they are given access to the forum on the BANS site where there are 1,000’s of users there to interact with and a ton of great learning material (not too mention the user guide that’s included with the product) so it would be a huge waste of my time to rewrite how to use BANS on my blog. The only people who need to know how to use BANS are those who own it and they already have access to this information.

In fact, maybe it’s important for you to know how this blog got started. When I got started with BANS (a tool used to build sites for the eBay affiliate program) I knew very little about websites and nothing about affiliate marketing. I had a pretty good handle on keyword research, competition research, and SEO (search engine optimization) but that was about it. I spent long days and nights on the BANS forum learning all I could about BANS and about how to promote my stores. Shortly after I got some stores up I started making a little money with them. On the forum we would all try to help each other and we’d share our successes and failures. There were a lot of people on there who had been trying for many months but had never made a dime. When they saw me make money they started sending me private messages begging me for help with their stores.

In the niche store industry people don’t usually share their niches because someone else could come in and copy all of their work and compete with them. So … that’s why people would contact me privately and share their sites and ask me to look at what they had and help them “fix” it. I would spend hours of my time helping people with keyword research and with their search engine optimization for their site.

I honestly can’t even tell you how much time I’ve spent over the years helping others with their stores! To the point that Ken would tell me, “You can’t do this full time for others unless you are going to charge them for your time.” I would cry and tell him that these people don’t have any money to pay me … THAT’S WHY I’M HELPING THEM! He just didn’t “get it” because he has a mind for business and this didn’t make any “business” sense to him. I, on the other hand, follow my heart! Always have … always will!

I started hearing about how BANS stores performed better in Google if they were WordPress blogs. *sigh* … Oh geez … something else new to learn! I’m a technophobe and learning new technology really stresses me out. I started http://www.review-mama.com so I could try to practice using the WP program and see if I could figure out how to add eBay auctions to the blog. I screwed up the site a few times so I decided to install WP onto my “old” domain … suzannefranco.com (it was sitting inactive). If you go back and look at my very first blog posts here they’re about me and my family! I blogged about using my treadmill on my porch and I added auctions for treadmills on eBay. I NEVER expected anyone to see this blog! It was a place to practice without “breaking” one of my other sites.

The more I got the same questions about BANS and promoting over and over I decided I could answer much of it on the blog instead of emailing the same advice and instruction over and over. People were also asking me for other ways to make money online so I tried to post about telecommuting jobs, GPT (which many people do but I personally can’t stand), eBay and other suggestions. In fact, I had heard about AdSense as a way to make money for providing free information so I even tried that. I spent about two days and had to ask for help to get one AdSense block to show up in my post and it was such a pain in the ass that I’ve never, ever tried it again! LOL

I will always agree that the content could be better here on the blog. I do the best I can to provide helpful information.

I will say … I’ve had a very hard time focusing on this blog over the past several months. In February Ken and I decided to get married in Mexico and we set a date of June 30th … which meant planning in a big hurry! Being an excited and anxious bride I spent much of my time reading destination wedding forums and researching resorts and trying to figure all of the details of a wedding far from home. I had a lot on my plate: from the resistance of some friends and family members (drug wars, swine flu, etc.) to dealing with Ken’s ex-wife to get permission to take his kids out of the country with us … not to mention the wedding details themselves. I was totally distracted from work.

I have several online businesses. One is a subscription based daily newsletter (for freelance writers) and since it’s a paid service it takes priority over my other projects/businesses. They’ve paid me for a service so it has to be done consistently – wedding or not! After that is another paid service site for work at home moms so that’s next on the list. Then I have my handful of BANS or eBay affiliate sites. I have several other blogs and sites that are in various stages including my blog here at suzannefranco.com. Quite honestly I make the least amount of money from this blog … so when I’m short on time (and energy) I get to my other business duties before I get here to contribute (even though I enjoy this one more than most of the others).

#2 In this post Anthony you say you discovered suzanne from her blogging for bucks bootcamp, then abra cadabra you’re business partner with Suzanne… except on the next post you tell a different story

I will correct you here. Anthony did not say he “met” me through the bootcamp. We met online long before I launched the bootcamp and he was simply stating that he took the bootcamp to learn more. There was no “magic” in us becoming business partners. Over time we developed a strong friendship and became a support system for each other online.

#3 can I know what you need a biz partner for? You dont even mention it.. you dont need a business partner for working online, offline yes because you bring your money together to start up something.. but online why? you cant afford 10$ domain? and you dont need a penny to make money online. (UPDATE) i think you wrote this post just for the search engines – but can you at least admit that you dont have a biz partner?

I guess I didn’t state WHY I teamed up with a business partner but I’d be happy to answer it for you. I’m sure you’d agree that people team up in business for a number of reasons – different strengths and weaknesses, money, support and motivation, etc. For me I don’t “need” a business partner. I’m doing just fine with my businesses. I do however want to take on some bigger projects and actually be truly successful with them. I’m self-admittedly a very disorganized person. I also have a lack of follow through and it does affect my businesses at times. I’ve spent a lot of time venting to Anthony about how I can’t stay on task and how I’m all over the board with my business ideas. I see this as a common problem online but it’s gotten really bad for me personally. I’ve asked my husband to help me but he’s simply too busy with his business to truly be able to help me. Over the years I’ve had a LOT of people ask me to team up with them on sites and projects and I’ve never “felt it.” When Anthony asked me last month it just seemed like a great fit for both of us so we’ve decided to go for it.

As for your UPDATE … I don’t know how you could possibly think this was written for the search engines! LOL. That’s super funny to me. I couldn’t even come up with tags or keywords for the post and I’m curious to know what terms you think are going to drive us traffic for this?! I’m pretty damn good with SEO … but maybe you know something I don’t and I’m open to learning here. IF you’re referring to the fact that I typed out something instead of just posting the audio … I always try to summarize the audios I do so that if someone is at work or someplace where they can’t listen they can still read it. I’ve also had a heck of a time getting the audio player to display on the post page (thanks Kevin for helping me with the code!) so it would be pretty frustrating if someone clicked over and there was nothing there!

#4 ive seen 1 or 2 videos about you suzanne. They are unpopular, most popular like 200 views. One of them is about how you need the right tools to make money online. Let me be clear with you you dont need to buy anything to make money online, you can have a popular .blogspot blog and make money. I would like to name you a multi millionaire that made and is making his money with free blogspot blogs, but then Im not here to steal your audience.

Wow! Are you trying to hurt my feelings Alex? I don’t do my videos to see how many people will watch them! I do them to help people. If I had 200 views I consider that a success – only because I hope something I had to say helped some of the 200 who watched. In fact, I’ve even done a private video for someone who needed help with their SEO and I posted it password protected just for them. I don’t always have time to do this for everyone but I know this person really appreciated my help. Do you think I cared that there wouldn’t be a view count … for all that work?! LOL

As for needing tools to succeed I’m going to have to call bullshit! I believe you’re talking about my post, http://www.suzannefranco.com/blogging-and-internet-marketing-is-a-lot-like-tennis/. If so, I make it clear that the tools you need will grow with your ability and level. I still feel that way. I don’t believe anyone getting started needs to spend money … OTHER THAN on a domain name and their own hosting. I know people who use BlogSpot successfully but I personally would NEVER recommend building up someone else’s business for them and that’s what you’re doing with a BlogSpot blog. As a matter of fact, I believe you’re using a WordPress self hosted blog with your own domain aren’t you? Why did you stop posting on your BlogSpot blog? Aren’t you promoting the Thesis theme? That’s a paid tool Alex … hmmm … this all just seems so hypocritical to me.

Snyway, basically what the videos are and the whole content of this website for that matter is – it just talks about money and how life would be with it, never tells you about how to make it.

Yes, my content revolves around money making ideas and, yes, I do teach people how to make money. Could I do a better job? Of course … all of us could. Give me some topics and I’ll be happy to write about them for you.

Like your dam honeymoon last post. With 700$ a month u claim you make, you went in first class seat in the airplane and wrote a letter on a honeymoon, then you show a picture of a beach you never went on, we dont see you in the picture, im sure you found it on google.

OK … Now this is where I have to take a deep breathe! First of all, I’ve never said that I only make $700 per month (nor could I have supported my three kids as a single mom on $700 a month! Don’t be ridiculous!). If you read my site you’ll see that I have several other businesses. I post the BANS earnings because that’s what I promised my BANS friends I’d do.

Yes, we flew first class to Mexico for our honeymoon … would you like to see my boarding pass? I believe I still have it somewhere.

One reason we can afford to fly first class is because of the hard work we’ve both done online. Ken has had an online business since before I met him and I’ve spent years (yes, about 4+ years now) reading everything I can get my hands on about online marketing. Mostly about SEO and keyword research to be honest. Ken is very appreciative of the work I’ve done on his site over the years. He went from not being able to find his site in Google … to having first page results for almost every one of his products and keyword phrases. My work is one of the reasons he’s more than tripled his income in that time! Work?! Yes, it was a LOT of work. Some days Google loves me and some days they don’t! But I don’t give up. I go read and research some more. I BUY tools that might help … and I keep working very hard (and very long hours) at what I do online.

Yes, I wrote that letter on the plane. My head was spinning with the possibilities of where I will be taking my businesses. When I agreed to team up with Anthony we laid out all of our ideas and we both discussed where we each needed the most help. I told him how this blog is very important to me because I love helping others but that I hadn’t been investing the time and energy in it that my readers deserve. That’s one reason I was so excited! I realized that I’d have help and actually follow through with my plans for this site (as well as some others).

honeymoon-1-090-350

These weren’t my favorite pictures but I’ll post a few just so you can resolve in your head that, yes, I really was on that beach … with my husband … having a beer … and some nachos and guacamole too … for under 10 bucks! It was great!

honeymoon-1-091-3501

I love photography and when Ken got up from the table the waiter brought our beer. I looked down and that picture was my view (I moved the chair from the other side of the table so it was out of view) … it was a “pinch me” moment for me and I was so happy to be there. I turned both beer bottles to that angle adjusted the limes and shot the picture! I don’t even understand WHY you would question something so silly? Why are you so upset? Would you like to go to Mexico … first class … but you can’t so you’re mad at me?! I seriously don’t get it! I’m hurt and angry that you’d call me a liar with absolutely no proof. What have I done to you? Dude … let’s fix this … why are you so angry? Maybe I can help … we can help each other! I mean it … I really do.

all your posts are like this, the AIM of this entire site suzanne, admit it, is to make the reader want to know how to make money online so badly, and to actually tease the reader giving him impressions that the future can be good. Though you never say s**t about making money online. You play with the readers emotions, manipulate him to spend his money on crap. And every ebook you read is a must buy to make money online otherwise youre doomed, actually the only things you find good are the clickbank or afiliate products

I want to give people HOPE not tease them. Three years ago we could not have taken that trip but with hard work anyone can succeed online. But, I do appreciate the feedback … because if that’s how I make you feel than I need to know that.

Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t all those ads and links on your site affiliate and Clickbank products? BTW … every product I read and/or use is NOT a must buy. I guess I haven’t posted about the crap I’ve purchased that I would NOT recommend but I can certainly go back through my hard drive and find them and post about them for you if you’d like.

This site is full of crappy trash content and it’s sole purpose is to attract search engine traffic ; in other words idiots that trust you. You claim you are very trustworthy.. ooohh… might aswell get one of those trusted-e badges that the other scam websites are…

I try very hard to write good content … and I’m VERY trustworthy … so I won’t even reply to this.

If you dont realise that this site is trash for readers (yea right) then you should realise it … go take a look at the videos on the site of http://www.stephperez.com/ … that stupid bl*#k w#tch [I edited this for good reason] called “yagirlstephperez” take a look at her videos – it’s just make money online trash talking that makes you want to really make money online, and the videos dont tell you s##t…theyre made in order to want to make you click those dam ads.

Ditto … nothing to say! Except Rude!

Look at your readers, I mean your comentators… they only write one or two lines of text, ALL they want and they are desperate about it is a click or two to their site or commentluv backlink thing , they don’t give a s**t about you,

I doubt you can (or should) speak for my other readers but again you’re entitled to your own opinion.

I, as rough and critical as I am, am the best reader comentator and visitor to this site believe it or not. Not that I care about you really, but you don’t have a comentator than me, or that cares more than me. Not that I care about you, I would probably never buy something coming from this site and delete cookies after clicking an affiliate link but people seriously dont give a sht about you your business partner, your honeymoon or any other fake thing you pretend to have. Look at the comment right under this one…

Well … you say you’re the best reader commentator … and then proceed to bash me some more.

Nothing here is fake! Geez!

If all I write about is crap … why would you need to delete your cookies? You’d never go to buy the product … so it’s not like I’d get “credit”? This makes no sense at all to me. I use descriptive headlines on my posts so if you’re not interested in hearing about my business partner or honeymoon … DON’T READ IT! That’s easy!

; Amalia; Welcome Anthony!! Nice to meet you!

= Dosent give a sht about this site, she only wants a click, desperate about it, If I was wanting to be nice id say the same thing, put a spam comment of a line or two like most of the comments, and you wont find any more honest person than me on this blog… so that was to justify my first comment.

I can’t (and won’t) speak for Amalia … and you shouldn’t either! Not your place.

Now im going back to sleep… writing this I couldve made some actual progress with my online projects but anyway, remember that this site is a piece of shit (not much different than the yabitchperez site if it wasnt for those income reports).

I’m glad one of us got some sleep! I was very upset by your comments and spent some time crying to my husband last night. (Note: you can only imagine what he’d like to say to you for coming here and being so rude and hurtful to me!). I seriously just don’t understand your “intent” in doing so.

If you’ve had such deep issues with my blog … and for several months … I’m sorry you didn’t contact me sooner and make some constructive criticism. I don’t think it was fair of you to wait until I introduced Anthony and then blast him (unfairly) when this has absolutely NOTHING to do with him! Your gripe is with me and the way I blog … so it should’ve been directed at me … period. And if you’ve been so unhappy here … why ARE you here? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.

You know what Alex? I think this will be a learning experience for both of us don’t you?

If you want to take off the gloves and learn together as business owners … just say the word. *SmiLes* Suzanne

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