Monthly Archives: May 2010

GoDaddy WordPress Coupon BDAYPRESS for Unlimited WordPress Hosting

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With WordPress you have the option of choosing a free account or obtaining your own domain and hosting. Of course some free accounts allow you to mask or redirect a domain but usually with a monthly fee. Having your own domain name is important for search engines and branding. However you may not want to deal with installing WordPress yourself. Therefore GoDaddy has a WordPress solution for you and a special WordPress hosting acount. You get the hosting, along with your own domain and they have it setup already. Here is the GoDaddy Coupon for Unlimited WordPress hosting good until 6/4/10. Unlimited transfer is a nice account when you are growing or anticipating growth.

godaddy wordpress couponGoDaddy WordPress Coupon Code: BDAYPRESS
Deal: $7/mo UNLIMITED WP Hosting (Minimum 12 month account)
Deal Good Until: Friday June 4th

Rolex Repair

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I wanted to discuss a site I use for my rolex repair and just basic cleaning and upkeep. The site LuxuryWatchService.com is a great example of a website that is used and marketed to provide an offline service. In other words this is not a site that allows you to purchase something online such as a virtual world good, or buy a product and have it shipped. This is a site explaining the service that is provided by the certified Rolex repair watchmaker.

Rolex Repair

rolex repair imageJoe at Rolex repair provides you with a self addressed prepaid fedex label so you can ship your Rolex watch to him to be evaluated. The shipping is insured so you do not have to worry about something happening to the watch. Once it arrives they take a look at it and evaluate what needs to be done. You then get a call from the watchmaker to let you know what may need to be done and the cost. Only if you approve of the work will it be done. The watch will typically return within a week to three weeks and I can tell you mine was like new. Give this service a try for your Rolex repair as the price is right and as a certified Rolex repair man you know the work will be done right.

Reasons for Watch Repair
The seals and gaskets can crack or dry out which is going to lead your watch to lose its water resistance capability. In case you are not aware of the issues and you go diving or swimming, you watch may get rusty (unless it is water resistant) and then it would be beyond repair. In addition, if you blow out the movement, you would require sending the watch back to Rolex in case it could be replaced which can cost you more than $2,000.

Thus, you should be following that old cliché and it is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and it holds exceptionally true when you are talking about Rolex watches. Sadly, there are people who believe that if the watch ain’t broke, you do not need to fix it especially when it come to their Rolex watches. The consider that as their watch is water resistant, it is also resistant to various other kinds of wear as well. However, you need to think about it; would you prefer going with it for the coming 5 years or more without even getting it checked for routine maintenance and care when compared with your automobile. Be sure to utilize someone that practices proper Rolex repair.

Increase Your Blog Traffic and Engagement with CommentLuv

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I have been using the ComLuv plugin for WordPress on my site and love it, no pun intended. You may think at first glance that it is a comment plugin to replace another plugin you already use but that is not the case. CommentLuv, as it is called, does not displace your current commenting system. It merely enhances it.

What is CommentLuv and How Does it Work?
First you install the plugin on your own blog, see below. Then you become a member, registration is free, and include your blog in their system. Become a member here. Now when you leave a comment on a blog that also has CommentLuv enabled you will obtain a link back to your website. Typically when you leave a comment on someones website you either cannot leave a link back to your site or the link is tied to your user name. You more than likely would like a return link so others will find your blog as well. Enter CommentLuv.

comment luv choose post

When you leave a comment you will then see a drop down list of the most recent posts from your website.

You can choose which one you would like to have a link back to.



commentluv chosen postTherefore when someone reads your comment they see the title of your article, that you choose, and it is hyper-linked back to your site. This is much better than the default commenting system that either strips links or links them from your name. It is also a good system for webmasters because the individual leaving the link has to first register at CommentLuv and can only choose one of their most recent blog posts as opposed to linking to some other site. It is a win-win plugin. There are over 190,000 downloads to date.

Install CommentLuv
commentluv enabledHere is a link to the CommentLuv new version of the plugin for WordPress 2.92 and above get CommentLuv 2.80b here. For versions up to WordPress 2.92 see the WordPress.org CommentLuv page here.

CommentLuv Author
The CommentLuv author is an extremely nice individual that works very hard to keep his plugin community happy. I have found Andy Bailey to be very humble and gracious. You can follow the latest CommentLuv information on twitter here @commentluv. Give the plugin a try.

$1.99 Domain with Hosting

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You can obtain a years worth of hosting as well as a .COM domain registration for under $50. By using the coupon FAN20 you will obtain both for $47.07.

GoDaddy Hosting
To utilize the coupon simply choose hosting – Start Here (a new window will open) – and then choose a domain. Choose either the Economy or the WordPress Economy if you would like WordPress pre-installed and add to your cart. Next find the .COM domain you would like and add it to your cart as well. If the total is $47.07 then the code has been applied, see the image to the right. If not, then put in the code FAN20 into the promotional area and click to apply the code.

$1.99 Domain
godaddy_dealBy using the promo code you can obtain a domain for just $1.99. Normally a domain is $10.49 and with a coupon $7.49. However with this deal you get a $10.49 domain for $1.99 and still receive the 20% off hosting.

Online Retail Industry in Q1 2010

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comScore is having a free webinar for you to learn about their analysis of the online retail industry in the first quarter of this year. They also mentioned it will survey findings that highlight consumer sentiment about the current state of the economy and a detailed analysis of the social media landscape. It is presents by comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni.

Date / Time / Place

Date: Thursday, May 27
Time: 2 – 3 p.m. EST/1 – 2 p.m. CST/11 a.m. – noon PST
Register: Click Here

Past Attendees
They also surveyed those at the last meeting and here is what they said about it’s usefulness:
* 98% said the information included in the webinar was helpful
* 95% said they are likely to attend this upcoming webinar
* 10% said they watched the webinar without any pants on
* 2% said they did not know what a webinar was and went to their corporate offices in Reston, the doors were locked and they did not have a security pass so they just went to Starbucks across the street

[ okay, so maybe the bottom two were not in comScore's press release, but still possible ]

1 Trillion Display Ads in First Quarter 2010

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According to this Comscore Press Release display advertising increased by 15% from the same time last year. They compared Q1 (Jan, Feb, Mar) of 2009 to Q1 of 2010 and found an increase of 15% putting Q1 of 2010 over 1 Trillion display advertisements in the United States.

Display Ad Spending
Total spending on display advertisements during this time period in the United States. Total spent was estimated by Comscore to be $2.7 billion.

Display Ad Publishers
Those sites, or companies with a portfolio of sites that had the most display advertisements during that time are #1 Facebook.com with 16.2%, #2 Yahoo! Sites with 12.1%, #3 Microsoft Sites with 5.5%, #4 Fox Interactive Media with 4.9%.

Display Ad Advertisers
The advertisers that had the most display advertising during this period were, beginning with the most are: AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., Scottrade, Inc., Experian Interactive, Sprint Nextel Corporation, Netflix, Inc..

Verisign Increases Domain Fees | Renew Domains Now

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Verisign will be increasing the registry fee for .com domains and .net domains beginning July 1, 2010. These are the fees that registrars like GoDaddy, Register.com and others pay. Therefore the cost of a domain may be passed along in one way or another and typically by increasing the domain registration fee. It is advised that you renew domains before July 1. As to the cost Verisign said:

VeriSign announced that as of July 1, 2010, the registry fee for .com domain names will increase from $6.86 to $7.34 and that the registry fee for .net domain names will increase, from $4.23 to $4.65.

Renew and Obtain a Discount
You can renew a domain at any time and for any number of years. Try using a GoDaddy coupon and save even more.

Domain Traffic
Interesting fact about domains in general from Verisign:

As the economy and society becomes increasingly dependent on digital technology, it is imperative that investment in the underlying infrastructure, including .com and .net, continue to keep pace with the robust growth of the Internet and ensure its continued security and reliability. Over the last decade, the volume of Internet traffic and domain name system (DNS) queries on VeriSign’s global infrastructure has increased from an average of approximately 2 billion queries per day in the year 2000 to more than 50 billion queries per day today while maintaining 100 percent operational accuracy and stability for the last eleven years.

First Non-Latin Character Domains Announced

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If you are reading this site in English you may not realize that those using other languages do not have everything, such as domains, available in their native language. ICANN is the governing authority. ICANN was formed in 1998 and stands for the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers just added additional top level domains.

For the first time domains, known as ccTLD or Top Level Domains, will have non-Latin characters. It began this month, May 2010, when these country code top level domains were inserted in the DNS root zone. The countries are

  • Egypt: مصر (Egypt)
  • Saudi Arabia: السعودية (AlSaudiah)
  • United Arab Emirates: امارات (Emarat)

To date there has been a total of 21 requests for new top level domains representing 11 languages. Thirteen of them have successfully passed through what ICANN calls their “String Evaluation” (the second stage of the process) and are ready for the final stage of the process when the requesting country or territory initiates the request for TLD Delegation.

From the ICANN press release, as you can see there is a large population that can benefit from this:

Arabic has now become the first non-Latin script to be used as an IDN ccTLD. Arabic is among the most highly used languages on the Internet today. The Middle-East has an average Internet penetration of just over 20%, and shows a big potential for growth. Users in the region will now have easier access to the Internet, with the ability to use their primary language for the entire domain name.

Affiliates in Colorado It Is Time to Move

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Here is more in the online taxation and affiliate issue. Originally we noted that states such as Colorado passed laws at an attempt to obtain sales tax on sales that were considered to have been originated through an affiliate in their state. Originally it was Amazon that took the first step and you can read the original article here entitled Law Dictates Behavior where Amazon’s response was to simply terminate all affiliates in Colorado from their affiliate program. Now the domino’s fall.

First it was Amazon, and today I see a smaller online retailer with an affiliate program that you may or may have heard of. Regardless I will remove their name and show you the email text here:

Dear XYZ,

Due to the recent tax laws regarding nexus involving online affiliate publishers in the state of Colorado (legislation known as HB 10-1193) we will no longer be able to accept new publishers from Colorado into our affiliate program.

Additionally, we will be immediately terminating our relationship with any publishers that were already joined. We sincerely apologize for the abrupt interruption in the program if this affected your account directly. This, unfortunately, affects our ability to continue business with loyal publishers and we understand that we are losing valuable relationships due to these new laws.

Your publisher account will be closed as of May 18, 2010, and we will no longer pay advertising fees for sales referrals after that date. All sales made prior to May 18, 2010 will be credited to you and paid out in accordance with our regular schedule on June 10, 2010. Please accept our apologies and we appreciate your understanding. Hopefully in the future, these laws will be reversed in order to keep the networks diversified and growing.

Kind Regards,
ABC

Not sure why I got it as I am not a Colorado based affiliate. However there you have it. The wheels have been set in motion and those that have sites relying on affiliate revenue within certain states may have to move. Of course that begs another question about the business with the affiliate relationship and where they are incorporated, or where their entity is considered to reside, verse where the employees or owners reside. Could it be as simple as just re-incorporating in another state and obtaining a post office box? I don’t know for sure but I feel for those that may have to either shut down their business or move their business and families to another state.

Due Diligence – Just Do It

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This website is worth $100 Million. Why? Because I said so, so write the check already. The story of Ning follows.

First, to know me is to know that my sarcasm precedes me, so here we go with a little story. Here is how most people buy a car. They walk onto a car lot and say to a salesperson “Is this is a good car?” and the salesperson says “Why yes it is and you can get undercoating, it’s your lucky day” and of course the customer replies “sold”. Right? Wrong. You would first do some research on car types, brands, fuel economy, crash testing, etc. Otherwise known as “due diligence”.

Due diligence in the legal community typically means lots of work and billable hours, haha, it actually means looking under the covers to assure what one person is telling another is true. Due diligence in the VC (Venture Capital) community usually means the same, and can be the most important step in the process. The only individuals that do not like it are usually those not telling the truth. Everyone seems to believe it is a necessary evil but hate to waste time. However if it uncovers a key factor that will either kill a deal or lower an evaluation – it can be very useful.

In the Ning story read at Gawker here the accusation is that she (Gina Bianchini) provided false information for the due diligence and therefore the valuation was much higher than it should of been. That is a serious accusation, and if true means those that invested may have vastly overpaid.

Bottom line is that due diligence needs to be taken seriously. The process should be allowed to run its course, done by those with experience in the business and industry they are evaluating. Too many times due diligence is not done properly, by someone without the relevant experience to perform the diligence or too hastily. This may just be another example. If I were investing millions I would certainly have a vested interest in the due diligence.

As an entrepreneur or individual seeking investment for a company be sure that you present data properly.