Metalique http://metalique.com Graphic & Web Design Studio Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:12:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 en hourly 1 Happy Holidays! http://metalique.com/happy-holidays http://metalique.com/happy-holidays#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:12:12 +0000 Eddie Gear http://metalique.com/?p=540 We have had a wonderful experience blogging all through this year. Even though we have had some rough times when our systems crashed and we were not able to blog for a long time, we got back up and started blogging again. Wee would like to thank a few people who helped us get one step closer to our goal.

1) Our Sponsor – Uprinting.com (Find cheap business cards printing, postcard mailing and flyer printing by searching for online coupons. Search terms like “print brochures coupon code” in your favorite search engine.)

2) Our Team – who helped fix the PCs that crashed.

3) Our readers – Thanks! To all our readers and subscribers who have given us an opportunity to build on our goals by visiting our website.

We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

]]> http://metalique.com/happy-holidays/feed 0 Sency – What’s Going On? http://metalique.com/sency-%e2%80%93-what%e2%80%99s-going-on http://metalique.com/sency-%e2%80%93-what%e2%80%99s-going-on#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:39:14 +0000 Eddie Gear http://metalique.com/?p=510 It seems as if new real time web start-ups are popping up each day.  The reason for this is that Internet users have begun to show an affinity for real time data.  In the past, search engines would show static search results based on relevancy.  Today, users can find out what is happening sency_logoBGright now, and the real time web start-ups are aimed at filling that need.

 Today, we have reviewed real time web start-up, Sency. 

Sency offers  both a search for users and feeds for webmasters. The search allows users to see what is going on right now.  Comments from the real time web are displayed based on recency.  A spam filter has been implemented in an effort to weed out some of the spam.  And, to the right of the search, in the header, you will see a link for today’s most popular links.  This functionality allows you to see the most popular links for a given keyword from today.  So, if you search for fishing, you can see which links have been shared the most by the people with the most authority today, on the real time web.  Unlike a search from a traditional search engine, results from sites such as Sency change by the minute, offering new information and a unique experience each time. 

Sency has also built two widgets for other websites and blogs to publish.  The first widget offers content for websites.  (http://sency.com/feed.php) The great thing about this widget is that it is completely private labeled so that it flows well with a website.  There are also several customization options allowing websites to control keyword, width and height, color, as well as whether or not to display the source.  The other widget allows any website or blog to display today’s most popular links for a given keyword. (http://sency.com/linksfeed.php) So, a blog about cooking can display a list of today’s top cooking links.  The links automatically update each day allowing a website to have fresh links on their site each day.

All and all, it is interesting to see several new startups on the web.  At, websites like Sency are betting that the real time web is here to stay.

Guest Post by Evan Britton – Founder, Sency

]]> http://metalique.com/sency-%e2%80%93-what%e2%80%99s-going-on/feed 0 Top 15 must follow Search Engine Optimization Blogs http://metalique.com/top-15-must-follow-search-engine-optimization-blogs http://metalique.com/top-15-must-follow-search-engine-optimization-blogs#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:35:35 +0000 Eddie Gear http://metalique.com/?p=498 Every one wants to learn and optimize their blogs and website and rank better on search engines. What better than following some of the top 15 blog that we consider the best in providing information on Search Engine Optimization. Be it an e-commerce website or an information blog or a high revenue generating blog, SEO is an important aspect. We have put together 15 SEO blogs that you can learn from to optimize and stay up to date with the SEO trends in the market.

Search Engine Land
Search Engine Watch
SEO Chat
Search Engine Guide
SEO Blackhat
Graywolf’s SEO
Search Engine Roundtable
Search Engine Journal
SEO by the SEA
Dave Naylor
SEO Refugee
Small Business SEM
SEOBook
SEOMoz
Matt Cutts
This brings us to the end of “Top 15 must follow Search Engine Optimization Blogs” Thanks for reading.

]]> http://metalique.com/top-15-must-follow-search-engine-optimization-blogs/feed 0 AWESOME 18×24” Rolled Poster Print giveaway from LargeFormatPosters.com http://metalique.com/awesome-18x24-rolled-poster-print-giveaway-from-largeformatposters-com http://metalique.com/awesome-18x24-rolled-poster-print-giveaway-from-largeformatposters-com#comments Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:39:51 +0000 Eddie Gear http://metalique.com/awesome-18x24-rolled-poster-print-giveaway-from-largeformatposters-com Thanks to LargeFormatPosters.com for offering Metalique and my blog readers an opportunity to win an AWESOME 18×24” Rolled Poster Print.  It even gets better, this giveaway is a 100% FREE GIVEAWAY. That’s right! No shipping or handling fees will be charged to claim prizes for this week’s Giveaway. Awesome isn’t it!

lfp_logo

Giveaway Sponsor

LargeFormatPosters.com is a division of UPrinting Network, a trusted online company committed to providing high-quality printing experience at affordable prices. They specialize in Poster Printing and Large Format Printing. For over 25 years, they’ve catered to small and medium sized businesses nation-wide.

As LargeFormatPosters.com was generous to give me a FREE 18×24” Rolled Poster Print. I’ve decided to get a print of the shrine of Mother Mary – The Lady of Good Health.  I captured this image a few months ago when I visited the Shrine of Vailankani in the small town of Nagapattinam in TamilNadu, India.

Image022

What should you do to participate in this GIVEAWAY:

1. Leave a comment explaining how you would use the 18×24” Rolled Poster Print if you won. (Mandatory to enter)

2. Blog about this giveaway and link metalique.com as well as LargeFormatPosters.com (Optional)

3. Tweet this excellent Giveaway @uprinting with trending topic ‘#giveaway’ (Optional)

Note: This Giveaway is open to US residents only. FREE UPS Ground Shipping for US residents.

Make use of this excellent opportunity to have a beautiful 18X24 print that you will be proud to display on your wall  :)

Wish you luck!

This GIVEAWAY ends  SEPTEMBER 28, 2009 [ CLOSED ]

WINNER IS Daphney, CONGRATULATIONS !!!

]]> http://metalique.com/awesome-18x24-rolled-poster-print-giveaway-from-largeformatposters-com/feed 2 21 top blogs that inspired me to blog http://metalique.com/21-top-blogs-that-inspired-me-to-blog http://metalique.com/21-top-blogs-that-inspired-me-to-blog#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:14:50 +0000 Eddie Gear http://metalique.com/?p=482 Three years ago, I was not aware of something called blogging. But today, I’m blogging and also making money doing so.  I’ve learnt a lot and am still learning and find it interesting. The process of making money makes the process of blogging much more interesting. Today I’m sharing with you some of the top blogs on the World Wide Web that will teach you and help you to become a better blogger. If you find any blog that you found helpful, feel free to share them in the comments form available below.

  1. Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim »
  2. Blog Building University »
  3. Blogging With Success »
  4. Caroline Middlebrook »
  5. Chris Garrett on New Media »
  6. Copyblogger »
  7. CrazyLeaf Design Blog »
  8. Daily Blog Tips »
  9. Free and Useful Online Resources for Designers and Developers »
  10. Impressive Webs »
  11. John Chow dot Com »
  12. Lorelle on WordPress »
  13. Make Money Online with Super Affiliate Rosalind Gardner »
  14. Making Money Online With Young Entrepreneur Michael Dunlop »
  15. Online Marketing Blog »
  16. ProBlogger Blog Tips »
  17. Randa Clay Design »
  18. SEO blog – SEO Tips, Social Media Marketing for the learner. »
  19. SEO Buzz for Your Business »
  20. SEO Wizz »
  21. WordPress SEO and Blog Marketing »
]]> http://metalique.com/21-top-blogs-that-inspired-me-to-blog/feed 0 Greet your visitors with a Welcome message – WP Greet Box http://metalique.com/greet-your-visitors-with-a-welcome-message-wp-greet-box http://metalique.com/greet-your-visitors-with-a-welcome-message-wp-greet-box#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:15:11 +0000 Eddie Gear http://metalique.com/?p=479 Welcoming a visitor as they enter is a good habit and also creates a positive feel. Always wanting to greet my site visitors, I stumbled upon WP Greet box a Plug-in that greets visitors for you. It’s simple and easy to install. This is plug-in is built on WordPress CMS platform. So if your website or blog is built on WordPress then it’s time that you got the WP Greet box plug-in right away.

This plug-in lets you show a different greeting message to your new visitors depending on their referrer URL. For example, when a Digg user clicks through from Digg, they will see a message reminding them to Digg your post if they like it. You can also set a default greeting message for new visitors suggesting them to subscribe to your RSS feed. Having these targeted suggestions will help your blog increase exposure, loyal readership, and reader interaction. Best of all, this plug-in is compatible with WordPress MU and various WordPress cache plug-ins. I’ve managed to increase my subscriber count by 10% within the first month of its implementation. This has been one of the best plug-ins I’ve come across thus far.

Features

  • Show a different greeting message to your visitor depending on the referrer URL. You can add/edit/delete/disable these greeting messages as you choose.
  • Beautiful set of icons shipped along with the different default referrers.
  • Clickable icon in greeting messages with target =_blank option.
  • Greeting messages automatically get inserted into the top of your posts upon activation. There is no need to modify theme files.
  • Ability to auto-insert greeting message to the top or bottom of the post.
  • Greeting messages can be user closeable or not.
  • Ability to detect the visitor’s search keywords from major search engines and automatically display related posts under or above the greeting message.
  • Show a default greeting message even if the visitor does not match any of your configured referrer URL.
  • Show a default greeting message even if the visitor does not have JavaScript enabled.
  • Cache compatible mode makes use of AJAX to display greeting messages in the frontend. This makes WP Greet Box compatible with other caching Plugins (such as WP Super Cache) and WPMU.
  • AJAX administrative interface that uses nonce verification to discourage hackers.
  • Ability to keep displaying the greeting message until after the user clicks close for the first time. After that, the greeting message will not show up for that user anymore.
  • Ability to set a timeout to forget a visitor so we do not keep nagging them with greeting messages.

Download

The Plug-in is available for download at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-greet-box/faq/

You can also use the search box in the admin panel and install the plug-in

Installation

  1. Upload the plugin to your plugins folder: ‘wp-content/plugins/’
  2. Activate the ‘WP Greet Box’ plugin from the Plugins admin panel.
  3. (optional) Go to the Options -> WP Greet Box admin panel to make any customizations.
  4. Test this out by googling for one of your articles and click through to your site from google. You should see the greeting message custimized for a google visitor.

Support

You can visit the author’s forum for support and read about issues faced by other bloggers.

http://omninoggin.com/forum/wp-greet-box/

]]> http://metalique.com/greet-your-visitors-with-a-welcome-message-wp-greet-box/feed 0 Trackback (Johnchow.com) : How not to get rich on the Internet http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-how-not-to-get-rich-on-the-internet http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-how-not-to-get-rich-on-the-internet#comments Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:50:44 +0000 Eddie Gear http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-how-not-to-get-rich-on-the-internet Today I was asked by two friends to accompany them to an “Internet Marketing Workshop” to give my opinion on what they taught. This was an all day workshop put on by storesonline.com. Had I known that was the company putting on the workshop I could have done a Google on it and saved us a lot of time but my friends didn’t know who they were so we went and checked it out. We didn’t have anything to do anyway and there was lunch included.

The event was held at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Vancouver. There were over 200 people signed up for this workshop. Unlike me, most of them were here because they attended an earlier 90 minute free workshop and were told that in order to get the full picture they need to spend $20 and attend this full day workshop. I did some mental calculation in my head – 200 people times $20 = $4,000.00. Not bad at all.

Now I don’t have any problems paying $20 for an all day workshop, if the workshop was good. However, this wasn’t really a workshop at all. This was a nicely disguise internet marketing scam. Storesonline.com didn’t teach anything that you can’t find for free with a bit of Googling. What they offer was to set you up with your own online store and help you make money from it. Again, there really isn’t anything wrong with this, if you get value for your money. However, this is not the case.

Read the rest of this article…

]]> http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-how-not-to-get-rich-on-the-internet/feed 1 Trackback (Johnchow.com) : How often should you update http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-how-often-should-you-update http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-how-often-should-you-update#comments Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:48:36 +0000 Eddie Gear http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-how-often-should-you-update One of the most asked question is how often sites should be updated. There are two camps. One camp say create the site, doing some SEO and let Google do the rest. Then move on to the next site. There is really nothing wrong with this method but it has one major flaw – Live by the Google, die by the Google. If Google decides to change their search ranking (and they always do) your site(s) could become worthless.

The other camp says create a site and keep adding to it with updates. The goal being the readers will return to your site to read what is new. This type of site is not as dependent on Google for traffic, and if the site is really good, traffic can build up quite quickly with simple word of mouth. The question then is how often must you update a site to build traffic and keep users coming back?

Read the rest of this article…

]]> http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-how-often-should-you-update/feed 0 Trackback (Johnchow.com) : Blogging for dollars – It’s not just a hobby http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-blogging-for-dollars-its-not-just-a-hobby http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-blogging-for-dollars-its-not-just-a-hobby#comments Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:44:55 +0000 Eddie Gear http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-blogging-for-dollars-its-not-just-a-hobby

Business 2.0 has a really nice article about some of the internet’s biggest blogging superstars. They all started small and rode the internet money train to riches beyond their wildest dreams. The bloggers they profiled included Michael Arrington, who pulls down $60,000 a month off his blog.

The answer lies in TechCrunch, Arrington’s blog about new technologies and companies. In the year since he launched the site, he has amassed such a strong following that he’s become a go-to person for VCs and tech execs looking to leak corporate tidbits or announce news. More than 1.5 million readers regularly check out his site. But here’s what gives Arrington real distinction: He’s pulling in $60,000 in ad revenue every month. That’s 10 times what the site was making earlier this year, which was when Arrington, convinced of the potentially monstrous riches ahead, quit his day job as president of a startup to blog full-time.

Read the rest of this article…

]]> http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-blogging-for-dollars-its-not-just-a-hobby/feed 0 Trackback (Johnchow.com) : Getting paid to write a blog post – Is this the future? http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-getting-paid-to-write-a-blog-post-is-this-the-future http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-getting-paid-to-write-a-blog-post-is-this-the-future#comments Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:42:08 +0000 Eddie Gear http://metalique.com/trackback-johnchow-com-getting-paid-to-write-a-blog-post-is-this-the-future I just saw over on TechCrunch that Pay Per Post has raised $3 million in venture funding. What Pay Per Post does is allow advertisers to buy a blog post – often referred to as a paid plug. Instead of buying normal banner advertising, the advertiser would pay the blogger to write about their product or service. This of course raises many ethics and credibility issues. It is obvious that anyone paying for a blog post will want positive things said about his or her product. However, if the blogger making the post is doing the post just for the money his creditability just hit zero.

It is not that hard to spot a paid plug. If you come across a post saying, “Check out this forum, I love it!” and then find out that blog owner is not even a member, or just registered, chances are it is a paid plug. The fact that Pay Per Post has raised $3 million in venture funding is truly amazing because I cannot see how the company is going to fly.

Read the rest of this article…

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