Postcards from the Funny Farm

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As some of you long-time readers know, I have written about blogging almost as much as psychology in the life of this blog.  You won’t see blog-tips here these days though since all my writing that concerns blogging is now being relegated to my online diary: “Damien at the Speed of Life.”  This includes all future editions of “CAN” progress, my ongoing attempt at emulating business performance management software on all 3 blogs.

If blogging issues and the truly wacky life that I lead are up your alley, please go on over and bookmark me!

But as for this blog,  stay tuned here for continued “out of the box” psychology and inspiration.

I truly am humbled by the chance every day to write here for you who read my stuff.  In December 2008 it will have been 2 years of writing, meeting you online, and learning more than I ever imagined the interweb was capable of.  If I may quote Paul Williams’ tagline to his readers on his bio site. He is a co-songwriter of one of my most favorite songs of all time, The Rainbow Connection.”  He says to his readers:

Your interest in my life’s work honors me greatly and is appreciated more than words can say.

To Paul, I had to steal that … I feel like it’s exactly what I want to say to people who read my blog.

To the readers of my blog: Here’s to approaching a strong finish of another year blogging together, and the beginning of another one in January 2009! CHEERS.

Damien Riley

1. Understand the difference between Wordpress.org and Wordpress.com

.com is a free blog service like blogger, Yahoo! 360, or Livejournal (there are many many more). You have very limited control over the files apart from the post content. Furthermore, most ad campaigns will not pay out to free hosted blogs such as these. These are free but they have many limitations.

.org is a self hosted set of templates that you install yourself on your own server. You have complete control over all the files that make up your blog. If this tutorial fails to help you 100%, try the support at Wordpress.org They have a lot of material and recommendations there. Most blogs with large readerships and who are making money have this type of a blog platform.

This walk-though is for a self hosted Wordpress.org install

2. Start an account with a hosting service like Topclasshost.com

You need to get the credit card out for this. There is no free lunch when it comes to serious blogging … well, not at first anyway ;) NOTE: there are many other recommended hosting services at Wordpress.org I like Topclasshost because it’s cheap, they have excellent customer service and you can install unlimited Wordpress blogs in a couple clicks through “Fantastico” in the control panel.

3. Download FileZilla (free) from filezilla-project.org/

4. Enter your ftp information that the host emailed to you into File-Zilla. Connect to make sure it works.

5. Go to your control panel, usually located at domainname/cpanel and select “Fantastico.”

6. Select from the blog choices “Wordpress” and go through the steps to install your own ass-kicking Wordpress.org self-hosted blog!

Voila! Congratulations … You’re done.

Of course, after that there is still a ton to do along your journey but that’s where the fun begins. Mine began in December of 2006 and what a ride it’s been! There is so much “accessorizing” and optimizing to do at this point.

For example, you can install themes by finding them online, downloading, and dragging them into Filezilla into your Wordpress folder wp-content/themes and for plugins wp-content/plugins

At this point, you need to bookmark Wordpress.org as you are learning all the “tricks of the trade.” They have an amazing forum there for help. Of course, you may always email me for support. The Wordpress blog platform exists because of people willing to help others. I’m always eager to help my readers because so many have helped me. Even if you don’t need help, please leave me a comment letting me know if you have questions and if you found this walk-through useful.

Have fun.

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NOTE TO THOSE WITH NOT MUCH TIME to wade through all this : For a very reasonable one-time fee, I will set you up your own blog and get it the way you want it. Of course all plugins and settings will be seo optimized and I can also add custom graphics to the job as well. My wife and I have a small graphics company. I also give “Wordpress” lessons. Let’s chat.

Blogging right can mean the difference between beer pong tables and a million bucks.

My friend Ginger M at Growing Happiness asked me in response to a post I wrote on backlink tactics basically “How do you find time to post 2-3 posts a day?” Well, I responded but I thought I’d write a longer response as a post since the way I schedule my life to include blogging has been a process and sort of an art form in itself if I really think about it (in the same way say juggling is an art form lol). Here’s the gist of it:

First, let me tell you about my off-line life so you get an idea of what I juggle to make money on this blog. I’m a dad of 3 and married to a wonderful lady. I teach 4th grade 185 days a year and my hours vary. Usually I get home around 5 but sometimes later and occasionally earlier. I start my day about 7:50 but don’t have kids until 8:50. When I get my prep stuff done there is usually time to read email and sometimes post something (incidentally I am doing that now).

That’s me in a nutshell. Since I started blogging in December of 2006 under the “Riley Central” banner I have been reinventing my brand and my focus over and over again … just ask people like Jessica the Rock Chick, some blog friends have seen a lot of changes and growth in me and in my blog in a couple years. So, you ask the question: How do I blog so regularly? There’s a couple of strategies … or “habits of blogging” I have developed and gotten into the groove with, the first one is: 1) Think about blog ideas all the time and have a way to write them down. This also applies to pictures. I have a carrying case with my digital camera on my hip all the time. Whew! That combined with the bald head must make me look pretty darned nerdy … oh well. One of my new kids told me I look exactly like David Cross yesterday and when I looked him up … I sadly had to agree (no offense David but you bic, I buzz). Anyway, get as many ideas written down as you can throughout the day and when you finally get 30 minutes to an hour to sit at a comp, you don’t have to wonder about a topic. This is probably my single-most lucrative trade secret. It’s like that old joke: “Q: What’s the fastest animal in the world? A: The Ethiopian chicken.” I’ve learned to do these fast.

2) Tend to the real life concerns as much as possible. I am trying more and more to make time for dates with my wife and time on the couch with her watching shows and snuggling. Also, playing on the floor with my kids and reading with them (they are 10, 3, and 11 months). I need to jump in and do the dishes, fold the laundry on the futon … you get the idea insert your stuff HERE. I do spend too much time on my comp BUT it is not nearly as much as it seems. I also make use of the future post feature of Wordpress.

So there you have it. Two ways I have learned, but am daily working to make solid habits, to post 1-3 posts a day (my personal goal is to always do at least 1). I hope more people visit because that means more clicks on my advertisers and more money to take my family to Hawaii and Ireland one day (a dream my wife and I have). Hey … Seth Godin is balder than me … it could happen ;)

Thanks to all who visit and read here. I hope my stuff inspires you to make your own money and make your life great.

I’ve read through a mountain of books and posts on how to blog and get more backlinks. A backlink is your url on another blog or website that takes a clicker back to you. These help in generating traffic and in establishing your rank on many platforms like Google or Technorati.

Some pages have hundreds of suggestions, others just a few. I’ve found that most only have a handful that are worth their salt. That brings up the first one: the WORTH of your link.

1. Make sure your blog is worth something. If I am driving down a hot freeway dying of thirst with a bunch of BAIL BONDS signs and shops, am I going to stop? Hell no. Now … BE THE A&W SIGN and watch hpw many people start linking to you. If you have further questions on this, contact me through the form at the foot of this post.
2. Post as much as you possibly can with dexterity. Post 2 or 3 times a day if you can. If the content is good and you write them well, you can never do this too much. Don’t listen to people who say you can post too much or that you should only post once a day. It’s hogwash. I’ve had some of my hugest months traffic and earnings-wise when I posted this frequently and more. I’d be happy to discuss this further with you if anyone sees it differently. Leave a comment and let’s start a dialogue.
3. Create list-posts. These cater to the short attention span yet high intelligence of the blogger who is bouncing through the web. These draw attention and more often than not get read. The post you are readintg now is a list-style post. The bread and butter of Web 2.0.
4. Comment on the blogs on your blogroll. Every day. Not always easy, but it is like taking your vitamins … you gain through this exercise.
5. Respond to comments.
6. Offer to be a guest blogger. In the future I plan to do a list-post on the ten things I have learned through being a guest blogger. This is worth tons more than just the guaranteed backlink. NOTE: I am available to guest blog on your site for free. Leave me a comment by using the contact form in this post. :)
7. Do a Q&A recurring series.
8. Do a weekly link-love post (ie; Blog Safari).
9. Mentor aspiring bloggers and be patient in answering questions.
10. Use forums and discussion boards to link to your site.

Best Sources I have Run Across:
courtneytuttle.com/2007/04/09/102-ways-to-make-you...
socialmediadaily.com
Contact me: