Are You In My Network?

I have a section on my blog that syndicates the posts from all my favorite blogs. I unveiled this section earlier this month. However, I wanted to offer a brief follow up post about it.

The “My Favorite Blogs” section is located at the bottom of my home page. It is pretty demanding of server resources so I don’t offer this site wide. How this section works is pretty simple.

You can check the comments on this post for updates and additions to this section. Additionally, a link to this post can be found directly below “My Favorite Blogs” section titled, “What is this? - Learn More“. In the comments section of this post, I document and announce when I add new blogs into the mashup.

How Do I Get Listed?

I am sure that many people might be interested in getting listed. The only way you can get your blog included is by contacting me and informing me about your blog. If it becomes a blog that I read on a regular basis, then I will consider including it only if it also is a blog that I feel my readers will enjoy reading also.

Where Is The BlogRoll?

I don’t have one… blogrolls typically are abused and many people use blogrolls to barter link exchanges. Also, after having a blogroll myself for almost the entire year of 2007, I can tell you that for me, blogrolls are very ineffective and a waste of space. According to my stats, not many people click on the links within a blogroll. In the few weeks I have had the “My Favorite Blogs” section up and running, I have sent more traffic out of that then I did all year with my blogroll.

What does that mean? Well, in blogger’s terms, this means I am passing out more traffic and link love by using “My Favorite Blogs” instead of my blogroll.

Can I Subscribe?

You sure can… I have “My Favorite Blogs” mashed up and also burned in FeedBurner. If you would like to subscribe to the feed of “My Favorite Blogs” you can do so here.

I Want More Details About This!

No problem! I have all the details written on my original post here.

What Are Your Thoughts?

Do you like “My Favorite Blogs” section? How effective has your traditional blogroll been for you? What are your thoughts about doing something like what I have done in exchange for having a blogroll? Do you think that I am being greedy by not having a blogroll? What are your thoughts? I would love to hear your feedback!

Posted on December 31st, 2007. 11 Comments

Finding The Perfect Partners

Finding the perfect partners in blogging is difficult. Dealing with people and different personalities is even more difficult. Many people are so explosive and unpredictable its crazy… does this remind you of anyone? Someone who’s name begins with the letter “G” ? lol!!!

My good friend and business partner, Christine Senter, wrote one of the most thoughtful posts tonight and I wanted to share it with my readers here on GCDC.

Relationship building is very important, whether it is a personal relationship, a business one or both. I can’t even begin to tell you how much of a dedicated and committed person Christine is. My blogging ventures would NOT be the same without her.

Can you relate to this? Do you have one particular blogger that you have attached yourself too? Christine and I really are a perfect pair when it comes to friendship as well as business. We have never gotten into a single fight, nor have we ever argued about anything. We are both very open minded and listen equally to each other.

The old saying, “Two heads are better than one” is true… but sometimes in life or blog life, its hard to find the second head. Have you been fortunate enough to have this type of relationship with another blogger? I would love to hear your feedback regarding this.

Posted on December 30th, 2007. 15 Comments

Quick Way To Increase Comments

You may have more readers who view your blog content in RSS than you may realize. Up until recently, I know that was true for me. My FeedBurner numbers have increased a lot in the past month but I never really took the time to see what my own content looked like in a RSS. The results were interesting. Quickly, I saw a few things I could do to makes things a little better for my RSS readers and subscribers.

The above screen shot shows what the bottom of my post looks like in Google Reader. One of the things the jumped out when viewing my feed in Google Reader was the fact that it is difficult for a RSS subscriber to add a comment to my blog post. To correct this problem, I am adding a new graphic directly below my signature on my posts. Below is the graphic I created:

The graphic will automatically hyperlink RSS subscribers to my comment form. This will allow for quick and easy access for RSS readers and subscribers to add their feedback by dropping a comment on my post. I really enjoy reading my comments from my readers and feel that if I make it just a little easier for them to drop one, I might get a little more.

PS Yesterday I learned a lot about my readers and had the privilege of collecting some really amazing feedback. I just want to quickly note that starting today, I am taking everything I have learned from the feedback delivery by my readers and will be applying it instantly. Thanks again to everyone who provided feedback for me.

PSS I am going to practice what I preach and start using the scheduled post feature included in Wordpress. From now on, I am going to post one article per day at 12:00 A.M. CST.

Posted on December 29th, 2007. 15 Comments

Should I Quit Teaching About Making Money Online?

To be honest, I put a lot of hard work into not only my job of making money online but also communicating my work, my findings and my teachings here on Garry Conn dot Com. The amount of time that I spend writing on this site could easily be used writing on a different site.

I have always been an honest person and sometimes it has burned me and other times not. The reason for this article is to pretty much determine whether I continue this site or not. I am totally serious.

My last three articles:

Two of which have included YouTube videos:

I have around 6 hours of time invested.

These three articles alone teach and provide a ton of information. If you want to know how to make money, this is it, this is the real deal… this is what I do. If you were expecting something different, or don’t like what I teach, have the decency and at least tell me. That way I am not wasting time in my life and you’re not cherry picking.

Am I upset? Very. I am very upset and I’ll explain why. Traffic is totally up but comments are almost non-existent. This means that there are hundreds of people reading what I write and leave. Believe me, I know… I see my traffic reports, I know exactly where people come from and what articles get read. Readers either take my advice and information and run for the hills not looking back, or they simply don’t get it. Either way, the result is the same…. my content is getting read by hundreds of people every day, traffic continues to climb, but the level of interaction between my readers and myself continue to drop. And I don’t understand why.

Here is what I want from you (my reader).

I am not a complicated person when it comes to wants and needs. On this website, www.GarryConn.com, when I invest the time into writing content that helps you (my reader), I want to you take a minute after reading what I write and offer feedback. Drop me a comment and share your thoughts. I don’t ask for much, but I do ask for your input. If I can’t get that, then I don’t have much motivation to continue helping.

What do you want from me (your blog author).

Without taking the time to offer feedback in the comments or by interacting with me, I lose touch with understanding your wants and needs. In failing to attain or understand these wants and needs it causes me to lose sight and motivation to publish the free and volunteer content that I do.

Keep in mind that it does make me happy to know that I help people. However, the process of helping people and maintaining this website and publishing the content, videos, graphics, etc.. doesn’t make money. The success of what I do to make money online doesn’t depend on the success of Garry Conn dot Com. I could literally shut this site down today and it would have zero effect on my income streams.

This site is online for my readers and people that want to learn about the business in which I do. I want to help you. If you don’t have the decency to drop me a comment after reading what I have worked hard to publish then, where is the motivation to continue?

I have or HAD some plans to releasing an e-book. Additionally the same goes with going live on a YouTube Channel titled, Garry Conn dot TV. At this point in time, I know for a fact that I am scrubbing the e-book. I have close to 50 pages written, but I am not going to continue with it. I just feel that the amount of time I put into helping others isn’t returned back to me. The amount of time I invest into helping is taking away from the things that puts food on my table for my kids. Maybe I would feel differently if I had a better reaction from my readers…. maybe not.

I really look forward to hearing what you have to say on this post. To be honest, a lot is at stake within the realms of this post and the comments that get exchanged below. Depending on what gets said, the volume of the exchanges and the discovery of my readers feedback will warrant whether I continue writing on this blog or not. Sorry to say, but you can always count on me being brutally honest and up front with my feelings and thoughts.

GarryConn

Posted on December 28th, 2007. 37 Comments

Make Money Online With PickyDomains.com

I am all for finding new ways to make money online. I had the pleasant opportunity to meet with the owner of PickyDomains.com and learn more about the services behind the business.

I am an extremely creative individual and I truly love the Internet for many reasons. One of the most important reasons why I really have such a love for the Internet is the fact that it brings new jobs to thousands of people who can’t necessarily work normal jobs.

You might be disabled, retired and living on a fixed income, you could be a single mom and forced to work very limited hours because you have to care for your child… for whatever the reason may be, having the Internet means that there are doors of opportunity opened for thousands of people who normally would be kicked out onto the streets.

With that being said, I am a very STRONG supporter of entrepreneurs. Total support and Kudos goes out to any individual who is creative and makes an effort towards launching a successful online or offline business. PickyDomains.com is one of those examples of a dot Com business that I totally have an instant love and interest for. It is sites like this that continue to inspire me and allow me the motivation to work harder on my own ventures.

Below is a quote from the owner of PickyDomains.com. This gives you a great summary of their business and how they can help you:

What do you get when you combine domain picking and web 2.0? You get PickyDomains.com â€“ a classic win-win service. Here is how it works. A person who wants a domain name deposits $50 and writes specifications about the desired domain. After that the order is added to the database. Now anyone can see that order and submit his or her ideas for the domain name. If a name is registered, the contributor who suggested the name gets $25 via PayPal (the other half goes to PickyDomains.Com). If none of the suggestions are deemed usable, the client promptly gets $50 deposit back upon request. While PickyDomains.com is only one year old, it already landed on the list of top 10 wackiest but successful online business ideas, has been profiled by The San Francisco Chronicle and boasts Aaron Wall, Yanik Silver and Wendy Piersall among its customers. So next time you canâ€™t come up with a domain name or if you are the creative type whoâ€™d like to get paid for suggesting unusual domain name ideas â€“ check out PickyDomains.com.

[click image to view full size]

How Do You Make Money With PickyDomains.com ?

Simple. You register and then when someone like me places an order for a domain name, you can help contribute by offering suggestions on what domain name I should choose for my dot Com venture. If I decide to use the available domain name that you suggested, you make $25 dollars! I don’t know about you… but in my opinion, not only can that make you a lot of money, but it even sounds fun!!!

Why does PickyDomains.com work?

Again… simple! PickyDomains.com works because it is attractive to people such as myself. I own over 100 very successful dot Com websites that make money online. Domain name selection is VITAL towards the success of these websites. Recently a few weeks ago I even touched on this exact topic and had a pretty intense debate with a good friend of mine regarding the topic of domain name selection. I am a believer that two heads are better than one… I am a believer that a whole group of minds is much better than two. For that reason, I am very willing to invest $50 dollars to have a huge group of people brainstorm and choose a proper domain name for my dot Com business.

Do I Speak From Experience?

Well hell yeah I do!!! LOL!!! Ask my good friend Christine Senter. A few weeks ago we spent over two hours in Yahoo Instant Messenger going back and forth trying to choose a domain name for a dot Com project we jointly operate. After two long hours of debating and researching various keywords we came up with a very good domain name for our website.

After two hours of research and long debates, we jointly agreed on the domain name, Ancient History Facts dot Com. It was just only a few days after launching the site when we appeared on the front pages of the major search engines. Domain name selection is vital towards the success of your business. PickyDomains.com will help you choose the right domain name for your dot Com venture.

ancient-history-facts-goog

ancient-history-facts-yahoo

Now, I don’t know about you, but I am a FIRM believer that TIME IS MONEY and if I had known about PickyDomains.com I would have much rather paid the $50 dollars to have a group of people pick the domain name while Christine and I played online games together. Two hours is a long time to choose a domain name. PickyDomains.com will make you money because it has people like me that buy into the business and their service.

Start Making Money Online Today!

Join PickyDomains.com as a contributor today and very soon afterward help someone like me choose a domain name for their next dot Com venture and make $25 dollars for your effort. - Learn more.

GarryConn