The only problem? Most good domain names are taken.

Our old solution to this method was to manually go to a website like GoDaddy.com, NameCheap.com or 1and1.com and search the name’s availability one by one. However, more recently I have come across a website called PC Names that let’s you do everyone in one shot — without even reloading the page!

As you can see by the video, PCNames.com is a very cool tool that will save you a boatload of time. Let’s get into a few of the pros/cons below.

Pros

I think that this service has a lot to offer, but a few of the best features are:

• Real-time search engine results
• Quickly see what is available / taken / for sale
• Keep track of your results, history and favorites with a interactive list
• A free and extensive database of reviews for all of the major domain registrars
• Additional tools like Bulk Lookup, Mobile App and Domain Generator

Cons

There aren’t a whole lot of drawbacks, but a few that I found are:

• The mouse-over feature on domain names doesn’t always load correctly
• The website is packed with affiliate ads (though heck, it is a business)
• Some of the additional “tools” on the site could be more expansive

In all, I was really excited when I came across this website as I think it is going to save a lot of my clients a TON of time as they try to build their own media empires or place investments online. It is 100% free to use and as long as you can avoid over-paying through their affiliate links… I think that this could be the one-stop shop for people looking to do a little late-night domain name research.

Stay bullish my friends.
-Jimvesting.com

Related posts:

1. Creating A Blog – Part Two: Finding a Great Domain Name
2. Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 2: Registering Your Domain Name
3. OfferVault Review – The Web's Premier Affiliate Network Offer Database!

If you are reading this blog, chances are you either own a website or you are planning on getting a business/blog started. The web host that I have been using for this website almost since inception has been HostGator, and they have been gracious enough to run promotions with my blog and even offer unique coupon codes. The bottom line is that HostGator is the absolute best on the web, and if you are running a network of blogs it is the most reliable, most affordable and most feature-heavy package in the world.

Black Friday Deals

Details of what HostGator is offering are below, be advised that this starts in a few hours on November 26th, 2010, and will only run until midnight (Central Time)!

• 80% OFF EVERYTHING From 5AM to 9AM CST WHILE SUPPLIES LAST (first come, first receive; so definitely don’t miss out!)
• From 9AM to 11:59PM CST OR after 80% OFF accounts have sold out, we will continue to offer 50% OFF EVERYTHING

This applies to ALL Accounts and ALL Term Lengths. So you will have the opportunity to receive up to 80% off of up to 3 years worth of Hosting! That would come out to $35.64 for 3 FULL YEARS! That includes Shared Hosting, Reseller Hosting, VPS Hosting AND even Dedicated Servers! Never before has HostGator allowed the promotion on EVERYTHING including reseller, vps and dedicated servers AND ALL Term Lengths.

Interested? Check out the deals here!

This promotion gives our customers our award winning hosting for as little as:

• Shared Hosting: $4.95/month AS LOW AS $0.99/month
• Reseller Hosting: $24.95/month AS LOW AS $4.99/month
• VPS Hosting: $19.95/month AS LOW AS $3.99 First Month
• Dedicated Servers: $174/month AS LOW AS $34.80 First Month”

If you’ve ever wanted or needed web hosting, Black Friday at HostGator is literally the best deal I’ve ever seen. Go snag it if you can!

-Jimvesting

Related posts:

1. Black Friday Trends to Watch
2. Looking for an Alternative? Check Out Web Hosting Hub!
3. Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 4: Linking Your Domain Name to Hosting Account

One really neat trick that I will now share with you involves adding simple “boxes” to your normal post structure, allowing you to add a beautiful flare to an otherwise ordinary blog post. As a note: I want to attribute this trick 100% to the designers at WooThemes . WooThemes is one of the pioneers of these great looking templates, so I am borrowing a piece of their code that a buddy and I were looking at to encourage you to change your website to fit a more natural “Web 2.0” feel.

Let’s Look at Some Examples

The first is an “alert“-type box, that could be used to warn users of some kind of exception to a rule or a potential downside/side-effect to a strategy:

WARNING! The Nuclear Reactor Is Set To Explode!

Let’s offer our users a free download with our “download“-type style:

Check out our FREE eBook: DOWNLOAD HERE

Why not give our users the green light with the “tick“-type box:

“It’s A Green Light Go” – Gorilla Zoe

Add some additional information or an expert tip with the “info“-type styling:

FUN FACT: The collecting of beer coasters is called “tegestology.”

Adding a little note here or there is convenient when you have a “note“-type box:

Grocery List: Milk, Eggs, Baking Soda, Chocolate Chips, Flour, Sugar

Awesome Styles, How Do I Use Them On My Blog?

I’ve compiled the coding you need to add this to your WordPress style, and the great thing about these is that they are really 100% plug-and-play! If you know your way around, you can have these styles working in under a minute.

STEP 1: Download the five different icons that you will need to designate a different style when you enter a new type of “box.”

Grab the icon series from Jimvesting.com:  DOWNLOAD ICON PACK

STEP 2: Upload the image files directly to the “images” folder within your theme (will most likely be located here: “/ROOT/wp-content/themes/THEMENAME/images/“) via an FTP client or web-based file uploader.

STEP 3: Add the following code anywhere in your CSS file (by default, this will be “style.css”) by editing your theme in WordPress (“Appearance” –> “Editor”)

/* CUSTOM IN-POST BOXES */ p.alert, p.download, p.info, p.note, p.tick {  margin:10px 0 20px 0; padding:9px 10px 9px 50px; } p.alert { border-top:1px solid #f0baa2; border-bottom:1px solid #f0baa2; background:#ffd9c8 url(images/ico-alert.png) no-repeat 20px 13px; } p.download { border-top:1px solid #d4ebaf; border-bottom:1px solid #d4ebaf; background:#edfcd5 url(images/ico-download.png) no-repeat 20px 13px; } p.tick { border-top:1px solid #d4ebaf; border-bottom:1px solid #d4ebaf; background:#edfcd5 url(images/ico-tick.png) no-repeat 20px 13px; } p.info { border-top:1px solid #ccc; border-bottom:1px solid #ccc; background:#eee url(images/ico-info.png) no-repeat 20px 13px; } p.note { border-top:1px solid #efe3ae; border-bottom:1px solid #efe3ae; background:#fef6d2 url(images/ico-note.png) no-repeat 20px 13px; }

STEP FOUR: Call the codes inside your actual posts by replacing any paragraph code with a new “class.” This can be done by going to an HTML (the source code) view of your post, and changing <p> to <p class=”____”> where you want the box to appear.

CODES:
To call the alert box: <p class=”alert”>Text Here</p>
To call the download box: <p class=”note”>Text Here</p>
To call the tick box: <p class=”tick”>Text Here</p>
To call the info box: <p class=”info”>Text Here</p>
To call the note box: <p class=”note”>Text Here</p>

Step 5: Clear your blog’s cache (if applicable)  to make sure the changes take place. Save your post and enjoy!

I hope that you enjoyed this quick tutorial. I know that a lot of people have asked about how to do this on other websites, and since I figured out how to make it happen I figured I’d go outside of my typical content and get you some blog improvements. Everyone can use a little Web 2.0, and if you want a theme for a great price that is totally fresh… check out WooThemes for an awesome deal.

-Jimvesting Dot Com

UPDATE: As recommended by Fas of GreatestReviews.net, “WP Notes” has a similar effect on your posts… plus it is a plugin so it is easier to install. CSS is definitely the smart call, but plugins sure are easy to use!

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After recently launching a new design, that I continue to believe would be much more efficient and monetizable, I am going to cave into the pressure and re-do things like I had it before. It seems that despite my best efforts, the blogging community has fallen in love with the logo and mascot of old… so I have recently contacted my old designer and have started a fresh new concept for the blog.

THAT’S RIGHT… ITS ANOTHER NEW HEADER FOR JIMVESTING.COM!

I will not be using the same theme as my old header, but I am going to portray a new scene that is going to look more like a penthouse office. I am currently in the process of getting a few revisions from my designer, and then I will still need to integrate it into the header that I have currently, but it is going to look somewhat close to the demo I am about to show you.

My designer, Pinky from Freelancer.com, is doing a pretty good job drawing a header out of the sketch I provided him. Please feel free to laugh and make fun of my inability to draw with any level of competence… but it seemed to get the job done well enough!

My original hand-drawn and scanned-in version:
VERSION 1 (Click for Larger)

And here is how it looks once my designer took it apart:
VERSION 2 (Click for Larger)

Naturally I think there is a LOT of work that needs to be done (especially because our old logo is smack dab in the middle of the thing, haha), but  it is certainly coming along and I would love to get any feedback that you can offer on the logo in the comment section below.

The finished header will be out hopefully in around a week, and hopefully before that we can finish up the 30 day blogging series so that our full blog can be ready to go on all cylinders. Again, we’d love to hear your feedback so be sure to leave your comments below.

-Jimvesting dot com

Related posts:

1. Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 10: Customizing Your Blog's Logo
2. The Best Blog Header OF ALL TIME… the Net Fool's Got It IN THE BAG!!!
3. New Website Design, Contest Approaches!

But was my excitement premature!?

One of my readers, Rob from myTTOOS.com, pointed out the following:

Rob: “Really cool, but i bet it will be overseen a lot = bad conversion. Let us know if i am right.”

Jim: “Could be true… but then again I am not trying to spam people like typical marketers, haha”

Rob: “at least put the focus on the chalk board, put a few blinking stars around it or something lol”

Though it sounded silly at first, I started thinking about just how right he was! While I was all concerned with making the new opt-in newsletter box look at good as possible… I made it flow TOO WELL! Therefore, I needed a little something to get people to notice it (though I won’t be putting blinking stars on my header anytime soon, haha). So what did I do? I added a big ol’ floating arrow!

Why Are Floating Objects A Smart Idea?

Just as Rob pointed out, you can have the best idea in the world… but if nobody notices it, than it’s worthless. Adding something to the top of your website that is a bit “out there” can really help to emphasize a particular region of your website, while not detracting from your overall “look” or crowding the rest of your text. When it comes to attention-grabbers, I’d much rather have something that just sits on top so I don’t waste any valuable real-estate.

This is very much like building a house: if you are trying to expand and you run out of acreage on your property… you can still make a bigger house by adding another floor!

How To Add Floating Objects to Your Website or Blog

So how do you actually do it yourself? Let’s walk through the steps that it takes to add a flashy layered/floating image to your website or blog.

1. Get a Transparent Image to Use
I made an image located here, that is just a basic arrow with a ton of photoshop effects laid on top to make it stand out. Remember that you CANNOT have your image be a .jpg, .bmp or any other non-transparent image (unless you want it to look “el horible“). Therefore, I would recommend that you use .png (better quality) or .gif (more of a “standard” format) for your image.

2. Put the Correct Coding Into Your Header (or wherever you want)
The coding works by building a reference off of a certain “div” table in your header. It will float the image relative to the div that you select, so be sure that you put a “div” table somewhere near where you want your image to be floating around.

<div id=”floating_region”>
<a href=”#”><img src=”image.jpg” id=”top_image” /></a>
</div>

As you can see by the code, there are 2 areas that we will also need CSS coding. Let’s first talk through the code! You need to first make a div table (as mentioned earlier) in the region of the website where you would like to add a floating image. Don’t worry, you can move the image around from there… but it always references the div as a “starting point” when you tell it to move “50 pixels to the right” (or whatever you choose). I have called that div table “floating_region.” Next, you need to style the image so that it knows it is floating (I called it id=”top_image”), and put it inside of a linking reference so that it works properly.

3. Update Your Theme’s CSS Styling (in wordpress, it’s “style.css”)
Your CSS should look like this:

#floating_region {
position:relative;
width:___px;  }

#top_image {
position:absolute;
top:50px;
right:20px; }

For “floating region,” you simply need to change width to match the width of the div. In my case, the div was a part of the header, and it was the div that contained a cutout splice of my header “hdr_03.jpg” which is 87 pixels wide. Therefore, mine was “width: 87px;“! The “top image” layer is your graphic, and position should be set as “absolute.” Then, you can simply position it around (using top,right,left,bottom) and messing around with the number values to push/pull your image in different directions.

BOTTOM LINE: Thanks to Rob for recommending I don’t “settle” with what I had… because I believe that it is indeed even better now, and people will actually notice the area of my website when there is a giant red arrow with the word “FREE!” in it. Let me know if you are thinking of doing something similar, and if you  are having problems I’ll try to help!

-Jimvesting

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1. Happy Thanksgiving! – New Monetization Features Added to Jimvesting
2. The Best Blog Header OF ALL TIME… the Net Fool's Got It IN THE BAG!!!
3. Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 12: Customizing Your Blog's Sidebar

While it may be an overstatement to say that theNetFool.com is now sporting the greatest header that has ever been created for a weblog (and I do this simply for a great post topic ), I’ve made some more changes that I am sure you have noticed by now. By adding a clever opt-in newsletter subscription box, and in a very aesthetically pleasing manner, I will be boosting the amount of turnover this blog generates… and we all know that more subscribers = more POWER.

The Inspiration for Change?
My inspiration was actually a video I saw a week ago from one of the most famous MMO bloggers of all time, John Chow. Now, John takes a lot of heat from people who claim that all of his material is either 1) fluffy and unimportant; or 2) wrong or misleading. I feel that most of this is coming from the fact that he is a top dog, and people love to hate the champ. In summary, the video is about how he makes money blogging… and a lot of his success revolved around the fact that he used his blog as a machine to capture email addresses. I noticed that I wasn’t doing this currently, and I have decided to make a change by becoming more newsletter-centric. Check out his post here!

Let’s Talk About the New Header & the History

My old header originally just had the logo and a whole lot of eye candy. About half a year ago, I decided that I should be “USING” that space for something… so I took down the papers and such that I had on the bulletin board in the logo and darkened the color of it so that it would look like a chalk board. Now that my bulletin board could be “drawn” on in “chalk” (yes, I have fun with it!)… I downloaded a font called “Eraser” so that I could put up different versions of my header to promote new happenings on my blog.

The next “phase” of the header was when I decided to monetize it. I thought that this was a great idea, and it turns out that it was a major flop. What I did was add a few programs that I used often to generate money on the right side of my header. The problem here was that the affiliate links simply weren’t being clicked because they were not being seen by people using the blog… and were very transparent and small in the corner of a very large landscape heading.

CURRENT: Now, I have changed focus and totally integrated an opt-in form into my header. Not only this, but I have a very neat dynamic drop-down system that I custom programmed to deliver one of 3 eBooks with a subscription to this blog as a bonus. I don’t know ANY other blog that allows you to choose from multiple “gifts” upon registering to a newsletter… so I think I have a great system in place that will work for me well into the future.

Jim, that is indeed the best header ever… how did you do it!?

Ah, calm down a little bit… I will explain how it works! The first move on my end was to have different products to offer my readers. Many bloggers haven’t been around enough to have their own eBooks and such that they can hand out, so this was a bit of a leg up from the get go. I have a lot of content and much of it gets buried, so this is a great way to get things back on the frontpage that I’ve worked hard on!

In Aweber, I knew that there was a way to give a blog broadcast to people that subscribe with a digital download… but there is no way to do it for multiple items in different scenarios. Therefore, most of the scripting is actually run through the confirmation page when you first hit “submit.” By creating a unique variable for each offering (for example: “gift1″ and “gift1″), you can match that selection to a file name (i.e. “gift1.pdf”) and feed that to the subscriber once they confirm their subscription! It’s a bit more complicated than that… but the jist of it is creating a new variable for the book choice that Aweber (fortunately) let’s you pass on through the system!

The final piece of the puzzle was actually coding it in. I had to tear apart my existing header for this… and splice it into numerous images so that I could place a form on top of it (the thing used to be 1 big image). Then, with some clever CSS implementation for styling (example: the selection boxes highlight when they are active ), away we go!

Now I can capture more leads… and maintain a pretty sweet looking header!
-Jimvesting

What Do YOU Think About The New Header?

Related posts:

1. Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 11: Modifying Your Blog’s Header to Perfection
2. Jazz Up Your Blog With Floating Attention-Grabers! Boost Subscribers With STYLE
3. What Spoof Do You Want to See?

But Why GPT?

There are many reasons why I have chosen this niche to start a new project, but at the very core I would say that the reason is purely passion. When I was growing up, I remember that I wanted nothing more than to score $10-20 for free online… I had a lot of time on my hands and wasn’t eligible to get a job anywhere. Nowadays, many demographics… from teenagers, to work at home moms, to the unemployed looking to re-enter the workforce… are heavily active in this industry. The role of a “get paid to” website is literally to provide a means of profit for people that have a bit of spare time on their hands, and it really works out quite well.

Despite the clamoring of many web-savvy individuals that the niche is “saturated” or even “dead” altogether, I have been able to find affiliates to provide the business with offers thus far… so I beg to differ. Not only this, but because I have been behind the industry for such a long time I know how it works. Many companies deal with an overflow of information at the start, not exactly sure where to go. For me, I have a leg up because I understand the competitive landscape and what I will need to do to get the word out and succeed. Not only that, but the profit margins are quite good!

I’ve personally made multiple thousands of dollars just from being involved on these GPT websites, and I feel that I have something to offer from both a managerial and financial perspective. There is a HUGE turnover ratio in this line of work because people simply cannot understand how to manage the business against loss… I have the financial background to ensure that we remain liquid and cash flow positive at all points in time, and hope to make a splash.

My Strategy for Pirate Cash

All good businesses need a strategy to get them ahead… and in an area where I will be playing a lot of catchup, it’s important that I have it down. First of all, I’d like to point out that all GPT services at their very basic are the same, so it is important to make customers feel that there is a complete advantage for choosing one over the other. It’s essentially my job as the owner to make this a reality.

Here are points I am considering:

1. TRUST
Trust is without a doubt the #1 goal of any GPT, and establishing credibility doesn’t come in a day’s work. Fortunately for me, I feel that Pirate Cash will launch with an initially high balance of trust, as I have been (again) the police in this industry for quite some time… and have been known for having high standards of integrity in the websites that I recommend.

2. ENTERTAINMENT
Anyone can complete offers, but businesses thrive on volume in the GPT industry. What does that mean? Well the more surveys a user completes, the better your margins get. On a very dull website, people will complete an offer or two and then get tired and bored with the repetitive process. While I don’t have the capacity to code something really cool into the website, I DO have the ability to jazz things up with very fresh images and fun cartoon characters. I’m sure that after I gain enough profit, I will be reinvesting in a system that is even more individualized and a bit more “friendly” for the people working on the website… for now, having eye candy will definitely keep users around longer.

3. EARNINGS POTENTIAL
Naturally, the final key to a successful GPT website is the amount (and quality) of offers that are supported. With strong relationships from the marketing agencies… and enough evidence of responsibility to sway them toward approving my accounts… I should have a leg up on the competition in getting better offers for people to make better money for their time spent completing offers.

This website should be done in a week or two, and I am using my time now to shore things up and make sure that everything is good to go. If you would like to help out and are interested in being one of the earlier members, drop a comment below and I’ll be sure to get you on the same page!

Stay Bullish on the Net!
-Jimvesting

Related posts:

1. Making Money Online with Get Paid To (GPT) Programs – A Profit Machine!
2. GPT Reviews: Treasure Trooper
3. GPT Reviews: CashCrate

We’ve got a special today, a sale of one of the websites I am part-owner of!

BullishBankers.com is an established and popular financial research community with a strong subscriber base and pull in the industry. Recently, we had ceased to operate the site as of May 2009… so there has been a period of about 6 months where there has been nothing done to the site. HOWEVER, we believe that despite the recent activity, it will be very easy to revitalize the website and should make for an attractive buying point for any interested buyer.

There are many reasons to consider the website, including (but not limited to):

• Fully customized website, based on WordPress, that has integrated features and custom coding for a financial audience
• vBulletin-based forum, including license, that is custom-skinned to match
• Twitter account (@bullishbankers) with almost 4,000 followers
• Average 37,500 uniques/month (during normal operations, July ’08-May ’09)
• Averaged $700/month, with a peak monthly earnings close to $1,200/month
• Quality partnerships, including theStreet.com, Seeking Alpha and Morningstar
• RSS feed with over 1,750 daily readers
• Aweber newsletter with almost 1,500 subscribers

In addition, we have maintained great Google keyword rankings!

Here are some examples:

• “investing ideas” – #2
• “bullish” – #6
• “stock market ideas” – #8
• “bullish bankers” – #1
• “top stock trends” – #1 (BING)
• “top stock trends” – #9
• “investing ideas” – #4 (BING)
• “top stock market trends 2009″ – #1
• “stock market analysis 2009″ – #1
• “top ten stock” – #8
• “investing in ideas” – #2
• “top stock market” – #3
  *All rankings are from Google (unless otherwise mentioned)

This website is being listed for sale on Flippa.com, which is the merged version of SitePoint.com’s old marketplace. Feel free to check out the listing, and see how we are doing in the first site that I’ve ever sold through an auction service like this one.

Bullish Bankers For Sale on Flippa.com

Stay Bullish on the Net!
-Jimvesting

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