Sunday, November 9, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
How long does your site take to load?
We Malaysians are a frustrated lot. We are at the mercies of the internet service providers like Streamyx, Jaring and the other smaller players. We know our internet connection sucks max.
I have just tried for the 100th time to stumble someone’s post and it just won’t move. It is darn frustrating to surf at night because the internet speed over at my place is too slow.
So, as a gentle reminder to those bloggers who have fancy schmancy theme or template, plenty of plugins pulling in all sorts of ‘popular post, most view post, top ten commented yadda yadda yadda’ frills and lots of photos plus tracking codes, do keep your blog simpler.
If your traffic is meant to attract Malaysians, all the more you should trim it because many people dislike waiting for a page to completely download. Sometimes, we may not notice how slow our site is because of the cookies and cache stored in our PC. However, those who come by has to wait for a long time to see all the photos and etc.
The other thing you may want to observe is - Are your contents loaded first or do people have to wait for the sidebars and top banner to complete first?
I noticed that many food bloggers have these problems whereby their contents hang while we wait for the sidebars with lots of linked in pictures to download first. My food blogs too have the same problems but I am reluctant to rectify the matter.
If you really want to reduce your loading time, there are several things you can do (my reasons for not doing them in brackets).
1) Reduce the number of posts on the main page (but I like at least 5 posts on the main page)
2) Reduce the size of your photos (but I like 500pixel width photos for the oomph)
3) Cut off your posts and add ‘read more’ (but my readers hate to click ‘read more’ so I never use that)
4) Keep your sidebar contents to the minimum, trim them often (I am keeping the minimum but who can do without money making ads, right?)
5) Do not use tracking codes which you don’t rely on (I only keep Google analytics and a couple of other codes that make money for me)
If you want to know how long it takes for your site to load, just google for it. There are several sites which tell you how long your site takes to load.
Remember : Sometimes, eye candy theme serves no purposes but instead, turn off potential visitors. Less is more!
I have just tried for the 100th time to stumble someone’s post and it just won’t move. It is darn frustrating to surf at night because the internet speed over at my place is too slow.
So, as a gentle reminder to those bloggers who have fancy schmancy theme or template, plenty of plugins pulling in all sorts of ‘popular post, most view post, top ten commented yadda yadda yadda’ frills and lots of photos plus tracking codes, do keep your blog simpler.
If your traffic is meant to attract Malaysians, all the more you should trim it because many people dislike waiting for a page to completely download. Sometimes, we may not notice how slow our site is because of the cookies and cache stored in our PC. However, those who come by has to wait for a long time to see all the photos and etc.
The other thing you may want to observe is - Are your contents loaded first or do people have to wait for the sidebars and top banner to complete first?
I noticed that many food bloggers have these problems whereby their contents hang while we wait for the sidebars with lots of linked in pictures to download first. My food blogs too have the same problems but I am reluctant to rectify the matter.
If you really want to reduce your loading time, there are several things you can do (my reasons for not doing them in brackets).
1) Reduce the number of posts on the main page (but I like at least 5 posts on the main page)
2) Reduce the size of your photos (but I like 500pixel width photos for the oomph)
3) Cut off your posts and add ‘read more’ (but my readers hate to click ‘read more’ so I never use that)
4) Keep your sidebar contents to the minimum, trim them often (I am keeping the minimum but who can do without money making ads, right?)
5) Do not use tracking codes which you don’t rely on (I only keep Google analytics and a couple of other codes that make money for me)
If you want to know how long it takes for your site to load, just google for it. There are several sites which tell you how long your site takes to load.
Remember : Sometimes, eye candy theme serves no purposes but instead, turn off potential visitors. Less is more!
Where to find and how to add back button to Firefox 3
I guess I am not the only clueless person looking for the back button on Firefox 3. A lot of folks are searching for it too. Thanks to my readers, here are some ways they suggested on how to find and add the back button on Firefox 3. I hope their info [...]
Firefox 3 not so AwesomeBar - How to revert to the old one
Apparently people are searching for all kind of things related to the new Firefox 3 toolbar. I was just checking out my stats and stumbled upon these useful tips from LifeHacker.First of all, I wonder why the Back Button on Firefox 3 appeared as a huge green arrow on Windows and only a very [...]
How long does it take your blog to load?
Okay…that’s it! I am going to change my Wordpress theme again. Had been meaning to do it but never find time to sit down and concentrate.Six months ago, I use a theme that has only 123kb and hence, it takes a short time to load. Now, my theme is taking [...]
Does your site ‘measure’ up?
If you have a blog, do you compare if it measures up to your peers’ blogs? Or do you just keep writing for the sake of writing and do not give much thought to the design, the functionality of your site and if it is making money?If you are seriously into blogging, then read [...]
What is Google Pagerank? (no, this is not a serious piece)
Sometimes, we are so comfortable with some of the terms we use every day that we thought the whole world know what we are talking about. But nope, not everyone is born to be a webmaster or possess the skills. So, this is the basic, ‘guide to pagerank for the [...]
Why must we track our traffic?
A few of you have asked and some emailed me to ask why I am so dependent on tracking my blog traffic. Sorry I never got around to reply the emails because I was rather busy with the candlelight vigils and the much awaited change of Government. Still waiting with bated breath and [...]
How long does your site take to load?
We Malaysians are a frustrated lot. We are at the mercies of the internet service providers like Streamyx, Jaring and the other smaller players. We know our internet connection sucks max.I have just tried for the 100th time to stumble someone’s post and it just won’t move. It is darn frustrating to [...]
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Clearer picture on Malaysia’s economic future after Nov 4
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — November 4 could be a make or break day for many Malaysians. On that day, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will reply to questions raised during the Budget debate and is likely to lay out a buffet of new measures to cushion the effects of the world economic slowdown.
He is likely to redraw all the assumptions that went into preparing the Budget which was presented by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in September.
The Malaysian Insider understands that Najib could also downgrade economic growth forecast for next year from 5 per cent to 3 per cent. He has little choice. The recent freefall of palm oil prices and the sharp drop in crude oil prices will dent the government's revenue in 2009 and 2010 and impact on its ability to fund projects over the next few years.
Also, with the United States economy in a recession and other markets for Malaysian exports slowing considerably, it is only natural that the manufacturing sector here will be affected.
If the government gets it right with its slew of measures on Nov 4, Malaysians will experience an economic slowdown for the next two years but will avoid a gut-wrenching recession.
Sources told The Malaysian Insider that to keep up domestic economy and consumption the government is likely to spend on several major infrastructure projects. But to do that, it must be prepared to allow the Budget deficit to grow even wider.
Government economists and Finance Ministry officials have been looking at the past economic slowdowns and examining strategies that worked then in 1986 and 1997. Clearly, there is consensus that the credit crises in the United States and its contagion effect across the world are more serious and unpredictable than the slump in commodity prices in the 1980s and the Asian Financial Crisis.
Today's global financial crisis is unlike any other in more than three decades. The turmoil has been exported from the US, and then western Europe, to emerging markets. Securitisation and the proliferation and global distribution of complex and opaque financial instruments mean that economies have become more interdependent.
After the resolution of the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, many emerging markets implemented key reforms, pursued prudent macroeconomic policies, strengthened banking and financial institutions and built up significant central bank reserves. In spite of their reforms, many of these countries have been caught in the downdraft of this credit crisis. They are the victims of financial stress that is both not of their making and is beyond their control. It is now affecting their real economies. No country will be spared.
A month ago, Brazil's president said that the crisis would produce only "a ripple" in his country. He was wrong. On Oct 16, the country's stock exchange index lost more than 11 per cent, its biggest single-day drop in a decade. The real has slid 30 per cent against the dollar since Aug 1.
The thinking within the Malaysian government appears to be that growth next year could hit a low of 2 per cent but 2010 could be more challenging if the government cuts back on developmental and infrastructure projects.
In mid-1980s, the Mahathir administration awarded large projects to the private sector with cheap loans, resulting in the North-South Expressway, the Penang Bridge and several other infrastructure projects being built. At the same time, it accelerated its privatisation policy and relaxed the Bumiputera ownership requirements.
The government succeeded in its bid to revive the economy. Indeed, Malaysia became one of the fastest growing countries in the world, averaging a growth in GDP of over 8 per cent for the decade of 1987 to 1997. The rapid growth also brought in massive foreign investment into the stock market and financial sector, creating bull runs in 1993 and 1994.
The difference between now and then is the significant budget deficit in the country today. This will restrict the government's ability to spend, spend and spend.
He is likely to redraw all the assumptions that went into preparing the Budget which was presented by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in September.
The Malaysian Insider understands that Najib could also downgrade economic growth forecast for next year from 5 per cent to 3 per cent. He has little choice. The recent freefall of palm oil prices and the sharp drop in crude oil prices will dent the government's revenue in 2009 and 2010 and impact on its ability to fund projects over the next few years.
Also, with the United States economy in a recession and other markets for Malaysian exports slowing considerably, it is only natural that the manufacturing sector here will be affected.
If the government gets it right with its slew of measures on Nov 4, Malaysians will experience an economic slowdown for the next two years but will avoid a gut-wrenching recession.
Sources told The Malaysian Insider that to keep up domestic economy and consumption the government is likely to spend on several major infrastructure projects. But to do that, it must be prepared to allow the Budget deficit to grow even wider.
Government economists and Finance Ministry officials have been looking at the past economic slowdowns and examining strategies that worked then in 1986 and 1997. Clearly, there is consensus that the credit crises in the United States and its contagion effect across the world are more serious and unpredictable than the slump in commodity prices in the 1980s and the Asian Financial Crisis.
Today's global financial crisis is unlike any other in more than three decades. The turmoil has been exported from the US, and then western Europe, to emerging markets. Securitisation and the proliferation and global distribution of complex and opaque financial instruments mean that economies have become more interdependent.
After the resolution of the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, many emerging markets implemented key reforms, pursued prudent macroeconomic policies, strengthened banking and financial institutions and built up significant central bank reserves. In spite of their reforms, many of these countries have been caught in the downdraft of this credit crisis. They are the victims of financial stress that is both not of their making and is beyond their control. It is now affecting their real economies. No country will be spared.
A month ago, Brazil's president said that the crisis would produce only "a ripple" in his country. He was wrong. On Oct 16, the country's stock exchange index lost more than 11 per cent, its biggest single-day drop in a decade. The real has slid 30 per cent against the dollar since Aug 1.
The thinking within the Malaysian government appears to be that growth next year could hit a low of 2 per cent but 2010 could be more challenging if the government cuts back on developmental and infrastructure projects.
In mid-1980s, the Mahathir administration awarded large projects to the private sector with cheap loans, resulting in the North-South Expressway, the Penang Bridge and several other infrastructure projects being built. At the same time, it accelerated its privatisation policy and relaxed the Bumiputera ownership requirements.
The government succeeded in its bid to revive the economy. Indeed, Malaysia became one of the fastest growing countries in the world, averaging a growth in GDP of over 8 per cent for the decade of 1987 to 1997. The rapid growth also brought in massive foreign investment into the stock market and financial sector, creating bull runs in 1993 and 1994.
The difference between now and then is the significant budget deficit in the country today. This will restrict the government's ability to spend, spend and spend.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Make Money Online Through Blogging Series - Paid Blogging
There isn’t a lot of secret on how to make money online from your blog. Blogs with or with no traffic can be monetized – you just have to know the ways. Here are some of the techniques that I use to make money online from my blog.
1. PayPerPost – Your blog just needs to be approved by their team (which is rather tedious and time consuming if you are not using WordPress or Blogger) and you can start writing paid posts to make money. Generally advertisers don’t really emphasize on traffic but uses PR as a benchmark.Here is an guide on how much you be able to earn with your PR on one paid post:
PR0 – 4 – $5 - $15
PR5 – $20 - $100
PR6 and above – at least $100 - $200 and above
You as well can earn referral fee of $7.50 to $15 when a new publisher signs up using your referral link. You can sign up for PayPerPost here.
2. Blogsvertise – Cool opportunity but you not able to shop around the market place since there are not much advertisers. You’ll need to wait till the admin to give you with a task.
Normally I get paid $5 - $10 on my PR1 to PR4 blog.
3. SponsoredReviews – This is my favorite place. Your blog’s approval is quite fast and simple. After get approved, just browse around their market place and bid for that for your desire opportunity, as many as you want!! If the advertisers agree with your bids, you will get an email for the jobs task.
I get paid $3.25 to $200 per blog post on my PR2 and PR5 (now is PR4) blogs.You can also earn $5 and up to $175 each referral you refer to them.
4. PayU2Blog – This is another place to earn money online through blogging. Similar SponsoredReviews, blog approval is easy, but sometime you wont get any email from them if your blog is not qualify. You’ll get tasks assigned to you weekly and normally you have to complete it within a week.
I get paid $5 to $7.50 for each paid post.
5. Smorty – It’s very simple to get approval by them if you have your blogs get indexed in google. No question ask, just do what they want, and then you can get pay in just 1 week period. Smorty is the fastest payment ever in paid blogging service.
PR0-4 blogs get paid from $6 to $20 for a blog post
6. ReviewMe – They are growing. In the past they just focus on advertising posts on blogs for a payment fees, you can’t choose the advertisers, advertisers choose you. At the moment they have a market place where you are able to choose on these advertisers.
You earn 50% of what you have ask for your premium paid post sales, while you can earn $5 to $7.5 for a PR3 blog in their market place.
7. V7N – PR is more important for them. They do not accept free blog platform like blogspot, etc. V7N suit for you after you have your own domain name.
Normally I will get paid at least $10 for one blog post however I heard that somebody got paid for $20 per post. You are able to negotiate your price with them if you have high PR blog.
There are a lot of paid blogging opportunities but I don’t recommend you go with them due to some reasons. These are Bloggerwave, loudlauch,and so on..
Make Money Online Through Blogging Series 1 finish. I will continue part 2 tomorrow.
1. PayPerPost – Your blog just needs to be approved by their team (which is rather tedious and time consuming if you are not using WordPress or Blogger) and you can start writing paid posts to make money. Generally advertisers don’t really emphasize on traffic but uses PR as a benchmark.Here is an guide on how much you be able to earn with your PR on one paid post:
PR0 – 4 – $5 - $15
PR5 – $20 - $100
PR6 and above – at least $100 - $200 and above
You as well can earn referral fee of $7.50 to $15 when a new publisher signs up using your referral link. You can sign up for PayPerPost here.
2. Blogsvertise – Cool opportunity but you not able to shop around the market place since there are not much advertisers. You’ll need to wait till the admin to give you with a task.
Normally I get paid $5 - $10 on my PR1 to PR4 blog.
3. SponsoredReviews – This is my favorite place. Your blog’s approval is quite fast and simple. After get approved, just browse around their market place and bid for that for your desire opportunity, as many as you want!! If the advertisers agree with your bids, you will get an email for the jobs task.
I get paid $3.25 to $200 per blog post on my PR2 and PR5 (now is PR4) blogs.You can also earn $5 and up to $175 each referral you refer to them.
4. PayU2Blog – This is another place to earn money online through blogging. Similar SponsoredReviews, blog approval is easy, but sometime you wont get any email from them if your blog is not qualify. You’ll get tasks assigned to you weekly and normally you have to complete it within a week.
I get paid $5 to $7.50 for each paid post.
5. Smorty – It’s very simple to get approval by them if you have your blogs get indexed in google. No question ask, just do what they want, and then you can get pay in just 1 week period. Smorty is the fastest payment ever in paid blogging service.
PR0-4 blogs get paid from $6 to $20 for a blog post
6. ReviewMe – They are growing. In the past they just focus on advertising posts on blogs for a payment fees, you can’t choose the advertisers, advertisers choose you. At the moment they have a market place where you are able to choose on these advertisers.
You earn 50% of what you have ask for your premium paid post sales, while you can earn $5 to $7.5 for a PR3 blog in their market place.
7. V7N – PR is more important for them. They do not accept free blog platform like blogspot, etc. V7N suit for you after you have your own domain name.
Normally I will get paid at least $10 for one blog post however I heard that somebody got paid for $20 per post. You are able to negotiate your price with them if you have high PR blog.
There are a lot of paid blogging opportunities but I don’t recommend you go with them due to some reasons. These are Bloggerwave, loudlauch,and so on..
Make Money Online Through Blogging Series 1 finish. I will continue part 2 tomorrow.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Make Money Online Series From Dropshipping - Introduction About Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a type of retailing where, instead of the retailer (meaning you) actually keeping the goods in stock at their own location, they instead pass the order, along with the shipment details from a customer, to a wholesaler. It is then the job of the wholesaler to dispatch the goods ordered directly to your customer for you. The great thing about this method is that not only do you not need to have a large warehouse for storing all the goods you are selling, but also you make a profit through the price you pay for it wholesale, and the price that you sell it to your customer for.
In fact, where dropshipping is concerned, you are actually acting as the middleman for the product that your customer receives and the manufacturer who produces it. This particular type of system is extremely beneficial to both small retail shops, as well as internet based stores, or those people who use mailing catalogs in order to generate sales for their companies. In fact, many customers who purchase their products in this way seem to not be too bothered that there is a delay between the time when the products are ordered and when they actually have them arrive.
But the biggest problem that is being addressed by dropshipping is that retailers no longer have to worry about controlling their inventory, as this is done for them by the wholesaler instead.Unfortunately, in a more traditional retail setting, the products a store owner orders will be ordered in bulk, and they will then need to be kept in a secure location until they can be displayed and sold. What this means is that you are adding costs to an already large budget, as you will need to have storage space available, along with hiring staff to maintain the storage area and ensure that the goods are ready for delivery to the store and to know what levels each product is at. You will also need to spend money investing in a good quality security system in order to prevent the goods from being stolen. However, if you were to use dropshipping instead, then you do not need to retain a large stock of your inventory on site, and also you no longer needed to employ a large team of staff.
Also, you will find that a large number of manufacturers now find the idea of dropshipping as a good investment, as it is also lowering their costs as well. Plus they are gaining an additional sales person who they do not actually pay a wage to. They are also saving themselves money as they no longer need to arrange for the delivery of large quantities of their goods to a retailer, so they are cutting down on their handling and fuel costs this way. Instead, they can use the more inexpensive shipping methods that are now readily available by using either UPS, FedEx or a locally based delivery company to ensure that their products are delivered directly to the customer. Plus, as many manufacturers have spent vast amounts of money ensuring that their warehouses are completely secure, they know that their products are safe until the day that they are dispatched, rather than them sitting in the back room of some retailer’s shop with very little or no security on the property.
Yet there are some drawbacks to running a dropshipping business, and these I will look at in more detail later on free dropshipping guide. Through this blog post, I will provide you with how you need to get started in the business of dropshipping, along with what you will need and the benefits, as well as the drawbacks.
I will continue on next topic;”Five Golden Rules to Dropshipping” , stay tuned!
In fact, where dropshipping is concerned, you are actually acting as the middleman for the product that your customer receives and the manufacturer who produces it. This particular type of system is extremely beneficial to both small retail shops, as well as internet based stores, or those people who use mailing catalogs in order to generate sales for their companies. In fact, many customers who purchase their products in this way seem to not be too bothered that there is a delay between the time when the products are ordered and when they actually have them arrive.
But the biggest problem that is being addressed by dropshipping is that retailers no longer have to worry about controlling their inventory, as this is done for them by the wholesaler instead.Unfortunately, in a more traditional retail setting, the products a store owner orders will be ordered in bulk, and they will then need to be kept in a secure location until they can be displayed and sold. What this means is that you are adding costs to an already large budget, as you will need to have storage space available, along with hiring staff to maintain the storage area and ensure that the goods are ready for delivery to the store and to know what levels each product is at. You will also need to spend money investing in a good quality security system in order to prevent the goods from being stolen. However, if you were to use dropshipping instead, then you do not need to retain a large stock of your inventory on site, and also you no longer needed to employ a large team of staff.
Also, you will find that a large number of manufacturers now find the idea of dropshipping as a good investment, as it is also lowering their costs as well. Plus they are gaining an additional sales person who they do not actually pay a wage to. They are also saving themselves money as they no longer need to arrange for the delivery of large quantities of their goods to a retailer, so they are cutting down on their handling and fuel costs this way. Instead, they can use the more inexpensive shipping methods that are now readily available by using either UPS, FedEx or a locally based delivery company to ensure that their products are delivered directly to the customer. Plus, as many manufacturers have spent vast amounts of money ensuring that their warehouses are completely secure, they know that their products are safe until the day that they are dispatched, rather than them sitting in the back room of some retailer’s shop with very little or no security on the property.
Yet there are some drawbacks to running a dropshipping business, and these I will look at in more detail later on free dropshipping guide. Through this blog post, I will provide you with how you need to get started in the business of dropshipping, along with what you will need and the benefits, as well as the drawbacks.
I will continue on next topic;”Five Golden Rules to Dropshipping” , stay tuned!
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