Have you ever wanted to release a product or service you thought was unique only to discover someone’s beat you to it?

If so, you’re not alone. It happens to the best of you. Instead of giving up, look on the bright side – it means you’ve generated an idea that’s got the potential to succeed. Ok so you were not the first, but if you could do it once you can do it again.

Refine Your Ideas

Take time out to refine your ideas. Don’t ditch the idea because it’s been done, look for ways to develop it so you’re providing something or a service to make it better.

If computer manufacturers gave up because desktops computers were made, we wouldn’t have laptops today. The same concept goes with any other technology or business idea, from cars and mobile phones to making card payments and online transactions.

So next time you’ve got a light bulb moment, and discover it’s already been done – study and research how it’s been done and see push your imagination to the next level.

Has Market Saturation Stopped You From Making a Move? is a post from: Your Blog Tools dot com
Follow me on Twitter: @johnluffa

You may have started the year with a set of goals, but along the way, you find yourself distracted by other things i.e new plugins, services or tools.

Before you go crazy kitting your blog out, always ask yourself, ‘is this going to help me achieve the objective of this blog?’

You always have to consider if the time and effort your spending is taking you closer to achieving your goals. If they don’t help in attaining your goals – then get rid of them.

This post was inspired by a meeting I had last night with a friend, as part of a project we’re working on. During the meeting we reviewed and analysed a few tools. And I saw just how the level of information services and tools out there are overwhelming. It’s so easy to get side tracked, whereas keeping focused and on target is the crucial to achieving set goals.
So if things don’t align with your overall goal then move on.

Your time, is your most valuable asset, once gone it can never be reclaimed.

Here’s a few questions I ask myself before getting involved with a product, service or tool.

- What is the overall objective of the product?
- How can it benefit me and my business?
- Does it help in attaining my goal?
- How long does it take to implement?

How do you deal with distractions?
Would love to hear your suggestions.

Steer Clear of Distractions is a post from: Your Blog Tools dot com
Follow me on Twitter: @johnluffa

Fellow Googlers!!

I may be the only person on the planet who isn’t aware of this – but Google gives you a history of web activities performed on their services.
You can track and manage activities such as, Google searches, visited web pages, images, videos, maps and more.
So far, I have activities dating back to two years ago – bizarre!

Simply visit www.google.com/history to access yours.
(You will need a google account to view this)

My apologies if you’re already aware of this, I just had to share my latest discovery
We sure are moving into the cloud computing age.

Google Lets You View and Manage Your Web Activities is a post from: Your Blog Tools dot com
Follow me on Twitter: @johnluffa

Friends, It’s my birthday today,
I’ve turned 33 – damn I’m getting old.

I’m not really into birthdays thing at all,
In fact, I don’t remember ever throwing a birthday party, the Valentine spirit always tends to steal the lime light – not that I’m complaining

It’s just the nicknames that gets to me. Here are some:

“Valentine”
“Luffaboy”
“Mr Luva Luva”(from that Shaggy song)
“Mr Valentino”
“Billy Ray Valentine” from the film Trading Places….I mean c’mon

You know who you are…Just Stop!

It’s going it’s my first birthday being married to Yemi, who happens to celebrate hers tomorrow. (Yea, I know – double celebration)

I would like to wish you all Happy Valentines

Enjoy your day in love.

It’s My Birthday and Happy Valentine’s Day is a post from: Your Blog Tools dot com
Follow me on Twitter: @johnluffa

Ever had the urge to quickly push out a blog post?
And straight after doing so, you find yourself going back to make some urgent adjustments.
To some of you who regularly publish, these reminders may not directly apply to you.

Personally, I have had one or two blooper moments, which has led me to keep a mental note of 4 things to do before hitting the publish button.

(1) Set Your Permalink

Permalinks are unique URL that points to your blog post.
Set your permalink to something short, descriptive and search engine friendly.
For this post I have adjusted my permalink to (before-you-publish)
So my URL now reads:

http://www.yourblogtools.com/before-you-publish

instead of:

http://www.yourblogtools.com/4-things-to-check-before-hitting-the-publish-button

(2) Use Relevant Tags In Your Post.

Picking relevant tags helps to connect related topics together.

(3) Select Appropriate Categories

If a post belongs to a particular category then specify it.
It helps with the overall content organisation of your blog.

(4) Spell Check Your Title.

To avoid embarrassment, double check your post titleS.
By default, title text fields does not spell check your words.
However, there’s a quick hack that can enable spell checks within text fields.
The magic happens within your browser settings

In Firefox

- Simply type about:config into your browser address bar and press enter.
- You should now be prompted with confirmation screen, press OK to continue
- In the filter field, type the value layout.spellcheckDefault
- Once value has been located from list, change parameter value of layout.spellcheckDefault from 1 to 2 (by double-clicking it)
- Close the configuration page
- All Done, Now go ahead and check your text field. It should now underline any spelling mistakes.

Although, I haven’t tried this with other browsers yet? but Google Chrome appears to have acknowledge the change.
Does it work for you?
Do you keep a checklist of things to do before publishing?

4 Things To Check Before Hitting The Publish Button is a post from: Your Blog Tools dot com
Follow me on Twitter: @johnluffa

Seeing as it is the weekend, I wish to add a slight twist to my regular style of posting, which brings me to the question…

What Blog Related Emails Do You Enjoy Receiving?
If like me, you constantly get bombarded with tons of emails from all walks of life, out of those will be some that brings a smile, joy or satisfaction – something of a reward for your hard work.

Then again, you may have most of your notifications switched off,
but surely, there must be some you rather keep a watchful eye on.
What are they?

I have listed 3 of my top happy emails below, emails that I subconsciously look out for.

(1) Disqus [Yourblogtools]

• (New blog post comment notification)

(2) AWeber Sign-up

• (New Email list subscription)

(3) Affiliate Commission Report

• (Sales made through affiliate marketing)

It’s now over to you.
What emails or subject lines are you ever happy to receive, if any?

What Blog Related Emails Do You Enjoy Receiving? is a post from: Your Blog Tools dot com
Follow me on Twitter: @johnluffa

If you regularly tweek your blog’s design, layout or test plugins – I would recommend having a local version of your blog.
Hosting locally means running a duplicate copy of your live blog on your local machine. In other words, your PC becomes your web and database server.
Having your own development area is a bit like having your own playground, with freedom to test and tweek as you please without affecting the live system. Web developers generally adopt this approach before deploying.

Hosting your blog locally is a very straight forward process, and would require the following;

• Installing a web server on your computer.

• Creating a database.

• Downloading the latest version of wordpress.

• Tweeking one wordpress file.

There are several ways to achieve this, but one the easiest ways is using a tool called XAMPP, which happens to work across most operating systems.

Step 1

Install a local web server

PC

This is quite straight forward on a PC, simply visit http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html to download and install XAMMP Lite executable file.

Linux

For Linux users, applying a few commands in your terminal should get you up and running. Simply visit http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-linux.html for download and install instructions.

MAC

MAC users, download and extract XAMPP file from here http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-macosx.html

Step 2

Create and active your database
Using the downloaded XAMPP tool, you can create a new database for your local blog. Simply open XAMPP control panel and select the Admin button next to MySQL. This should then take you phpMyAdmin page.

On this page, under MySQL Localhost section,  you can create a new database name.

At this stage, to make sure everything is working fine, start the Apache and MySQL services, it will notify you once it starts.
You should also see the XAMPP splash screen when you type “localhost” into your browser.

Step 3

Download and Extract Wordpress
You can download the latest version of Wordpress by visiting wordpress.com Once downloaded, extract the zipped file and move it inside the htdoc folder. On a windows machine, this can be located under c:\xampp\htdoc

Step 4

Update your wp-config.php file
In this file, you will have to define your database parameters to enable connection.
In your wordpress folder, c:\xampp\htdoc\wordpress\

1. Rename the file wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php
2. Define your database name – (‘DB_NAME’, ‘test‘);
3. Define your database username – (‘DB_USER’, ‘root‘);
4. Define your database password – (‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘test‘);

You can find your database information from the phpMyAdmin page, located under the MySQL section

Step 5 and final step

Configure and Install
Run install.php file by pointing your browser to http://localhost/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php and hit enter.

1. At this stage, you then see the configuration file, complete the fields with the same information as your wp-config.php file.
   
2. Complete your blog title along with your email address and hit Run install
   
3. ALL DONE – You now have a copy locally.

To transfer files from server to local machine, I would recommend using a an FTP client such as FileZilla.

What are your thoughts on testing locally?

Host Your Wordpress Blog Locally is a post from: Your Blog Tools dot com
Follow me on Twitter: @johnluffa

David Risley will be doing a Live FREE public webinar

on 25th January 2010, at 8PM EST

I would highly recommend that you attend.

You can really learn a lot from this guy.

RSVP For The Webinar Now

In today’s review, I will be looking at an exciting coaching program known as the Blog Masters Club, by ProBlogger David Risley.

David has been one of my blogging mentors and coach for a while now.
And am proud to have been part of his first group of students on his coaching club.

For the past 6 months, this cool guy from across the pond has been working hard on his Blog Masters Club project which he is about to re-open very soon for a limited time.

This exclusive club, focuses on building up passionate individuals into true Blog Masters. The coaching program isn’t only about blogging, but about running a full-time online business, using blogging as a platform.
In fact, the first two modules of the course gets you into a Pro blogging mode.
Every action you take on the blog has to be strategic and structured.
David is a able to achieve this by bringing the world blogging and internet marketing together in this course.
The blog masters club also teaches and demonstrates how can you potentially make a 6-figure income from your blog, and the rest is really down to you

What’s in the Club

The whole course is packed with 16 modules of in-depth stuff.
The ‘Dude’, as I’ve recently been calling him, over delivers EVERYTIME.
The course is a complete brain dump of how he’s currently making a 6-figure income from his blogs. (PCMech and Davidrisley.com)
You’ll be getting well over 30 hours of high quality training videos.
In fact, I have studied his videos so much, I think I may have picked up some of his American lingo
In addition to the 16 modules, the club consists of an active forum and wealth of basic and useful blogging information.

• [Module 1] ProBlogger Orientation
• [Module 2] Selecting The Right Market
• [Module 3] Setting Up And Optimizing Your Blog
• [Module 4] Becoming a Blogging Master (Creating Compelling Content)
• [Module 5] Social Media Strategy – Becoming the Guru
• [Module 6] Pure Traffic-Getting Tactics
• [Module 7] Search Engine Optimization for Bloggers
• [Module 8] Making Videos For the Web – How To
• [Module 9] Top Blog Monetization Strategies Explained
• [Module 10] Creating Your Product Line & Sales Funnel
• [Module 11] Building Your List, From Zero to Thousands
• [Module 12] Creating a Membership Site
• [Module 13] Persuasion Tactics Every ProBlogger Should Know
• [Module 14] Creating Your Storyline
• [Module 15] Using The Power of Your Blogging Empire To Build Massive Profits
• [Module 16] Creating Powerful (and profitable) business relationships
• [Bonus Module] Automation & Outsourcing

Teaching Style

Majority of the materials are delivered on video, although, David also takes into account different learning styles. So, expect to find:
- Audio MP3’s
- Transcripts
- Action guides check-list
- One to one coaching calls.

Course Prerequisite

Be prepared to put in some hardwork, as David would put it ‘Blood Sweat and Tears’
In a nushell, you need the following:

1. To be self-motivated
2. Passion
3. Enjoy writing
4. Enjoy interacting with people

Who is David Risley?

David Risley is Problogger who earns a full-time income online, and has been in this business for the past 6 years.
I really can’t really pinpoint how I bumped into this fella, but he has been a great discovery.
He’s a cool, easy going, down to earth guy whose work ethic is admirable.
You can learn more about him below.

Become a Blog Master

Blog Masters Club [Review] is a post from: Your Blog Tools dot com
Follow me on Twitter: @johnluffa

I would like to share with you three quick ways to get more eyeballs on your blog this weekend.

[1] Share your expertise

Run a quick Q&A session on Twitter and help someone who has a question.
You can do this by finding tweeted questions related to your market.
You’ll be surprised how much people would appreciate a helping hand.
So go ahead, jump on Twitter and search for typical questions such as :
- How do I…
- How can I… in wordpress

[2] Email your list

• Give them a quick update of you’ve been up to
• Find out how they are doing?

Also, Keep them informed of any latest news on your blog.

[3] Do a quick video post.

This doesn’t have to be anything fancy.
Just a quick hello along with quick tips.
Videos are very powerful, and bring you closer to your audience.

What are your 3 tips for this weekend?

3 Ways to Get More Traffic This Weekend is a post from: Your Blog Tools dot com
Follow me on Twitter: @johnluffa

Is your blog’s performance beginning to dip?
Does it takes ages to do the simplest of tasks?
Chances are, your blog needs a health check.

With a growing blog, comes the responsibility to meet its needs and demands.
Blogging platforms are great, however, they also tend to use up a lot of resources as they grow – it’s just their nature.
So therefore, to keep the ship steady, regular maintenance is essential.

On this blog, I’ve had a few blackout moments, when everything grinds to a halt, nothing seems to work, and in most cases, I’ve had my hosting company to thank, for placing me on a dodgy server (145) hmmm.
It’s still an on-going process in my quest for better performance.

Why is My Blog Running Slow?

There could be many reasons for this :

• Traffic Levels.
• Growth/size of your blog.
• The size of your images.
• Badly written codes.
• Too many components.

What is Slowing Down my Blog?

Well, the answer to this is relative. It really depends on your setup.
That said, there are tools that can help you identify some problem areas.
Pingdom is free service that provides information of how long your web page takes to load, and also breaks down what actions are being performed and the time taken.
This detailed stats would give you some indication of areas that may need attention.

How Do I Increase My Loading Speed?

There are several approaches you can take to solve this problem, they range from optimizing your blog, to drastic ones, such as changing web host.
I would recommend doing some general house-keeping FIRST before considering switching hosts. You don’t want to end up with the same issues even after switching hosts.

Below are some possible solutions that may improve things.
I will assume at this stage that you are using Wordpress, although some of these tips can be applied to other CMS platforms.
These recommendations have been tried and tested on this blog [Wordpress Build 2.9.1]
Although, there’s still room for improvement, there has been a noticeable improvement in loading speed. Trust me, it was extremely slow before.

At this stage, your first action is to back-up your database.
You may already have a scheduled job in place, but if possible, carry out a manual back-up.

[1] Remove unused plugins
You’ve probably stumbled across a fancy plugin in the past that you no longer use – get rid of it.
It is of no use having themit sitting on your server. The aim here is to get your server as lightweight as possible.
Procedure: Under Manage Plugins > De-activate > Delete.

[2] Optimize Your Images
If you regularly use images within your blog post, ensure they’re optimized.
You can use programs such as Photoshop or Fireworks to optimize your images for the web.
Procedure: In your favourite graphics application, export images using ‘Save for the web‘ option.

[3] Remove unused Images From Your Server.
It quite easy to accumulate images in wordpress without realising, some of which you don’t use.
Especially duplicates or images of different sizes residing on your server.
Procedure: Using an FTP client, browse to images folder, normally titled uploads in wordpress. Next remove unused or duplicate images. Test to make sure you haven’t broken anything.

[4] Upgrade your Blogging platform.
Always be on a look for the latest version of your blogging software. In most cases, a release build would address bug/security issues, performance related fixes and so on.

[5] Update Plugins.
The same goes for plugins, update them when you can. But note, any previous changes made to a plugin may be lost during an update.

[6] WP Super Cache
If you haven’t done so already, I recommend you install WP Super Cache.
This is quite a popular wordpress plugin to have – because it works.
Here’s what it does:
Instead of loading heavy PHP scripts each time a user visits your page, WP Super Cache generates and presents most of your users with static HTML files as oppose dynamic content.
In a nutshell, It minimizes server load and presents heavy stuff only on-demand.
Get Plugin: WP Super Cache

[7] Remove Post Revisions
As you edit and create new posts, WordPress keeps a revision of your work. Which is a good thing.
But on a flip-side, these revisions can easily accumulate and be a burden on your database.
Some webmasters have actually decided to get rid of this functionality altogether, by hard-coding their ‘config’ file in wordpress.
Alternatively, you can grab a cool wordpress plugin called ‘Delete Revision’.
The plugin allows you review your revisions before deleting.
In my case, I removed 1361 revisions – that’s a lot.
Get Plugin: Delete Revision

[8] Database Optimization
To increase your page’s loading time, It’s always good practice to regularly optimize your database.
It’s a straight forward back-end process located within the PHP Admin section of your hosting control panel.
If you’re not comfortable doing this, there is a simply lightweight plugin that does the job. It actually states how much overheads you have accumulated and how much you can bring it down by.
Get Plugin: Optimize DB

[9] DB Cache Reloaded
This re-worked plugin does a neat job of caching database queries for a given page.
Get Plugin: DB Cache Reloaded

[10] WP CSS
WP CSS zips and strips away whitespace from your CSS files.
Get Plugin: WP CSS

[11] Refactor Your Code
Try to minimize the number PHP requests in your code. Where possible replace them with HTML.
Your Headers and footer files are usually good places to start.

[12] Upgrade Your Hosting Service
After you have exhausted all options and you’re still experiencing loading issues, it might be worth upgrading or changing your web hosting service.
There are three main types of web hosting solution – Shared Hosting, Virtual Private Server Hosting and Dedicated Hosting.
If you’ve recently started a blog, chances are your blog is residing on a shared hosting solution.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is basically sharing your hosting area with a bunch of other blogs and websites.
This is a popular option for most people as they are very cost effective to maintain.
On a shared hosting you are not guaranteed system resource, so if another blog within your hosting area gets a sudden influx of traffic, it may affect your blog.
Typical Monthly Cost: £3.50

VPS Hosting

A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a hosting environment that combines the benefits of both shared hosting and dedicated hosting.
It does this by creating a virtual server that runs inside a hardware server via a partition.
Each VPS partition runs its own operating system in a secure and private environment and cannot
be accessed or interrupted by its neighbouring blogs or websites.
On a VPS environment, you are sharing limited number of users and are guaranteed some system resource.
In comparison to shared hosting, they’re a bit more expensive to run, but you’re getting so much in terms guaranteed memory and disk space.
In fact, very soon, I am looking to move this blog to a VPS environment.
Typical Monthly Cost: £30

Dedicated Server Hosting

Dedicated hosting is simply renting your own machine which you can configure to meet your needs.
Maintaining a dedicated server can be very expensive.
Typical Monthly Cost: £200

Better Performance Check-list

Here’s a quick checklist to help improve your blog’s performance.

• Delete unused plug-ins
• Reduce the size of your images
• Simplify your php and css code.
• Update your plugins
• When available, upgrade your blogging platform
• Upgrade your hosting package

Have I missed anything else?

12 Ways To Optimize Your Blog For Better Performance is a post from: Your Blog Tools dot com
Follow me on Twitter: @johnluffa