Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! My name is David Lithman, and this blog will act as a journal, motivator, and a way for me to keep track of my online business venture. It's my goal in life to eventually achieve freedom from the corporate world and run my own business.

Read More >>

Most Popular Posts

Subscribe to my RSS Feed

Get my posts in email!

Subscribe to my RSS feed and you can read all my posts in your email or your RSS reader. With RSS, you'll never have to visit this website again.

inside keylogger

Archive for June, 2007

29
Jun

Host Review Site

The following is a paid post, and not that of my own opinion:

After doing some research for a good hosting provider I came across Host Review Site. This Hosting Review site has an easy navigation system with some information that may be useful to you if you are looking for a new hosting provider. Most review sites are biased but this site seems to be dedicated to providing relevant information on web hosting companies and the reviews are done by real people like you and me. Finding a good hosting company can be difficult but Host Review Site definitely helps.

Host Review Site gives reliable and honest reviews of web hosting providers to give the customer a knowledgeable choice when deciding where to host their website. They have put together a clean site with some great features to allow you to evaluate and post reviews of the good, the bad and the ugly hosting companies! Web Hosting is a very competitive business and most people don’t know what to look for when choosing a hosting provider but the best thing to do is evaluate what exactly your requirements are and then choose the provider that fits those needs. Getting feedback from real people with real experiences is one of the best way to make sure your next hosting company is right for you. The cool thing about Host Review Site is that it provides information on Linux and Windows based hosting companies and compares the hosting companies features to show you exactly what each company offers in terms of domains, databases and scripts.

On the homepage you will see they have a TOP US Hosts and Top Canadian Hosts list which gives you direct access to the top hosting providers but I think the best feature is their Top 10 hosting providers page. The list is updated daily and provides quick access to the top providers so you can judge for yourself. Hosting reviews are listed under the Reviews tab and you can actually post a review on your current provider so others can gain from your experience. The site also has a blog about current hosting events and news and is a good read if you are interested.

If you are looking for a new hosting company and want an unbiased review before you choose your next provider I would definitely recommend Host Review Site!

29
Jun

One Year Ago

This blog post is proudly sponsored by Jewelry and Gold and Beauty Products Online.

I thought it would be fun to stop for a minute and take a look back at what some of my friends were blogging about a year ago. I didn’t make my first post until July 23, 2006 so we have just under a month until my 1 year anniversary. I’ll have to plan something very special for that. So…let’s have a look shall we?

Bob Buskirk - Bob was writing about how important content is for a website, especially his Think Computers tech review site. But not only does he talk about content’s important… he mentions how easy content is create. Well, Think Computers is still going strong, so you’ve got to think Bob knows what he’s talking about.

Jon Waraas - On this day a year ago, Jon blogged about how he installed a toolbar. I think installing that toolbar on his network sites was a great idea. It’s very easy to recognize when you pass by his sites. Also, Jon mentioned he was starting to read Rich Dad Poor Dad … I wonder if he ever finished it?

John Chow - John was busy blogging about last summer’s biggest blockbuster movie, Superman Returns. He’s a huge Superman fan, and wasn’t disappointed with this movie. I think this is one of the shortest John Chow reviews we’ve ever seen. Hopefully WB will release a Superman Returns Returns movie in the coming summers.

Bryan Le - Bryan made a big post on an Earner’s Forum contest. I remember when Earner’s Forum just launched. This contest was huge… or should I say the prizes were huge? Along with posting this what seems like a sponsored post, Bryan also wrote a snipit about a small project he was working on. I wonder how Battlefield Resource is doing today?

Andreas Bard - Andreas filled us in on a nice tip of the day. He talks about how important it is to build a brand/name for yourself. It’s was a great marketing tip back then, and it still holds true today.

Isn’t it funny how blogs evolve over time, even as little as 1 year. And trust me, in the grand scheme of things, 1 year is not a long time. By looking at all those posts, most of them were very short and to the point. They’re all very interesting to read, especially when you can take notice at how a persons writing style has evolved over time.

28
Jun

New Blog Design

This blog post is proudly sponsored by Jewelry Products and Jewelry Hot Items.

Unless you’re reading this post through an RSS feeder, you will see right away something different about my blog. A NEW DESIGN!

I was tired of my old one. I started seeing too many other blogs with the same theme. So I searched for hours and hours until I found one I really liked. I haven’t seen anyone with this theme (although it is a free one, so I’m sure some people sue it). I love it. It’s fluid, has 3 columns, larger content width and colors that fit my personality.

I still haven’t added all the features yet and made all my necessary fixes. The Top Commenter plugin looks weird (atleast on FF it does). It’s putting the number of posts on a second line instead of right next to the persons name. So I’ll have to fix that.

I also want to completely redo the about me page, the contact page, and the advertising page. I also no longer need an archive page since this them has the archives automatically done on the far right column.

There was a lot of dead space on the right side once you scrolled past the first or second post, so I went ahead and reduced the number of posts seen on the homepage from 10 to 6. To help reduce all the dead space, I’ll probably put some of my affiliate skyscraper ads in there…hopefully get a few clicks.

I also plan to add the flickr plugin once I get a flickr account set up. So that will take up some room. I still haven’t decided if I want to put adsense on my blog or not. I tried it for the last few days and didn’t get 1 click, so really I don’t think it’s worth it at this point in time.

Well, that’s pretty much it. I reallllly like this theme, and I hope you do too. Comment and just let me know a quick ‘yay’ or ‘nay’.

P.S. you like the shark?

28
Jun

Paid Forum Posting

This blog post is proudly sponsored by Jewelry and Jewelry and Silver.

As most of you know, I own several forums and have owned even more in the past (having sold some for irresistible money). Currently, I run Gator Envy, Mass Effect Forums, and GFX Rebels. Getting a forum started is very tough work. I know several of you have approached me looking for tips on how to get people to post. Unfortunately, I’m no forum expert, but I do know a very cheap, yet effective way to make your forum full. It’s called paid forum posting.

“But David, paid forum posting is expensive. Packages always start at like $20-$25 and they take weeks to complete.” While that may be true for some of the commercial forum posting companies/web sites, it is not true for the freelancer. In America, we outsource everything, so why not outsource forum posting to freelancers in India? “But I don’t want people who can’t speak English posting on my forums, and besides they don’t know they topic of my forum anyways.” Well, whether you like it or not, most of companies like Forum Elves and Forum Booster use posters from India or East Asia. That’s just the way it is.

So where do you find freelance forum posters? The answer is easy. DigitalPoint of course. Just head over to the Buy, Sell, Trade —> Services —> Content Creation forum and you will find hundreds of eager posters looking for work. The fact that they are DigitalPoint members, means they are aware of the industry and can speak English.

In my experience, freelance forum posters on DigitalPoint will run you about 10-15 cents a post. I always pay out 10 or 12.5 cents on average. For Forum Elves basic package charges you 25 cents a post. Forum Boosters starter plan charges 30 cents a post! How can they charge so much more than the going rate for a freelancer on DP when the quality of posting is the exact same. Not only do the forum posting companies charge more for post, they also only give you 2-4 posters.

Let’s say you have $10 to spend on forum posting and you head over to DP and make a thread. First, you want to provide the potential posters rules, such as posts must be in English, posts must be 15 words, 2 must be new threads, only 1 post in the Intro forum.. and so on. After you write your thread, let’s take a look at a potential outcome if you ask for 10 posts for $1.

You get 10 unique posters, 20 new threads, 100 total posts and all for only $10. A package like that from a company would cost $25 at least.

Are you starting to see what I’m saying. It is much more economical and productive to hire freelance forum posters from DigitalPoint rather than buying an expensive forum package from a website. Not only will the quality of posts be about the same, but you will get the work done wayyyy faster. In my experience, paid forum posters on DP finish the job very fast because they usually want the money quickly.

The only time I can see a company being useful is if you’re looking for hundreds or thousands of posts. There simply aren’t enough freelancers on DP to fill that request. But if you’re just looking for a cheap way to get 100-200 posts from 10-20 unique posters, then DP freelancers are the way to go. If you have any questions concerning quality of the posting, just hit me up on MSN and I’ll show you some examples of their work on my sites.

27
Jun

Daily Layouts

This blog post is proudly sponsored by Photography Pro and Photography.

I swear some day real soon I will get out of the Myspace game. It’s just way too risky. The money is still good though, so I had to make another Myspace related site. I’ve owned quite a few in the past, but really, this is only the second one I currently own. Along with Pimp Myspace, Daily Layouts aims to be one of the top unique resource sites for Myspace layouts.

Daily Layouts is a very simple, yet effective way to make money from a Myspace site. It is powered by Wordpress, so I am very familiar with how it works. Everyday, I simply upload a new layout and use my target keywords in the post title. I provide the visitors with the css code and they can paste the layout into their profile.

I get all the layouts from my own site Pimp Myspace. So I don’t even have to transfer image files over to the new site. Everything is hot linked to Pimp Myspace. Sure, I could probably get more traffic if I had unique image files, but the whole point of this site was speed. I can upload a new post/layout in under a minute. I just copy it from my other site and paste it on this one.

I queue up 7 layouts on Monday using the Wordpress timestamp and then I don’t have to touch the site all week. It automatically posts a new layout every morning.

I’m not going to buy links for this site or submit it to directories. I’m just going to let Google work its magic and pray for organic traffic from search engines. I have thousands of custom layouts on Pimp Myspace, so funding Daily Layouts with content will be a piece of cake.

I’m currently running Adsense on it, but will switch to VCM/YPN once traffic begins to build up. This is a very easy idea, so I hope it works. Worse comes to worse, I sell it.

26
Jun

My New Site: GFX Rebels

This blog post is sponsored by Photography Style and Photography News.

It’s finally time I clue in my loyal readers with one of my current projects that up until now has been a secret. I don’t like secrets, but sometimes it’s best to get things straight before you tell the world. About a month or month and a half ago I purchased a site on Digitalpoint. I guess if you read through their marketplace you might have seen my username as the winning bidder, but odds are none of you caught it.

So without further adu, I’d like to introduce to you GFX Rebels, one of the hottest graphics design communities on the web. GFX Rebels is a forum community for designers from around the world to share their designs and tips. There are some insane designers on there… the world professional doesn’t do them justice. We have tons of photoshop tutorials, video tutorials, and more. Designers sign up to have their work review by our GFX Crew. We also run weekly contests where designers can win $5 of Premium member access.

When I purchased this site, it was very well run. It already had an administrator in place who has stayed on to help me run the forum. I did lose 2 moderators after the purchase, but have since promoted someone who was very well deserving. It’s a small community right now at only around 665 members, of which only about 40-50 visit daily. It’s a growing community though with almost 15,000 posts. GFX Rebels averages around 100 posts/day on a good day. That’s good activity if you ask me.

My current goals are to increase memberships and activity. However, that’s no easy task. In the month or so since I’ve owned it, I haven’t been as successful in growing the forum as I thought I would. That’s where you come in…

If you would like a free link on my website, similar to how John Chow runs his Make Money Reviews, simply add the following sentence to any of your blog posts:

GFX Rebels is one of the hottest, and fastest growing graphics design forums with over 650 members. They have hundreds of tutorials and are quick to review your designs.

If you put that sentence in any of your posts, even if you just slap it at the end, I’ll give you a shout out in one of my next blog posts. Just shoot me an email with the link so I can check it out.

So that’s my new site folks. If you love graphics design, or are looking to get into desinging sigs, banners, or avatars check it out and sign up here. There are a couple contests running as we speak, one of them pays out $25 for a wallpaper design. I really like this site. It has a nice skin and awesome members. I plan on keeping it for a long time. Unless something unforeseen happens, I want to keep it through this year and hopefully see 2000 members.

It has yet to turn me a profit, but I’m hoping it will soon. I want to find some nice Azoogle offers instead of relying on Adsense and VCM.

Let me know what you think. If you see anything that needs improvement, don’t hesitate to criticize. I haven’t touched the design of the site since I bought it.

Don’t forget to help me out with the shout out!!