Cell Phone Shopping Time
Yup, it’s that time again. I love it and I hate it. I love the fact that I will be getting a new “gadget” to play with, but I hate the fact that I have to do the research to make sure I find a phone that I like. No, I won’t be waiting for the vaunted iPhone. I just can’t justify the four or five-hundred dollar price tag. Ohh, but I would reaaaally like to get one. 
My wife thinks I’m obsessive about researching things like this before I buy them and makes fun of me all the time for it. She would just go into the store and pick out the under $50 phone she likes the best and get it. That’s the thing, she doesn’t get why people would pay more than $50 for a cell phone. I on the other hand would pay a little more, say up to $100. At that price I hope to get a phone that isn’t about to be discontinued by the carrier or maybe a phone that is at the bottom end of the nicer phones. Since I’m just getting started I’ll document the process on this site.
Here’s what we currently have.
- Our carrier is Cingular (”Now the new AT&T”)
- We are on a family plan with two lines
- Our plan gets 600 anytime and 5000 night and weekend minutes
- Both phones are Motorola V551’s
- Our contract is currently expired
- Our bill was in the mid-$50 range until we recently added 7pm-7am nights and weekends
That’s good for now. Next time I’ll get into what features I’m looking for in a phone and some of the sites I use to research before buying.
site update: One visitor in the last 24 hours.
Techky.com Search Engine Indexing Update
I thought that it would be a good time to check up on how well the site is being indexed by the various search engines. The last time I checked the status in Google for the word “techky”, it was buried on the 7th page. Now, when you do the exact same search this site is the #1 result. That is quite a move but in all actuality it really doesn’t matter YET because Techky has no name recognition and not may people are going to be searching for that term. Note to self: write a post on the importance of using a unique or “catchy” name.
On Yahoo! something even better happened. Techky.com now occupies the first two results for the term “techky”.
And then we come to MSN. Sigh. Techky.com is nowhere to be found. Nope. Zip, zilch, zero results for techky. Even though we all know that Google is the dominant force in the search world, this problem with MSN must be fixed. Why? Because MSN is the default home page for everyone that runs Microsoft Windows. Let’s say Windows has around a 90% market share of all computers. What percentage of people do you think change that default home page? It is widely speculated that as few as 10% of computer users know how or actually ever do change their home page. That is a lot of traffic to not even compete for. I will investigate.
Visitor update: Looks like we had only two unique visits in the last day.
First Comment In More Ways Than One
Well, well, well, it appears one of my tactics has worked. Al from Self Made Minds must have seen my clicks in his incoming links stats and decided to stop by to check the place out. While he was here he left a comment. Much appreciated. Hell, “get at least 1 comment” probably wouldn’t have shown up in my “goals” posts for another couple of iterations. 
Since I posted the New Goals article, there have been a total of 4 unique visitors/ip’s (not including my own of course) that have visited the site. Not too shabby. Slowly picking up steam?
I have also posted my first comment since ending my self-enforced publicity blackout. It was in response to Al’s recent post over on SMM. It hasn’t shown up yet though, so either they are moderating comments or I have failed to properly use the ‘internets’. I’ll check on it tomorrow to see which is the case.
New Goals
With the first goal out of the way, it’s time to set some new ones. Here’s a recap of what I have accomplished.
Old Goals:
- Make a minimum of 1 post per day - CHECK
- Receive at least 1 visitor via search result - CHECK
New Goals:
- Continue to make a minimum of 1 post per day
- Write “topical” posts with searchable keywords or phrases (Don’t worry, this does not mean MFA articles. It will be something I’m interested in.)
- Write comments and participate in the threads on Digital Point’s AdSense forums. Eventually working my way towards the minimum 50 posts needed to participate in revenue sharing.
- Write comments on other blogs that I visit such as:
- Receive at least 10 visitors (not page views) in a day.
That looks like a good list of goals to work on. Remember. Baby steps.
Apple: Please Stop Changing My Preferences
Dear Apple,
Please stop placing icons on my machine when I install the new version of iTunes. I used to wonder why you couldn’t come up with a sleek updater similar to the one that Firefox uses. Don’t misunderstand, I have broadband, so the speed isn’t a problem. It just seems like a lot of money spent on bandwidth on your part. Why are all of your updates 25+ MB even for a simple .1 update? Wait, you do have an updater now? Sweet, let me try that out. Ahh. You STILL download the entire package don’t you. Sigh.
That’s not why I’m writing you this time though. This letter is because of something else that you continue to do do. Override my preferences. Or not ask my preference would be a better way to put it. Every time I install the new update for iTunes or QuickTime you place a QuickTime icon on my desktop, in quick launch, and worst of all in the system tray. Unlike the other locations you can’t just right click and delete or drag to the system tray icon to the trash. You have to open up the preferences and tell it to remove the icon from the tray. Every time you reinstall. Please stop that. No one likes this. It’s actually a little Bonzi Buddyish.
Thanks.
The Wait Is Over - First Visitor Is Here
I have finally received the first (non-accidental) visitor. The first goal of this site has been achieved. When I started out I wanted to set a simple goal of being discovered using only a search engine. The actual very first visitor appeared to be either a mis-type or someone trolling for a domain name.
This time someone did a search on google for “nissan xterra 30,000 mile service“. If you search Google for that phrase, my post “Cheap Nissan Xterra In-Cabin Microfilter” is the 8th result returned. The visitor came from somewhere on the University of Michigan’s campus and they were using IE7 if you’re curious.
Now that the first visitor is out of the way it’s time to find some more readers and set my next goal. Find all about how I’m going to do that tomorrow.
Quiet Sunday
No visitors. Got that out of the way. The irony of telling someone who is not there that they haven’t been here is not lost on me. Consider it a diary at this point.
I’m probably going to spend my day working around the house and watching the do over (not Dover) NASCAR race that got rained out last night. That’s right I just admitted that I watch NASCAR. Admitting that to some people will automatically dock 15 points off of your IQ. Isn’t true though. You can watch the races and still be a normal human being.
Consider this to be my very own NASCAR version of Snopes.
True or False: NASCAR fans were the kids that rode the short bus with the tinted windows and seat belts to school.
FALSE
Note to self: Must start my NASCAR Wives and Girlfriends site.
No Vis(itors) Like Showbiz
Just a quick site update today. All is clear on the visitor front. Today marks (let me check the calendar), only about 15 days since I made the first post (woot?).
I would imagine that if I haven’t had at least one true visitor by the time May 21st rolls around, which would make one month, that it may be time to call this little experiment a failure. I would consider a true visit to be someone who searched Google or Yahoo etc., for a word or phrase and clicked one of the results to bring them here.
I’m not getting discouraged though, because it wasn’t my intent to roll out a made for AdSense (MFA) site. I have written a few posts with keywords that I hoped would be searched for and I’ll write a few more before the month is over. I think it will work. I’m sure I could have loaded up all of my posts with keywords that people search for all the time and then spammed my site on every message board around but what fun would that be? I’ll take the road never traveled.
The Best Google AdSense Forums
Since I’ve been spending more of my time reading forums, I thought it would be a good time for me to point out a couple of the best places to discuss and learn about Google AdSense. To add a little suspense (dunh, dunh, dunh), I’ll go in reverse order of my favorites from 3 to 1.
(Disclaimer. This is just my opinion, I’m sure others have different preferences.)
Here we go.
#3 Google Community AdWords & AdSense forum
I have just recently ran across this forum so I don’t know much about it yet. It runs on phpBB and has an attractive theme and logo. The discussions appear to be a little lean with most threads having between one and four replies. I will have to stop by this site occasionally to keep my eye on it.
#2 Webmaster World Google AdSense forum
This may be the most popular site as far as Google search results go, but it’s not my favorite. It runs on Webmaster Worlds own homebrew BestBBS. I find the discussions to be more matter-of-fact and not as friendly as my #1 pick. I think the theme/color scheme do more harm than good for this site. The whole look of the site is a little on the boring side and just doesn’t feel compelling. That make any sense? Just doesn’t make you want to contribute I guess is what I’m trying to say.
#1 Digital Point Google AdSense forum
This one is my current favorite if you couldn’t tell by me bestowing my #1 ranking upon it. The main reason why is because of the excellent discussions. Most everyone is friendly and helpful when someone asks a question. Try as I might, I can’t help myself from looking at the latest “I had my first $100 month” thread.
The site runs the very popular vBulletin and has nice green theme. As far as traffic, this board has extremely lively discussions with most treads having several responses. There is some more separation between topics since there is a separate forum for Guidelines / Compliance, Placement / Review / Examples, Reporting & Stats, and Payments. This separation helps keep the forum on topic.
Oh, Digital Point also has ad revenue sharing. This allows you to post your AdSense publisher id and the site will show an ad that is linked to your AdSense account in the upper right hand corner. This supposedly DOES NOT violate the AdSense terms of service. I look forward to participating in this when my blog leaves stealth mode.
You Should Always Click Your Own Links
Woah, woah, woah. Calm down there. I’m not talking about clicking your own AdSense links. I’m talking about the links you put in your posts. There are a couple or reasons to do this. This first reason is glaringly obvious, and that is to make sure that your links actually work. This step has helped me out several times and kept me from either posting a dead link, or getting an error from a faulty copy/paste of the address.
This could also be the result of how I compose entries for the site. I will usually write the entire post and then come back at the end and insert the links. I do it this way because when I’m writing I get in the flow and don’t want to interrupt my train of thought. Your style may vary.
The second reason is because of OCD. Yes, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. No, I don’t have OCD (Must. Wash. Hands.). Let me explain. I theorize that starting a website could be a trigger for OCD. Think about it. You’ve taken the time to come up with an idea for a site. You think of a cool name for it. You go open a WordPress.com or Blogger account and you make that first post. If you’re like most people you send a mass email out to all your friends to tell them about it. The very next thing you do is? Anybody? Check your stats. After that you decide to add a cool new picture to your site. And then you check your stats. And check your stats, and checkyourstats.
This is where clicking the links on your page comes in handy. Let’s say you link to the latest “making money online” article by John Chow. Nawh, that won’t work. He get’s waaay to much traffic to notice a couple of clicks. Besides, he’s not a statwhore. Is he?
What about Tyler Cruz. Would he notice? Granted, his blog isn’t quite as popular as John Chow’s but he is still close to the mid-to-upper echelon of blog money makers. I wonder if he would notice?
Admittedly, this option probably works best when you link to moderately popular blogs rather than to a superstar just because there is a much better chance they will be refreshing that StatCounter page instead of an AdSense window.
There’s only one way to find out. Click. And I’m not talking about some Adam Sandler movie.
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