The At Home Couple

51 Free Online Webmaster Tools

I haven’t been posting on the weekends for a while now, but as I was surfing the Sitepoint.com marketplace doing my daily seek and destroy exercises I stumbled upon a start-up site for sale FreeOnlineSeoTools.com – which I originally encountered a few days previous. Why am I telling you about a site for sale that’s not even mine? It has nothing to do with the site being for sale! I’m letting you guys know about this site because of the 51 free online webmaster tools it gives you. I’ve spent the last few minutes testing out a handful of them, and I must say that the majority of these tools are super resourceful and easy to use – just finished submitting TheAtHomeCouple.com to 23 high traffic web directories and 19 of the top search engines in a few minutes using the cool little submitter tools on the site!

Here’s a list of the cool tools available to Ninjas everywhere:

Backlink Checker
HTML Encrypter
Link Analyzer
Meta-Tag Generator
HTML Optimizer
Ping Script
Search Engine Listing Preview
URL Shortener
Website Status Checker
Countdown Generator
E-mail Image Generator
Javascript Hit Counter
IP Locator (country)
Keyword Click Value Tool
Valid Link Checker
List Cleaner
Website Resolution Viewer
Firewall Scanner
Single-Level Sitemap Creator
Text Website Viewer
Unix Time Converter
Automated Directory Submitter
Automated Search Engine Submitter
Fake Rank Checker
Google Banned Checker
Keyword Density Checker
Keyword Suggestion Generator
Link Popularity Checker
Link Suggestion Generator
Multiple Keyword Search Engine Position
Multiple Website Search Engine Position
Multi-Rank Checker (PageRank and Alexa)
No-Follow Finder
Reciprocal Link Checker
Search Engine Position Checker
Search Engine Saturation Checker
Site Spider Viewer
HTTP Header Viewer
Browser Details Tool
Alexa Traffic Rank Checker
Online Calculator
Anonymous Email Script
HTTP Header Extractor
Reverse IP/Look-up Script
MD5 Encrypter
Meta Tag Extractor
Site Rank Checker
Source Code Viewer
Website Speed Test
Spider Viewer
Domain Whois Retriever

I’m sure these are not the best tools available for free on the Internet, but I’m also sure that at least a handful of these tools work just fine! Bookmark FreeOnlineSeoTools.com and visit it whenever you build a new niche site, need to do some research or simply feel like stealing a competitors meta information – it’s all at your finger tips!

Cheers,

Elijah

Become A Ninja Link Master By Combining Social Bookmarking Tools

I’m sitting here waiting for my man D to come through so we can rehearse for our show tomorrow night, so I figured I’ll bang out a post while I’m waiting. If you guys don’t know Mark Hansen by now read through my 20 questions session I did with him, and visit him over at TheNicheStoreBuilder.com – Mark is the man when it comes to building niche affiliate websites, keyword research tactics and keeping the public up to date with eBay’s wonderful (sarcastic) affiliate program. Mark is usually pretty sharp in regards to finding out about cool little programs and services that make our lives online easier, and he recently posted up about another social bookmarking tool that I knew you guys would be interested in.

Remember when I introduced a few of you to SocialMarker.com and their awesome social bookmarking service? Well, take that concept but add the ability to securely input and save your account info, so you don’t have to manually enter it every time you want to bookmark something! Yes sir, OnlyWire.com does exactly this! I’ve just gone through the sign up process and after creating my log in it immediately took me to a page when I enter in my user/pass for 19 top social bookmarking sites listed as follows:

Backflip
Bibsonomy
Blinklist
Blue Dot
BookmarkSync
Connotea
del.icio.us
de.lirio.us
Diigo
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Jumptags
linkatopia
Linkroll
ma.gnolia
MyWebYahoo
Simpy
Spurl
Twitter

I could very well have hyper-linked each of those for you, but I think it would be safe to assume that the majority of you know these bookmarking services, and how to find them! Right? Right. Copy and paste the name into your address bar and add a .com at the end of it, and hit enter!

Now obviously you don’t have to fill in all 19 services for OnlyWire to work it’s magic, but if you really wanted to get 19 free backlinks in a few minutes than this site is the way to go. Combine the speed of OnlyWire with the selection of SocialMarker and you have yourself a well oiled social bookmarking machine! Talk about easy link building for new sites. Services like this really make what used to be such a tedious task easy enough that you could work it into your day without breaking a sweat.

I’m going to put together a short Camtasia tutorial once I get my accounts up and running – there won’t be much to it as the OnlyWire interface is super simple, and there’s not much to it at all. Put in your social bookmarking account info, save it, add the bookmarklet to your toolbar, and start bookmarking!

Take a peak and let me know what you guys think!

Cheers,

Elijah

UpstartBlogger.com Blasts The Four Hour Work Week

This weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada, and was extra special because it was the first time my grandparents met Veronica’s family. I lived with my grandparents for 6 years prior to moving out with Veronica, and they are some of the most important people in my life, so needless to say I was really looking forward to the gathering – and the food! We had our dinner on Sunday and Monday was the holiday so Veronica and I spent the entire day (literally) in bed watching television, with the occasional lap top session.

I really wanted to do some catching up on all of your websites this weekend, and while doing so I stumbled upon a post over at Ashley Morgan’s UpstartBlogger.com – which I frequent almost daily. Ashley recently wrote a post titled Deconstructing The Tim Ferris Four Hour Work Week, and to my expectations it was written in his opinionated, honest style of commentary which I’ve grown to appreciate him for.

Throughout the deconstruction Ashley openly bashed Timothy Ferris stating that his qualifications are deluded and that the book’s success is nothing more than marketing fluff from a persuasive fraud. Here’s a favorite line of mine:

Unfortunately it’s all a load of rubbish. Like most books of its ilk, The Four Hour Work Week is all about the dream, not the reality. All sizzle and no steak. Still a best seller though. Because blog marketing works.

No matter how much I enjoyed reading this book, I have to agree with his statement. Blog marketing does work, and even though I disagree with the open bashing of someone whom he’s never met or shook hands with, I do agree that a huge factor in the success and viral push behind The Four Hour Work Week is that Ferris utilized the power of blog marketing to capitalize on his interpretation of this “dream” we’re all chasing. On the flip side, I do have to disagree with one particular commentator crapped on Ferris calling him a liar and a cheat and getting up in the face of another person who jotted own their opinion. This really made me laugh:

Todd, you’re obviously a shill. And who the hell are those so called famous people. Doctor Phil? Doctor Phil who? Clean up your grammar next time as well. You wrote “couple famous people” when you should have written “a couple OF famous people”. Learn English for crying out loud. For someone who is claiming to earn over six figures with little effort you are coming across as an idiot.

When I read what this guy was yapping about I couldn’t help but start to chuckle a little! The reason I found this particular individual amusing was because I can tell he is the type of cat who will blast up forums and blogs telling people where to shove it, because he knows everything, but I can almost guarantee if he weren’t hiding behind his computer with a box of tissue and the little girls section of the Old Navy fall catalog open, he wouldn’t say shit. Here’s what I replied after reading his comment, and I pray he pays me a visit and reads this:

What really makes me laugh is how most of you guys sit behind a computer talking trash, but if you were to see the person you were talking trash about in public you would continue talking under your breath and not say a damn thing to their face, eye to eye.

I really hope he takes me up on my challenge. We’ll see how quick he is to open his mouth when Tim Ferris throws a round house to his temple – the last I heard he was a black belt martial artist! Good luck buddy! If you’re going to talk smack about someone, tell them directly – don’t be hiding behind blogs looking all tough and well read, because you’re the one that ends up looking like you ride on the special bus.

How do you guys feel about The Four Hour Work Week and smack talking on blogs?

Cheers,

Elijah

Friday Update With Veronica

Hi all,

Just thought I’d pop in and say “Hello” . . . It’s been a while, but I’m still around. I’ve been working hard and trying to stay on top of things.

Elijah has been encouraging me to do a video post, which to be honest makes me nervous, (I don’t like the sound of my own voice) so I thought I’d give it a shot when he wasn’t home and couldn’t make me laugh. 🙂

Veronica Update

Stay classy,

Veronica

Should We Sell This Blog?

Veronica and I are at a point in our life together where things aren’t all peaches and cream – not pertaining to our relationship, which is the strength that drives me, but in terms of financial stability. Since I lost my job back in May and made the decision that I would do whatever it takes to be making enough income online to not have to visit my old friend, the cubicle, ever again – it’s been an interesting road. On a personal level, I haven’t paid my student loan or credit card bill in over 3 months, by choice, and that’s not what bothers me because I’m only 27 and credit can be repaired. On the flip side, Veronica has been working away doing her 40 hour work week and developing an increased sense of frustration towards the gutless operations of a major corporation – especially one that’s preparing for the Christmas rush.

Not only does her discontent break my heart because she has to put up with this shit, but it also keeps a constant flame under my white ass because I want to be THE man that can provide for her – and hopefully make enough money so she can leave her job by the end of the year, which is a goal of ours.

Where’s your head at?

Over the last month or so I’ve been feeling a strange combination of depression and desperation, fueled by an abnormal, almost mutated drive to succeed online. The desperation causes me to not sleep and spend 12-16 hours a day sitting on this lap top. The depression hinders my focus and ability to stay motivated when things don’t work as planned – like my latest site flip. The drive is something that I’m used to, especially when I have my back against the wall with nowhere to run.

Am I afraid of failure? Absolutely terrified. Am I dreading the thought of having to get another pointless job, and not being able to work for myself? Every single day. Would an immediate financial boost improve my current situation? Probably. This is where the thought of selling TheAtHomeCouple.com makes it’s entrance.

I was unable to sleep last night, and stayed awake until Veronica left for work at 7 am this morning. The thought of cashing out on all my hard work for a quick money fix was haunting me beyond belief. I began to think about how much this site would be worth on the market, and what I could allocate that extra money towards. I began to think of how much weight it would take off Veronica’s shoulders, and enable her to put some money aside for herself – which she hasn’t done in months, as well as my responsibilities being the man in our relationship, and the deeply rooted pride that is commonly associated with that role. I then asked myself a simple question that really helped open up my tired eyes:

Would selling this blog solve our current financial needs and increase the chances of us accomplishing our long term goals in life, and online?

Fuck no. Cashing out on this blog would be the biggest sell out move I’ve ever pulled in my 27 years. This blog is a symbol of the very goal we are trying to achieve, and not only would I loose the respect of my peers, which is everything to me, but I can almost guarantee that the new owner(s) would not have an easy time filling my blood soaked shoes. I woke up today around 5 pm, ashamed at the thoughts that were racing through my brain. I immediately felt a need to email every single subscriber we have and tell you how much we love you, and want you to succeed. How much your struggles and triumphs keep us going, and knowing that we’re not alone in this vast, cold world online makes all the difference. I realized how many amazing people I’ve met, and great friends I’ve made – and I could NEVER put a price tag on that.

Note: I just received an email from an Affiliate Manager at affnet.com, saying he’s been researching our site, loves what we’re doing and would like to talk about advertising on our site and other business opportunities. Ironic, considering what I was just finished writing about.

Cheers,

Elijah

Finding A Profitable Niche For Local Success

I spent the last week or so helping two good friends of mine, Mickey and Alistair, move from their recently sold condo to a cozy apartment in the trendy Bloor West area of Toronto – I absolutely hate moving, but that’s another post on a whole other blog! Anyways, Mickey and myself have always shared a passion for computers and technology, and whenever we get together for 37 beers and a bottle of scotch the conversation usually leans towards business ideas and world domination tactics. 3-5 times per year a whole crew of us travel north of the city to a very popular cottage town called Wasaga Beach, where Mickey’s father John lives and plays. This is usually our time to relax, build a fire, eat awesome food and spend some quality time together, as most of us don’t hang out as often as we’d like now that we’re all getting older – and more consumed in our individual careers.

This past summer we stumbled upon the realization that there isn’t a central location on the Internet for our demographic (male/female aged 19-30, future alcoholic millionaires) relating to what’s going on in Wasaga Beach. This discovery lead to the obvious discussion of building a web 2.0 social network style community, that would utilize our individual skills (Mickey is a Computer Programming Ninja, and Alistair is Night Club Manager/Promotion Sniper) and provide the Wasaga Beach party people with a go-to spot for events, contests, and intoxicated gatherings.

A Moment Of Genius…

A huge factor with pulling this off would be the ability to make the concept “sticky” and branded – because with our age group branding is everything. If we can come up with a catchy name, tag line and logo that people will recognize all the way from the strip to the line up in front of the keg, not only will the idea explode but word of mouth will take effect – and that my friends is what viral marketing dreams are made of.

All we have to do is funnel that viral buzz towards a fully interactive, multimedia driven social community where people can upload videos of their friend streaking across a beach volleyball court with a Roman Candle hanging out of his ass, and we’ll be in business! We can combine this with a Profile system, a vibrant choice of locally themed forum threads, photo galleries with tagging capabilities, and an up to date events section providing the inside scoop to everything Wasaga Beach Bums deem important.

We have all winter to get the foundation of the site complete, as well as the necessary traffic generation and link building methods – which is where I come in – and as summer roles around next year we’ll be more than prepared to start spreading the word and claiming our authority within the party scene of Wasaga Beach. Here’s a few ways I think we can create the viral power we need:

Take the entire crew down to the beach at least once every long weekend, all wearing branded t-shirts with the website address and logo on it while being loud and vibrant as usual.
Get branded bottle openers and condoms on a stick to give away while we’re out partying. Making people do ridiculous shit for free stuff and recording it to compile in an online video release at the end of each cottage season.
Host a free karaoke party at the beginning of cottage season – with more filming and condoms.
Every year in August Mickey has a pig roast for his birthday. We can charge people $20 a head for a Keg Party Pig Roast – all you can eat and drink with contests and prizes.
Once established we can cross over into the winter season and host events at the surrounding ski resorts – milking the snowboarding crowd.

I’m sure the wheels are all spinning in your heads right now – how can I find a profitable market locally and use the power of the Internet to support it? Take a look around you. What do people enjoy doing in your town or city? What’s popular based by season, or even year round? How can you position yourself between a trendy tourist spot and it’s visitors to capitalize and provide a resource or service to enhance their experience?

Spend a Sunday walking around your downtown core and keep your eyes open – the opportunities are everywhere! Thinking locally might not be as profitable compared to a global online launch, but on the flip side local niche targeting makes it much easier to establish authority and dust what little competition there might be – especially if you know a thing or two about Internet marketing!

Cheers,

Elijah