John Hawkins Unrated » mo30dc2008

30 days of blogging

john — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:28:16 +0000

Just to be clear, no, the title doesn’t mean that this is my first 30 days blogging. Far from it. My original blog has posts dating back all the way to October 2003. I’ve been at it a while. However, I don’t always blog on a regular basis. Sometimes you’ll get 5 in a week, sometimes 3 in a month. Sometimes it’s less frequent than that.

At the beginning of September, Jason asked if anybody was interested in joining him in his 30 day challenge. The goal was to blog at least 1 time per day for 30 straight days. I’m usually really bad at following through with these types of things, so naturally I agreed to join in. And, as of today, this marks the 30th consecutive day! I made it! What’s most amazing is that of the 8 people I knew who were in the challenge, I’m the only one that finished all 30 days! I’m not sure how it happened, but I made it and I’m really excited about it!

There are a fair amount of benefits that you receive by blogging every day. Here’s a small sample of what my experience have been:
- Google page rank went from 1 to 2
- Alexa rating dropped from 616,280 to 371,929
- #of visitors tripled from last month to this month
- # of RSS subscriptions tripled in 1 month

I’ve also realized that the more I blog, the more I enjoy the writing process. It’s nice to have a place to just sound off on whatever topics I want. But even more enjoyable is writing posts that solve problems for people. The solution to an issue in WordPress and fixing my broken Rock Band drum pedal both have received steady traffic from people searching for answers on Google.

This month has been pretty gratifying. I intend to keep the streak alive and see if I can break 50 days, then 75 and maybe even 100 days in a row. We shall see.

Here are some highlights from the month in blogging:

Most visited blog post
Fixing the WordPress login issue

Most active referrer
http://stumbleupon.com/

Most common search term to find my site
rock band foot pedal

Double-Check Your Work!

john — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:44:24 +0000

Over the past few weeks I have been working on organizing the WordCamp:Las Vegas conference in January. I but together a website, I added some content and I even signed up for eventbrite.com to let them handle the registrations. I added a button to the site to send the visitors over to eventbrite.com to complete their registration and I tested the link to make sure everything was working properly. Once satisfied, I checked that off my list of things to do and I moved on.

This past weekend there was a LOT of buzz surrounding WordPress and more specifically, WordCamp. There were events held in 3 different cities around the country. There’s another one taking place this coming weekend. WordPress and WordCamp are the hot ticket right now. And yet, it’s been almost 2 full weeks and not a single person has completed the registration form. I realize that the event is still over 3 months away, but come on. Not 1 person signed up?

I received an email this morning from a guy who took the time to write. It said the following:

“Trying to register for WordCamp LV, but the registration form has no submit button. I’ll try again in a day or two and hope it works.”

ACK!! I immediately followed up with an email to the help desk at eventbrite.com asking what the deal is. Unfortunately, it’s now been a full day without a response. That saddens me a little bit. I’ll be following up in the morning with another email and perhaps a phone call.

In this case it wasn’t my work that needed double-checking. But had I taken the extra step to test out the form before considering it done, I would have saved myself some grief.

Live and learn.

Contest #2: Domain Name Dilemma

john — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 04:14:51 +0000

You may or may not know this about me, but I LOVE buying domain names. A couple years back I owned about 50 domain names and started feeling very overwhelmed and unproductive, so I sold the bulk of them to Jason. Since then I’ve slowly built up my stable of domains again and am back to owning about 40 domains. You would think that my previous experience would keep me from doing this again. But you’d be wrong.

This weekend I won an auction on eBay for a new domain name. I’m a sucker for 4 digit domain names already, but when I saw this one was about to expire and nobody had bid on it, I just HAD to throw my $0.99 at it. And now I’m the proud owner of pssw.org.

I was sitting around thinking to myself, “what will I do with this new domain name?” Nothing good comes to mind, so I thought I’d leave it up to my readers in the form of a contest.

The contest is simple. Come up with the best idea for a site (or blog) to use on pssw.org and win $10 via paypal. Once again, I’ll be the only judge here. Leave a comment giving me the basics of your idea. If you send the winning entry, I’ll pick your brain (as needed) for additional details. And, if it turns in to a viable money making project, I will also give you 10% of the profits for the first 12 months.

If you feel your idea is too good to share in an open forum such as the comments, feel free to email it to me at john [at] johnhawkinsunrated [dot] com.

All entries must be received by Midnight, Sunday, October 5th.

Good Luck!

I missed it all

john — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:23:17 +0000

As I wrote about yesterday, my leg is in some pain. What I didn’t realize that the combination of seeing the doctor yesterday and having him work on my leg followed up by 5 hours of standing at a Foo Fighters concert was going to render me basically crippled.

I woke up this morning around 5:30 to the most severe pain I’ve felt in years. My leg was absolutely screaming at me. I woke up the wife and had her get me an ice pack. I iced the leg for a while but didn’t really feel any relief.

I spent about 2 hours sitting at my desk trying to get some work done. By the end, the pain was unbearable. We grabbed some lunch and then I crashed out on the couch for a 2 hour nap. I then went upstairs and moved in to bed where I would spend the remainder of the day and evening.

This weekend there were 3 WordCamp events that I would have loved to have gone to. Not all of them, but any one of them. 2 of them were relatively close being in Utah and Oregon. But, when I was trying to schedule it all, a buddy’s wedding today and Foo Fighters tickets last night meant that I wasn’t going to be leaving town. Then, instead of going to the wedding, I spend the evening in bed.

This sucks.

I plan on another visit to the doctor on Monday. I need to start getting well pretty darn quick. There is NO WAY I can tackle Disneyland next week in my condition.

Did I mention that this sucks?

My leg is currently feeling as bad as it did at 5:30 this morning. I’ve iced it several times, took some Advil and have tried to stay off it as much as possible. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Procrastination and the Faux-hawks

john — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:55:04 +0000

pro·cras·ti·nate
[proh-kras-tuh-neyt]
–verb (used without object)
1. To defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost.
–verb (used with object)
2. To put off till another day or time; defer; delay.

WHY do I put things off so long? Hey, that was supposed to be rhetorical.

But seriously, I do it all the time and it just makes no sense. I like to consider myself a slacker, but at the same time, I like to think that I can get things done when they need to get done. So why is it, exactly, that I can’t seem to go to the doctor’s office when I first realize I need to? Instead, I put it off until I’m at the point where it’s a toss up between doctor’s office visit and emergency room.

Current situation: Rock Band Injury.
Stop laughing. It’s not funny. OK, it is funny, but can you hold your laughing until I’m not arround? It’s only polite.

I was playing Rock Band 2 the day it came out and I was kicking ass on some drums. However, I was playing drums on both hard and expert modes which means there is a LOT of foot pedal involved. The shorts I was wearing let my wallet rest below my butt cheek. When I sat down behind the drum kit, the wallet was under me, but still, no concern.

The following day I notice that my leg is a little bit sore. The day after was even worse. Rather than doing anything about it, I simply ignored it thinking the problem would go away on it’s own. Once again, I was wrong.

Yesterday I gave my massage therapist a call and asked if he’d come over to see if he could help massage the issue away. I explained the cause and effect and instead of saying, “Sure, I’ll rush right over”, he says, “Go see a Doctor… Tomorrow!” He’s a genius, why didn’t I think of that.

I went to the doctor today and he thinks I may have a touch of Bursitis. He gave me some samples of some anti-inflammatory drugs and sent me on my way. Had I not procrastinated for nearly 2 weeks, I’ll bet I’d be all better by now. Instead I have to worry that I’ll be fine in time for our drip to Disneyland next weekend.

Oh yeah, I mentioned faux-hawks, too, didn’t I?
For those who don’t know what a faux-hawk is a hair style worn by dudes who have a full time job that would frown upon them having an actual mohawk but want to look bad-ass when they hit the clubs. If you look it up in the dictionary, you may find it right next to the descriptions for “popped collar” and “douchebag.” While these three things don’t always go together, it’s amazing how many times they do.

Tonight we went to see the Foo Fighters in concert. They were fantastic. However, I could not get over the amount of faux-hawks in the crowd. I’m a big fan of the Foo, but never realized that they had become the Band De Jure for the faux-hawk faithful. I felt seriously inadequate being around such a collection. Am I not a true fan if I don’t have a faux-hawk or popped collar? To make sure I fit in, whenever possible I tried to be a douchebag to make up for my follicular shortcomings.

I hope I don’t need to turn in my fan club membership card if I’m found out.

Now That’s Entertainment at a Discount

john — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:40:20 +0000

I’m noticing a theme. Lately I have been starting a bunch of posts saying how fast time flies by. It just hit me again, too. Each September I order my copy of the upcoming Entertainment book. I just ordered mine and it hit me. Damn, another year has flown by.

This past year was by far my biggest savings year with the book yet. That could have had something to do with the fact that SuperMex, a place we eat lunch at once a week, takes 20% off your entire bill every time you go and show them your card. You don’t even have to have a coupon, just the card. I just started carrying it in my wallet and would ask places whenever we’d go out if they accepted it.

We actually paid for the price of the book last year the first time we used it. We took our kids to the Adventure Dome theme park inside Circus Circus. They have a coupon for a buy-one-get-one-free on their all-day ride bracelets. $25 saved day 1. Sweet. We then used just about every movie discount ticket coupon, several of the dining coupons and they have discounts for stores like Target, too.

If you use this link to purchase your 2009 Entertainment book, you’ll receive free shipping as well. If you order now, the coupons are good starting the day you receive your book. No need to wait for 2009!

Full Disclosure: If you use one of the links above to purchase your book, I’ll get a little kick back, too. I make you this promise, any money earned will be used to buy beer.

Choke on THIS!

john — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:45:16 +0000

Tonight we got the opportunity to go and see a sneak preview of the new movie Choke. It’s based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club and half a dozen other great books. I have been waiting for nearly 2 full years for this movie to come out. I’m quite pleased to say that it did not disappoint. Sam Rockwell was perfectly cast as Victor Mancini, the sexaholic who goes to sexaholic anonymous meetings in order to get laid. Anjelica Huston plays his mom and does a fine job as well.

Since this was a preview showing, there was a rep from Fox/Searchlight in attendance. Before the show he let people know that they would shoot you on sight if you tried to take a picture of the screen during the movie. More importantly, he let everybody know that he’d be waiting around after to hear what everybody thought of the movie. Oh, this is gonna be good.

So we watched the movie and there are several big laughs in it. There’s also a fair amount of gratuitous sex. Victor has sex pretty much anywhere he can. Though, he has trouble getting it up when trying to screw a girl he actually likes in church. I don’t mean he likes her in church, I mean he’s trying to screw her IN CHURCH. “What would Jesus NOT do”, indeed.

When the movie was out I stood around with the group of us that all went and we were talking about the film. We were also listening to the conversations of the other moviegoers around us. It was an older crowed that showed up for the free screening, so I wasn’t all that surprised to hear all the negative comments. However, there was one that really stuck out.

As I was walking over to tell the Fox/Searchlight rep how much I liked the film, I passed by a women who was crying. I paused long enough to listen to what she had to say to her friend. “My aunt died of Alzheimer’s and for them to be making fun of it in that way is repulsive.” So let me get this straight, you didn’t have a problem with all the sex, you didn’t have a problem with all the foul language, you didn’t have a problem with the anal beads… No, you had a problem with the fact that Anjelica Huston’s character had Alzheimer’s? Wow, perhaps next time you may want to check out the trailer for the movie that you are getting free tickets to before you go. Chances are, if you see the name Chuck Palahniuk attached to the movie in some way, you are likely going to be offended.

Go out and see this movie. Just leave the uptight friends at home.

Forward Thinking and Cement Mixers

john — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:22:32 +0000

Can you tell me what cement mixers have to do with being forward thinking? If you had been at BlogWorldExpo this past weekend, you’d already know the answer.

Before I get to the real story, did you know that Linkin Park changed the spelling of their band name early on because they wanted to make sure to be able to get the “.com” for their band name? This was a few years before MP3s were even around. Forward Thinking! Did you also know that the most common misconception about where they got their name was from a park in Chicago? Turns out, they are from L.A. and there is park there that spawned the band name.

OK, enough music trivia. Let’s get back to the real topic… cement mixers.

While walking the expo floor, you would need to have been blind to miss what appeared to be the most out of place booth of the entire event. Of course I’m talking about the Cart-Away Concrete Systems booth. At first glance it seemed that they landed in the wrong convention. They would have seemed to be better suited for construction workers convention. But, if you stopped to answer the question they had written on the back of their booth in 3 foot lettering that simply read, “WHY?”, you would have understood in a matter of seconds.

I spoke with the guys, Bruce and Tom, and it turns out they didn’t make a mistake at all. They actually MEANT to show up at a blogging convention. Their idea was to bring a cement mixer in to the middle of a blogging convention where they would stick out like a sore thumb. Then, when everybody came up to ask the burning question, they’d tell their story. Why go to a construction convention when they would be one of a few hundred companies offering similar products. Instead, they came to a place they wouldn’t fit in but would give them access to hundreds of walking/talking media outlets.

I can guarantee that there is no chance they would have received the level of attention they received had they been at a construction convention. And, they certainly wouldn’t have been written about by a few dozen bloggers when it was all said and done.

I can only imagine how the conversation went with their boss the first time they said they wanted to spend money to exhibit at a blogging convention.

I’m happy to blog about them and support their effort. No affiliate links. No paid posts. Just a guy who has to tip his hat at a couple forward thinkers. I wish you guys the best!

As I was walking away from their booth I overheard a guy saying to his friend, “I just don’t get why those guys are here.” You are right, you don’t get it. and you probably never will.

30 days of blogging

For short URLs, I’m using POPrl

john — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:29:04 +0000

I’ve been using Twitter quite a lot lately. And, given the community that I’m building up on it, I expect my usage of it continue to grow. Since each tweet is limited to 140 characters, if you are trying to include a link to a specific page on a site, it’s a given that you’re going to need to shorten the URL. I use Tweet Deck as my Twitter software of choice, and it has a feature that makes it simple to shorten a URL. You simply paste the URL in to the “Shorten URL” box, click the “Shorten” button and it does the work for you and even pastes the short URL in to your tweet when it’s done. It was this handy feature that first introduced me to POPrl.com.

So, what makes POPrl better than the rest, you ask? Stats.

Yesterday, I received a reply on Twitter from @POPrl that said, “@vegasgeek Did you know you can visit http://poprl.com/stats/0m1 to see who clicks on your link?” No, as a matter of fact I didn’t know that. I had been missing out on the best part of POPrl this whole time. I went to their site and found that they also have a bookmarklet that you can add to your browser. I created a quick video to show you how easy their bookmarklet works.

To see the stats for your link:

take the unique portion of original link provided by POPrl:
http://poprl.com/0m1
Add a subdirectory called “stats” like this:
http://poprl.com/stats/0m1

That’s it, you are now seeing stats for your shortened URL.

For a stats junkie like me, this extra feature makes all the difference in the world. Way to go the extra mile!

Blog World Expo 2008 – Day 2 Recap

john — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:30:13 +0000

Day 2 of Blog World Expo started off exactly as I suspected… late. I don’t know that I have ever been to a conference where the final day has started on time. Especially a conference held in Las Vegas. I think the only way to have a final day session start on time in Las Vegas is to make sure the final day doesn’t start until noon.

The keynote today wasn’t so much a speech as it was a dialog/Q&A with Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week and Mike Shinoda, singer from Linkin Park moderated by Rohit Bhargava. They talked about building your personal brand and how it pays to be more interested than interesting. Rohit asked them the best question I had heard all weekend: How important to your success has it been to not be an asshole?” This headed the conversation towards how it is important to be nice to people you may think are non-important at the time. You never know which person is going to have the connection or cause you to be in a certain place at the exact right time. Tim also spoke about setting goals but know what the goals give you when you get there. He also suggested to “Talk to your readers like you would talk to your friends after 2 beers.”

The first session of the day I went to was called “My Blog is a Business? Building a Foundation that Can Help You Grow Your Blog Past the Hobby Stage” The panel consisted of Chris Brogan, Rob McNealy, Jeremy Wright and Nina Yablok and was moderated by Jim Kukral. The panel for this session was pretty amusing. Definitely a bunch of characters here. Nina forced them all to give their top keys to becoming a business in less than 5 minutes.

Chris made the following points: Be helpful in your space, write from your customer/reader’s side of the fence, don’t do a sales pitch.

Jeremy said he has 3 simple rules: think less, plan less, do more stupid shit. Don’t get caught up in trying to make things perfect. Of course, he didn’t mean that you should throw any crap together and expect to make money. But I think you get the idea.

Rob pointed out the following: professional bloggers work their asses off 80+ hours a week. Embrace the hard work to be successful, and, if you love what you do and are passionate about it, it doesn’t really seem like hard work.

The next session was called “Beyond Adsense: Exploration of Practical Monetization Streams“. This panel had David Berkowitz, Jason Billingsley, Michael Buechele and Matt Hulett and was moderated by Angel Djambazov. This session had a lot to do with tools each use for making money on their blogs. Mostly ad networks, affiliate links, software to display ads on WordPress blogs, etc. For me this session was mainly review and didn’t have a lot of new content, but there were several people in the crowd frantically taking notes, so I was definitely in the minority there.

Next was the Networking Reception on the Show Floor. During this time I made one final trip around the show room floor. I grabbed a couple more business cards and flyers and broke my rule from yesterday and collected 2 new T-shirts (thanks, Lijit). I drank a couple Jones Sodas (cream soda, yum!) and I picked up these two bottles that I think I’m going to go ahead and save for a while. I had some chicken fingers and chips and then I spoke with a few people about WordCamp:Las Vegas. By the time I was done, there was still another hour left before the next session started. I realized that my recent travel schedule plus the marathon day yesterday had left me wiped out. I decided to pack it in and head on home.

I had a great time at BlogWorld once again and I’m already looking forward to next year’s event. I hope to see you all there!