Planning your killer blog

Lets get right to it, you are thinking of creating a blog. Why?

Ah, that stopped you didn’t it. You’ve read the first post “Building wealth with your blog” and like the the thought of bringing in some extra money from your blog. This post looks at what it takes to plan your blog, before you even get started writing. Hopefully by the end of this post you will have some answers that help you establish the purpose of your blog.

Here are the questions we’ll look at:

• Topics
  • What are you going to talk about?
  • Who are you going to talk too?
  • How often are you going to say it?
• Goals
  • What do you want from this blog?
  • What are your targets for this blog?
• Marketing
  • How are you going to promote your blog?
• Investment
  • What do you need to purchase for your blog?
  • Will you pay to promote your blog?
  • Do you have the time to write regularly?

Ultimately, you need to be able to answer “What is the purpose of this blog?” (or Why are you writing?).

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Jargon Explained Part 2: Domains, DNS & IP

This is part 2 in my series explaining the jargon of the web. If you missed part 1, POP, SMTP & IMAP, you might want to read it first.

So now we are going to look at some jargon around these www things we use to visit websites & send email. For example, you typed (or clicked a link) www.studiowhiz.com into your address bar of your browser. Your browser bought you here. You just used a domain (web address) to get to this site.

So lets start with domains. A domain is a unique name that helps direct traffic around the internet, from computer to computer. Why do we need domains? Well computers identify each other with a series of numbers. Your computer knows itself at 127.0.0.1, one of Googles many computers is 72.14.207.104. These numbers are known as IP (internet protocol) numbers. It’s hard to remember these IP numbers, however words are easier to remember. So domains use words to point to these computers, making it easier for us to remember.

Domains are made up of a number of parts. Lets break a couple down. www.studiowhiz.com & www.nzherald.co.nz

TLD (top level domain) is the right most part, and is the first bit read by the browser. In the examples above this is the .com and .co.nz parts. This tells the browser where to look and what for.

Domain name is the next bit, and is the bit you can make up. In the example above this is the studiowhiz and nzherald parts.

Subdomain is the last bit, and generally is www, however can be anything. You are in control of these and they are free.

When you type www.nzherald.co.nz into the browser, your computer says “go to New Zealand (.nz), find all the companies (.co), then find nzherald” this will give your computer the IP number for the computer that has the NZ Herald website.

You have to purchase your domain name (name.tld – eg: studiowhiz.com) and you purchase them from a registrar. There are many, however for .com, .net or .org domains check www.godaddy.com these guys are widely respect as ‘the’ company to purchase your domain from. For regional domains eg .co.nz or .com.au you will probably have to purchase through a local registrar. Just do a Google search for your local registrar eg: Australian Domain registrar.

The last part to this domain puzzle is DNS (doman name server). This is a special computer that connects domains to IP numbers. When you type www.studiowhiz.com into your browser, your computer must talk to a domain name server to find the IP number. When you purchase your domain, chances are your registrar will have their own domain name servers that you can use. By default their domain name servers will point your domain to their own computers.

Your domain works for your website (eg: www.mysite.com) your email (me@mysite.com) and many other protocols used on the web. One of the great things about domains & DNS is that you can use one domain name, to point to different computers.

In my 5 reasons to use Google Apps post I talked about how I use Google for my email (me@studiowhiz.com) and I use MediaTemple for my website (www.studiowhiz.com), well I do that by setting the 2 parts of the domain to point to different IP numbers.

Summary:

• Domains are used so we don’t have to remember IP numbers
• Domains have 3 parts
  • top level domain (eg: co.nz & .com)
  • domain name (eg: studiowhiz)
  • subdomain (eg: www)
• Domains can point to different service providers (eg: Google for email, MediaTemple for web hosting)
• DNS (domain name servers) link domain names with the IP number of the server

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas one and all. I hope all your dreams come true, that your day is full of fun, laughter and great food.

Here is a little treat for you, the pic above is from Vladstudio a studio run by a great designer called Vlad. He has a collection of wallpapers amongst which there are some great christmas wallpapers.

5 reasons to use Google Apps

Any web developer will tell you setting up email for a client can be the bane of their life. I know when I ran my own company and was providing all hosting services, 90% of the support queries we took were in regards to email.

In the last 2 years I’ve moved completely away from this aspect of business, however because I work in the online industry, everyone asks me for advice. Now I simply say “Google Apps” and point them at this fantastic solution. I’m going to guess that almost 60% of businesses could get away with using Google Apps for their entire online presence. Here in NZ almost 65% of businesses don’t even have a website – Google Apps could solve that.
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Jargon Explained Part 1: POP, SMTP & IMAP

When it comes to the internet there is a lot of jargon thrown around and many people don’t know what these words & terms mean. What I hope to do with this series is unwrap some of this jargon so anyone can understand. Often small business owners, or organisation leaders need to make technology decisions but get bamboozled by the terms.

I’m going to start with email jargon, in particular 3 terms often bandied around. SMTP, IMAP and POP.

POP: stands for Post Office Protocol. This is an older technology used for the retrieval of email from the mail server to your local computer. This is a simple fetch type technology, it does nothing else other than get your email from one place and put it in another.

SMTP: stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. This is the technology that mail servers use for sending mail from one to another. Your computer will use SMTP to take an email you have written and pass it to the mail server of your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Their server will then use SMTP to pass it to the mail server of the person you sent the email too.

Simple right, POP to fetch the mail, SMTP to deliver it. Think of POP as you going to your mail box to fetch the mail. SMTP is the postie who delivers the mail from the post office to your mail box.

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Ouch

Daddy (me) decided that Mummy needed a break from bub, so he bundled bub into the buggy and headed off for a 20min walk around the block.

After completing the first 2 roads, Daddy decided he might veer right instead of left and swing past the supermarket. Feeling mighty proud of himself for getting the bread & OJ he thought “I think Mummy could do with a decent break from bub” and so he proceeded to walk the long way back to the road connecting their block.

Bub and Dad arrived at the intersection leading back up to the block the house is on. Dad looked at the time and decided Mummy needed more time, after all only 30 mins had passed. He carried on instead of heading home, down to the lovely track that follows the stream (just over there he points knowing you can’t see that).

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Build wealth with your blog

Lets face it, most of us gather our income from one source. Our day job. Sure it’s possible to make a fair amount of money with your day job & if you are good at saving you can save a lot too. But what if you want to earn something extra on the side?

No doubt you’ve probably heard rumors of people making heaps of money on the web, maybe you’ve heard of “bloggers” earning $1000 plus a day? I’ve even seen a story one guy who earned just under $1 million in 60 days – from his website. We all hear these stories and think, “gosh that sounds easy, I’ll start a website (or blog)”. Well before we get any further I’m here to tell you if you don’t like a little hard work, you won’t make money online.

This is the first in a new series I wish to write to help you make money online, to supplement (or maybe replace) the income from your day job.

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Mix ‘n’ Match

Getting a website or online business online is not the easiest thing, especially if you are not a coder. Trying to find out what CSS, PHP, ASP and other terms mean is hard. When you start looking at off the shelf products it makes it even more confusing.

I’ve just been asked by a friend if he can mix and match a PHP application with a website built in ASP. Strangely enough he’s the 3rd person to ask me this in the last 7 days.

Well the short answer is no, you can not install a PHP application on an ASP server. (By the way, ASP & PHP are coding languages used to build web applications – look for more explanation in my upcoming Jargon Explained series). Trying to install PHP on an ASP server is like trying to put Diesel in your Petrol car.

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1 reason to ignore digg

I have my list of favourite sites, a list I’m slowly revealing here on this blog. One of these sites I absolutely adore is www.copyblogger.com a blog by Brian Clark.

Brain’s site is dedicated to helping others improve their writing style. One goal of my blog is to help me improve my writing, and Brain’s site will certainly help with that.

So why did I title this post “1 reason to ignore digg”? Brian’s site has grown from 6000 visitors to 29000+ in eleven months. He credits digg with some of this increase, however digg, while it helps bring in traffic, has it’s flaws.

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Remember the Milk + Gmail

Remember the Milk is a great online service that helps you remember things. Think of it as your digital to-do-list. When I started using this service, it was simply a website that you could email tasks too. Now, well it’s so much more.

Today they have announced full integration with GMail which brings your list into you mail, allows you to link tasks with email or calendar events. You can then receive alerts (reminders) to your email or your mobile phone. They have a great video you can watch that shows you how Remember the Milk works with your GMail account.

I also noticed today (and they may have had this for a while) that there is an interface for mobile phones. You can use Remember the Milk on both Windows Mobile & Apple iPhone, and sync your tasks over the air. Fantastic, I must get back into using this. With the integration, the mobile solution and the ability to share tasks, I’m sure it’d make life easier around my house. (Yes dear, I’ll get milk on the way home)

» Remember the Milk
» RTM & Gmail integration video
» RTM & Windows Mobile
» RTM & Apple iPhone

Freelance Book

Cyan & Collis Ta’eed have just finished what looks to be a fantastic book for freelancers.

Collis & his wife Cyan are the team behind www.freelanceswitch.com the ultimate online resource for freelancers. Having been out on my own before I know how hard it can be, although for some reason every person starting out has this romantic idea about freelancing.

If the book is anything like their site, it will rapidly become must read for all people looking to go out freelancing. If you buy now the ebook is only $29, or in Jan it will be on lulu.com for $35.

» How to be a rockstar freelancer

Firefox 3 beta 2 & software releases

Firefox 3 is getting closer to full release with each new day. It’s great to see today that the 2nd beta version is now available for download, as announced by Mozilla

For those of you new to software you don’t have to purchase, many companies now include the wider internet community in the testing process. Firefox for example was first released as ‘alpha’ software. This means it’s sort of usable, prone to crash but gives cutting edge people a chance to help shape the future of the product.

When a product goes into ‘beta’ it means its almost ready to go, but might still have a few things to work out. Firefox for example is now very close to production ready, with small (mainly visual) things to tweak. By allowing more and more people to download and use the beta, the Mozilla team have more chance of having bugs reported before the software goes into release candidate.
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Magic Denty

Muks posted a story yesterday about an ‘incident’ with their boiler deciding to spit water everywhere. To her rescue came ‘Magic Denty’ the superhero, who fixed the boiler with his magic hands and devices.

So I thought to myself – every superhero needs a shield, something they can adorn to their cape. I had a spare 20mins at work this morning, so whipped into photoshop to create the official “Denty Shield”.

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5 things I learnt from Deadliest Catch

“Mamma always said you’ll never learn nuthin’ from TV”, well mum was wrong. Deadliest Catch is a show on Discovery Channel following the crab fishermen of the Bering Sea, a show that has taught me at least 5 things about life, work and humor.

1. My job is a walk in the park compared to these guys
2. I don’t like crab
3. When ice forms around you, break it off
4. If you thought being a fisherman was hard, try being a camera man
5. Life might be tough, but you can still laugh

Right now I’m watching the behind the scenes, showing us what the camera crew have to do to shot the show. These guys are just plain insane, but I have a new respect for the entire crew.

Biggest lesson?
No matter what shit your life throws at you, remember to take time to have some fun and laugh.

DIY CSS Framework

CSS (cascading style sheets) is the defining layer of any website. For those not sure, CSS is the bit of a web page, that tells your browser where to put things when rendering (drawing) the page.

CSS is fantastic, however with little to no Web Standards between the many browsers out there you can’t be gauranteed that your layout will always work. For example a default paragraph may have more margins in one browser over another.

Darren Wood is someone I would class as a CSS Guru (although I’m not sure he’ll agree with that). He spoke at the recent BarCamp mini-conference in Auckland specifically about this. He has some tricks to help level the playing feild & he’s kind enough to share his files for you to learn and work from.

I’m adding this to my ‘Must Recommend’ list for any web designer, hobbiest or professional. Starting your web project with Darrens framework, means you will have less headaches.

» Darren Wood » DIY CSS Frameworks

Tags: CSS, frameworks, develpment, web, barcamp