RosalindGardner.com

Learn Blogging & Affiliate Marketing with Rosalind Gardner

Tools & Services

Want to save your money on useless products and services? Read my reviews of webmaster services, software and other products related to Internet and Affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Summit Meet Up?

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I'll be getting on a plane this afternoon at 5pm and doing the red-eye (what the heck was I thinking?) to Miami where I'll be moderating the “What Super Affiliates Want” discussion panel with Scott Jangro and Jeremy Palmer.

If you are attending the Summit, please post a note to the “Shout Out” notice board with your cell phone number and I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can.

I'll be attending a number of the presentations and will definitely be at the Meet Market on Sunday afternoon. Hope to see you there!

OK, now I have to go and pack my bags and find that passport. Ugh.

[tags]Affiliate Summit, Rosalind Gardner[/tags]

BlueHost Review

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I maintain test accounts with a number of different web hosting plan providers simply for the purpose of being able to provide my readers (you) with up-to-date information about how those services stack up against each other.

My primary concern is that the web hosting service be user-friendly to newbies and offer top notch customer service all around.

My experience with BlueHost is that their service surpasses most web hosts in terms of features, pricing, reliability and customer support.

About BlueHost

Founded in 1996, BlueHost is one of the longest surviving web hosting companies in a business strewn with failed efforts. That alone should speak volumes to any potential customer about the quality of service and features provided by BlueHost.

BlueHost Features and Pricing

Below is a list of primary BlueHost features (at time of writing). Visit BlueHost to see the full range of their hosting plan features.

Note: One of the best features in my opinion is the Free domain name (registration) included with their accounts which will save you about $10 – as opposed to registering first with GoDaddy and then finding a web host.

  • Disk Storage – Unlimited
  • Host UNLIMITED Domains
  • Free Drag and Drop Site Builder
  • Free Domain Name
  • Supports International Domain Names
  • POP3/POP3 Secure Email Support – 2,500
  • IMAP/Secure IMAP Email Support – 2,500
  • 3 Different Web Based Email Solutions
  • Forwarding Email Accounts – Unlimited
  • Email Autoresponder Unlimited
  • Gigs of Site Transfer – Unlimited
  • Add-on Domains – Unlimited
  • Parked Domains – Unlimited
  • Subdomains – Unlimited
  • Additional FTP Accounts – 1,000
  • MySQL Databases – 100

BlueHost's web hosting plans start as low as $6.95 per month.

Easy Installation of WordPress Blogs and Other Scripts

You can use either Fantastico or SimpleScripts to install a WordPress blog on your BlueHost account in a little over a minute — even if you're a complete newbie. It's just a matter of filling in a couple of form blanks, ticking a box or two and you're done.

Other easy-to-install scripts include:

  • Content management systems
  • Client management
  • Forums
  • Chat
  • Forms and surveys
  • Mailing lists
  • Photo Galleries
  • Shopping carts
  • and more…

User Interface (Control Panel)

BlueHost provides a user-friendly control panel known as cPanel for site administration. Here is a snapshot of the control panel.

cPanel

Reliability

In the years that my site has been hosted with BlueHost I have never detected an outage – confirming that their reliability is well in excess of their advertised 99.9% uptime.

Technical Support

Technical support is perhaps the most important aspect when it comes to web site hosting – especially for new webmasters.

I'm happy to report that I've tested BlueHost's technical support on a number of ocassions and relatively speaking, their response is phenomenal when compared to other hosting services.

I especially appreciate that they phone each new account holder personally to confirm the order and inquire whether the customer needs any special help to get their site up and running. Take advantage of that service if you are just starting out and have questions!

Summary

In terms of pricing, reliability, user-friendliness and customer support, BlueHost continues to be my top-pick for web hosting plans for new and experienced webmasters alike.

Visit BlueHost | See other recommended hosting services

Accept Credit Card Payments on Your Site

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Setting up your site to sell your products online? If you don't accept credit card payments — you're LOSING sales!

The vast majority of purchases on the Internet are made by credit card, so if you don't accept credit card payments on your website, you are losing sales.

Besides, it sure beats waiting for a check or money order to arrive in the mail!

Basically, you have two options.

Setting up with a third-party payment processors is easier, faster and far less expensive than getting your own merchant account.

However, a merchant account might be advisable in the long run, as the fees charged by third-party payment processors are generally higher.

Check out the options now to see what suits your business model best.

Project Black Mask Review

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If you are as uncomfortable as I am with ‘black hat’ or ‘grey hat’ SEO techniques then Project Black Mask – the latest ‘tell all' Adsense product for affiliate marketers – is definitely not for you.

Project Black Mask is the next-in-series of IM products by Chris X, the author of Day Job Killer, Affiliate Project X, and Adwords Miracle.

I read it about a week ago and quite frankly, there's NO WAY I would take this approach to making an affiliate income. Seriously, why would anyone want to invest in 100's or thousands of domains to make a dollar a day (probably less) on each through Adsense, when they can earn at least as much or more selling real products as a content publisher through just one, two or three sites?

Granted, the content publisher approach always appears to be too much like work for some folks – especially those who hate to write, don't want to pay for PLR or ghostwriters, or have no time or inclination to build a list and create real relationships with newsletter subscribers.

If that describes your take on content publishing as an affiliate marketer, then perhaps Chris' approach will seem like a godsend, but don't say that I didn't warn you about domain or software outlays or, if this technique eventually turns out to be another flash in the pan approach to affiliate marketing.

All that said, one section of Chris' book that is worth it's weight in gold is the keyword list generation chapter. He says, “I’m a keyword addict. I collect good keywords like a museum collects expensive paintings” and it's obvious to this ‘keyword addict' that Chris knows exactly what he's talking about when it comes to keyword research and generation.

Chris tells you exactly how to build and use big beautiful lists of longtail keywords. It's absolutely fabulous information and in my opinion, worth the price of admission, whether you're into black hat SEO or a by-the-book white hat affiliate marketer like myself.

Visit Project Black Mask

Teleseminar: Derek Gehl and Rosalind Gardner Spill the Beans

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Mark your calendars! On Monday June 14th at 4PM Pacific (7PM Eastern) Derek Gehl and I will be getting on the horn to discuss affiliate marketing from the perspectives of both merchants and affiliates.

Derek has promised to share his strategies to building one of the most powerful affiliate programs in the world and I'll tell you what I'm doing now to earn even more as an affiliate.

And just in case you've never heard of Derek Gehl (is that possible?), Derek is the former president of the “Internet Marketing Challenge” who also worked closely with Corey Rudl, founder and CEO of the “Internet Marketing Center“. Derek took the reigns at IMC following Corey's untimely death in June 2005. Derek is also Entrepreneur.com's “E-Business” columnist.

Although this call is for members of IMC's Internet Entrepreneur Club which features a monthly Strategic planning call with Derek plus exclusive access to his latest Internet Marketing research and proven strategies.

But don't worry if you're not already a member of the IEC. Derek has agreed to give you access to the club through a $2.95 trial membership.

So, sign up today to listen in on Monday's call as Derek Gehl and I spill the beans!

WordTracker Eliminates 1-Day Subscription

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I noticed awhile back that WordTracker was no longer offering their 1-day subscription service, but as of an email sent to affiliates today, they've made it official.

“We have eliminated our base one-day subscription level. We are confident that this step will improve our average revenue per sale without being detrimental to our conversion rate.”

Subscription rates are now as follows:

1 Year: $275.88 / £140.00
1 Month: $ 55.18 / £28.00
1 Week: $ 27.59 / £14.00 (still a great deal!)

Affiliates promoting Wordtracker should change their promotions to reflect the change, otherwise you might be disappointing your site visitors and losing sales.

Please note also that Wordtracker has a new affiliate tracking system that requires you to change your current affiliate links.

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