Nextebizguy » Misc

Upgrading Wordpress

Nextebizguy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:31:44 +0000

Talk about a cobweb, I checked on my Wordpress version info and this site was running WP 2.0.4 (or some crap like that). I use Hostgator and I figured I would just allow the Fantastico Deluxe module do the upgrade. Yeah, that worked…NOT.

The upgrade said it worked and when I viewed the site, it was porked. I got a few upgrade.php errors and finally realized I needed to start from scratch to rescue the site.

How did I fix it? Easy.

1. Download WP 2.8.5
2. Extract to my hard drive
3. Start my FTP program
4. Upload the WP-Admin, WP-Content, and WP-Includes folders from my hard drive to my hosting folders
5. Try to log-in (wp-admin.php)
6. When prompted to upgrade the database, do it.
7. Upgrade completes, site back online

Easy enough eh?

Murphy’s Law of Upgrading — any automatic upgrade won’t

I slapped up a new theme. Kinda cool. The biggest laugh is that the site is NOT #1 for the term nextebizguy.com or nextebizguy.

Love it.

30 Day Challenge

Nextebizguy — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 03:23:19 +0000

It’s that time of the year. The thirty day challenge is starting and I’m going to be part of it. I’ll be reporting back on what our team is doing and how successful we are. If you want to participate, check out the link below. If you haven’t tried doing some ebiz stuff and you’ve always wanted to, this would be a great opportunity!

30 Day Challenge Blog

How Google Works

Nextebizguy — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:56:12 +0000

All of us trying to work at making money online have to work with Google. They are the main search engine today and if you can’t rank well there, you’re relegated to buying traffic in one form or another.

I just read an excellent and simplified version of what Google does from Peter Norvig, Google’s director of research. Peter sums it all up saying:

Mostly we look at what the user types in, treat the input as individual words, and count them up on pages and weigh those pages with different kinds of evidence. But we don’t look only at words they type in. We also look at spelling variants, and if a user types in a long query, we break it into pieces. Maybe a user meant some words, but didn’t really mean others.

Let’s break it down:

1. Read user input
2. Put user input into individual words
3. Count the words on pages
4. Weigh those pages with different kinds of evidence.

So it’s about the words and the weight assigned to your web page. I know from experience that a site doesn’t have to “weigh” much as long as the words match and their is low competition. The place where all the voodoo comes is getting Google to assign more weight to your site for competitive words.

The Five Pound Bar of Iron

Nextebizguy — Wed, 09 May 2007 04:34:52 +0000

If you sell a five pound bar of iron out of the furnace you’ll get 6 dollars.
If you make it into fishing weights you’ll get 25 dollars.
If you make it into fishing hooks you’ll get 250 dollars.
If you make it into hunting knife blades you’ll get 2,500 dollars.
If you make it into watch springs you’ll make 250,000 dollars.

What do you see when you look at a five pound bar of iron?

Advice From A Billionaire

Nextebizguy — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 00:41:35 +0000

So I’m watching TV and there is a show on CNBC where the host is talking with a billionaire. The host asks him what the secret is to becoming a billionaire. All eyes are on the money man and he says “do what you love”.

My first reaction was to get upset. I think I’ve heard that statement a billion times already and I’ve even argued against it. I mean, if will all did what we “loved” who would clean toilets?!

The billionaire continued that unless you love what you do, you’ll burn out and you won’t have the passion to become great at what you are doing.

Maybe he’s got a point.

Ebiz 2007

Nextebizguy — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 02:29:54 +0000

Another year is in the history books and it’s time to review what worked and what didn’t.

What Worked

Selling stuff on Ebay
Selling stuff on Craigslist
Adsense

What Didn’t Work

Adwords
Selling ebooks
Selling desktop wallpapers
Starting a profitable website

I now have a total of 10 domains: 3 active and 7 inactive. The 7 inactive suffer from what I call “great idea syndrome” or GIS. A typical manifestation of GIS occurs when you have a “great idea” and then research if a domain is available. If it is, you immediately buy that domain thinking someone might steal it from you any second. You then write out some thoughts and get really excited about the potential. A few days later, the seemingly unstoppable flow of excitement and drive is gone. The domain sits parked and you wonder if you’ll ever develop it.

Did I make any money this year? Nope. Will I make money this year? I’m not sure. Will I keep trying, you betcha!

For all the loyal readers, I truly wish you a great 2007.

You Only Have 4 Seconds

Nextebizguy — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:14:06 +0000

Do you want to keep your users happy and purchasing? You’ve got a mere 4 seconds.

According to research done by Akamai, your website must load within 4 seconds otherwise the customer will abandon the site.

The report also notes:

The consequences for an online retailer whose site underperforms include diminished goodwill, negative brand perception, and, most important, significant loss in overall sales.

Another lesson learned is that a site can’t be too fast. The faster the page loads, the better the customer response. Even differences like a half second make an impression.

You better think twice about tons of flashy graphics and AJAX scripts. This is truly the instant gratification generation.