Daniel Felice

Benefits of Using Twitter

// June 29th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // General, The Internet

Over the past few months I have been using Twitter more and more. The more I use it, the more I realise that it is so much more than just another social networking tool.

Many people just use it as a way to communicate with others, and for others it is fast becoming an important tool for business. I am beginning to rely on Twitter more and more for everyday life, from news, to business, to asking advice on what camera to buy!

Here is what I use Twitter for:

News

Previously my first stop would be a news site to get the latest headlines. Now, I am a follower of numerous news agencies and I can get all their headlines in one place.

Employment

When my freelance works starts to slow down, I simply tweet that I am looking for more freelance work. Generally I get at least one or two leads which then turn into work. Normally at least a handful of people are looking for some kind of work.

Networking

Since I began using Twitter I have made a lot of contacts who have helped me build my freelance work, as well as give me general advice about whatever I need. I now know many people who I can turn to if I need developers, marketers, sales people, and so on. All I have to do is ask!

Purchasing

When I was in the market for a digital SLR camera I asked Twitter what a good entry level camera was. I got a few responses back which helped me along the way to choosing my product. I do this with any big purchase now because chances are someone on Twitter is using it and will give you some honest feedback.

Friends

On top of everything else, I have a few friends that I communicate with via Twitter. I managed to find a few people I have not spoken to in about 10 years on Twitter!

Marketing

I recently ran the BuddyPress Theme Contest and spreading the word via Twitter was an important factor in generating traffic to the website. Looking over the stats, at least 50% of the hits were from Twitter.

What do you use Twitter for?

Don’t Be Shy

// March 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Making Money, The Internet

Promoting a new blog can be a frustrating experience. There are plenty of free ways to market your new site, but unless it is ground breaking, it is very hard to get solid traffic fast.

There is no magic way to bring in the numbers, however there is something that I figured out recently that can help you on your way to increasing traffic and giving your blog exposure to a wider audience.

So you have tried forums, posted comments on other blogs, added your posts to StumpleUpon and Digg, joined Entrecard, and created a contest, but you still are not getting the amount of traffic that you are hoping for.

Have you thought about approaching other sites and asking to exchange links or write a guest post? I have – but at the time I thought that my blog wasn’t “worthy” enough to be featured on someone else’s website. I didn’t think that other bloggers would think that my posts were good enough, or that my theme wasn’t professional enough looking, or that I didn’t have a clue what I was talking about – so I didn’t.

In the past month or so, I have had a few other bloggers come to me and ask for links to be exchanged, and I even had one blogger ask me to write a guest post on their blog, so I thought that I must be at the point where I can start asking other bloggers to  swap links with. If other bloggers are asking me to assist them, then I must be at that point where I can start asking people for some help in driving traffic to this blog, and my other sites.

I have learnt that it is much easier than I first thought it would be. Of all the people I have asked for links and a mention on their blog, no one has yet turned me down. It only takes a few minutes to write an email and send it, and it in those few minutes you can attract possibility hundreds of new visitors to your blog.

So don’t be shy, meet some new bloggers and just ask! All they can say is no! Try to remember one thing – every blogger was new once, and they went through exactly the same frustration that you are going through now, so most of the time they understand what you are trying to achieve and will offer their knowledge and help – all you have to do is ask.

People to Follow on Twitter

// March 1st, 2009 // No Comments » // The Internet

I am addicted to Twitter! There, I said it. Initially I thought it was going to be another waste of time and something else to throw into the “sign up to and never use” bin. How wrong I was. I joined in June 2008 and then didn’t use it for a while, but in the last few months I have been using it more and more, and now I am addicted.

I have compiled a small list, in no particular order, of bloggers that I think everyone interested in blogging and social networking should follow!

• @photomatt – Otherwise known as Matt Mullenweg, developer of WordPress.
• @problogger – Problogger, Darren Rowse has the most comprehensive guide, tips and tricks to making money blogging on the internet.
• @apeatling – Creator of BuddyPress and social engineer for Automattic.
• @chrisbrogan – Chris Brogan, social media guru.
• @wordpressjob – Looking for freelance WordPress work? Follow and receive the latest jobs posted on freelance sites such as scriptlance.com
• @MrSocial – Marketing guru turned social media expert and entrepreneur.
• @danielfelice – Me!
  

Are You Addicted to Twitter?

// January 25th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // How To, The Internet

I signed up to Twitter in June last year and have only started to really us it in the last month or so. The first time I signed up I thought “this isn’t bad”, found a few followers and then didn’t log into it for a few months.

In the last month or so I have been using Twitter a lot more. I have nearly 100 followers and am following about 136 twits. I use it not only to let people know what I am doing and thinking, but now I use it to keep up to date with WPMU, BuddyPress, freelance jobs, motorsport news, travel news and even some American guy who sold everything he owned in 2007 and has been travelling the world since!

I now find myself logging into Twitter before I do anything else to check my updates – even before I open up my e-mail. I also make sure I check it before I go to bed of a night. I got me thinking….am I addicted to Twitter?

I found this article which I thought I had to share with you! You’re addicted to Twitter when…

• Load Twitter first thing in the morning before you check your email.
• Tweet something as the last waking moment before you go to bed.
• When you meet someone for the first time after asking their name, the next question you ask is if they follow you on Twitter.
• The next question you ask this new person is how many followers they have.
• You check your Twitter Grader daily.
• You check your Twitter following growth daily (or hourly).
• You feel lame if you haven’t Tweeted in an hour.
• You always Tweet what you’re doing where ever you are.
• You look at people who don’t use Twitter as aliens from another planet.
• You can’t remember life before Twitter.
• You have grown to hate email because you’d rather use Twitter.
• You review every new Twitter application as soon as it’s available.
• You post more than 100 Twitter updates per day.
• more…

I am not that bad yet! Are you?

Follow @danielfelice

Goodbye Entrecard?

// January 19th, 2009 // 7 Comments » // The Internet

I am thinking of removing the Entrecard widget on this blog as it is not doing much in way of traffic these days. When the blog was new it was a great way to bring in some traffic, but now I think the blog is doing well enough to survive on its own.

I get a handful of hits per week from Entrecard, and those users do visit the blog from Entrecard just drop their card and move on to the next site anyway – so the traffic isn’t traffic that is going to keep on coming back.

I think Entrecard is great for new blogs and for bloggers who want to bring in easy traffic. In the early days most of my traffic was from Entrecard but now as the blog has gathered a bit of pace and is doing well in the search engines I reckon only about 5% of my monthly hits actually come from via Entrecard.

It takes a bit of work to drop cards and get credits so you can advertise on other blogs, and this does not always convert into hits. When I do campaign I might get a small increase in traffic for that day but then the next day I am back to normal.

I rather good traffic – people who read my content and want to come back. Entrecard users just come here to drop their card so they can increase their credits, so my content isn’t really being read.

I think I’ll remove the widget sometime this week!

Things to Do When Creating a New Site

// January 12th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // How To, The Internet

I have created a few websites and blogs over the years and each time I tend to do exactly the same things in terms of setup, design and marketing. In the early stages of creating a new site, each site is pretty much the same no matter what kind of content you are going to upload.

Every website needs a domain name and a host server. The domain name is normally dependant on the type of site you are launching and choosing a host will depends on your needs. Unless you have a massive website with a lot of videos, music and photos, generally the basic hosting package is enough. Most good hosts now offer anywhere between 1 and 5 GB of storage as their basic package, storage shouldn’t initially be an problem.

Other things to consider when looking for a web host are mySQL databases, PHP, ASP, Windows or Linux and E-Mail addresses. It will depend on your needs as to whether you need a Windows or Linux based server, but generally Linux servers are cheaper and support both PHP and mySQL. If you are creating an ASP or .NET based site then you’ll normally need a Windows box.

In terms of design I normally create the site for 800×600 browsers as when I was taught web design this was the most common screen resolution. I should probably increase this now as monitors are getting bigger and bigger. It is also a good idea to test the site in a number of web browsers as they all interprete HTML differently.

Once the site is uploaded to your server, the next task is to bring traffic to the site. There are a number of things I do to get the site bringing in some traffic.

• Submit your site to search engines: There are plenty of free websites where you can submit your URL to search engines. Most services will submit your site to Google and Yahoo, and also a bunch of other search engines.
• Add an XML site map to Google: To assist Google in finding your web pages you should create an XML sitemap and upload it. If you search for “Google XML sitemap” you’ll find a number of websites who offer this service.
• Social networks: Submit a few pages of your site to social bookmark networks such as Digg and StumbleUpon. Twitter is also a good way to promote a new site.
• Forums: If you find a few forums that cover the topic of your website then add it to your signature and make a few posts. Don’t just create a new post to advertise your new site as it will most probably get you banned or your post removed.

Once the site is up and running, designed and listed in the search engines, then it is time to improve the site and generate more traffic. No project is ever complete…

What do you religiously do each time you create a new site?

My First “How to” Guide

// September 22nd, 2008 // 1 Comment » // The Internet, Wordpress

Off the back of my previous post, and over the next few posts I am going to attempt to educate the newbie’s among us. I have been telling friends, family and work colleagues about blogging and I constantly get asked, “Why blog?”, “How do I start a blog?”, “What should I blog about?” and the most popular question “How much money do you make?”.

I am going to make this as simple as possible and start from the very beginning, from how to register a domain name, set yourself up with web hosting, installing software such as WordPress, finding your niche, writing your articles, attracting traffic, and the list goes on and on.

I will write based on my own knowledge and experience and also use some sources that I have found along the way that have been a great help to me. The internet is a big place, and finding everything you need to know in the one place is difficult to come by.

I don’t claim to be an expert by any means, however I think through my own experiences I will hopefully be able to help those to wish to start their own blog. It doesn’t have to be a blog that makes money, nor does it be one that has to attract thousands of hits a day. It can be for your own personal use, business use or whatever you want to do with it.

I am going to try and tempt one of my mates to be my “official” tester. He knows nothing about blogging, domain names, web hosting and WordPress so hopefully I can get him to put my guide to the test and finally set up the blog that I have been begging him to for the past few months.

Hopefully a few of you can learn a few things and who knows it might even be a best seller! No plans for an eBook or anything of the like as yet – I’ll wait to see how it is received first! Baby steps, Daniel, baby steps!

I better start writing!

Is Your Blog Mobile Ready?

// September 17th, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

Accessing the internet from mobile phones is becoming increasing popular – especially with the new generation of 3G and ever increasing mobile internet speeds and with the introduction of devices such as the Apple iPhone, the internet is becoming much more accessible on the go.

There are so many websites that look dreadful on mobile devices, and with the increasing number of users needing to access information wherever they are – there will become a time that people will become dependent on accessing information via a mobile device – just like we have become dependent on having a computer within our reach at all times.

There is a very nify website where you can check if you website is viewable on mobile devices. Check out the results of danielfelice.com.

If your site looks as bad as mine does, you can try to install the WordPress Mobile Edition Plugin which is a plugin that shows an interface designed for a mobile device when visitors come to your site on a mobile device.

You can also try things like reducing your image size and overall page size to increase download speeds.

Unique Blog Designs Citrus Theme

// September 6th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // General, The Internet

I upgraded my blog theme last week to help refresh the look of my blog in the hope to generate new interest. I think it is important to keep your design fresh and a change once in a while doesn’t hurt.

I got this current WordPress theme from Unique Blog Designs, who do some great work. UDB are responsible for the designs of JohnChow.com and ShoeMoney.com. I found them a few months ago and have been tempted by a few of their designs since.

They have just released their new Citrus Theme which comes in 6 colours, features 2 unique layouts and comes with a built ad management. UBD also offer support and video tutorials which will show you how to get the most out of your theme.

There are three different licences available for purchase – the single user licence, multi user licence and developer licence. The single user licence starts at US$79 which in my opinion is very cheap considering you will be buying a professionally designed blog with some great features.

Get your Citrus theme now!

Quick Way to Increase Hits

// September 3rd, 2008 // No Comments » // The Internet

A quick and easy way to increase your traffic and even backlinks is to submit your site to social bookmarking or social media sites such as Digg and StumpleUpon. I have been doing this for the past few posts now and have seen a quick rise in traffic to the blog.

A social media website in this context is a site that allows users and webmasters save, manage, organise and share their bookmarks with other users.

Users or webmasters are able to submit their favourite pages by submitting the link, a description of the page, category and tags so other users are able to find similar sites. Users are able search for a particular type of website or blog and find a list of similar sites that suits their search.

Webmasters are increasingly submitting their pages to social media sites in order to increase traffic and backlinks. Search engines crawl these types of websites so the more pages you submit that link to your blog or website, then the more chance you are going to have being found on the likes of Google or Yahoo.

Webmasters are able to submit their pages manually; otherwise there are various WordPress plugins you can implement to make submitting your pages easier. This option will also give your readers a chance to submit the link if they like what they see and want to share it with others.

You can share my pages below by clicking “Share This” and selecting your favourite network.