Monday, December 31, 2007

A new year, A new beginning

I am doing spring cleaning today.

As i sweep away the dust in my house, i want to do some spring cleaning of the heart too.

To dust off any sorrow

Mop away any unforgiveness and pride

Have a clean heart

To store only joy and goodness


A new year, A new beginning!

What i fall short of in 2007, i will be a better man in 2008!



HAPPY New Year 2008 everyone!


Cheers!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

10 Millionth Visitors to Singapore


Congratulation to Singapore!

As i celebrated my 10 thousands blog traffic hits, Singapore also welcomed its 10 Millionth Visitor on 22 Dec 2007 .

Next few years will be very exciting for Singapore with the F1 night race, two integrated resorts, interconnecting park land, the new air terminal 3 and many more international conventions and events.

Cheers!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Story for Year End Reflection

A story for your year end reflection...

The Best Tailor

There once were three tailors in a little town in China. All three wanted to the best tailor, better than their neighbours.

One of them had an idea. He printed a large banner and proclaimed that he was the best tailor in town!

The second tailor wanted to edge out the first. He proclaimed on a bigger banner that he was the best tailor in the country!

The third one, was worried because he could not claim that he was the best tailor in the world. That would be too far fetch! He decided to paste a small sign at his stall.

The third tailor got the most traffic and customers. You know why?

The sign at his stall stated "The best tailor on this street!"

Morale of the story: Most people are concern with the events and things closest to them. Just be the best where you are now. It is easier to achieve.

My personal reflection: When you are making a resolution, make sure you can start to achieve a little of that now. Keep at it, review it mid year. If you are making a commitment like spending more time with your family, let them know. It is easier to realise an announced resolution. Happy New Year! Cheers!

Friday, December 28, 2007

My 2008 Resolution

I saw my son stretching out his hand and reaching for his toys and with persistence one day he will reach it. That act set me thinking. I have been thinking and planning for next year. I need a theme for 2008. I have decided that...

My 2008 resolution is: To step out of my comfort zone, stretch and reach out.

because...

No one can predict to what heights you can soar.

Even you will not know until you spread your wings.



Thursday, December 27, 2007

An interesting Christmas present

One of the Christmas presents my son received is this...what it looked like before...

he dropped it a day later.

But what was interesting about it is this...(the text on the packaging box)




read text on top carefully...Not Suitable for Children under 72 years!

That makes most of us...
1. All children as we are under 72 years
2. and a lot of people are not suitable to play this toy.

No wonder my son dropped it the next day. LOL.

I wonder how this toy passed QC (if there is one in the first place).

Morale of the story: Choose toys carefully for Children as some may not be suitable for them.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

What is your new year resolution?


Now that we have celebrated 2007 Christmas!


and the new year 2008 is coming soon...


What is your new year resolution?

10,000 reasons to celebrate!

YES! I finally crossed the 10,000 web hits mark for this blog! and i made it before the close of 2007! I thought i have been blogging for a long time but it has only been 6 months.


Thank you to all of you especially my blog buddies and friends who are supporting this blog!


Cheers!






Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas


Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Christmas isn't Christmas till it happens in your heart

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my readers, blog buddies and friends!

A Christmas song to share with you.

"Christmas...isn't Christmas...till it happens...in your heart...somewhere... deep inside you...is where christmas really starts..."

I found this video of the song on Youtube.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Do you want to quit?

There once was a story about a young man who wanted to cycle from one end of Australia to the other end. It was a daunting task. He cycled and cycled, through the towns and desert. His determination was soon eroded by the distance, hash environment and physical fatigue. He did not think he could continue any more. He wanted to quit. He had only completed half the intended journey. He looked at his map with despair. Suddenly, there was a strong gust of wind, the map folded into half, showing only a part of the journey. The map revealed only the man's next stop. He pushed himself on to the next stop. Upon reaching the place and rested, he uncovered more area of the map and pushed on to the next stop. And soon...as you would have guessed...he finally reached his destination, a step at a time.



Do you have this feeling that you want to quit? You have had enough and it is time to move on.

If you are at this stage, try to look at the next nearest milestone. If you want to quit in January, try to stay until February or March and when that time comes, stretch it a bit longer to June and if, by the end of next year, you still have that feeling then...re-evaluate it again.

This not-so-simple exercise is to ensure you do not quit on impulse and that you have taken the effort to sweat it out first. There is no perfect place on earth (That place can only be found in Heaven). You are placed where you are for a reason.

Success is normally found at the next unexpected turn.

Most people quit too early to see Success.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

You are alive for a reason, I hope you dance

You are alive for a reason
There is a purpose for everyone here...

"May you never take one single breath for granted
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out [on Life] or dance
I hope you dance "

Life is worth celebrating!

Click to watch the music video on Youtube...

Monday, December 10, 2007

Is Life worth celebrating?

We worry about getting a job.
We worry about paying our bills on time.
We worry about not getting that promotion.
We worry about not getting love.
We worry about our health.
We worry about dying.



Is Life worth celebrating?



I came across this song recently and found it very meaningful.


I want to share it with you...



I Hope You Dance
by Lee Ann Womack


I hope you never lose your sense of wonder

You get your fill to eat But always keep that hunger

May you never take one single breath for granted

God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

I hope you still feel small When you stand by the ocean

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens

Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

I hope you dance



I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance

Never settle for the path of least resistance

Living might mean taking chances But they're worth taking

Lovin' might be a mistake But it's worth making

Don't let some hell bent heart Leave you bitter

When you come close to selling out

Reconsider Give the heavens above More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
I hope you dance

......


Have you ever wondered what life is?



There must be more to Life than birth, study, work, retired and death...

Is it just about climbing up the meaningless ladder or chasing after that illusive title.
Would anyone remember these things about us after we are gone?

What they will remember, i hope, is the love you have given to them, the happy times that you shared with them and those difficult moments you have endured with them...

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Blogging can be as addictive as Role Playing Games


Millions of people around the world are addicted to online RPGs. RPG transports you to a different world despite your current situation and worries. That's why RPG, especially Massive Multiplayer online RPG (MMORPG) is so addictive. It draws you from the reality. It makes you want to come back again and again.

I once did an experiment. I was wondering why so many people were hooked to World of Warcraft. What's so interesting about the game? I bought the game and a game card (I bought one game card and told myself to stop the game after 60 days). The problem was that the game became so interesting, the game world so vast that I got plunged deeper and deeper into the game. As you play, you want to level up, you want more experience, you want to buy better armor and sword, with that you can have more power...I ended up extending my intended period; I bought another 60 days game card. Thankfully, I managed to pull myself out of the game entirely after that. The experiment nearly went out of hand. The hunter nearly became the hunted. It wasted a lot of my precious time and not to mention some health (poor eyesight, backache, headache etc...) because of the long hours of playing.


In some ways, blogging is like Role Playing Games.

  • You build your character gradually up (in this case- your blog) through 'missions' or constant tasks like update content, check and reply comments etc).
  • You can level up (in terms of PageRank, Technorati ranking etc.) if you blog longer and follow some known methods.
  • You can buy booster "accessories" (like paid traffic)
  • You can join a guild (blogger network or directories)
  • There is a system of reputation and authority to maintain
  • There is a vast world (the blogsphere) to explore
  • It can be addictive especially if you are chasing after ranking…
  • It can be addictive because of the newfound friendships and networking in the new media (as in the case of MMORPG and increasingly, Facebook)

I am not saying that blogging (or for that matter, computer gaming) is bad. In fact blogging allows me to improve my writing, meet more friends and allows me to communicate more with them.

I am just saying that in everything we do, we have to do in moderation.

Friday, December 7, 2007

A Final Fantasy Gift

I finally got a Christmas gift for myself!

This is the latest game of the Final Fantasy series on PSP.

I have been waiting for this game to be on PSP. I like the Final Fantasy series particularly Final Fantasy Tactics on Playstation 1. It has deep story line and different character advancement paths. I have always like RolePlaying Games...because i can play the role of a HERO!

In the midst of preparing gifts for friends and relatives, did you get a Christmas gift for yourself?

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Take Time to Give Thanks

This post was inspired by my blog buddy, Karen's post Precious Water.

I have been taking a lot of things for granted and i have promised myself to treasure these things.

We often take for granted necessities like clean water, safe environment, good road condition until we visited other developing countries.

In life, we complaint about this and that but never stop for a moment to count our blessings.

As we are approaching Christmas and the end of 2007, may we take sometime to ponder and give thanks.


Join me to count our blessings from 10 to 14 Dec 2007.

*This is a soul searching exercise and not a traffic generation tool. As we give thanks and count our blessings, we will not be cornered by our problems or worries. Hopefully, We can realise how fortunate we are and can be in a position to help others.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Do you know what Christmas means...to you?

In the midst of you pursuing an additional income stream from blogging or preparing a long Christmas shopping list...



Do you know what Christmas means...
to you?


Christmas isn't Christmas till it happens in your heart...


Saturday, December 1, 2007

How i start to make money from my blog

This is a follow up to my previous post- Don't just blog for money.

Don't get me wrong, i am not advocating making money from blogging is wrong. I am just saying that we should not JUST blog for money. That is also a constant reminder to myself too.

It is very tempting to do series of paid post. By doing that, we run the risk of losing your reader and the momentum to write original stuff, the very reason why we blog in the first place (unless your sole reason is to set up a money blog then read my article - Don't just blog for money again) . I am not the "writer" kind of person (in fact, blogging improves my writing), so please pardon me if i do not write "professionally". I just write or blog my thoughts and straight from the heart.

The title "How to make money with your blog" for this post seems very tempting. I did not use that title (besides the fact that there are thousands oof posts with that title) because i am not an expert nor do i claim to make tonnes of money on the blog.

I have decided to change the title to "How i start to make money from my blog". I have just began actively monetising my blog. I want to record down my journey on this blog starting from this post. I am not earning six figure income from this blog but i would like to share my experience.


There is a very good post on How To Make Money With Your Blog Site by Robin Good. For those who want to know the different ways that bloggers can make money from their blog, it is a good read.


Ok. My report card so far...

The following monetisation resources are ranked based on the total amount i earned from my blogs and sites.


1. Smorty

Blog Advertising - Get Paid to Blog

2. Pay Per Post




3. Google Adsense




6. Affiliate for Amazon



How much did i earn? Let's say with what i earn this month, i can buy myself a decent Christmas tree. What will i be spending on (really)? To cover some of my ISP & hosting costs and buy some research books (including ebook) on web traffic & SEO.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Save Buckets of Money

There is a new price comparison site in town - Save Buckets. Honestly, i was first attracted by the name. It is unique, meaningful and easy to remember. Save Buckets, save a whole load of money when you use this site.

You can compare prices for a product in this site instead of switching between multiple sites. Save Buckets will save you precious time as it does the search for you. You can choose to search all shops or just the shops you know. If you are looking for MP3 Players, the site provides you with a comprehensive listing of the MP3 players in the market, their sources and respective prices.

With Christmas around the corner, Save Buckets will save you loads of money and precious time as you go about doing your online shopping!

Promotional Banner

As with any retail site, you need promotional materials to attract crows to your site.

I have just created this banner to promote my blog site. I have placed it in several free traffic exchange sites hopefully to attract more web traffic to my blog.




Sunday, November 25, 2007

Don't just blog for money

If you intend to set up a blog to be rich overnight, you will be disappointed. Making money blogging is not a dream but it involves hard work. Besides researching materials and writing original content I have to constantly reposition my ads, links and widgets to achieve optimized result, adding things that works and removing those that don't. All this to provide value-added service and to make my blog a good read for my visitors.

I am focusing on this niche area of Increasing web site traffic and monetizing of blog. I am passionate to pursue this topic and share my experiences and methods. As you witness the growth of this site, it is my hope that you will participate through sharing information and comments.

I have been criticized along the way and one blogger even left nasty comment on my blog. I took it positively with the support from my fellow blogger friends. This blog is a collection of passion, hard work and love from my blogger community.

There are many ways of monetizing your blog besides online ads and writing reviews (Read my post Monetize Your Blog strategies ). One can also sell goods and services via blogs. I will feature some of these in my future posts. While i have attained some minor success in terms of traffic, ads and PR, i am mindful of the hardwork i have to put in (continously) and also the other offline commitments (like family). Like life itself, blogging is a learning experience and i hope i will not have to walk alone. Cheers!

Finally, My Smorty post is approved!

Finally, My 1st Smorty post is approved! Smorty registration is free and easy. What's more, payment is done via Paypal on a weekly basis once your post is accepted and approved by the advertiser.

What are you waiting for! Sign up for Smorty by clicking the button below now!

Blog Advertising - Get Paid to Blog

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Good news! my blog has been selected for 2 Online Advertising Campaigns.

Good news! i have just received news that my blog has been selected for 2 Online Advertising Campaigns. I need your support to make the campaigns successful! Cheers!


1. Advertlets
Campaign starts 27th November 2007

An international client that supports creative independence involving something that everyone listens to nearly everyday!

165×240 (Sidebar) ad

2. Nuffnang

An advertiser has chosen to advertise on Project Heavy Traffic.
The advertisement details are as follows:

Campaign:
Nike Plus Charity Campaign

Week(s):
1. 25 Nov 2007 to 01 Dec 2007

Ad Unit:
Skyscraper (Top)

Another PageRank checker widget.

I have found another PageRank checker widget.

http://www.displaypagerank.com/

Once you have added the code on your website and click on confirmation link, your website link will appear on their pagerank top sites (they mentioned they are PR6 page)

The above information is not validated and for your own discerning.
*update- The last i have checked, their PR is 5.
I have added my blog for experimentation sake, i found that they have listed my blog at the last row instead of by PR. Not sure why.

Review Advertlets!

I signed up with Advertlets as a way to monetize my blog. I heard from fellow bloggers that Advertlets is fast and prompt and the service professional. So far it's policy and response has been fast and transparent. To me, this is more important.

Of course, I hope to continue getting such reputed service from Advertlets. so far i have been receiving many online advertisements and the payout is encouraging, considering that i am not yet a celebrity or star blogger (one day...). Advertlets has been delivering as promised to make Blogger happy+money! With such support, i will definitely work hard to increase my blog web site traffic. In hokkien, "Ai Pia char ae ya" (translated to English: Hardwork will lead to success)
Advertlets' dashboard panel is also very user friendly. I hope that Advertlets can organise some big advertising campaign and broadcast on over our blogger network soon.

With so many on-line advertising providers to choose from, advertlets seems to be doing a good job. Advertiser can get their messages across and bloggers can make money blogging. It is a win-win situation. Advertlets even has a featured blogger section. This will helped bloggers to raise their profile. What are you waiting for? The sign-up process is fast and easy!



You can place a FREE PageRank checker widget on your blog

Recently, A number of PageRank checker was down, resulting in many bloggers (including some of my blog buddies) having the impression that their PankRank had dropped to zero.

I have used the following PankRank Checker on my site and found it to be reliable (and available).

http://pr.blogflux.com/

The widget code is provided at the site.
PageRank for Blog Flux PageRank Checker is 7


*Note: This review is accurate as of this date and the author is not related nor responsible for the above service.

Best of PHT web site traffic articles!

I have reorganised the Best of PHT articles in a new section on my left sidebar.
Have a good read.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Monetize Your Blog strategies

As you know, i have worked hard to reach my 100th post. I am now experimenting on monetizing this blog . So far, the following are the monetizing strategies I have adopted:

  • Advertlets
  • Bidvertiser
  • Clickbank Products
  • Affiliate for IX Web hosting
  • Affiliate for Amazon (on projectheavytraffic.com)
  • Other Affliate programs (see banner ads and recommended section)

It is not a sufficient and steady form of income yet but it is a start. I will update the list as the project expands. Basically, I am not sure how true is it when some bloggers proclaimed that they earn full time income by blogging, but I am determine to continue this project and find out just how far one can monetize a blog or site.

If you have other monetizing strategies, please share with me.


RELATED POSTS:

It is Approved!

I am so happy that my first and second post has been approved by PPP!
It is not just the money. It is the fact that I am able to write something and get paid for it.

Hesitate no more, join PPP and get USD$20 for your 1st post!
The process is simple and fast!

Get Upright for Christmas today!

I came across Dyson vacuum cleaners and parts site recently and I found the new design Dyson site very user friendly. Whether it is the Upright, Cylinder or Handheld type of vacuum cleaners, you can find something to your liking. If you are dazzled by choice, you can also use the "help me choose" page to find the model to suit your budget and purpose. The site allows you to find different vacuum cleaner parts for different Dyson models.

I like the site's uncluttered layout and professional design. I also find the Support section of the site very informative and useful. You can check your order delivery, search for your nearest retailer and register your warranty. I especially like Dyson Upright Vacuum cleaner. It is feature-rich and saves on storage space. You can even purchase the selected cleaner immediately from the Dyson online store. There is even a special offers section where you get a FREE car cleaning kit worth £40.00 when you buy an upright or cylinder vacuum online.

Dyson vacuum cleaners is perfect for cleaning your house to prepare for the Christmas holiday!

How Google won the Search Engine war

How did Google win the search engine war? It is plain simplicity! At the time when all the other search engines and directories were cluttering up their portal, Google took a different route of providing a clean cut look for the user to do one task- to search.

I have been a Google user (introduced by a friend) when the Internet community were "Wowed" by the Yahoo, Alta Vista, Excite and the likes. Back then i just wanted to search, that's the reason why i chose Google. I wanted accurate and relevant search results instead of ploughing through links of results which were irrelevant. Little did i expect that from a simple service, Google has grown to becoming one of the most successful company in the world!

CartridgeFinder is a good find!

Have you ever had the experience of your printer running out of ink just when you are typing an important document? And when you rushed the computer store to buy an ink cartridge, you could not remember your printer's model or the specific type of ink cartridge to buy?

I have experienced the above frustration. I came across the Cartridge Finder.com website and found that it has very user-friendly interface. You will be able to find which cartridges are required for more than 10,000 different models of printer, copier, and fax machines. The site also compares the best price on the selected product via PriceGrabber.com's merchant listings. Let CartridgeFinder find the right Cartridge for you.


-This post is sponsored-

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

In Defence of PageRank

Many Bloggers have a love-hate relationship with PageRank. From technical and academic aspect, i think the idea behind PageRank is pure brilliance! It is the random probability of a surfer visiting a web page. Since the advent of Internet, many people were trying to sort and provide a meaningful listing of web pages besides just bookmarking and creating favourites list. Then came indexes and directories. Yahoo is the most famous of them all.

For many years since the inception of google, researchers and scentists have been looking for ways to rank the importance of a web page. Google adopted a ranking system and filled the gap at the time when other search engines faltered. When you key in a search, established web sites appears on top of the list instead of pages which merely contain the keywords. This is the magic of PageRank- it enables accurate and relevant searches. With that, it also changes the whole online advertising landscape.

PageRank is a good system but like any system it has to improve with time. We, on the other hand, should not lose our unique characteristics and value-addedness in pursue of high PageRank. Maintain an interesting blog or site, be friendly and i believe PageRank will follow.

Just think of PageRank as a tool to improve Internet search rather than just a ranking ladder in which we must climb.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Finally! I signed up for PPP!

Finally! I signed up for PPP and My PayPerPost (PPP) application is approved! Persistence paid off. I was rejected once because my blog was less than 3 months old at that time. I was a bit disappointed at the time as PPP badges were everywhere in the blogsphere except for mine. PPP, by the way, is a marketplace for both Advertiser to get their latest product reviewed and for Blogger to get paid blogging.

During my initial months of blogging, I made many new friends. At the encouragement of my blogger friends, i tried again. I was so delighted when i received an email to say my blog was approved for PPP. It is a sort of coming of age for my blog and i am glad that PPP held such a high standard to preserve the quality of each review post.

You have to be above 18 years old, have a blog of 3 months old with at least 20 posts. Good things are worth waiting for. Once your blog is approved, I can tell you the opportunities offered in PPP is simply the best! Don't worry, you can still adhere to your blog ethics and review only the things that you like. You can search and select the opportunity that suits you and write about it. You will be paid via paypal according to the amount tagged to each review opportunity.

I am going to use my PPP earnings to set up my online store. I know there is still a long way to go before my blog is able to generate some decent passive income but at least I am taking steps to monetize my blog. I believe PPP is one of the best options. You can start taking steps too.

What are you waiting for? Sign up for PPP now?
You will get $20 for your first paid post

Be Smart! Be on Smorty!

Yes! I have been accepted by Smorty! Smorty is the latest and fast growing advertising platform. Smorty provides valuable service connecting Advertiser and Bloggers!

As an advertiser, you will have a network of bloggers to review your new product or services. Imagine the chain of publicity you will be enjoying. You will receive inbound traffic through link back to your site where interested buyers can purchase your latest product without delay.

As a blogger, You can get paid for blogging simply by giving reviews of the product or services. All you have to do is to write more than 150 words of review. That is it! Payment is done via Paypal on a weekly basis once your post is accepted and approved by the advertiser.

Smorty registration is free and easy and I got approved in less than 24 hours! The user panel is user friendly and you can select new opportunities and track your payment history any time!

What are you waiting for! Now it the time to promote your product or monetize your blog and take the opportunity to earn some extra money.

Be Smart! Be on Smorty!

get paid for blogging

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Those irritating pop-up ads!

I was shocked by some irritating pop-up ads when i launched my blog. I honestly do not know what program is causing it. It may be caused by any of FREE widgets i installed in my blog. Need some CSI time to find out and eliminate the pop-up.

Meanwhile please accept my apology but please be assured that the pop-up is not from this blog (definitely!). That is the problem with free widget or program! If you know where it is from, please let me know, Meanwhile it is CSI time...

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Retail and Web Traffic

Have you ever wondered why some stores in the neighbourhood malls or town centres have so few traffic and yet they are still operating?

And some stalls (apply to food stall also) are so buzzling with traffic that they cannot even cope (we call it good problem). They have to think of constant way of sustaining the advantage or business which will be discussed in my later post.

You don't have to know retail management to understand that the top three criteria for a good retail store is Location, Location and Location!

It is the same for web sites and blogs. The location for the web sites does not refer to physical indexed location i.e. IP address

The "Location" here refers to how your site can be found in the midst of millions of sites in the internet. Here are my theory of 4 Location factor for web sites and blogs:

1. Your Domain name.
Your domain name is your site's identification. Strategising the domain name should be yout top priority when you set up an online store. Getting a name like my-shop-is-at-the-corner-of-the -word.com does not help you alot. You can then work on the title of the html page as well as the meta tags to make it easier for the search engine to find you.

2. Hyperlink.
Please do not under estimate the power of hyperlink which is the building block for the world wide web. I am not exaggerating when i say without hyperlink (or hypertext) Internet would not been what it is today.

Hyperlink is liken to the signboard or signpost that directs traffic to your retail store. If you have a not so perfect location, it can still be slavage by good signboard direction. Traffic can be directed to your web sites and blogs through proper hyperlinking.

3. Directory
Retail stores can register themselves in directory (like yellow pages) to attract traffic to tjheir store. Online store can register on web directory too. The differentiating factor is the online store can tap on the intereactivity of the web via forum or facebook while physical retail store waits for calls from customer via the static directory.


4. Promotion
Retail stores resorts to promotion to attract crowd to their store. They give out flyers and offer special discount. Online store can also make use of Web advert service such as Adsense, Smorty or Pay per post to promote their store. They can also run campaign or contest. One of my blogger friend, Marzie from my blogger network is very good is organising campaign.

Cheers!

The True Blue Friend Award


I have just received a very meaningful award - The True Blue Award from Trinity

As stated in Trinity's Blog, "Dolphins are blue, so true blue, calm in the storm, they never sleep, so ever-present, they're friendly, so amicable, accountable, dependable, and protective.This award is presented for bloggers who always stand by you!". Thanks Trin!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Chistmas Toys shopping list for your child

It is Christmas Season again! Time of the year to shop for presents or toys for your child.

The subsequent posts in my new blog http://funparent.blogspot.com/ will be dedicated to introducing fun but educational toys and games for your child. Hope you will find the review or list useful. Cheers!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Google pays bloggers $100 per hour to ...

If you have been blogging for some time and you like to tweak and improve your blog then there is now an opportunity to do that and earn some money. Google is looking for people to test the blogger and tell them about your experience. It is what they call usability studies. They pay up to $100 per hour.

Check out Bloggers Buzz for more details...

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Let's continue to blog

After reading my friend Bobby's post, i have some after thoughts and i am putting it in words here. I empathise with him and I share his view on not putting pressure on ourself to blog or to visit blogs.

My pageviews and unique visits have been returning to my pre-trip level (i went on a business trip recently and the traffic on my blog dropped). This demonstrates the important of constant update to a blog and the effect on traffic is undeniable.

The only problem i faced now is getting more comments on my blog. Technically i could go round visiting blogs and build friendship and traffic this way.

Don't get me wrong, i am not doing it just for the traffic but for the friendship too. Everyone of you is important to me and i would love to visit and leave comments at your blog everyday. But I just do not have enough hours in the day to visit you all everyday and leave comments.

Though i love to blog, i have limited time and energy. As a part time blogger, I have a day job and family commitment. There were a few times when i almost burnt out and thought of quiting blogging. Now blogging is a part of my life but i am not putting pressure on myself. Blogging is hard work but I want to enjoy blogging.

Please leave a comment on my blog if you have some interesting posts. I will defintely pop over. If not, please forgive me if i do not visit your blog everyday. I will pop by once i have the time.

Thank you for your understanding. Please leave leave words of encouragement on my blog even if you are just passing by. And don't let it be just my blog, leave words of encouragement on interesting blogs you visit. The authors have put in effort to write constantly. Do encourage them from time to time. This is my mission also. Of course do it at your own pace and time.

Let's continue to blog. Thanks for your time.

Blog Marketing and Monetization - The Practical

As i have attained Page Rank (PR) 4 , i am now embarking on an extension project. i am now experimenting on monetizing this blog.


You could see now on both my sidebar i have placed advertisements and sponsorship campaign. There may be occasional sponsored review, please bear with me.

Not that i expect to generate alot of income from it but to ascertain that some sort of additonal income from blog is possible and not exclusive to starblogger or the Big Boys club.
I will, however, not let it get it the way of my original post on Generating Heavy Web Traffic or concepts on Blog marketing.

During this extension project, if this blog gets too slow on loading, you can also visit my twin blog http://projectheavytraffic.com/ for the related post on web traffic.Please continue to support me. Thanks.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Foodcourt and Web Traffic

In Singapore, every shopping mall has a Foodcourt in it (not just because Singapore loves to eat). In fact, the neightbourhoold Malls depend on the Foodcourt to get much of their traffic. The Foodcourts, in my opinion are the actual Anchor of the mall.

The regulars will have to go to the nearby mall to eat (everyone has to eat) and after meal they like to shop (to digest the food better). They will then visit CD shops, departmental stores, computer and electronics stores, book stores etc. The Foodcourt, in marketing term is a foot-at-the-door concept. Some mall uses a specific theme, some mall like Centrepoint have an Anchor store, Robinson which provides good Sales and service.

Translate that to your web page or blog. What is your 'foodcourt' or 'Cinema' or the essential part of your site or blog that attracts visitors to come back again and again? Is it unique information, interesting product, special promotion or personality?

This post is dedicated to my favourite food blogger - Jean - A Great Pleasure

This blog is ranked no. 1 for sg Best of Blog 2007 in ...

I just found out i am currently number 1 on The best of blog 2007 Singapore under Best Hobby Blog!

Yeah! I want to thanks all my friends who have supported me especially Janice, Marzie, Karen, Winston who have voted for me on a regular basis.

Please continue to vote for me to keep me there until end of the year 2007. Thank you.

Congrats to Janice also who is also number 1 in the Best Mummy blog category

Cheers!

MakeTraffic

Monday, November 5, 2007

Project Heavy Traffic 100th Web Post

Yes! Time flies and it already Project Heavy Traffic 100th Post. I have reached an important milestone.

Wow! I couldn't believe it! A year ago, if you mention blog to me, you will get a certain look from me. I thought it was reserved for those who love writing diary only. Boy! was i wrong and now i have joined the rank of the BLOGGERS! Me, a Blogger, unbelievable! It was not easy. I would not have reach here without the support of all my blog friends.






To celebrate this special occasion, i have decided to share this moment with my fellow bloggers! I want to present this special Project Heavy Traffic (PHT) Heavy Traffic Award (a choice of white or blue background) to:

This award is for blogs and sites with hugh traffic potential.
Congrats! May your site be overflowed with good traffic!


Celebrate with me! Jump for Joy!

Cheers! MakeTraffic

5 ATTITUDES in making your blog successful

I am going to publish my Blog theories on my subsequent posts.

If you want to jump start your new web site, it is good for you to have a link back from sites which have high PR, you not only benefit from the flow of traffic but the search engine will also treat your site as trustworthy and grant you instant PR. It is true. Not a myth any more. (read my post Pagerank Facts or Fictions? ) I have done it myself.

As you already know, I have registered my own domain for http://www.projectheavytraffic.com/. For full story read Project Heavy Traffic 2.0 reinvented)). I placed a link back of my new blog from this blog and the last time i checked, it has achieved a PR of 3 in a shortest possible time. Of course this is also not possible without huge support and link backs from my blog communities.

That proves there is a method out there. The question is how to get others link to you? The simplest way is be yourself, be sincere. Another good way is through blog directories (please read my previous post for more methods) . I am not really there yet. I started this blog from scratch. My wish is to have some big boys link to me. it is not easy. Hence i decided to make traffic instead.

Below are the 5 ATTITUDES (i will keep to 5 , easy to read and remember) in making your blog successful. These are my insights i have gathered through my research, which I am still striving to achieve.

1. Be Sincere.
Sincerity and friendship must be invested. A good example is my friend Janice's blog whose blog traffic and links is increasing by leaps and bounds.

2. Focus
I believed in niche marketing. Focusing on a particular area makes you spend time and effort on it and eventually makes you a sort of specialist. If you put your time into something (e.g. Hobby) wouldn't you excel in it. Be it fishing, golf, sports etc. Dare to be different. Find something you like and drill into it. Research and do not be afraid to share. Sooner or later, people will be attracted to your site. One day, you might be an expert in your field. It will stand out from the rest of the millions of site out there. As the value of the blog is increased so will the traffic.

3, Interest.
You must have an interest in whatever you are writing. Be it parenting or photography. If not, one day the well will runs dry and the blog will not be sustainable. Blog is a reflection of your interest. Blogging for interest (and not for money) should be the main motivation. The rest i believe will follow. Don't get me wrong, i believe in the commercialisation aspect (it is still a long way). Interest sustain the writing and traffic will follow.

4. Hardwork
Blogging is hardwork. If you see a fellow blogger, give them encouragement from time to time. I wish blogging platform has feature like giving 'Hi 5' similar to the one in the facebook. Traffic will reduce or stop if the blog has few or no new posts. I was away for business trip recently and my web traffic drop quite alot. Fortunately, i have a bunch of 'diehard' blog buddies that is supporting me. Hardwork, little by little can make a blog successful. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again (in includes exprementing on themes, skin, header, design, post, adverts, PageRank etc).

5. Be humble
Blogging is fun and should be interactive. It is the main component of Web 2.0. I hold the attitude that i am not an expert and the readers out there knows more than me. This type of continuous learning will sharpen your knowledge and expertise and the interaction makes your blog better and more interesting. Even if you are an authority, having an open mind will broaden the horizon.

Next topic, Consumer nowadays do not wait for new products, they sought out information on new products via the Internet. Is Blog advertising the future?


Sunday, November 4, 2007

I have a Dream

I have a dream. I dream to setup my own online store selling educational toys as i find it hard to search for good toys for my boy here. I have been talking about setting up business for years already. I have not one but two concepts in the pipeline. I will need all the help i can get.

It is going to be my 100th post soon and i am so excited. Never have i expect my little blog project could persist for so long. I am so fortunate to know many good friends through this avenue and my blog wouldn't have reached this stage without your support. THANK YOU my visitors, readers and blog buddies and friends!

I am rushing to launch something on my 100th post. I am so excited! Till then. Akan Datang (Coming soon). Cheers!


Watching the whole world passes by

If you like to sit in cafe people watching in a quiet saturday afternoon, then this is for you.

http://flickrvision.com/

It is like watching the whole world passes by...

Superstar Award

I just received the Superstar award from mariuca . Jumping for joy again!

Mariuca SUPERSTAR Award

Friday, November 2, 2007

This blog has a PageRank of 4



All my SEO effort paid off! This blog has a PageRank of 4 !

Have you checked your PageRank today?

The Break Out Blogger award


I was awarded the Break Out Blogger award by Winston

"This award casts a spotlight on bloggers who are just beginning to draw lotsa attention — the equivalent of a song with a bullet on Billboard’s Top 100 chart. Lotsa good posts. Lotsa good buzz. These bloggers are going places in a hurry."

Thanks Winston. I hope with the 1st Ads campaign on my blog, i will be getting my big break soon. Cheers!

Singapore senior citizen bullied by Tourists

This video brings out the ugly side of human being. The kind old man who was just trying to earn a living was pushed around like a ding dong.This shouldn't happen in any country! Please watch this video and tell me what you think.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

My 1st ads campaign but...

Wow! This is so exciting...i am finally getting my ads campaign on my blog!

This mail was from nuffnang (the space is on my top left sidebar).

[An advertiser has chosen to advertise on projectheavytraffic.blogspot.com/.

The advertisement details are as follows:Campaign: STB Project Postcards CampaignWeek(s):

1. 04 Nov 2007 to 10 Nov 2007

Ad Unit: Skyscraper (Top)
]

However, i found out only recently from nuffnang site...that what i earn depends on the number of Average Unique visitors you received in the week before my ad campaign is served. But i just came back and my unique visitors had drop during my absence!

It is my 1st ads campaign. I thought this is too good to be true (i have not seen an ad cheque yet) but it came at a wrong timing. I need your help to choke up the traffic on my site before this sunday. Please help by coming to my site (or asking your friends) or put a post on your blog if you could. Thanks for helping a budding blogger like me.

I am back!

Hi Everyone, I am back!


I missed all you guys! Thanks for the messages you left me when i was outstation. I had only time to reply on the message board and reposition a bit of my blog. I was on a business trip and had time to read and write..(you guess it) reports (i wish it could be blog writing). When i came back to Singapore Changi airport, i never thought i would miss this land so much and my family too...when my son cried out to me "Papa", i had to control my tears! I could see my wife controlling hers too. It was only a month but i missed everything that was happening here. I will continue to contribute to this blog as i have lots of ideas while travelling abroad.

Cheers! Maketraffic

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Outstation


Hi Everyone,
I will be outstation for a couple of weeks for work. Very sorry for not being able to visit all your sites recently or to follow up on the mimes as i have been busy preparing for my oversea assignment trip. Will turn on the comment moderation. Will miss all your guys! Please do not forget me.
Cheers! MakeTraffic


Wednesday, September 26, 2007

PageRank Explained

Wow! Times flies. It is my 89th post already! Thanks guys for witnessing the growth of my little web traffic project.

ok. Back to PageRank...

PageRank is one of the methods Google uses to determine a page’s importance.

It's "simple iterative algorithm"

PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))

*PageRank or PR(A)

Here is a very good technical paper on PageRank.

PageRank Explained


Have fun reading... (OR you can skip the reading portion and goto the summary below)
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Ok. Are you done reading? …you are still awake! Wow! cool…

For your easy reading, interesting points about the article are condensed below:

According to the equation:

Getting inbound links to your site is the only way to increase your site's average PR.

If you add pages to a site you're building the total PR will go up by one for each page (you have to link the pages for it to work), but the average is the same.

If you want to focus the PR into one, then you have to use hierarchical linking.

If you link outbound to other sites, your site's average PR will decrease. The degree of the decrease will depend on the quality of the linking.

Conclusion: PageRank is ONLY ONE OF THE METHODS to get high ranking in a Google search list. What is increasingly important to Google, however (as many evidence and people pointed out) is the text in a link's anchor which decides the relevance of the target page

Source:

·The original PageRank paper by Google's founders Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

PageRank - FACTS or FICTIONS

The following are what i gathered from my PageRank/SEO research.

1. It has been said that a new site that is linked from a PR7 site gets crawled by the search engines within several hours and is indexed by Google within 24 hours. That explains why a new site can be popular literally OVERNIGHT!

2. If you are too liberal in exchanging links (especially site with PR zer0), the search engine will not see the website as a trustworthy and authoritative site and your site will suffer in PageRank!

true or false?
FACTS or FICTIONS?

Monday, September 24, 2007

More Blog Awards for Project Heavy Traffic!

I got two awards at the same time! Double Happiness! I am so thrilled! *Jumping for joy*

AWARD NUMBER ONE

The first award "You make me smile award" was awarded to me by Janice!
Actually Janice is the one that make me smile so i dedicate this award back to her as well.


For this award, I would like to pass it on to:
1. Janice (dedicate back to her as she makes me smile when my site was "unkindly" criticised by a certain Blogger.)

2. Marzie (for always cheering me on and having me in mind)

3. Winston (for always encouraging me)
...i always so happy and i have not thought of the entire list yet, will add it on soon

AWARD NUMBER TWO

I was awarded the Blogging star by Marzie (gee...i never considered myself a star! I dreamt of beign a star...it is like a dream comes true). Marzie is a kind and wonderful lady. Thanks Pal for the award. May God bless you abundantly!

...i am still thinking who to pass this to as those i wanted to award had this already...

Will update the list soon (as it is quite late already and the zzz monster is catching up on me)

Cheers!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Celebrity Blogs & their PageRank

Recently, I watched a local TV programme on bloggers and their methods of getting traffic.

Some of the bloggers like XiaXue (I read her blog a few years ago and went back recently after the TV programme) is very controversial and likes to criticise other bloggers, celebrities, people (hmm...almost everyone under the sun).
Note: XiaXue is supposed to be the blog queen (read: star blogger) in our local scene.

I do not know whether this is her method of drawing traffic (by creating controversial topics) - which she denied flatly in the show, but i personally disagree with the method.

I also find her blog (honestly, not only her blog, many other blogs) uses (quite liberally) vulgar language to the level which i cannot accept.

Some of her post (to her credit), however (minus the vulgarity) is quite humorous.

Well, to each his or her own (style)...just my 2 cents worth of comments.

******************************
Anyway, back to my topic on SEO.
******************************

After the TV show, i began to research on some of these celebrity blogs (for the purpose of my SEO/Pagerank research). I presume that since they had media publicity, they would have the advantage of reach. The following are public info which you can key (the domain) into any pagerank checker and find the info easily. The following are just some of our local celebrity bloggers. Who are your celebrity blogger and what's their PageRank?

It seems XiaXue's pagerank is very good! I wonder why she didn't register her domain for her blog. Anyway, i hope you like this post and would appreciate any comments (note: Any vulgarity WILL be deleted. LOL) . Cheers!

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) part 1

SEO is Search Engine Optimisation.

Alot of articles likes to sensationalise the term which is nothing more than how to get your site noticed by the search engine (with its algorithum). It is like maths or programming, once you know or guess the alogo then you can be in the game. The question is the criteria are never made known so it is everyone's guess...

For a start, (1) keywords are important. Thus making blog title important as it is the first thing that the Search Engine will pick up. You should make it a point to put the keywords in your content. Take note that you SHOULD NOT flood the key word to the point that disrupt your content. The Search Engine doesn't read the content! I don't think the AI is so intelligent as to interpret the level of interest of the content.

However, if you flood the key words in your post, the search engine will treat it as though you want to play tricks (Search engine is very sensitive in this and can be achieved by algorithem) and they WILL DISCOUNT your site to be an auto or spam site. You will not get the Page Rank you desire.

(2) Secondly, you have to register with the search engines (not only Google please) in the first place. You can see my earlier post on search engine registration. It is one of those first step that i took.

(3) As mentioned in my previous post, PageRank and Backlink count on Google only get visibly updated 3 or 4 times a year these days. So don't be dishearten that your pageRank is n/a or zero. It will come. Continue to build your SEO.

(4) It is a good (or rather a dream) to be linked by someone PR 4 and above. It will contribute to your "Trust and Authority" factor (read: to be linked by them means you deemed to be trusted). (That said, So can anyone with PR 4 and above link me please.)

I will continue to post more of my learning points in my next post. Till next time…

The PageRank Mystery

I am so encouraged by a recent comment by Bill!!!

I put it upfront because it contains important information about Google PageRank that i want to share with all of you!

APPARENTLY, I HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE A PAGERANK 3 OR 4.
I was wondering why all my SEO efforts did not work! Hopefully Time will tell.

I will share with you my journey in the next few posts! Cheers!

The comment
******************
Bill Austin said...

"PageRank and Backlink count on Google only get visibly updated 3 or 4 times a year these days.You won't see them until after the next update.As long as you are not banned by Google, itappears to me that you have sufficient worthwhile links to get at least a PR3 and perhaps a PR4. In a stretch, they might call it a five but time will tell.What you need to build in order to create lots of traffic are Trust and Authority.I wrote an article on that which you can read and comment on here at my blog:Internet Marketing In 10 Letters"
*******************

Now the next question is how to increase "Trust and Authority"? I would appreciate your comments here.

Cheers!

Friday, September 21, 2007

What will you do if you have only 24 hours to live?

Dear all,

I believe all of you heard of the news of air crash again..earthquakes and floods occurs everywhere...Let us re-think about our life's current situation, what is our purpose? If we know that we have only 24 hours to live, will we live it differently? Will we still pursue the things we insist on doing? What's our life value?

What will you do if you have only 24 hours to live?

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Use your traffic for a good cause- Finding long lost sister

Dear readers, as requested by Nafa, please help a blogger named, Jackie Hooper, also known as Shinadea to find her younger sister whom she had not met for so many years.

----Start Of Article-----

Please spare some time to read this post that we have written on behalf of a good friend of ours in the blogosphere. By reading this post and spreading the word to the others around you, you could reunite two people who shared an extraordinary relationship. You could be the one to reunite two sisters.Her name is Jackie Hooper, also known as Shinade. Her biological mother was Maxine Soape, but a couple had adopted her. According to her, besides her mother, she also had a younger sister as a family member. Just like her, her sister, who was born in 1959 or 1960 and is three years younger than her, had also been adopted out to another couple, by her own paternal uncle.Both were born in the same hometown of East Texas, but are now being adopted by two different couples and have been separated since then. The sister is currently staying with her adopted parents in Pueblo, Colorado.Jackie has never stood a chance to watch her younger sister grow, and has never even known what her sister’s name is.As painful as it is to be worlds apart from your friends, it is even more painful to be worlds apart from your own flesh and blood. So readers, we hope that you can show some sense of empathy towards Jackie ‘Shinade’ Hooper who longs to rebuild her life with her younger sister whom she holds very dear in her heart throughout the years.

This is your chance to do something good for someone in our global society who is in need of our helping hands.

If you can provide any information about Jackie’s sister that would be able to assist Jackie in her search, we urge you to keep us in the loop or directly inform Jackie at her blog. Your liberality towards helping out in this search would be greatly appreciated by all of us here, but the one who would be most thankful to you is Jackie herself.A little kindness goes a long way. Readers, please show your compassion towards someone who wants nothing else but to reunite with her beloved younger sister once again. They share a strong kinship, and they deserve to be together till the end of time.

Please read this special message from our friend, Jackie, and start doing your part in finding her long lost sister.


"My only message would be that I would so like to have the opportunity to get to know her and her family. I know she has children also. And, that I love her even though I don't know who she is or where she is." – Jackie ‘Shinade’ Hooper


NAFASG CERTIFIED PARTNER BADGE

---End Of Article---

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