Ad Surf Daily Generates Free Website Traffic
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Ad Blindness
I’m sure you may be aware that it takes about 7 times or more for your ad to be absorbed by prospects. Well in my case I normally take the advice of my work colleagues who may have had prior experience with any particular program or product.
Now when I mention the words friends and colleagues I’m referring to people I am in regular contact with who share ideas and tips amongst each other. This is TRUE networking. Whereas with some people I only hear from them when they want to SELL ME SOMETHING. No explanations no HELLO or how are you today? JUST COLD HARD SELL!
That’s why it has taken about 5 times before I even considered one particular program. When you have friends that really research a program and have tested it out BEFORE announcing it to you is when you know people have your best interests in mind.
This is what is called true “LEVERAGE”. The same courtesy should be afforded to people who have subscribed to your mailing list and newsletters. Be sure you have reputable and trusted sources before considering endorsing a product or service.
Now we are all human and sometimes something doesn’t go as planned for a number of reasons. However at the very least test out a service and see if it can benefit you and your business.
Anyway with that said I want to share a website that allows you to surf for traffic to earn credits towards views to your assigned websites. It is similar to the way in which Traffic Swarm works. There is one main difference and that is if you decide to purchase advertising credits you can earn a residual income of 25% of your initial ad purchase.
Now most people are interested in driving more traffic to their website and Ad Surf Daily does just this for you. It is easy to register a free account and set up your websites. I recommend using a web page rotator such as Page Swirl or BizRotator so that you can easily manage multiple websites and keep track of statistics to.
Without tracking you have no clear way to evaluate results of your advertising campaigns. These resources are free to use so there is no excuse not to use them regularly.
Anyway I highly recommend Ad Surf Daily. You have the option of purchasing ad credits to boost views to your websites and can invite people you know to join too. I suggest using social networks to refer others. You can view some of the networks I am a member of here. Just remember to network with people and DO NOT just blast your latest opportunity to them. A signature fle under your name should suffice especially in forums.
These forums accept blatant ads. Participation is high so YOU MUST make your ad stand out and post REGULARLY.
Warning WordPress Update Left Me Headless
Anyone who has a WordPress blog installed on their own domain knows about the trials and tribulations experienced with forthcoming upgrades! Don’t get me wrong, I am an avid supporter and happy WordPress user. But not all of us agree as Mark Wielgus, from 45n5.com expressed in his video “WordPress Sucks“.
I steered away from Blogger because I wasn’t too keen on their template designs and set up. TypePad has good reviews and is used by Frank Gruber and of course Seth Godin but when I started this blog it was because it was the easiest way for me to add content and make an SEO site without having to fiddle around with HTML pages.
With a blog, particularly WordPress you have a wealth of free and premium templates. That means you get a wide choice of designs and you can customize or leave “as is”. Besides, this is open source FREE software so what have you got to loose.
Just be sure to make a copy of each file you amend at each stage during your customizations. Also keep a copy of the original PHP file because if your code breaks your blog and you didn’t save the original file as a back up you’re gonna be so SORRY!
Anyway as the headline suggests… two days ago I lost my head!
What the heck does that mean?
Let me explain… as I logged into my admin account I saw the notification to update my blog software to the latest stable version for WordPress 2.3.3. The image below shows the reminder text prompts message which comes up on your WordPress Dashboard as you log into your admin interface much the same as the text prompts to download the newest version of your installed plugins.
I received a tip from a colleague that it may help to revert back to the default Kubrick theme while you’re processing the upgrade. I took his advice and completed the task at about 2am GMT in hope that my Australian readers were quietly tucked up in bed and my North American counterparts were chilling out for the evening. And as for my UK neigbors you “should” have been fast asleep (fingers crossed).
However if you dropped by during that time I do apologise for any inconvenience.
Anyway all went well except for my header file; once again the code for the AdRotator seems to be the culprit. So I changed back to the default WordPress theme, edited my header theme file from the Vertigo Electrified theme and carefully copied and pasted my customized code in several stages. Now I do have a test blog and everything went fine. But I find on this domain I always strike a dead end of mishaps and misfortune. 
As always I double check with my trusted video tutorial to ensure I was completing each step correctly before proceeding further. However I was still left with only my header file showing and no blog! All is well now in paradise.
Top Tips
- Change you password periodically as John Chow has rightly added in his own post. John has provided detail of one major file that prompted the update because of a security issue; however I prefer to go for the full upgrade of files as usual.
- Make a list of your scripts on your server and check to see if you have update them to the latest version. Make sure you sign up to an email notification list to be sure that you know about changes, security issue or script enhancements.
- Just remember to keep ALL of your scripts updated to the latest version to avoid hackers from placing Phising scripts, Trojans and worse on your server without your knowledge. This script can execute a command to collect sensitive credit card data and account information. As a direct result of this activity your web host can and will suspend your account. That means you’ll have an ugly “SITE SUSPENDED” note on your domain which will remain there until you contact them to confirm you are not trying to conduct illegal activity on your server. Believe me this IS NOT good for your web site visitors to see and your credibility is diminished. Any new visitors will be so put off that they will NEVER come back.
This reason alone has prompted me to REMOVE all scripts and programs that I no longer use like some WordPress plugins and old scripts that are no longer supported by the original author. Don’t forget to remove unused WordPress themes too.
Why?
Because you will not have any reason to keep in abreast with upgrades and may easily forget that they still reside on your server. Just ensure ALL redundant scripts and PHP files are removed your server.
I have one more script to remove from my server which I should have done a while ago. That’s a link tracking script that went completely haywire and caused an unprecedented amount of errors and broken links. I vowed, never again. The author of the script has since disappeared without a trace. Just when I was considering the option to purchase the paid version. I’m so glad I didn’t give him a dime. 
That will be a long and arduous task that I’m doing in “shifts”. The problem with repetitive jobs is that it becomes so mind numbing that the brain literally falls asleep and you make so many typing errors here and there that you defeat the object of correcting your links.
Yikes!
With many web hosts who provide Fantastic for simple installation and free online video tutorials that walk you through each step of the installation process there really is no reason why you should put off setting up a blog.
For the lazy marketer or anyone who DOESN’T WANT HASSLES then your best course of action is to simple host your blog at Wordpress.com. That way all you have to do is write your posts as EVERY SINGLE UPGRADE is perform automatically by WordPress. However you do not have the flexibility to do whatever you want in comparison to a self-hosted installation.
Oh well I have only two more blogs to go and the evil deed (upgrade) is done. Sheesh!
Its HALF FPRICE when I convert into Great British Pounds (GBP) so there’s is absolutely no excuse not to have the most current version. If you don’t want to perform upgrade then I suggest avoiding hosting scripts on your server altogether or hiring a trustworthy programmer to do these jobs for you.
Other Hosted Scripts
Ultimate Affiliate script appears to be one of the most robust of scripts I have used. I have the latest version and it serves me well for a hosted in-house affiliate program. I was thinking of using PayDotCom but decided to go for an in-house option.
Amember is another script I need to keep up to date. You can see it here. The latest version is 3.0.9 priced at $179.95. I purchased a copy for $139.95 some time ago but I believe it is still a bargain for the price. Plus also you get to install the Amember script on an unlimited number of domains without having to purchase additional licences. There hasn’t been an upgrade for some months now but when they send me an email notification you can be sure that I’ll be upgrading immediately.
Quit Your Day Job Book Now Free From Jeremy Palmer
Top CJ Performer and AdWords Specialist Jeremy Palmer has left the affiliate marketing world!
Well not exactly he has quit marketing his best selling ebook and is now offiicially giving it away for FREE. Check out some of what Jeremy wrote:
“The new goal of Quit Your Day Job will be to educate and support serious online entrepreneurs who understand the time and commitment required to be successful. The problem is I can’t achieve this goal alone… When I initially launched QuitYourDayJob.com I offered an e-book and a private support forum. I personally responded to over 75% of forum posts and e-mails. Unfortunately, it became very difficult for me to keep up on both Quit Your Day Job and my own affiliate business.
It’s a bit ironic, before launching QuitYourDayJob.com (and related endeavors) I had the “Quit Your Day Job” lifestyle. But after launching the sites I created a new full-time job for myself. My increased workload created a lot of unwanted stress and caused me to drop a lot of balls. Juggling my own affiliate business and two other projects was too much. I decided that in order to keep Quit Your Day Job fresh and relevant, and maintain a good work/life balance, I needed to change my business model.
Rather than create a site where you’re the customer and I’m the business owner, I have decided to make Quit Your Day Job community-driven site where we are all patrons.
As a gesture of my patronage to the affiliate marketing community and this site, I am now offering my ebook for free. You can get the 2007 version of the e-book using this link:
http://www.quityourdayjob.com/hpam2007 “
I wonder how many past owners will react to this turnaround. People do get disgruntled if they feel they’ve been misled or dare I say it scammed, a word used too often for just about any trivial matter. Anyway owners like myself who have found value in our purchase and have put the knowledge to use will of course not be affected.
I’m keeping an eye on the next update to the Quit Your Day Job book which Jeremy has announced will also be made available for free.
And I thought the commotion to get Camtasia Studio for free was a hoax at first. I wonder who else will be giving away their most treasured and popular products this year!
Hey Rosalind got something to tell us. Ah wishful thinking, besides I also own a copy of The Super Affiliate Handbook. :mrgreen:
Happy reading all,
Nancy
P.S.
You can also take a look at the proposed new design and community driven forum and user generated site. Take some time out to read through your book, study and TAKE ACTION!
Compliments to Linda Buquet for the heads up. Cheers!
Louis AllPort Changes Resale Rights Terms
I hate to get into a battle or a feud but you need to be aware of the changes to Louis Allport’s popular resale rights products. Louis Allport has been producing some of what I feel is the very best video ‘How To’ products to help you with creating a Google friendly web site through to ‘how to set up a memberships site.
Unfortunately for hundreds of thousands of customers who have purchased resale rights will no longer have the ‘right’ to sell them beyond December 14th 2007.
A partial quote outlined this:
“Please ensure you stop selling the reprint rights products listed on this page by that date, otherwise you will receive complaints from your customers as the products will no longer work. And again as mentioned past that date no one except private label rights holders will have the right to sell the products/content past that date.”
This will be a shock for current owners and distributors alike. It appears that Louis is setting up a brand new Private Resale Site. ONLY members of his new site will be have the exclusive rights to continue to sell his products.
Only time will tell what Louis has to offer in his new site. I really enjoy his work and feel it would be a shame for him to lose out on such a large number of loyal customers and affiliates trust because of this turnaround. I have not resold them but use them for private use. However I’m so glad I did not opt to resell them now after this news.
Read the entire notice here:
You can also read the comments of Warrior Forum members here
I’d advise EVERYONE to download the files (if you haven’t done so already) for your own use and instruct your customers to do the same.
It will be interesting to see how he will defend this drastic decision in the coming months.
Your 26 Affiliate Marketing And Webmaster Forums To Help You Make Money Online
I love forums but seldom make replies. At forums you can find that people gather literally out of nowhere work together to answer a question or provide valuable tips and ideas that you and I can implement in our online business.
The most infamous being The Warrior Forum for internet marketers. Also 5 Star Affiliate Marketing Forums and Affiliate Programs Forum.
I frequent other forums not related to affiliate marketing and internet marketing to satisfy my personal interests and hobbies.
Do you use forums?
If not why?
You do not have to use them but as the majority of them are free then what can you loose!
Of course there will be some information that may be inaccurate or misleading. You’ll also come across topics that may cause conflicts amongst other members. My best top tip is to avoid getting involved in hot debates or controversy that may have a long lasting effect on your name and integrity.
By all means read thorough the threads and posts now and again but if you want to stay clean online with a good reputation and avoid "forum fighting" them read through, take a break and come back when your heart rate has come down to normal BEFORE deciding on whether you want to contribute to the thread.
See the full list of 26 featured forums.
Enjoy,
Nancy P Redford
Recommended Resources:
Stop Loosing Money With Affiliate Programs
A new year begins and we think about good fortune and getting essential ‘Things To Do’ tasks in order. As I look through my web sites and make some updates and amendments I find that a few programs have been either discontinued or redirected to a completely different web site without prior notice.
I wouldn’t mind but I did not receive any forewarning.
Beware of any merchants who change the destination URL of your ‘ money making affiliate link to a non-profit making destination.
OK so some merchants have gone bankrupt or changed business but this leaves YOU the affiliate ‘in the dark’ until to attempt to login to your stats or check some links.
I normally perform broken link checks but this does not reveal problems, particularly when the link is redirected to another ‘live link’.
Yeah, you guessed it I’m a little peeved at this. 
The good news is that I have used link tracking tools so in most cases all I need to do is to edit the URL to another. I’ll take it all in my stride and think of it as general site maintenance.
A word of warning, keep track of ALL of your affiliate programs and contact the merchant if you suspect tracking problems of any kind.
Normally you will receive email notification of changes or cancelled programs so add these essentials emails to your address book.
The worst culprits are those that do not contact their affiliates to notify them that they have changed the entire structure of their affiliate program. Without naming the company directly, they have changed from a regular commission structure open to anyone to a drastically changing eligibility to ‘partners’ who can bring them One Million Pounds in business per annum!
Now I have their emails whitelisted and I contacted them by email and direct by phone to change my personal account details.
They claim that the program changed during summer 2006 and notified all current affiliates via email. If this was true then how can they explain that in October 2006 when I called their office that NO MENTION was given regarding the startling new changes for ‘eligible partner’. 
I know of many other webmasters who have affiliate links to the site on their web sites and they too had absolutely no idea of the change in the affiliate program. Especially as their affiliate links still point to the main web site, giving them no immediate cause for concern.
This company is huge and has no excuse for such underhand tactics.
Any way I thought it would be helpful to point out some changes that you should be be aware of.
Of course there are affiliate program managers who take the necessary steps to ensure that their current affiliates are well informed of program and policy changes.
Details of some programs that have changed are as follows: 
Armand Morin changed his affiliate program during December 2006.
I have to admit that I had subscribed to several emails and unsubscribed from what I thought was the Big Seminar however it would seem that I accidentally unsubscribed from the affiliate program as well.
Oops!
I owe a HUGE thanks to the Super Affiliate, Rosalind Gardner for her post.;-)
Just as well that I use tracking links for affiliate URL’s so all I had to do was change one file and viola all of my money making links were updated instantly!
Allen Says sent out an email during December 2006 to announce that his MyBlogNetwork.com will be discontinued. All affiliates with a balance will receive their commission payouts.
The good news is that Allen has a brand new site in addition to the infamous Warrior Forum, called My Warrior Network.
Russell Brunson has some highly motivated affiliate managers working for him to skyrocket the performance of affiliate sales. Plus he has a prime quality new DotComSecrets home study course I previously mentioned
that you should check out.
It’s one of the most comprehensive blueprints for setting up a highly profitable business.
Top Tips
Just remember to always keep in touch with your affiliate program managers and keep a list of all programs you have signed up for. Read my affiliate tips to help you decide what key points to look for when deciding to enroll into an affiliate program.
Also take some time out to review your affiliate programs make sure you are getting paid on time and evaluate your position. You may want to discontinue some programs altogether but make sure you request your payments before deleting your account.
Beware of affiliate programs that require YOU to initiate a request for payment or else you will forfeit earnings due.
I read an email from Phil Wiley who had this problem.
If I can get details of the company he mentioned I will post a comment here for you.
Looking forward to that next big check. LOL
How To Design Your Own WordPress Theme Quickly And Easily
I’ve found a link to a must have resource for WordPress enthusiasts courtesy of Pamela Heywood. Now you can create your own WordPress theme using any template of your choice. You can preview your designs and store them for up to 90 days giving you ample time to make a final decision.
The best part is the ThemePress service is only $10 per theme to use making it a true bargain.
This is great news for people who want to create their own designs but did not have the technical know-how to achieve it.
I highly recommend bookmarking the ThemePress site so that you too can make some tests designs for yourself.
On the subject of themes have you seen the new look Associates Program and Rosalind Gardner’s site? They look awesome. All of their main web site pages, newsletter and forums have the same design flow.
Both use the three column template very well. As Rosalind points out, according to OneStat.com
"…the number one provider of real-time intelligence web analytics, today reported that more and more internet users choose for screen resolution 1024 x 768 which is the most popular screen resolution for exploring the internet. The finding has important implications for web site designers because most web sites are designed for a screen resolution of 800 x 600 pixels."
This new tool may be what many webmasters are looking for to revamp their web sites for 2007 maybe. 
Read Rosalind Gardner’s best selling ebook here. Or get the softcover version at Amazon today!
Teaching Bandwidth Thieves a Lesson
Are you worried about other people stealing your bandwidth by hot linking to your images?
Read this amusing thread from Michael Green’s How To Forum about how one webmaster fought back!
Check if your web host has a ‘Hot Linking’ icon in your control panel area where you can easily set up barriers to prevent linking to your images.
This can become difficult if you have an affiliate program or reciprocal link image with the original image is hosted on your web site and the code is automatically generated. You can of course put up a not requesting that all images must be saved to their own PC.
However if you have an affiliate program like Ultimate Affiliate and others your affiliates want quick and easy to set up, cut and paste code and will seldom go into each and every piece of code to change the image URL to link from their own web site [assuming they have their own web site].
Grab Your Professional Open Source Web Design Templates
I thought WordPress had a lot of great free templates to offer but then I am introduced to yet another open resource site featuring some very impressive professionally designed web site templates.
At the Open Source Web Design you get a whopping 1688 creative templates to choose from. I can’t imagine what you would spend to get a graphics designer to do this kind of work for you.
Can you?
Two of my favorites is ‘Internet Marketing‘ by Lan Vacation and ‘FunkyCoolBlue‘ by Virtual Function.
If you are a creative template designer it would be a wise idea to submit your open source templates to these kinds of site to bring free traffic and exposure to your business.
Take the stress out of creating template from scratch and grab some of these gems. If you have HTML skills you can further customize the templates to suit your own needs.
P.S.
Don’t forget to bookmark the button maker site at Dynamic Drive another valuable free resource!
Guest Article: Are We Internet Marketers Abusing/Ruining The Web?
Are we internet marketers abusing/ruining the web?
By Mike Mograbi
Why am I asking this now?
Just read a post by Larry Foster on HowToCorp forum about Tag&Ping,
where he says: "It seems already that abuse is the prescribed
method of utilizing this method. From what I understand, this will
go by the wayside of blog and ping. I have seen predictions that
this could last anywhere from only a short time to 8-9 months. We
have a saying where I live. ‘Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered’
I have a feeling that the hogs will find a way to bring about the
rapid demise of another great method."
http://www.howtocorp.com/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl/read/55687
(Important Note: Larry and I are not accusing anyone selling
information about Tag & Ping of abusing this method. Tag & Ping is
a great internet marketing method. As far as I understand, Larry is
talking about some people who are going to abuse it.)
Every time there is something new, some/many internet marketers
work on ruining it for all others. Some do it because they are
ignorant (they simply don’t know they are causing damage), others
do it because they are greedy and the hell with everyone else.
Examples are too many to list.
Here’s one: Google AdSense. Many internet marketers have
over-polluted the web with a zillion cheap (and I mean CHEAP
looking with cheap content) AdSense sites. Sites that are filled to
the brim with AdSense ads; right, left, up, down, forward,
backward, inside, outside, and in all 4 dimensions.
Google AdSense. How should it be? It’s a very simple formula. You
have a quality website. Targeted traffic comes to your site to
benefit from your content and they click on Google Ads. You benefit
and the advertisers also benefit.
I haven’t done any research on what I’m going to say now (for
verification), but personally I doubt very much that advertisers
getting a click on their Google Ads by a visitor coming from a
cheap site are going to benefit as much as a click on their Google
Ads by a visitor coming from a quality site (like About.com, a high
quality site, which I heard makes 8 figures a month from AdSense.
Not sure if this is true or not, but I wouldn’t be surprised and I
wish them all the best).
I have personally created one site for the purpose of making money
with AdSense. I mean it was created just for that purpose. The
focus was making money with AdSense. It’s bringing in Over $20 a
day, but I don’t think I ever want to create a website JUST FOR THE
PURPOSE of making money with AdSense again.
I’m beginning to think more and more of Advertisers, and what is
the best way for them to benefit from Google Ads showing up on my
sites.
I think I need a professional and ethical internet marketer (Ken
McCarthy? David Frey?) to write a report or a book on that. The
focus would not be how to make money with AdSense by getting the
click.
The focus would not be on the click. The focus would be, how to
make the advertiser get the most from his ads that(s)he’s paying
money for. Yes, that’s like getting the click, but in some ways,
you would want to make sure that the most qualified people are
making those clicks.
In short, I want to think of those Ads as if they were my own.
I’ve been thinking and re-thinking about internet business/internet
marketing, and what would be the right/best way to do things.
I’ve been thinking more and more of my site visitors and of
advertisers.
No doubt, I want to make money online, and lots of it, using Google
AdSense and other ways. I’m just saying that the WAY I want to make
that money must be 100%WIN (Advertiser) - 100%WIN (Customer/site
visitor) - 100%WIN (Me).
Creating many AdSense sites is not a black or white thing. If one
can do it and build quality sites with QUALITY INFO and quality
graphics that would be awesome. It’s possible to do that but not
easy and not without some good $ investment.
Back to Tag & Ping and other internet marketing methods.
I think greed and impatience (to make money) are the two main
reasons for all the junk, pollution and abuse we have on the web.
These cannot be eliminated.
So… what is the best way to benefit the most from internet
marketing methods, when (some) others use every unethical way
imaginable to beat you in the game?
This is one question that professional/ethical internet marketers
should get together to answer for all of us.
Mike Mograbi
Internet Marketing Newswatch
P.S. I’d like to restate that I’m not accusing anyone in particular
of ruining/abusing the web. I wrote this message to get you thinking
about all this so you and I can work on improving ourselves to
become more ethical and professional.
- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = -
From what I have seen online almost each and every new software tends to be marketed to others who in turn either use the technology wisely to benefit themselves or go crazy and churn out anything they can in order to make a fast buck. Take for instance the ‘Blog and Ping Method’. So over used that the search engines soon caught on to the emergence of this new blatant form of Spam. Think about it did those people who set automatic pings every 15 minutes day in and out have sufficient and good quality content?
Even as far as search engine optimization. A highly respected online news agency’s SEO team used large blocks of invisible text to boost their keywords and traffic to their site.
Did they really need to do this and didn’t they know these tactics were not ethical?
The only way forward is for each and everyone of us to take charge of what we do online whether we were TOLD or instructed to do so by a GURU or not. You’ll find yourself struggling with the dilemma of who is telling you the right stuff that won’t get you BANNED, DE-INDEXED or loose you your publishing accounts such as Google AdSense or other contextual ad networks.
Due diligence MUST be used for everything you do online. A good place to ask questions about ethics and morals is to participate in discussion boards/forums. You can network with others and learn a lot about many aspects of running a business online.
Long term organic search engine optimization and original content added on a regular basis are just some of the best ways to maintain a good steady flow of traffic to your site.
You may want to share your own thoughts and experiences on this matter. If so I welcome your comments.
Further Reading & Resources:
1. Affordable Tag and Ping Tutorial
Comments 
