Wordpress is an amazing blogging platform - it makes blogging simple and easy (provided you can come up with ideas for your posts). I use wordpress for most of my websites (even for the sites which are not blogs). There is however one drawback with Wordpress and that is - it upgrades way too often. And if you don’t upgrade your version of wordpress to the latest version then your version becomes vulnerable to internet attacks…Something we all want to stay away from…

Upgrading to the latest version of wordpress is not very straightforward. I used to dread all my upgrades. But something changed in the past couple of months and I am going to share with you the changes that has made the upgrades a whole lot easier.

I use a HostMonster as my hosting provider. HostMonster has now released ‘Simple Scripts’. This new tool makes upgrading very straight forward. This post is a short tutorial about ‘Simple Scripts’.

Before you do anything take a back up of the wordpress database. Once you do that, follow the steps below to upgrade your wordpress version:

Step 1: Log into your HostMonster.

Step 2: Go to the control panel.

Step 3: Look For ‘Simple Scripts’ and click on it.

Step 4: Simple Scripts supports various software packages like Joomla etc…But we are only interested in Wordpress (atleast for now). So select Wordpress.

Click ‘Install Now’.

Step 5: Select you website (plus other details on the page).

Here is the most important bit

On this screen uncheck ‘Automatically create a new database’. This will show up a few more details you need to enter. If you don’t know the user name and password, log into your HostMonster control panel and go to PHPMYadmin and create a new user name and password and assign that user name to the database of this website.

Step 6: There will be a warning before the upgrade is installed - if you are sure of the details you entered on the previous screen, click ‘Yes, I’m Sure’.

That is it - your upgrade is complete. Make a note of your new user name and password.

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It is very important to analyze the traffic your website gets. There are many tools in the market which help you in the website traffic monitoring task. I use and prefer Google Analytics. It is very easy to use and understand. It comes with a wealth of information and reports…

In the next few blog posts I am going to take you step by step into using Google Analytics. This first post is about installing Google Analytics on your website.

* Step 1 - Set Up / Sign Into Google Analytics Account *

If you don’t already have an Google Analytics account then set up one at Google Analytics. If you have a gmail account then you can use the same login details.

* Step 2 - Add Website Profile *

At the bottom of the page, you will find a link called ‘Add Website Profile’. Click that link.

On the screen that follows do the following:


1. Select ‘Add a Profile for a new domain’
2. Enter you website url
3. Click Finish

* Step 3 - Google Analytics Tracking Code *

The following screen will display the analytics code.

* Step 4 - Google Analytics Code In The Footer *

Do the following:

1. Copy the code and click ‘Finish’
2. Log into the admin panel of your website.
3. Go to the themes editor and paste the code in the footer.php (before the /body tag)
4. Click ‘Update File’.

If you ever change the theme then the code has to be copied and pasted in the new footer.php.

If you go back to the main page of Google Analytics you will see the words ‘Tracking unknown’ next to your website. It will take Google Analytics around 24 hours to detect the code that you pasted on the footer.php. Once it detects the code, the fun starts.

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Picking a right domain name is not an easy task…Here are a couple of my tips that can help you on your search for that perfect domain name:

Determine What Your Site Is About: If your site is about cars, then ‘cars’ is your primary keyword. If your site is about ‘making bread’ then ‘making bread’ becomes your primary keyword. Search on GoDaddy if your ‘primary keyword.com’ is available. 99% of the time your primary keyword will not be available.

List of Keywords: If your primary keyword is not available the next best thing to do is to opt for a keyword that is related to your primary keyword. Use MakeWords.com or Nameboy.com to identify related words. Another tool I really like is Wordtracker. Whilst a wordtracker might not give you every alternative word like MakeWords or Nameboy, it has a unique advantage over these two. Wordtracker shows you the keyword phrases (related to a primary keyword) that internet users are using. It helps your site’s ranking if your domain name is a keyword phrase that has a lot of searches. Example: if your site is about cars and using wordtracker you find out that ‘all about cars’ has a lot of searches and you then hop on to GoDaddy and discover that it is still available then ‘allaboutcars’com’ would be a good domain name for your site. Since the keyword phrase matches your domain name exactly, you will have an advantage in SEO ranking.

And finally few words of caution before you go ahead and register your domain name:

Once you have decided on the domain name, hop on to GoDaddy and register your domain name.

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If you have always wanted to work from home then now is the right time to do so…A lot of people love to work from the comforts of their own home and enjoy the lifestyle that comes with it.

Not in every industry gives you the option to work from home - In some industries your office presence is essential. I am in the internet marketing business and this industry provides you with opportunities to work from home…It is a very broad industry and hence meets the passion needs of lot of different people. Internet Marketing is still a relatively new industry and a lot of people are unaware of what it is all about. In this post, I will share with you some of the different kinds of things you can do in this industry -

Start A Blog A blog is like an online diary…If you are passionate about a particular topic or craft and then start blogging about it. Basically you will be sharing your ideas, tips and experiences on your topic. If you don’t have a topic then just start blogging about your day.



Write An eBook An eBook can be anywhere from 10 pages to hundreds of pages. A lot of people just discount this option because they think that they have nothing interesting to share..This can’t be right. You are not writing Phd thesis here. The topic you are writing about does not have to be unique. For example - if you are a neat freak then may be write a book about tips on keeping the house clean, removing stains etc…If you love to cook write a cook book…Does not have to be a big fat book. The best part is that you don’t need a publisher - you write and you sell. Thats it.


Information Sites If you want to start a site about a niche topic then go ahead and do that…May be you want to start a website which reviews all the cafes in your area…Or maybe you want to start a directory of cleaners in your website. The choice is yours…


eBay If you love shopping (bargain shopping, maybe you can sell on eBay for a profit. A lot of people make good living from this type of activity.

So sit down in a quite corner and make a list of what might interest you. And then pick one..And get started…The key is to get started. Don’t wait for the perfect something.

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There are many reasons as to why some succeed in business and some don’t but if I had to pick one - then I would pick ‘desire’. I have always believed that ‘desire’ is what sets one (wo)man apart from the other. In the past two weeks, a few things happened in my personal life which has further confirmed my belief that ‘desire’ is the ultimate secret.

Money is one of the outcomes of success…Successful people are rarely consumed with the idea of making more money. They want to create something, make a difference and in the process end up making money. Even if living from paycheck to paycheck, successful people are always looking for ways to get themselves out of the rut and lead a financially secure life. And once they find a way, they take the necessary action to reach their goal.

photo credit: lumaxart

They put all their energy into the process of making their dreams into a reality.

Passion is another key ingredient…But to me passion comes after desire….You first need to have the desire and it is through desire that you go about creating a business you are passionate about.. If you only have passion but no desire - you might do a good job in creating a good product but you might not be able to create a good business.

Desire can come in many different forms. You might be driven by a desire for a better life style…A desire to make a difference…A desire to create something that you can put your name on….A desire to be your own boss….A desire to lead a financially secure life.

Don’t we all desire for a better life? Don’t we all desire for a financially secure life? We all probably do…But only a few succeed…And the reason for this lies in the difference between ‘want’ and ‘desire’…People who only ‘want’ will lack the ability to take the required action to reach their goals. People who have the ‘desire’ take the action to reach their goals.

Despite their strong desire, they are not driven by greed…They know there are no shortcuts to success..They stay away from illegal and incorrect business practices. Because they know that they can succeed based on their ability alone…They have full confidence in themselves.

One might have a strong desire to lead a financially secure life and to do so they might rob a bank…Now, they do not fall under the definition of successful people. These people are driven by greed and are rightly termed ‘criminals’. Successful people know that success will taste good only if you burn the midnight oil and not otherwise…They appreciate the importance of hard work and are not scared by it..They love the journey of getting to their goal.They take one step at a time but throughout their journey their focus is on the on the end goal.

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Twitter is social networking site which is becoming immensely popular and gaining a huge following. It is a way to keep in touch with your friends - update them on what you are doing and find out what they are doing. I signed up for a Twitter account in April. Prior to that I had heard about Twitter but I believed it was an absolute ‘time suck’ and hence was not tempted to sign on (plus I didn’t know anyone on Twitter personally so was sure that I would have no followers). One of my goals for this year is to learn more about social networking sites (because other internet marketers claim to be gaining tons of traffic from these sites).

photo credit: macinate



Twitter was my first stop….If you want to know more about Twitter, here are my notes about what Twitter is and how it can help you (personally and professionally)”

What Is Twitter

It is a real time broadcasting medium…You send a 140 character message…And this message is broadcast to all your followers. These messages are called ‘tweets’. Twitter is often labeled as a micro blogging platform. Whilst the messages might not have as many characters as a blog post, 140 characters can still carry a lot of information - It is basically a short and sweet way of updating your followers. You can also sms your messages…So Twitter is mobile…

Following And Followers

On Twitter you can follow the people you know or the people you want to get to know or the people you want to learn from or for reasons only you would know…The person you are following does not necessarily have to know you. This to me is invaluable - There are a few people in this industry whom I greatly admire for what they have achieved…Twitter gives me the opportunity to follow them and find out what they are doing each day…

When you follow some one, this some one is sent an email by Twitter saying that you are following them. This person can either choose to follow you or can just ignore the email…Don’t take it personally if they choose to ignore - just because you are following some one does not mean they have to follow you. At this moment the number of people I am following is more than the number of followers I have. The people following you are called your followers. I guess the ultimate aim is to increase the number of your followers.

Personal Or Professional

It can be used for both….Working from home can be quite lonely. There are no colleagues to chat or no water cooler to gossip by. By having Twitter on your side you can get an insight into what your friends/peers are doing and also update them on what you are doing…Its almost like a water cooler (without the water). You can also eavesdrop on other people’s conversations in an acceptable way…Having said that, Twitter is not an Instant Messaging Service…So don’t have long lengthy conversations like you would do on IM…You and the person you are chatting to might enjoy the conversation but bear in mind that everything you send on Twitter can be seen by all your followers and this can be very distracting…If you have to have long conversation then use your IM.

Twitter presence is very beneficial for your business. You will not only find individuals with twitter account, you will also find companies and news services with twitter accounts…You can mention new offers, send a link to your new post and update your followers on anything and everything you want them to know. Having said that Twitter is not just for business…There is a fun side to it as well…So don’t make the mistake of just sending your links. If you do this many of your followers will unfollow you..Use it for business tactfully…Your followers need to know that there is a human side to you as well…So send social tweets as well…

How Do You Get Noticed On Twitter

To get noticed and win more followers do one or more of the following:

I am still fairly new to Twitter and learning as I go…I haven’t been using Twitter to the fullest of its potentials (as yet)…I am having fun though…Follow me on Twitter. Hope to see you there (soon)…

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Couple of weeks ago I purchased Adsense Secrets 4 by Joel Comm. This week I finished reading the eBook and here is my review of the book:

Who Is Joel Comm?

‘Joel Comm’ is a well known name in the Internet Marketing industry. He has been in this industry for more than twenty years…He was the co-owner of ClassicGames.com, which was acquired by Yahoo in 1997. His previous ebook ‘The Adsense Code’ was a New York Times best seller. And if any of you have seen the ‘The Next Internet Millionaire’ you would know that Joel was behind that show as well.

I have heard about the old book, ‘The Adsense Code’ numerous times - almost every time there was a question about a book recommendation for adsense in the forums, this book was mentioned as the book to read. I have also been following Joel’s blog for some time now…I subscribe to his newsletter - I find his content quite useful and interesting….An author’s history gives a book more/or less credibility. Joel Comm’s history told me that he is a reliable author.

Why Did I Buy This eBook?

I have adsense on most of my websites. Adsense contributes a significant portion to my revenue…I wanted to increase the pie contributed by Adsense even further. I was looking for a good eBook from a trusted source - I kind of made up mind that when the time is right I would buy Joel Comm’s ‘The Adsense Code’. The only thing that stopped me from buying that eBook straightaway was the price tag. It had a hefty price tag and I could not afford it (as yet). And I am so glad that I didn’t buy that ebook.

In April 2008, Joel launched the next version of the adsense book and called it ‘Adsense Secrets 4′ . The book is priced at $9.95…A no brainer for me…I clicked the link and had the book in my hands in the next 10 minutes.

What’s in the ebook?

It is a bulky book (233 pages)…I have filed it in a box file…

The book is divided into 5 parts and each part has a few chapters under it.

Caution About Forced Continuity

When you go to the website to purchase the product, you will find two options - With Option Two (Basic Value) you will be purchasing just the eBook for $9.95. With the Option One (Premium Value), you will also be signing up for a monthly newsletter which will cost you $29.95 per month. So be careful to select the option that you want.

Would I Recommend This eBook?

This eBook is filled with lots of valuable information - If the techniques are implemented, you will see an increase in your revenue straight away…You can recover the cost of the book in less than a day. I highly recommend this eBook….I have increased my earnings and I am positive you will too….Have a look at Joel’s website before you decide….

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I haven’t been blogging on this site for quite some time now…..There have been a couple of changes in my business priorities. This is my first year of working full time in internet marketing. This first year, my focus is more on building the business rather than on revenue.

The three primary websites I am going to concentrate on this year are:

I am hoping to get atleast 75% of my entire revenue for the entire year to come from these sites. And so I obviously need to put in more work into these sites. I need to write lot more posts for FutureNestEgg…This site is fairly new and so I am probably expecting a lot from it. But I am quite passionate about it and enjoy writing for the site. So I will put in the best effort I can and then lets wait and see….And btw the reason I picked these three sites as my primary sites is because of all my sites I enjoy working on these three sites the most and I believe that there is a good market for these three sites…

My secondary revenue earners for the year are:

I am going to continue posting my business journey on this blog. I will also share and post about new things I learn in this industry. There will hopefully be a lot of ‘How-To’ posts on this blog in the near future. But the number of times I will be posting on this blog will only be around 4 times a month. I don’t have much revenue expectations from this blog for 2008. My concentration and efforts will be elsewhere…

But still that doesn’t explain where I was the whole of March and April….I was working but just not on this site….I also lost a bit of my focus and wasn’t really sure where I wanted to take this blog..But now I am much clearer on the path I need to take…

In the past couple of months I was trying to do many things - I had all my sites as my primary sites and was bit frustrated when I could not give my 100% to all my projects - An unreasonable expectation - Now that I have narrowed my focus, I feel much better and also much more focussed.

Took me couple of months to get here but am itching to get back to my business (with a new vision and sharper focus).

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This week I read a book by Robert W. Bly called - ‘ The Online Copywriter’s Handbook‘. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learned quite a few new concepts regarding copywriting. Robert Bly has many years of experience in the copywriting industry. He started off writing copy for the offline market and then moved on to writing copy for the online market. In this book he shares his copywriting expertise - expertise specifically aimed at writing good online copy.

His writing style in the book is simple and at the same time interesting. The book has 319 pages and if it wasn’t interesting to read (however informative it would have been), there is no way I would have read till the last page.

The book starts off with the similarities of online and offline copy and then moves into the differences between the copy for these two media. The part which I really enjoyed was Robert’s nine step process of writing compelling and persuasive copy. Each step is very detailed and has examples as well - which makes it easy to understand the concept. In my opinion if you don’t take anything from the book other than these nine detailed steps then you have taken away a lot - Don’t get me wrong here - There are more pearls of copywriting wisdom as you delve further into the book but these nine steps are the core.

Robert then moves on to write about how we can make the copy on a website visually appealing. His tips are about how you can format and illustrate the text so that it captures the readers interest.

In later chapters he writes about ezine marketing and email formats. I found this part a bit repetitive…A lot of concepts mentioned here were already mentioned in the earlier part of the book.

If you are planning to write some sales letters then try to grab this book. It is a good read - with lots of valuable copywriting tips - It will make a huge difference to the way you write your content and thus affecting your sales.

Read the book and share your thoughts about the book…..

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A lot of successful internet marketers either have a background in ‘Copywriting’ or have taught themselves Copywriting skills. My background is not in copywriting - Prior to moving into my current business I was programming for a living. Very early on into my new business venture, I realized how important good copy was for the internet business. Well written copy can even make a long never ending sales letter interesting. The sole purpose of your sales letter is to convince the visitor to buy the product. If your copy is boring and fails to convince then you have lost a potential customer’s attention and in the process missed out on making a sale. In short - if you have good copy then you make more sales. A lot of us spend a lot of time, effort and money on SEO. More Traffic to the website is good but getting traffic alone is not enough. You need to convert that traffic into sales. This is where copywriting skills come into play.

Up until recently I thought that a good copywriter is one who is either a great writer or has years of internet marketing experience under his or her belt. Since I have never considered myself to be a great writer, I assumed that I have to work for a few more years doing what I am currently doing before I can gain some decent copywriting skills.

A few weeks ago I listened to an interview with Yanik Silver. Yanik Silver is an extremely successful internet marketer and credits most of his success to his good copywriting skills. He mentioned in his interview that copywriting is a skill that can be learned. According to Yanik - if you employ a step by step approach then you can produce good copy. Now, I have heard this before, I have read about this before as well - but this time around it made a lot of sense to me - may be it was just the way Yanik put it across.

Some people are gifted with excellent writing skills and writing good copy comes naturally to them - I have now come to the realization that the others (including me) don’t have to despair - They might not be naturally gifted but they can surely learn the skills….

So I am going to try and spend some time every week to learn as much as I can about copywriting. The aim is to employ the techniques I learn to generate more sales. It makes sense doesn’t it - rather than trying to break my head trying to figure out how I can increase my conversion ratio, I should spend more time and energy focusing on learning the skills that can convince a visitor to buy from me….So stay tuned for my more blog posts about copywriting.

Meanwhile if you have some good copywriting tips start sharing them now…

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