Archive for Blogging

Wordpress RSS Display Plugin

I’m looking for a particular Wordpress plugin / function, but couldn’t find quite what I’m looking for.  I’m sure there are probably 50 plugins that do this, but whatever I can’t find them.  Here’s what I want.

Display external RSS feeds ( 4 or 5 , in separate sections )
Display only title of post - no [...]

Traffic is King

You can have the best site in the world - professionally designed, fantastic content, great monetization. None of that matters if you don’t have targeted traffic flowing to your site. I have several sites exactly like that - great look, great content, and beautifully monetized. However, they don’t make me much money, [...]

Diversity is Key

You hear it all the time - diversify, diversify, diversify.  Whether you’re talking about investments or blogging / online income, diversification is absolutely critical to your long-term success.  There will be ups and downs along the wrong - some areas will do great, while some will do poorly.  Being diversified allows you to get through the [...]

Did you check your stats today?

Have you checked your stats today?  The answer should be no if you’re in this game to make money.  Remember - once a week is how often you should be looking at your numbers.  Any more is just a waste of time, and a loss of productivity.  Why check your numbers when you can be increasing them [...]

Be More Productive - Don’t look at your stats

I know, I shouldn’t really talk about this.  After all, I post my monthly earnings statements here for everyone to see.  Indeed, I also keep track of my numbers on a weekly basis.  But that’s not a problem.  The problem is checking stats daily, and even hourly.  Don’t judge, you’ve done it too.  Some of [...]

Unsubscribe to be more productive

I’m a recovering RSS addict - I admit it.  I very recently had somewhere just north of 220 feeds in my Bloglines account.  I subscribed to every single blog that I found at least mildly interesting, whether it was a few posts, or even one that interested me.  It was getting to be ridiculous, as [...]

Movable Type 4.0 Beta Launches - Back to Open Source Roots

I don’t often read Techcrunch, but this story caught my eye. Six Apart just launched Movable Type 4.0 Beta, and they’re going back to open source from their current licensing setup.
For the new bloggers reading this, you’re probably wondering what in the world Movable Type is? For you guys, Wordpress or Blogger are [...]

The Power of Trackbacks

Trackbacks, Pingbacks, whatever you want to call them, they are powerful.  If you are a blogger and you aren’t using trackbacks, you need to stop and rethink your blogging strategy.  Kevin at Blogging Tips recently posted on his experience using trackbacks, and the extra traffic that can result.
So why are trackbacks so great?  Well, let’s [...]

AuctionAds Review

This post care of Adam Ferguson from rotten bananas.
Leroy asked for some help providing content while he’s sunnin it up in Baltimore. I’ve recently begun using AuctionAds (aff) on my guitar blog, axplay, so how about a review?
AuctionAds is an advertising partner that displays relevant eBay auctions on your site. It displays the product pictures, [...]

Sometimes it’s ok to lose readers

Yes, I said it.  And I’ll say it again to make sure it’s clear - sometimes it’s ok to lose readers.  Every now and again, you’ll say something that offends someone, and they stop reading your site.  Perhaps you put up an advertisement that they didn’t like - maybe they hate Kontera ads.  At some point, [...]

The Importance of Choosing a Niche

This post contributed by Adam Ferguson from Rotten Bananas.
Well I’ve been running my blog for a few months now. My official start date fell somewhere around the beginning-middle of January. It started with me saying to a buddy, “Hey let’s start a blog.” I then went home and looked at the Fantastico support built in [...]

When should you start monetizing your blog?

I was reading a post just the other day that Mitch wrote on Harpzon.com, about the downside of monetizing a blog too early in it’s life. He has some good points, especially about progressing from publishing free information to selling ebooks.
However, I have trouble agreeing with the whole concept. When you first start [...]

Subscribe to the Green Llama RSS Feed

If you aren’t already a subscriber, then please take a moment to subscribe to my rss feed.  I don’t always post daily, so rather than visit the site every day looking for new nuggets of wisdom, just subscribe and you’ll know when I have a new post up.
To all those who are already subscribed, thank you.  [...]

Wordpress 2.1.3 and 2.0.10 Update

The folks at Wordpress are hard at work behind the scenes, and just released updates for both the 2.1 branch as well as the older 2.0 branch. 
The updates are security related, so it’s important to take a few minutes to upgrade - no one likes security issues.  A clip from the update site - [...]

Blogging Mistakes Group Project Results

The list is complete, and here are the results of Daily Blog Tips’ Blogging Mistakes group project.  Take a few minutes to read through the list and see what sort of mistakes people are making.  Remember, the goal is to learn from both your mistakes, as well as other people’s mistakes, so you can be [...]

Is MyBlogLog worth it?

I’ve been using the MyBlogLog widget on my this blog for awhile now. I should have noted the day I installed it, but I didn’t. I’d probably say close to the two month mark, if I had to make a semi-educated guess. I’m at the point now where I’m wondering if [...]

My blogging mistake

Daniel from Daily Blog Tips ( one of my must-read blogs, by the way ) is hosting a group project - and you all know I’m a sucker for blogging group projects. This time around, the topic is blogging mistakes. My biggest mistake was one I made early on when I started blogging. [...]

Who can make money blogging?

Many people jump in the fray every single day, with the goal of making money by blogging. Some will succeed, but most will fail to make any significant amount of money. So, who is making money blogging, you ask? Let’s take a look.
Most people who make money blogging have already hit it [...]

Niche A Day

There are a lot of great free resources online these days, and sometimes it’s hard to keep an eye on all of them. Or better said, it’s quite impossible. With new things popping up daily, it can be a daunting task.
One of the free resources that I’ve been using for awhile now is [...]

Underpromise and Overdeliver

Daniel over at Daily Blog Tips ( one of my favorite daily reads, by the way ) recently posted on the concept of “Underpromise and Overdeliver“. The concept is one that I’m very familiar with, and make an effort to put into practice every day.
The concept is especially important when dealing with customers or [...]

DIMM - Does it make money?

One of the phrases I learned in another life as a car salesman was “DIMM”. DIMM stands for “Does it make money?” It was a question that we were supposed to ask ourselves when looking over our daily activities.
The concept of DIMM is very simple. Take a few minutes today and look [...]

Know More Media logs 5 Millionth Visitor

Know More Media, one of the biggest business blogging networks, recently achieved a pretty significant milestone - it’s 5 millionth visitor.  Granted, the Green Llama is close behind and should reach that same milestone soon, likely around the year 2086, but it’s still pretty strong nonetheless.
If you’re not familiar with Know More Media, they’re a [...]

Write for tomorrow

When you’re blogging, and trying to keep your posts consistent, it can be difficult.  If daily posting is the goal, inevitably you’ll end up with two posts some days and nothing the next.  While this isn’t a terrible thing, it’s not the goal.  You want consistency if at all possible.
The solution is very simple - write [...]

Text link ads review

Text Link ads is one of my favorite online revenue sources. It provides a solid, predictable income every single month. Perhaps the best part about Text Link Ads is that the revenue tends to increase every month as your site grows.
What is Text Link Ads?
Text Link Ads is a company with two sides [...]

Comment encouragement

One can never have too many comments, regardless of the topic at hand. Topics mean that people are interested, and want to join in the conversation. However, people are lazy ( I’m one of them ), and don’t always like to comment. I try to make it as easy as possible here, [...]

Search Engine Query Reciprocity(SEQR) and you

Jeff Kee made up a term called Search Engine Query Reciprocity, or SEQR, for short.  I personally would have shot for an easier name to say, especially since the average person can’t pronounce reciprocity, but hey, I’m not judging.
The jist of SEQR is to examine your search logs, see what people are searching for, [...]

Wordpress 2.1.1 Upgrade Released

This time around, it’s nothing major, and no new features.  Wordpress 2.1.1 is a bug fix / security update release.  With that in mind, you should take the time to upgrade - any security hole is potentially serious, and should be fixed immediately. 
The Wordpress team says this is a low-medium priority upgrade, but [...]

Wordpress and Duplicate Content

Wordpress is my blogging engine of choice - I’ve been through two others, and Wordpress is my favorite by far. That doesn’t, however, make it flawless or perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

One of the biggest faults of Wordpress is duplicate content. Between the post itself, the index, archives, feeds, and tags [...]

Technosailor for sale

If you’re a reader of Technosailor.com ( and you should be, if you’re not now ) then you already know about it.

Just in case you’re living in a cave, then you should know that Technosailor is for sale. The sale is running through a Sitepoint auction, with a Buy it Now price of [...]

Top 9 Wordpress Plugins - Part 2

It’s been quite some time since I posted my first list of 9 essential Wordpress plugins over at Blogging Blog. I feel like it’s about time for another look at what I use, and what I feel is necessary. Without further adieu, my list:

Akismet - This one still takes my top spot. [...]

Google Adsense TOS Update

Google updated their Adsense Terms of Service, again. ( Thanks to Ray at Freshblogger for the tip. ) I won’t go into all the changes here, because most of them are exceedingly boring. However, I will highlight two that irk me.

No pictures next to Adsense blocks

Plain and simple, that means no Adsense [...]

Why DIGG is meaningless

As everyone who owns a computer knows, Digg is huge. I mean really, really huge. Some people think it could overtake google or yahoo as some of the most popular websites in the world. That’s big.
However, just because a site is big right now, today, doesn’t mean it’s going to be around [...]

Jack of All Blogs SOLD

The sale of Jack of All Blogs was announced this past Tuesday, May 30th, 2006. We haven’t heard anything on who purchased the blog, or any posts from the new person yet. Apparently the previous owner is big on snarkiness. Whatever the crap that is. All these newfangled words still have [...]

 

GreenLlama

    Green Llama is a place to learn about making money online. Any ideas or walk-through's I have, I'll post here for your enjoyment. I also do product and online service reviews.

    However, I tend to run off on tangets quite often. I call this part of the site 'random crap'. Basically I'll go off and post about whatever I want, just to keep things interesting. Have fun and stay tuned.