InfoProfitSavvy

Following up on 45n5’s Business plan and his advice to step away from the plugins, I decided to help out any information marketing or blog marketing asprirants by providing a list of the plugins I am using for my information marketing blogs.  This way they can have their plugins setup before they make their first blog post!

For this information markeing blog specifically, I use…

• Admin Menu
• aLinks
• Comment Relish
• DoFollow
• FeedBurner Feed Smith
• Filosofo Uncheck Default Category
• Fuzzy Recent Posts
• Google XML Sitemaps
• Google Analytics
• Google Sitemaps - Append UTW tags
• Permalink Redirect
• Post Schedule Ping Optimizer
• SEO Title Tag
• Anti-Sociable
• Spam Karma 2
• Akismet
• SRG Clean Archives
• Semiologic Subscribe Me
• Tag Cloud Widget for UTW
• Twitter Tools
• Ultimate Tag Warrior
• What Would Seth Godin Do
• Wordpress Database Backup

I have a couple other plugins that are currently deactivated. Mostly for the fact that they were slowing my blog down too much.

So… what plugins do you use??

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Before we begin, I want to make it clear that I am not trying to make an argument here. I agree with the heart of 45n5’s point. I just question how hardfast his “no new plugins after you have made your first blog post” rule is.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

45n5 said in his blogpost basic-business-plan-to-make-600-profit-per-month the following rules…

“Rules, Rules, Rules:

a. You can never change the url structure of you blog after you make your first post. Never, no redirects, nothing.

b. You may not install any additional plugins after your first blog post is made. You must finish with what you start with. (possible exception for spam plugins)

c. You may never change the layout of any blog

d. You write the majority of your posts on things people buy

I had never heard of such a rule as not adding any plugins after a first post has been on a blog and so I asked him why this was.

I could see why not to change the permalink structure. That was obvious. I wasn’t sure about the layout issue. But I was completely puzzled about the “plugin” issue.

Was I somehow messing up my SEO or pagerank or my google juice if I installed new plugins? Was I in someway doing damage to my blogs in the search engines? So I asked why not to have new plugins. Why was this a RULE??

AND he wrote a response post called step-away-from-the-plugins-and-layout to respond to my question.

His answer was that the fact that I had spent two hours trying to get the mybloglog widget to work with this theme and ended up having to get rid of the widget altogether and create a text widget instead for it to work is explanation enough of why he made that rule.

While I understand his point… here is one that I want to make in rebuttal.

I think his “Rule” is well-intended and is designed to encourage people to stay focused and not get distracted while they are working. Can’t argue with that.

My only concern is this… some people never get out of the starting gate because they fear they have to have everything PERFECT before they can even begin. They procrastinate and procrastinate actually marketing because they are so busy collecting tools and debating whether to use one layout or another or one blogging platform or another.

I think that these rules may actually hinder someone who may skew towards being a “can’t start it unless I can do it perfectly” personality. These rules certainly can make someone feel like it is imperative to wait one more day and make sure they have the perfect plugins and the perfect layout before they begin their blog.

I think there needs to be a balance. I agree that tweaking can take the place of working. COMPLETELY AGREE. But I also believe that tweaking can take the place of STARTING.

Getting started on a new blog means risking doing it imperfectly. It means risking having the wrong plugins or too many plugins or too few plugins. It means learning about new web 2.0 tools and figuring out how to implement them.

So while I get his point and his concerns… I hope he can get mine. Sometimes getting started with that first blog post means risking that it isn’t perfect and it may require tweaks. And those tweaks may need to be made before you are making $600 a month online.

ALSO.. case in point…

I read one of his earlier blog posts about being bugged by twitter in blogposts. I also read a post from “IncomeHero”to please always offer full feed.

So taking these perspectives into consideration, I deactivated my “evermore” plugin which was truncating my rss feed. I also adjusted my twitter feed into my sidebar instead of into my blogposts.

How long did it take me to do those things? About four minutes. Was it worth four minutes of my time? Abso-freakin-lutely if it made my rss feed easier more enjoyable for my readers.

So, while I understand the reasoning behind 45n5’s rules… I question the hard-fastness of them.

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I have been experimenting with a Web 2.0 site called Facebook. So far, my adventure into Facebook has been positive and the potential for Facebook Marketing is huge. Especially with the help of some very specific Facebook Addons.

Before I begin my review, I do want to place one important caveat to Facebook Marketers. Facebook is Fun… so watch out Marketers and don’t get caught up and lose all of your time in there. It was hard for me to resist adding the “Texas Hold ‘Em” app… but I knew if I did that, I would never get any work done!

Another way that Facebook is perhaps “too fun” for marketers is that it is quite interactive.  Especially if you have a fun bunch of folks to connect with… which the 30DC members are.  Here again, I have to watch myself and make sure that I am not “playing on facebook” instead of “working on facebook”.

So, “Facebook is Fun” caveat completed… here are my initial impressions.

Facebook has some really great web 2.0 and marketing apps I have discovered that you might find interesting.

Using the Stumbleupon app, you can quickly increase your StumbleUpon contacts as well as the power of your stumbleupon linking actions.

Using Twitter app you can easily add more content to your facebook profile as you are twittering and adding content to your blogs. Your facebook profile is notified every time you post a new blogpost via twitter.

Using the Magnolia app also increases the impact of your Magnolia bookmarks.

The Trend Hunter app is very interesting for niche market ideas.

Now, just to be honest with you, I have only been on Facebook for a few days. Here are some of the actions I have taken so far on Facebook:

• I have created a group for my 30DC team
• I have added several Facebook Addons - Superwall, Funwall, My Questions, Twitter, StumbleUpon, SuperPoke, Superlatives, Trend Hunter, Group Officer, Top Friends, Magnolia Bookmarks
• I have joined several Facebook Groups - Thirty Day Challenge, Web 2.0 Entrepreneurs, Web 2.0 Tips and Hints, SuperSize Your Socializing, Web 3.0, Buzz Marketing, Internet Marketing,
• I have created several friendships and have added to my stumbleupon contacts, my twitter followers, and have even thrown a sheep or two.

Here are my overall Facebook Marketing First Impressions:

• Facebook seems entirely too focused on “education” and “location” for it’s initial networks. Still, it is very easy to connect with others and to create a community with Facebook but I would like to “thumbs down” the emphasis on my high school and college and where I live.
• Facebook easily plays well with other Web 2.0 apps I am using like StumbleUpon, Magnolia, and Twitter.
• Facebook plays well with Video including YouTube Videos.
• Facebook is very connected with “Slide” and other Web 2.0 apps.

I am able to see what my friends are doing on Facebook. What Facebook groups they join, what Facebook addons they choose, when they interact with another person. By doing so, I am really to meet new people, discover new facebook addons as well as new groups, and I am able to increase my ability to connect with my current associations.

I am enjoying Facebook more than any of the Social Networking sites I am a member of currently. I enjoy it FAR MORE than MySpace. I don’t know how much of the fact that I am getting a kick out of Facebook is due to the thirty day challenge more than Facebook itself.

I will be keeping active in Facebook for much longer though and keep you updated as my Facebook Marketing experience evolves.

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Tim Schroeder of eMonitized has a blog post of four free tools for finding hot niches. I like these tools because they are really “trend watching tools”. If you are still looking to generate niche market ideas, you might want to consider checking out his post!

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Sometime I find myself COMPLETELY derailed in my information marketing efforts by having to deal with the technology side of blog marketing via wordpress. Today was one of those days!

I am supposed to be searching for seven niche ideas. That is what I am supposed to be doing right now as part of my thirty day challenge. Plus I am supposed to be working with my thirty day challenge team “Ten Bucks or Bust” to help them stay motivated and on task.

What am I really doing?

I am wrestling with (and losing!) blasted css code and plugin codes trying to get my “MyBlogLog” widget look right on my front page. Two hours later from thinking I would just put in a little widget and make a slight tweak to css code for my sidebar… and I finally figured it out.

TWO HOURS!

I had to completely get rid of the mybloglog widget and use a text widget instead. The mybloglog widget just wasn’t going to work with this theme no matter what I did. At least that is the conclusion I came to.

So… I didn’t get any progress on my seven niche market ideas… I got a blog with a fairly unremarkable mybloglog widget that I am not perfectly happy with and still want to tweak.

BUT I am going to force myself to be content with 90% happy with how mybloglog looks in my sidebar and call it good and get back to information marketing.

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Today’s challenge is all about generating ideas for SEVEN, yes, SEVEN Niche Market Ideas. Information Marketing is tricky and it is great to have “backup” plans and niches in case the first one or two aren’t working!

Ed showed some really great idea generators in his videos… ebay pulse, technorati, google groups, and hot trends. REALLY great videos that showed great ideas for niche markets to create an information product.

So in the spirit of today’s theme… I am going to list some other idea generators for your information products!

Maybe you can find the perfect information marketing niche if you..

Stumble around in StumbleUpon and see what intriguing things come up

Observe Social Bookmarking sites like Digg.com or Reddit.com

Search Volunteer Match to see what people need help with

Type stuff in Google Labs - Google Suggest and see what comes up!

Look around Google Answers or Yahoo! Answers and see what people are asking

Watch the Public Timeline on Twitter and see what people are doing

Google “HELP ME” queries like “how do I” “get rid of” or “at my wit’s end” and see what people’s needs are

Search through “Trade Magazines” for great ideas for your information marketing product

If you have any other good idea generators, please post them in your comments!

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I created a video of a few firefox tips tweaks for 30 Day Challenge members. These tweaks show you some pretty cool firefox tips and some toolbar tweaks to help you make the most out of the “official browser of the 30 Day Challenge”.

The video is viewable online, downloadable to an mp3 audio, or as an ipod video. Up to you. Whatever floats your 30DC boat. You can access the video here.

It is set to a pretty high screen resolution which is unlike me. I usually make my screen resolution pretty small when I make the videos but this one isn’t that way. My current display settings are 1280 X 720 so if that is what your settings are (or higher) you should be able to watch the video no problem.

I suggest hitting the “F11″ key before you watch the video to make sure you can see it all.

OH>>> any visiting 30DC’ers… the comments are set to “dofollow”… so link to your sites to your hearts content if you want to leave comments below. But only if you say nice G-rated things

Once again… you can see the video at http://infoprofitsavvy.com/videos/FireFoxTips/FireFoxTips.html Enjoy!

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Okay, I have to admit… I love twitter.  IT IS FUN, FUN, FUN.

I really like it with the FireFox Addon “TwitterBar”.

PLUS I was watching Ed in action and trying to figure out what he is doing and noticed that he uses TwitterTools to put his Tweets on his blog.  I checked it out and added it to my blogs as well.

Now Twitter is even more fun!

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I am watching the Thirty Day Challenge preseason training and the official browser is Firefox.

Now, I am somewhat familiar with FireFox in that I do have it and I do use it… but most to run my TiddlyWiki. Oh, I also use FireFox to make comments on other people’s blogs since I have the SearchStatus addon with “highlight nofollow links” turned on.

That way, before I make a blog post, I know if the blog is dofollow or nofollow. I am pretty stingy about comments on sites that are set to nofollow. Why should I add to their blog content for them if they won’t even give me a link back? Maybe that sounds harsh. It probably does. I just prefer to comment on dofollow blogs. Win/Win.

BUT I DIGRESS…

For my actual browsing, I am a pretty sworn Internet Explorer gal. Well, that is about to change. I am going to do the challenge as Ed lays it out and if he says that the official browser of the 30 day challenge is FireFox, then I am going to make it my OFFICIAL BROWSER for the next thirty days. YUP. NO INTERNET EXPLORER IF I CAN HELP IT!

There are a few addons he suggests and a few sites he suggests joining.

Here are the tools and firefox addons he mentions that I already have…

Firefox Addons: SearchStatus addon, Del.icio.us addon, stumbleupon addon

Other sites/tools: Google Notebook, Del.icio.us membership, Stumbleupon membership, Digg membership, Facebook membership, iTunes

Here are the tools and firefox addons he mentions that I don’t have…

Firefox Addons: SEO for Firefox, Firebug, Fleck, ScribeFire, Session Manager, TwitterBar

Others sites/tools: Fleck membership, Twitter,

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I just heard about a new 30 Day Challenge from Ed Dale that is about to start and made a MAD DASH over to join it.

I will be blogging all about my experience as a Thirty Day Challenge Member here in this InfoProfitSavvy blog.

My goal is to post every single day of the challenge and let you know what is going on as I am experiencing it.  So, even if you aren’t in the challenge or are reading this much after the fact, you can still learn what I am learning step by step.

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