I feel like I lost a lot of weight when I look at the new theme the Extreme Ezine is using. Just the other day I was on the new blog of Dennis Edell and commented about load time. I’ve known for a while that the Extreme Ezine blog was far too heavy and to long to load. I decided to get that corrected yesterday.

The first thing I did was run a few tests. I compared the Extreme Ezine with a few other sites and it wasn’t pretty. I ran five (5) tests in a row using iWebTool.com’s Website Speed Test. You can see the complete results here but here are the averages:

Domain name      Size      Average Load Time

http://csc4u.com/ 9.73 KB     0.39 seconds (basic HTML site)
http://kikolani.com/ 40.27 KB     0.77 seconds (Thesis Theme)
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/ 25.53 KB     0.92 seconds
http://www.copyblogger.com/ 28.11 KB     0.99 seconds (Thesis Theme)
http://www.dennisedell.com/ 21.13 KB     1.77 seconds (not complete)
http://www.problogger.net/ 52.04 KB     1.23 seconds
http://thatsrightisaidit.com/ 41.28 KB        4.23 seconds (micro-blog)
http://wassupblog.com/ 85.33 KB     5.12 seconds
http://www.youradtracker.com/ 27.63 KB     5.26 seconds
http://extremeezine.com/              52.55 KB       5.44 seconds

As you can see the Extreme Ezine came in dead last (with our previous theme). Just by choosing a lighter and cleaner theme we were able to cut the load time in half to 2.72 seconds. That’s still too slow so now comes the work of cleaning up the code and dropping a few plugins. My expertise is very limited in this area so I may need to hire a pro.

I like the clean look and it seems easier to navigate. I will miss a few lost features but we can’t have it all. I’m still trying to get a decent photo gallery plugin working. I love the photo gallery running on ExtremeJohn.com but I can’t get it working for some reason. Hopefully we’ll see those promotional button pics rotating soon.

What are your thoughts about the change and new look? Is load time a big factor to you? Go ahead, I can take it

A quick note about the Thesis Theme: Kristi of Kikolani kicked everyone’s tail with respect to load time in my test. She’s using the Thesis Theme (her affiliate link). I ran a separate test with five sites (Kikolani.com, ChrisBrogan.com, CopyBlogger.com, SugarRae.com and LaughingSquid.com) that are using the Thesis Theme. I ran the test five (5) times and ended up with an average speed of 1.4 seconds with all the sites. That’s very impressive so I think I’ll end up using the Thesis Theme in the end.

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

Welcome to another fine edition of the Extreme Ezine | The Social Edition

The Social Edition is a special part of the Extreme Ezine filled with YOUR links. When I find a great line in my email, a blog post that impressed me or a cool quote I try to add some of them here. Do you know of something we would be interested in? Send it my way and you might find it in the next issue: http://extremeezine.com/contact

Business First:

Promotional Button Pictures:
I’m still waiting for pictures and more participants featuring our promotional button. Don’t forget, you get a featured post for your trouble:
http://extremeezine.com/get-featured-with-our-promotional-buttons/

-= In The Spotlight =-

I Wear Your Shirt

Jason Sadler of iWearYourShirt.com is in this issue’s spot light. I love marketing and I’m always looking for new twists and ideas and I Wear Your Shirt certainly fits the bill.

Jason has setup a website and will wear your shirt for a day and promote it on his blog. He wears a different shirt every day of the week and blogs about today’s shirt with multiple pictures. For 2009, Jason was charging one dollar ‘for the day of the year‘ increasing on a sliding scale each day. For example, Jan 1st was $1, Jan 2nd was $2 and Dec 31 will be $365.

For 2010 Jason has partnered with Evan White in Los Angeles, California. Now the service has doubled, both the exposure and the cost. I can’t wait to see how far this goes eventually. Jason is onto something here and it looks like he’s having fun with it.

How’s business you ask? 2009 is SOLD OUT!! As of today, he’s sold out until mid July where rates are quickly closing in on $400+ a day. By late December 2010 he’s bringing in over $700/day with this clever t-shirt wearing business. I am officially impressed.

NEW -= Latest Blogging Friends =-
Our news blogging friends added to the list @ ExtremeEzine.com/Friends

Online Money by Michelle Adams

Dead Rooster by William McCamment

Free Traffic Tips by Tinu Abayomi-Paul

Teen Blogger Kid by Gary

-= Not So Famous Quotes to Ponder =-

“If they’re [email subject lines are] deceiving, they’re dishonest, and that is a direct reflection on the character of the person sending that email. If they’re dishonest in trying to get me to open their email, what else will they be dishonest about in other business dealings?”
by John Dilbeck

“Take a look at what they are marketing and how they are marketing it instead of focusing on the material they are selling you and there is the answer.”
by Brad West ~ onomoney

“lovely @extremejohn NON FOLLOW FRIDAY”
by Extreme John

“You need to read/listen to others that are more advanced in a technique, more successful, or does things differently than yourself”
by Sheryl Loch

“My life is about living…not aging”
by Nea – Self Improvement Saga

“Myspace sucks. But it’s good business. <- I liked saying that!”
by Cait Hagar

“Everyone should take great pause whenever the government starts getting involved. There’s not too much they have touched that hasn’t turned into an expensive and intrusive disaster”
by Brian D. Hawkins (yes, that’s me) on I’m Just Sharing | How Ready Are You To Give Up Your Rights?
I also made this funny, “I make decent money and my Wife helps me stimulate the economy with each check.“. I crack myself up

-= Great Reads =-

Free Things Of Value:

Free Ebooks and PDF’s
Long time friend and secret admirer (keep that part to yourself, it’s a secret) Sheryl Loch has a nice collection of links for e-books.

This post is several months old but I find myself back there every time I need a new theme:
45+ Free Premium WordPress Themes with Magazine or Grid Layouts

Guest Posting:

I’m looking for quality quest posts in the Internet Marketing niche for the Extreme Ezine. I’m sure you can benefit from our traffic and one-way back links. Go here to get started.

Internet Strategist from GrowMap Guest posted an excellent article on MerchantCircle.com How To Turn More Visitors Into Buyers
She also shows you how to do it yourself and more: Did You See Our Guest Post at Merchant Circle?

You are missing out BIG if you are not guest posting. Seth Waite posted an article on Blogussion that really put things into perspective for me:
How We Earned Over 200 Subscribers with 2 Simple Posts

Legal Issues:

I have Peter Lee to thank for a few hundred dollars of my income from the last month. Now I can thank him again for letting me keep it. You don’t want to miss this post if you run AdSense on your site.
Google Adsense Account-Don’t Get Banned

While on legal issues I found a great post listed Kristi’s Fetching Friday (The inspiration for the Social Edition)
5 Smart Legal Steps for Your Blog

Time Management:

Are you tired of hearing people saying they have no time to do the important things? Here’s a couple posts that might help:

Zig Ziglar says, “The basic problem is not lack of time it is lack of direction“. Brad Harmon featured a Zig Ziglar video: Zig Ziglar on Setting Goal

Harsh Agrawal shows us a simple little desktop tool that can help organize time. Oh yeah, it’s free too: Organize Blogging time Time Management Application

Google:

Don’t be afraid of Google:
My friend John Sullivan has known how to manipulate Google for a long time. Search Google for ‘pure juice not from concentrate‘ and then read the following post from over a year ago. It’s pretty interesting: PURE juice not from concentrate-revisited

Big Plans and New Directions:

As we grow and develop we make changes and the cool thing about bloggers is we share it with the world. Here are a couple of my blogging friends that are changing gears and moving forward:

Suzanne Franco with I Wrote You a Letter While I Was on My Honeymoon! I would have used the title ‘It’s All over But The Honeymoon‘ – Just joking Suzanne

Brian B. with Follow me as I turn myself into a professional blogger. And follow I will, I subscribed.

News:

In the news category I have great news. Dennis is back! Dennis Edell of Direct Sales Web Marketing is recovering and back in business with some fresh plans. Welcome back Dennis, we missed you.
What I’m Doing – What You Should Expect In The Very Near Future.

-= Great Lines =-
Subject lines from my in-box that persuaded my to open them.

=> “Why Should I Read Your F&%king Blog???”
by Garry Conn

=> “Why I’m not the “loser” they say I am”
and
=> “I’m going to ethically ‘bribe’ you, Brian…”
by Matt Bacak

=> “This Ain’t a Hobby Brian …”
by Dan B. Cauthron

=> “I Challenge You To NOT Make Money With This!”
by Michelle Hoffmann

=> “Is this ROBBING you blind?”
by Mark Joyner

=> “Aren’t you sick of gurus and their so called newsletters?”
by Adrian Jock
via Solo-Ads.com

=> “Don’t Bend – Link To Your *Free Report* Inside”
by John
via Solo-Ads.com

“Ok, sure I have gas. All dogs have gas!”
by Zed

-= Coolest Pic =-

One of my blogging buddies, Shanker Bakshi has the coolest business card I’ve seen in a long time. It’s very unique, check it out.

-= UPDATES =-

We have merged our Tracker Blog with Your Ad Tracker. The membership site, ad tracking and short URL script still runs on 4U2BN.com for the shortest tracking links possible.

Get Featured With Our Promotional Buttons – I still need more pictures of you displaying our ‘Get Extreme‘ button. The photos will go up on our site and your blog will be featured here as well. If you have already submitted your photo don’t forget to send your ‘post write-up‘ so I can get your featured post up.

Your Guest Posts On The Extreme Ezine
The Extreme Ezine is now accepting guest posts for our blog. I would be honored to have my Marketing and Blogger friends share the Extreme Ezine blog as a host for their content.

Just Ask Someone
Have a marketing or blogging question? Post it to our readers and get the answers you need – Just Ask Someone.

There you have it, another fine version of the Extreme Ezine’s Social Edition. Don’t forget to subscribe to get a copy delivered to your in-box with each issue.

Welcome to another fine edition of the Extreme Ezine | The Social Edition

The Social Edition is a special edition of the Extreme Ezine filled with YOUR links. When I find a great line in my email, a blog post that impressed me or a cool quote I try to add some of them here. Do you know of something we would be interested in? Send it my way and you might find it in the next issue: http://extremeezine.com/contact

-= In The Spotlight =-

The Internet Marketers Guild

I love blogs but Forums have been around a very long time and still play a very large roll in networking and marketing. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a forum designed for internet marketers that was run by internet marketers? People that understand everything you do, why you do it and what you need for success? Well, you are in luck because not only does that forum exists, it is already established, active and loaded with great people and content. I invite you to check out the The Internet Marketers Guild. You won’t regret it and you will see me all over that forum!

-= Not So Famous Quotes to Ponder =-

“The funny part – the person that talked about how great it was [automated Twitter following program] had less followers than my dog!”
by Sheryl Loch on Make Money Littering Twitter
(This is especially funny because Sheryl’s dog actually does have a lot of Twitter followers, including me

“I think my photographer status of Amateur just grew a little”
by Brian D. Hawkins (yeah, that’s me) commenting on 21 Brilliant Photos That Look Like They’re Photoshopped But Are Not

“Also be very selective and only accept advertisements that will truly capture your readers attention and not break their trust”
by Garry Conn

“Now is the time to be seen on mobile”
Tom Foran with Crisp Wireless in an interview with WebProNews

“For a company to be effective with social media, it has to actually react to the conversations that take place”
by Ben Elowitz CEO of Wetpaint on The Most Important Social Media Strategy for Making Money

“I like to think I can get along with everyone and if we have a problem it’s obviously YOUR fault.”
by John Sullivan on My Name is John I’m a bloggoholic

“If you’re hacking for links your site is going to burn in hell”
by Michael Gray – of Graywolf SEO Blog on Warning: Don’t Hack Websites for Links

“Like licking honey off a sharpened blade”
by Pat Law

-= Great Reads =-

25 Ways to Spice Up Blog Post Photos

Find Creative Commons Images in Google Image Search
Thank you Sheryl

How To Use StumbleUpon To Generate Traffic

119 Ideas For Advertising in the “Real” World

-= Great Lines =-

>> Brian – I’ll GIVE YOU a 30-video course ….
by Dan B. Cauthron

>>  another Saturday surprise gift for you
by Bob Jenkins

-= UPDATE =-

Your Guest Posts On The Extreme Ezine
The Extreme Ezine is now accepting guest posts for our blog. I would be honored to have my Marketing and Blogger friends share the Extreme Ezine blog as a host for their content.

Have something for the next Extreme Ezine Social Edition? Send it our way

I’ve tried a couple of guest posts on our blogs recently and it seems to go very well. I’m sure you know guest posting on relevant blogs is a great way to bring new and fresh traffic to your site as well as one way links.

I’m accepting guest posts right now for the Extreme Ezine. If it works out well I’ll make it a permanent offer and setup a special page.

Guest posts will include a link to the site and/or blog of the author’s choice as well as links within the post. All links will be do-follow with the exception of affiliate links and third party content.

How to submit your article

Send the article, image links and any notes to me via my helpdesk. Please comment below to say it’s on it’s way so I can be on the lookout.

Please follow these simple rules

• The article should be of value to our readers and not just ads and promotions. Affiliate links are fine as long as the article has real value outside of the product.
• Keep the post about average length (around 200 to 500 words)
• Topic/subject must be Internet Marketing or one of our blog categories (see the header strip above)
• Article must be original and exclusive. (not published anywhere else)
• The content must be your own. No private label work please.
• Feel free to include an image with your article 175px. X 175px.. A face picture of you would be fine or an authorized image that relates to the topic. (If you don’t have one don’t worry about it)
• Please send only plain text without formatting. Any links should be included as plain links in the exact article location they belong. For example: [The Extreme Ezine LINK: http://extremeezine.com/]

That’s it. I’d be honored to have my blogger friends share the Extreme Ezine as a host for their content. Any comments or advice would be appreciated. What do you think?

The Social Edition is a special edition of the Extreme Ezine filled with YOUR links. When I find a great line in my emails or blog post that impressed me I try to add some of them here. When I see a great quote it gets published here if you are famous or not. Find something we would be interested in? Send it my way and you might find it in the next issue: http://extremeezine.com/contact

-= In The Spotlight =-
- IntenseDebate.com -

I’ve seen IntenseDebate before but never looked into it until Ben Tremblay @ Frogstr published IntenseDebate – Let’s comment
http://www.intensedebate.com/people/ExtremeEzine

-= Great Reads =-

• 10 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Banned from Digg
• Keeping up with those @replies on Twitter
• The Unwritten Rules of Commenting
• Is Upgrading your BlogCatalog Category Listing Worthless?
• Group Mentality
• The 10 Really Crappy Internet Marketing Ploys

-= Great Lines =-

[Ezine Advertising Info] Warning – read this only if you are broke by Adrian Jock

My highest converting email ever – (you can copy it) by James Schramko

Worth STOPPING what you’re doing to see… by Michael Nicholas

Brian, Interesting story about… by Raamakant S.

Brian, 10 bucks puts you in business… by Barry Richardson

Put down the axe and pick up the chainsaw! http://budurl.com/WeCanWin [A Solo-Ads.com mailing]

-= Not So Famous Quotes to Ponder =-

They aren’t famous YET but it’s still great quotes:

“Social Media means nothing if there is no exchange of relevant information”
~ David Kamatoy of DavidKamatoy.com

“Funny how much you can learn about a person from 140 characters at a time.”
by Sheryl Loch
[Stolen from Franklin Bishop's post Twitter Traffic - The Foolproof Way to Use Twitter to Drive Traffic to Your Blog]

“Content is the king of Internet. Queen is Link Building.”
by Atniz – Work From Home

“Bigger is better, more attracts more and that is a fact”
by Brad West

“If it seems that you don’t ever get much done, maybe it’s because you’re not giving yourself enough to do” by mee mOe (Terry)

@CommentLuv “Get Hits or Die Tryin” by Andy Bailey

“Positive Affirmation is like breakfast, it’s easy to overlook but we desperately need it.”
by Brian D. Hawkins (ya, that’s me) commenting on Make Money Online with EJ Cooksey

I found this crazy way of getting new feed subscribers while checking out a few blogs this morning.

Building our feed subscriber base is essentially list building. We take all kinds of creative actions to build that list. Flashy graphics, links everywhere, even run contests and give-a-ways just to grow our rss readers.

Do we ever just ask for new subscribers? Why not dedicate an entire post to ask others to subscribe? That’s exactly what Rocky John Tayaban of TheWeblogZone has done with his post Why Subscribe To TheWeblogZone Feed. Actually, he not only asked but gives reasons you should subscribe.

This is so simple I think few of us would have thought of it. I may be over-reacting a little but I think it’s ingenious.

Extreme Ezine - Interested in internet marketing? You will find tips, articles and resources on internet marketing, web site promotion and online business. The Extreme Ezine can help you make money online.

So without further ado…

Please Subscribe to Our Feed

Email:

Subscribe in a reader

Please subscribe to our newsletter – The Extreme Ezine

Here’s Why You Should:
We are tracking your IP address and know where you live… Joking

1. We are in our sixth year and have learned a lot and want to share our expertise with you.
2. We don’t send out emails every time some other marketer puts together some lame affiliate program. We have far too much respect for our subscribers to blast offers everyday.
3. We spread the love. I am a big believer in credit where credit is do and won’t think twice about linking to other ezines, websites, resources and blogs if I think it will benefit our readers. In fact, we just started a new edition of the Extreme Ezine called the Social Editon. We acknowledge a lot of other marketers that we have noticed and impressed us. You do not have to be a top marketer or guru to be recognized by us.
4. I’m honest. I don’t hype everything trying to impress or mislead everyone. If I make a mistake I admit it and apologize. I don’t paste huge checks or screen prints of PayPal activity to impress you into spending your money. I don’t promote anything I don’t believe in myself.

There you have it, several reasons you should subscribe to both our RSS feed and the Extreme Ezine.

Please subscribe and then go over to TheWeblogZone and subscribe there too.

-= Site News =-

- New Ezine Format -

Now in our sixth year, [loud applause], we are going to start 2009 a little different. Our Ezine is getting to big! Jam packed full with great content but is it too Much of A Good Thing? Just in case we’re dividing it up into three different editions. Links to all three editions are above and below. Now you can go straight to the content that interests you the most and pass on the rest. Do me a favor, take a second to comment on any of the pages to let me know what you think about the new format.

- New Blog Theme -

If you haven’t visited our blog latly stop by and check out the new look.

- Another site? -

This seems to be a habit with me but I setup yet another blog. Let me know what you think: HotBlogTips.com

- Domains For Sale -

Looking for a cool domain? I’m letting a bunch of cool ones very cheap.

Now For The Rest Of The Ezine:

Depending on your feedback, we may develop these editions into separate lists and feeds. We’ll leave that up to you so please let use know by leaving a comment.

The new streamlined newsletter will look something like this so far:

• Extreme Ezine
  • Site News
  • Special Notices
  • Edition Links
  • • Social Edition
      • In The Spotlight
      • Great Reads
      • Great Lines
      • Not So Famous Quotes to Ponder
    • Entertainment Edition
      • Advertising Slogan Trivia
      • WIN WIN WIN
      • Very Funny Video
      • This Issue’s Joke
    • Knowledge Edition
      • Featured Articles
      • Marketing Tip
      • In a word – Defined
      • Famous Quote to Ponder
    • Commentary Edition
      • Coming soon? Maybe…

What do you think? Better? Worse? Suggestions?

Tell a friend – pass it on!
Recommend Extreme Ezine!

-= In The Spotlight =-

- GetListed.org –

GetListed.org, launched just days ago, is an online service to help small business owners check and submit their listings at major search engines. Submit your business listing free on Google Maps, Yahoo Local, Best of the Web Local and MSN/Live Maps.

See: Put Your Business On The Map

-= Great Reads =-

Great Reads are posts from other blogs that I recently read and trully enjoyed. There are far too many great posts so I can’t list them all. I add a half dozen or so and stop until next issue. Otherwise it will begin to look like some cheap directory. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

1. What You Actually Need To Start An eZine
2. 55 Premium WordPress Themes to Blow Your Mind
3. Internet Marketing Blog Ideas
4. To Follow or Not to Follow: That is the Question
5. BlogCatalog Traffic Tips and Tricks
6. Getting Comments On Your New Blog: How I Do It
7. Blogging for Ads is Dead – 5 Reasons Why You Sell Yourself Short & How You Can Fix It

-= Great Lines =-

Great Lines are just email subject lines that I received that actually caused me to open the email. It doesn’t mean that the product or service is any good – I have no idea. It doesn’t even mean the sender is the original author of the subject line or copy. It’s simply face value and just my opinion. What do you think?

1. “Brian, your 2009 ACTION PLAN is inside this email” by Michael Green
2. “Brian, I will let you try my membership site free” by Dirk Dupon
3. “Please Join Me On The Radio Today Brian” by Willie Crawford
4. “Is your brand aging? Find out with this 5-point checklist” Great line but no name anywhere
5. “How to Spot the Next Big Trend” by Charlie Page

-= Not So Famous Quotes to Ponder =-

Ok, these guys aren’t famous YET but it’s still great quotes:

“We’ve been trained for decades that promotion and advertising are mostly one-way announcements and not two-way conversations.”
~ John Dilbeck

“People no longer use ads as a way to inform themselves about buying decisions.  Instead they utilize the easily accessible opinions, reviews, and testimonials of bloggers and interact with others via social media to come to their own conclusions.”
~ Gyutae Park