Yellow Dog Ventures

I wrote the following lines a few days ago, and just before I published them, when I went to my GoTryThis dashboard to look up a link, it was very obvious the program was not functioning.

“Accomplished a bunch of odds and ends today. Feels like a whirlwind but feels good.

For the past 18 months I have been using GoTryThis on a server that has not been very reliable. This morning it was down for another 7 hours. That means none of my affiliate links work either. Not cool.

I decided to move the GoTryThis script and database to a different server - Hostgator - which has always been extremely reliable. I have a video that covers how to replicate a database, that I picked up from a member of Earn 1KaDay. Turned out to be a piece of cake, although cpanel is a bit different than the platform shown in the video. I was able to figure it out just fine. So now my GoTryThis database and script is on Hostgator and I expect will up almost all of the time.”

Well, either I didn’t figure it out just fine, or something else went screwy, but all I could get were error messages. Dang! Nothing I tried to fix it worked. Even redirecting the nameservers back to the original server led nowhere. (That one I can’t figure out, unless it was triggered by GTT thinking I was trying to install it on two servers at once and so it shut down. Can’t do this with the whitehat version.)

I’ve messed up the GTT database before, and so at least for now I’m giving up on that program. That’s why I have moved to a new link cloaking and tracking program — Cloak and Tracker — by Jay Jennings. I’ll write a full review on it soon, but I did find it easy to set up with good documentation, including videos and a pdf. So far I like how it works. It appears to have all the features of GTT whitehat and more, and the data is stored on my harddrive, not a MySQL database.

So, I guess that qualifies as another techno-snag. I think this one will lead to good results, though.

Thanks for visiting and have a good one!

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Today is a complaining day. Ever have one of those?

Out of the blue today I can’t connect with my GoTryThis database. What’s the deal with that? I’m sure it’s something I did and not something wrong with the program. It’s a good program.

But it seems little snags like this are happening very regularly lately. It goes in spurts.

Yesterday it was trying to update a WordPress blog to version 2.3 with Fantastico. It didn’t work. Turned out to be a problem with my .htaccess file. I’ve never touched it. What’s the deal with that?

Before that it was trying to implement a process for blog posting via email. It’s a really cool idea for getting posts onto feeder blogs with a minimal of effort. I could not for the life of me figure out how to post to wordpress blogs by email. Sure there’s a section to input a secret email address and a detailed explanation in codex how to make it work. But I couldn’t make it work and still haven’t. I did learn of a plugin that might help, but haven’t tried it yet.

Then before that it was a backup system for all my websites and blogs. This program allows you to back them up via cron jobs and save the backups to your designated spot, so it’s automatic, and you can reinstall them with one click. Very cool. Could I get it to work? No way. Turned out to be a problem with the overall configuration at BlueHost and their firewall, or something. Had to move the script to another server.

Too much lately, and they turn into distractions. I can certainly be my own worst enemy when it comes to taking focused action in my work. At least I learn something new with each technology snag. Hopefully this cycle will end soon and I can stay on track a little more easily.

Sorry for the complaining. That’s enough for now.

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Well, I committed to a “One Page A Day” challenge for the month of February, organized by Eric Giguere of AdSense fame. I have subscribed to his blog and read it regularly. Good stuff.

Back to the challenge. The only rule is to publish 1 page of content online per day. I haven’t gotten off to a very good start, but I will finish strong. I’d like to rebuild some momentum with this blog and this should help.

I rejoined the 3WayLinks.net program. My focus continues to be on building links and links and links, and that is one way. In the process I am revamping websites and adding lots of content. I’ve sort of synthesized a new method for keyword research that gives me an idea of which keywords can actually rank and which have little chance. I love having a clear step by step method that I can follow. I can’t emphasize that enough. I am certainly not feeling as fuzzy about all this marketing stuff as I was many months ago — I’ve learned a ton! — but sometimes, it’s wonderful just to be really clear about what steps to take.

As I’ve mentioned before, other backlink building efforts are focused on article marketing and social marketing sites. I have a blue print from one of the members of the Earn1KaDay forum to follow for the social marketing. Dennis Becker (creater of 1KaD) is doing a tutorial now on using a wiki to get some good ranking on Google and I’m incorporating that too.

There are so many really really fun resources. I am having a very good time with my marketing efforts these days, moving a mile a minute, and getting a lot accomplished.

Another new resource is an online site that uses your images and creates some really professional looking videos in a flash. It’s great! I’m in the process of figuring out a process to add an automatic redirect when the video ends, and I’ll write more about it when I get some good results. I’m pretty sure I have all the tools and now just need to figure out some transitions — if that makes any sense.

That’s enough for now. I have to save something for tomorrow! Thanks for visiting.

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