Ok, many of us have been fighting the same battle for a very long time. The battle… Too many projects – not enough time. We start a blog or website and just as things start getting interesting we start another. And another. The next thing we know we’re up till two in the morning everyday trying to keep up. That battle can only be won if we know what we’re up against. Below shows how a single blog post can take up to five hours or more.

1. 2 Hours: The first step to any post is deciding what to write about. It is impossible to put a time on that step. Once we have our subject we need to consider our keywords. A little keyword research goes a long way. Now we draw up an outline and begin to form the post. We sometimes go to a dozen or more sites checking details and researching facts. We also need to decide which posts are relevant enough to link out to. Once we have the outline in order it’s time to check sentence structure, spelling and punctuation. Having someone proofread your article helps a lot. Now we’re almost ready. All we need now is an image. Searching for that perfect image that we are allowed to use can take a lot of time. So we publish our post. If you are anything like me you just spent at least two hours of your time on this single post. But we are not finished investing time on this blog post.
2. 1 Hour: Now it’s promotion time. The post needs to be pinged, dugg, and tweeted. We need to add the post to our Facebook and FriendFeed. We need to add the post to the best blog directories and build backlinks. If we really want success we write a couple of separate unique articles to submit to article directories linking back to our post.
3. 2+ Hours: Hopefully we’ll get a bunch of comments to moderate and reply to. We clean up the spam and moderate the rest. We need to follow the link back to each blogger that commented and return the favor. Here’s where many of us get very distracted. Reading posts and comments, following links and commenting more. I’ve lost many hours here.

I have heard some bloggers say they can toss up a post in twenty minutes. I envy them. What about you? Do you spend a lot of time on a single post? How many blogs are you running and how often do you post?

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaunsglo/ / CC BY 2.0

Do you still frequent online forums? Forums are still a powerful place to network, promote and learn from. Many bloggers have grown apart from the big marketing forums and spend all their time blogging. What if there was a forum for bloggers run by bloggers. Well, you’re in luck because popular blogger John Sullivan has put together a do-follow community for bloggers.

John works hard every day to help others and will stick his neck out for your success. He got together with a great group of bloggers and launched Blogger LUV. Blogger LUV is a blog, chat room and forum for bloggers. The concept is admirable, the group is unstoppable and you can get involved in the beginning by becoming a member today and logging in regularly.

For those new to blogging that wonder what the secret is to getting blog traffic and comments, this is it. Not the forum it’s self but the group of bloggers that help and support each other. We are very fortunate to have a great group of friends and John has created a central place for us to meet and share information. Join Blogger LUV today!

Note: I would be remiss not to mention another do-follow spam free community that I’ve been enjoying for a long time – The Internet Marketers Guild. More on the Guild later but don’t wait, join today.

Do You Have Over A Million Twitter Followers Yet? What does it take to get a million Twitter followers? (Assuming you’re not cheating with some lame following program) We all know it helps to be very famous like Oprah Winfrey (over 3 million followers) or very popular like Twitter it’s self (2.9 million). You could provide a valuable service like CNN Breaking News (2.8 million) but according to TwitterHolic.com only 219 Twitter accounts currently have over a million followers.

There are probably a million articles about getting a ton of followers and just as many people tripping over themselves trying to get there but the real folks that Tweet work hard to keep the numbers low and the quality high. That’s what I have tried to do with our Twitter account. I’m not a fanatic with it but I am a little selective who I follow and when I have a little free time I start blocking followers that look too spammy.

Ok, with all that said, what does it take to get a million Twitter followers?

My answer is…

Wait for it
.
..
…

Be very interesting! That’s the only explanation I can see on why a 29 year old guy living with Dad, has no website and doesn’t even have a location on his profile has over a million Twitter followers. His name is Justin Halpern but goes by just ‘Justin‘ on Twitter, follows only one person, never re-tweets, never replies and only Tweets things his Father says. You gotta love it! Check it out, http://twitter.com/shitmydadsays Seriously, It’s hard to stop reading his Tweets.

I’m happy to announce the official takeover of HotBlogTips.com by Keith Bloemendaal

Last week I posted Who Wants To Run HotBlogTips.com? and Keith decided to take the challenge and he is more than qualified. Keith has experience in business and blogging and he has the drive that most of us just think about. I’m very excited about the new HotBlogTips.com and to see what Keith does with it. He has already done more than the previous admin did in six months but that guy was a slacker

Keith has full control of the blog and can do anything he wants with it. I decided to hand over the blog and just keep ownership of the domain. Keith agreed to keep a link on the blog to my online consulting site but other than that it’s his baby.

Just as a side note, in case anyone is wondering, Keith is not going to build that blog up just to get stuck paying me a bunch of money or worse later. I agreed to sell the domain to Keith anytime he wants to buy it at the value it was the day he took it over which, as we all know, is ten thousand dollars …. just kidding. I don’t even know honestly, but I’m not going to do him wrong. He’s doing me a favor by freeing up some time and easing my stress level a bit.

So please, stop by and visit the new HotBlogTips.com, comment on a couple posts and don’t forget to subscribe. You can’t go wrong because it’s a great blog on it’s way to the top. You can also follow Hot Blog Tips on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

I’ve been planning this post for a while now. I have far too many blogs to run and still maintain everything else so it’s time to start scaling back. I’ve been dropping domains (letting them expire) little by little but HotBlogTips.com is simply too good to just drop. I have a blog setup that is running a multi-author theme and it’s just waiting for the attention it deserves.

I’m not selling the site or giving it away. I’m going to retain ownership of the domain and simply hand the reigns over to someone that has the time and drive to make a go of it. I’m looking for someone that has experience running a successful blog and can see the potential in Hot Blog Tips. See BloggingTips.com to get an idea of what I wanted for HotBlogTips.com. In fact, the multi-user theme on HotBlogTips.com right now was originally designed for BloggingTips.com

So if I am not selling or giving the site away then I must be looking for someone to hire, right? Wrong. I will hand the site over to a qualified and trustworthy blogger that can run and monetize it in any way they see fit. If the site makes a hundred a month, they make a hundred a month. If it makes two thousand dollars then that’s theirs too. All I want from the deal is a footer link (hyper-linked and do-follow) to my main site and the word of the new admin that they will do their best and not ignore it like the last admin did (that would be me).

I will even host the site free of charge or the new admin can move it too their own server, it doesn’t matter to me. If it starts getting too big for my server then we will need to move it or the new admin will need to pay for hosting.

I have already tried something similar with HateMyShape.com I partnered with Brenda Franzo and she’s doing a great job. She runs the site the way she wants and, in her case, I run AdSense on the site. I don’t see much potential in running AdSence on Hot Blog Tips so I’m just asking for a link.

Later on I will be making similar offers for eZinePress.com and SocialExchanger.com. Eventually I think I’ll be saying goodbye to Extreme Ezine too but I will probably put it up for sale. I’m just thinking about it for now. I may decide to keep it once I get everything else in order.

Here’s how you get to run HotBlogTips.com. Comment below showing your interest. Convince me you are the best choice, it’s as simple as that. Feel free to include link/s to a successful blog/s you run. Experience with WordPress and CPanel would be very helpful.

Current Site Stats:

• 35 Posts
• 218 Comments
• 2 Pages
• 7 Categories
• 53 Tags
• PageRank: 01/10
• Alexa: Higher than I can count
• Domain age: Two years in May

In The Spotlight

Anyone that has spent more than an hour on YouTube knows how cool many of the videos are. They also know how lame most of them are. The great ones go viral and that’s exactly what HornBlasters.com has achieved.

I found a pretty funny YouTube video the other day through a tweet by John Sullivan @jsinkeywest. It’s Train Horns Scare Daytona Florida! [below] by Matt Landon Heller of HornBlasters.com Matt has many YouTube videos, several with around half a million views. The video below alone has over 440,000 views, 860 ratings (4 1/2 stars) and 853 comments. Can it get more viral than that? Driving traffic to their site to sell product -- that’s what I’m talking about! I love this stuff. My hat’s off to YouTube Viral Marketing at it’s best and HornBlasters.com. I am now a big fan.

HornBlasters on Facebook
HornBlasters on Twitter

HornBlasters.com Train Horns For Your Ride!

I live in Michigan, US where we have pretty cold winters. This is the time of year that I do most of my reading since it’s too cold for many of the things I normally to outdoors. That’s probably why it was right at one year ago that I posted ‘The Extreme Ezine Recommends Website Magazine‘. I like to think more people visit this blog now so for those that are not aware of Website Magazine I’ll blog about it a little.

Website Magazine is a print and digital magazine focusing on the issue of running a business website. Website Magazine is free for many subscribers. You can get 4 issues a year FREE if you live in the U.S. or Canada. Other countries are $49.00 per year for shipping. There is also an Interactive Digital version accessible online FREE Worldwide. Personally, If I lived outside the US or Canada I would subscribe to the digital version. You could probably print them out yourself cheaper than the shipping cost.

You can sign up for a Website Magazine Professional Membership to receive 12 issues per year for just $44.95. This is the option I choose but I went with the standard complimentary/FREE version for the first couple of years.

Don’t let the cost, or lack there of, mislead you on the quality of the Website Magazine. It’s a professional, top shelf publication that is well worth the time it takes to read. I look forward to each issue and enjoy every single one. It’s nice to have something physical to hold other than a mouse and keyboard every now and then. Request your free subscription to Website Magazine today.

As my long time online friends and subscribers know, I don’t recommend very many products. I ONLY recommend products I personally use. With that said I’d like to introduce what is now at the top of my recommended products – The Keyword Academy.

I’ve been a member of The Keyword Academy for a little over two months now and I’ve been able to turn what I’ve learned there into profit. There have been very few products I’ve been able to make that statement about. I HIGHLY recommend this program!

The Keyword Academy is a paid membership site that teaches everything from keyword research to AdSense site building using a step-by-step approach with videos and other tools. Run by Court Tuttle and Mark Butler, TKA is hands down the most important step I have taken to advance my understanding of AdSense, keywords, link building, niche websites and judging the competition. Yes, all the things we think we know as Internet Marketers. There’s always room for learning and this is certainly proof of that.

Mark and Court teach EVERY detail needed using video, transcripts, tutorials, webinars, Q&A sessions, a blog and an awesome forum.

Here’s the deal: The Keyword Academy costs $33 per month and you can try your first month for just $1. If you are still struggling to make a profit online you need this. A dollar isn’t much to risk to try it out but I’m going to make completely risk free for you…

Sign up with my affiliate link and watch the core videos. If you don’t think it was worth the investment, cancel before the first thirty days and I will refund your dollar personally. Enough said, try The Keyword Academy for just $1 dollar today.

I would like to thank Earl Braxton for giving this interview. Mr. Braxton has an amazing history and after talking with him I know his future plans are just as big and just as amazing. Mr. Braxton owns the Porta John® portable toilet company. Notice I said ‘The’ and not ‘a’ Porta John® company. The next time you hear someone going to the Porta John you will know that is a brand that Earl Braxton built and owns. Mr. Braxton owns and runs the website Toilets.com.

Earl Braxton is also the president of the Michigan-based Pharmaceuticals.org where he, with no formal research training, developed a system to recover medicines from waste and preventing them from entering our water systems, a patented process that can easily isolate many over-the-counter and prescription drugs from urine. Mr. Braxton seen the need and a business opportunity for such a process back in 1991 simply by watching a doctor dispose of a needle.

Interview with Earl Braxton, Porta John’s founder and president of Porta John Systems.

(EE): You own the brand ‘Porta John®‘ which, according to Google, is searched for 1300 times a month. Your site, Toilets.com is at the number one position in the search results. How were you able build such a strong brand that the name in itself became the industry standard?

(Earl Braxton): “We average 21,000 page views per day.”

(EE): It looks as if you have owned the domain Toilets.com since 1997. Were you the first to register that remarkable domain or did you purchase it.

(Earl Braxton): “We were the first to register this and many other related domains.”

(EE): I understand you own well over a thousand domains acquired as far back as the nineties. How did you have the insight to build your domain portfolio?

(Earl Braxton): “Yes, we do own many domain names. We will use these Internet Addresses in the preparation to franchise and license our business model.”

(EE): There is a rumor that you had a little run in with the late Johnny Carson, TV talk show host. Would you care to elaborate?

(Earl Braxton): “We were sued by John W. Carson regarding our trademark “Here’s Johnny” and lost on the right to publicity claim by the late Mr. Carson.”

“Mr. Carson subsequently abandoned all “Here’s Johnny” trademarks for use on portable sanitation units and we applied and received the trademark, “Here’s Johnny” from the United States patent office. The Estate of John W. Carson has opposed the issuance of the Trademark to me. I am currently awaiting the decision of the Trademark Office.”

(EE): What forms of online advertising do you use, if any, to drive traffic to your site and what do you find is most effective?

(Earl Braxton): “We have been receiving E-mails and phone calls from all over the world for more than ten years at a rate that is very gratifying.  We are now preparing to expand our manufacturing plant to meet the demand for our new proprietary Comfort Station products.”

(EE): You have run roadside billboards with the single word ‘Toilets.com’ as the entire ad. This has been coined a “marketing masterpiece”. What gave you the idea to use such a simplistic approach for that campaign and what were the results?

(Earl Braxton): “My good fortune was to have been alive and in business during the onset of the Internet Era.  This is a marketing gift of titanic proportions.  If any business can take advantage of this phenomenon and fails to do so “Shame on Them”.”

(EE): Most men of your generation have never been online or have used a computer. You are using up to four computers at a time in any given moment. Have you always been open to changes and new trends.

(Earl Braxton): “My good fortune was to be blessed with a wife, friends, co-workers and  family members who let me do my own thing from the very beginning.”

(EE): Your portable toilet company ships worldwide. I understand you have shipped hundreds of portable toilets to Iraq. How difficult was it to break into the global market?

(Earl Braxton): “Until the advent of the Internet it was very difficult.  Now it is much easier if you make products that meet the customers’ requirements.”

“Since 12/01/06 we have sold products in all 50 States, 3 Commonwealth Territories and 33 countries.”

(EE): You have many registered trademarks and patents. What advice would you give up and coming entrepreneurs in regard to obtaining their first patent or registering a trademark?

(Earl Braxton): “Make sure your concept satisfies a need.  The best person to get your money from is your customer because you don’t have to pay it back.”

(EE): One last question. You have had the foresight to recognize new trends and the confidence to act on them. What do you see coming next? What’s the next big trend we should watch for?

(Earl Braxton): “There is a trend toward eliminating portable toilets for safer and cleaner sanitation stalls.  Thus we have received patent #6721697 for our Comfort Station that has no waste storage in the lavatory stall, no chemicals and no steps for greater handicapped accessibility.”

“Time may be running out for the ubiquitous portable toilet. Our latest E-mail exchange with the Center For Disease Control can be seen here.“

Does anyone out there know of a single blog directory worth having their badge on your site? A directory that you actually get traffic from? Of all the blog directories I’ve joined over the years I can only find one back link (that Google knows about) to this blog. That directory is New-List. I joined New-List in September of 2006 and I can’t see any way to edit that outdated URL. I virtually get no traffic from blog directories – ZERO! I have removed every badge and widget from this site with the exception of Blog Engage. Blog Engage isn’t really a blog directory, it’s more of a blog article review site. It’s very cool, check it out.

BlogCatalog:
BlogCatalog is what set me off on this rant so it’s going to seem like a ‘pick on BlogCatalog post‘. My BlogCatalog concerns started a year ago when I spent $72 on two ads. The results? Total visitors = 7

Then a few months ago I was having problem with my blog freezing up whenever I went to it – and I have broadband internet and my site is cached! I could see the browser message on the bottom showing, “Waiting for BlogCatalog.com“. I had to remove the widget and put their silly code in the footer.

No big deal,  I figured, at least they still have that broadcast feature. That’s a very cool tool, right? You would think, until you ran a couple tests.

August 25th, 2009 I sent a message broadcasting to 381 BlogCatalog users promoting my blog post ‘Get Featured With Our Promotional Buttons‘. I used my tracking site to create a tracking link. The result? Zero clicks!

October 17th, 2009 I sent a message broadcasting to 385 BlogCatalog users with a fantastic subject line, ‘AdSense Site – First Month = One Hundred Dollars‘. Tracking result? One click!

I’ve been a BlogCatalog member since November 2006 and even wrote a blog post on how great blog directories are a while back. Now I think it’s time to part ways, just like Entrecard.

MyBlogLog:
While I’m at it, I’m going to get rid of MyBlogLog too. MyBlogLog has never been that great and even though they are run by Yahoo the site seems very unorganized to say the least. I’ve had thumbnails waiting to be updated for over a year – literally. Check it out.

I’m Not Alone:
I know I’m not the only one becoming discouraged with blog directories lately. See what Sheryl Loch had to say over a week ago: Has BlogCatalog Gone Down Hill? And check out what John Sullivan thinks about Blogcatalog. I love John and his subtle way of expressing himself lol Blogcatalog An open letter to you

Pulling Back To Ease The Pain:
I don’t mean to come off as blog directory basher. There may be some good ones out there. There may be hidden benefits with the ones I listed. Please let me know if I’ve missed something before I burn the bridges. I hold no grudge or ill will to any of these directories, it can’t be an easy task to run a profitable directory while staying on top of everything. Remember BlogRush? (BTW, how does BlogRush still have a Google PR of 4 when it’s been shut down for the last year? Hardly seems fair)

So I’ll ask it again…
Does anyone out their know of a single blog directory worth having their badge on your site? (feel free to leave links) Am I off base here? Are you making blog directories work for you?