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J Angelo Racoma

Taking Over Performancing

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It’s time for change, and I’m not talking about the 2008 Democratic ticket. It’s something closer to home–right here at Performancing.

I’m pleased to announce that I have been given the assignment of managing Performancing effective November 1st. Ryan Caldwell, whom we consider to be one of the strong foundations of the community, has decided to focus on pursuing other projects. While, arguably, Performancing could carry on by itself as a community, Splashpress Media (which owns Performancing and its various services) feels that Performancing would benefit more from a refocusing of efforts, talent and energies toward a more active community and a unified portal for this community.

I mentioned change earlier and so far, reader feedback has been optimistic. I do have several plans laid out, such as a possible redesign and restructuring of our sites and services. And perhaps we can bring back some features that were previously in place. Now, here’s your chance to be part of the planning process. What do you think should we do to better adhere to our motto of helping bloggers succeed? Should we build more plugins? Create more free themes? Venture into new blogging-related services? Create a book?

We’re open to ideas!

Updates

In my excitement, I forgot to mention a few important points and an introduction (Thanks Brett for pointing that out).

Firstly, Jeff Chandler, who has been producing excellent content here, is staying on as lead contributor. He will be very much involved in planning (and executing) the various things we intend to have here. In this regard, I don’t think readers will think of the new editorship to be too drastic a change, since Jeff has been manning the ship for quite a while. Jeff and I will share top-billing in terms of writing and other content.

As for an introduction, I know I’ve made only a few posts here on Performancing to date, but I’ve mostly been involved in back-end work (i.e., some marketing, selling of ad space, and some tweaks here and there) since Splashpress acquired Performancing. You can mostly read my posts and features over at the Blog Herald, where I serve as assistant editor.

I do have a resume online, but it’s a bit outdated. I run my personal blog at racoma.net and my archives are at racoma.com.ph.

How Open Are You To Change?

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You see it all the time. A blog is sold; regular readers comment that they’re unsubscribing from the feed. A site redesigns; people are confused about the new layout. A software developer gives an application new features; people complain that they cannot use the program like before. A blog network changes pay structures; a lot fear that they will earn less (though they could potentially earn more).

Change is everywhere. Change is inevitable. The question is, how open are you to change?

There are slow changes, in which things evolve over time. The web as we know it used to be so different a decade ago. People tried to impose structure, with directories and lists, whereas now we mostly browse by doing searches. Designers built sites with structure and content in one place only, whereas now that is increasingly changing, with structure being stored in one place, while content in another. Blogs used to be the norm for doing short shout-outs about your activities or thoughts for the day. Nowadays, “what are you doing right now?” belongs to microblogging services, or at least that’s how I think it should be.

Then there are quick changes. Or changes that take time to iron out, but only get public at an instant, and everyone talks about it. Company X gets bought by Comapny Y (or perhaps company G for that matter). Company A launches Product I, or perhaps version two: faster, thinner, lighter, more packed with features. It’s so fast you don’t have time to blink. You only have time to take awe at how fast things can change (and perhaps how fast your wallet gets drained).

Whatever happens, change is good. Not that any kind of change is all for the better, but the fact that we do not live in a static world is what’s good about it. There’s always room for improvement; always room to be better. There’s always chance to do things right if at first you don’t succeed.

And so folks, I leave you with a note that we will see some changes here on this space. Some quick. Some evolving. But always exciting. What those would be, you could venture a guess (feel free to comment). But we will all learn about it soon enough.

Revolution Two Launches

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Brian Gardner has recently announced the launch of Revolution Two, the much-anticipated follow-up to the highly acclaimed Revolution Theme. With the release of “Two” Brian and team have effectively revolutionized the premium theme business. While paying for support is not an unheard-of concept, such a business model for a WordPress theme has been brought to the mainstream by Revolution Two.

All of the themes on the new site will be made available under the open source/GPL license. However, we are going to offer a yearly and lifetime membership plan, that will include benefits to all themes. (meaning you won’t have to purchase a plan for each theme.)

Essentially, Revolution has moved from an outright-payment model to a subscription-model. The theme itself is open source, and anyone is free to download and use it at no cost. However, should one wish to get official support from the creators, one can pay for a subscription to enjoy several benefits:

  • Unlimited support answered by our experts
  • Learn customization techniques with our detailed theme tutorials
  • Professional design services available by our list of recommended designers
  • Discounted general consulting rates
  • Increase your search rankings with a link from the Revolution site directory

With regard to Revolution Two’s business model, we’re actually considering applying this business model to one of the themes we manage, which is Cutline. We do get a handful of support inquiries, and while we’ve been able to help out we think we can better provide our time and effort if we were to get something in return. This makes for an innovative twist to theme licensing (and perhaps the use of WordPress itself, and its license thereof).

Will other premium theme designers follow suit?

How Do You Connect, and Do You Have a Backup Plan?

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Earlier today I dropped by a business center of my country’s larger telcos to follow up my application for an unlimited wireless data plan. Just last week, I picked up a prepaid HSDPA kit for about $50, which came with a USB dongle, data SIM card and about 20 hours worth of preloaded credits.

I could never get enough, and so I was gunning for the unlimited account. But for some reason the approving officer kept on asking for financial documents. As if the fortune I earn wasn’t enough to pay the measly thirty bucks a month they charge for an unlimited plan!

My point is that in this line of work we are in, we need redundancies. These days, having backup connectivity is not only for hosting companies. Those of us in internet-related careers and businesses need to be constantly connected, or at least able to connect when the need arises.

I recall the first week the family moved into our new apartment about two years ago, we had a big storm and the power went out for five days. DSL was also down, as the telephone company’s transmission boxes ran out of charge. Back then, I didn’t have a phone I could tether to the computer as a modem. My laptop only lasted two hours on one charge. And so work came to a halt for those few days.

I sure wouldn’t want that to happen again.

Nowadays, aside from the wired DSL connection at my home office, my 3.5G-enabled mobile phone doubles as my modem when I’m away or when DSL is down. And it has WiFi, too, so it also doubles as my email device at places where the laptop or netbook can’t reach (meaning I could email and blog from the bathroom).

The 3G/HSDPA dongle was not an absolute necessity, since I could connect thru my mobile phone anyway. But it’s more convenient, being plug and play (no more fiddling with keys to turn on bluetooth). And with the computer as power source, I don’t have to worry about cellphone batteries running out.

I have more computers than the average person would usually need, and cumulatively I could perhaps run on battery juice for approximately fifteen hours, should the need arise.

I would be interested in knowing what other folks out there have for connectivity and if you are as OC about backup options as I am. And how much do you spend per month on internet access? Does it pay off, in terms of productivity and being able to monetize your efforts? Or does this lifestyle force us to spend more than what is necessary?

My HSDPA dongle’s provider claims they have the widest coverage in my country. So that assures me I can blog and email even when I’m stuck in some far-flung town or in case I get marooned off some deserted island. Assuming I get a decent signal, do you think I would get enough battery power to email for help?

Sponsored Post: Blogging to the Bank 2.0

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I’ve been into professional blogging for the past two and a half years, and I’ve been through most “stages” of problogging, including being a corporate blogger, a network blogger and an independent problogger trying to earn my own income online through advertising and affiliate programmes. I know I haven’t exactly been earning riches from my blogging, but I do get a decent living–at least to my standards. However, I’ve been regularly reading blogs by the “Gurus” in problogging (you probably know who they are), and of course the very useful tips here on Performancing, and I thought I could probably earn more if I’m able to better optimize my blogging. Maybe if I followed certain formulas in my blogging work and business I can earn better.

Checking out bloggingtothebank.com, the site at first came to me as one of those standard get-rich quick schemes carried out via affiliate marketing. The home page starts with a promise that one can earn up to $34,244 per month from just a few hours’ work. Well, it’s not really a promise, but an example that author Rob Benwell makes of himself. He says that even “one dumb little blog can earn over $3,947 per month.”

So I thought maybe it’s worth checking out. There’s no harm in trying to learn more about my trade, and probably even earning more than I already am. Actually that’s the most difficult part of working any job or running any business–trying to unlearn and re-learn stuff with the hope of being better at what you do.

I did go on to reading more, and eventually downloading a copy of the Blogging to the Bank 2.0 ebook. I’ve actually read about “BTTB” before, and this one is a revised version, supposedly updated with more lessons and tips from Rob. I did realize that the point behind the ebook is that the author is sharing a success story, and would like to share his “formula” for that success in making money from blogging, so that other bloggers might follow suit.

I can’t exactly provide quotes and snippets of the ebook here, since that would be against the ebook’s copyright. But I will summarize some salient points that Rob Benwell’s ebook makes. Somehow, I think all this information is available online through various blogs (including Performancing, even), but the value added of Blogging to the Bank 2.0 is that it has these tips in one handy, convenient ebook. And Rob provides concrete examples.

BTTB 2.0 shares five “Blogging Commandments” and advises bloggers on how to conceptualize and run their blogs. In summary, BTTB 2.0 says a blog should be of good quality, and should add value to its readers. A blog should also be fresh (i.e., regularly and frequently updated) and well-marketed. BTTB 2.0 further advises against running those spammy blogs that I find quite common these days (those blogs that scrape content off other, legitimate sites, and even attempt to trackback with links from other blogs).

Then BTTB 2.0 shares a step-by-step “blueprint” for creating highly profitable niche blogs. This blueprint includes doing keyword research right, and how to use these with affiliate programmes. The blueprint also explains why it’s better for you to own your own blog, and even gives a few tips on where to host your blog (especially if you’re allergic to getting deep into server and database settings to install software). BTTB 2.0 recommends WordPress and gives some tips on WP Plugins that can be useful in optimizing one’s blog for profit.

As for content, BTTB 2.0 recommends various ways of generating good quality posts for your blogs, which include writing them yourself, outsourcing or free article directories. And then there are tips in optimizing one’s blogs in terms of search engine optimization (SEO), design and marketing. Some tips include submission to directories, social bookmarkers and even forums. The tips in BTTB 2.0 include both basic and advanced. For instance, the SEO tips can be your usual keyword optimization to “latent semantic indexing,” a concept that the book tries to explain in layman’s terms.

Lastly, bloggers can earn from the ebook itself, with the Blogging to the Bank affiliate programme which is done throught ClickBank.

I would think that BTTB 2.0 mostly targets beginning bloggers–those who would like to get into blogging as an occupation or business. As I earlier mentioned, many of the tips in BTTB 2.0 are available on various blogs about blogging (including Performancing itself!), the value added being a convenient summary and explanation contained in a single handy ebook. As for more experienced bloggers, the book lets one review and rethink their problogging activities, whether these are optimized and productive enough. The Blogging to the Bank 2.0 ebook’s intro disclaimer itself says that success from the use of the tips and information is solely in the hands of the reader. So it’s up to us readers how to act and how to use the tips effectively.

The above is a sponsored review requested for Blogging to the Bank 2.0.

Gangway! Theme Launched

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The latest Performancing theme for WordPress has been launched. See announcement here.

Gangway! is a three-column theme for WordPress that’s well-suited for group or team blogs. Developed by the Performancing team in cooperation with Forty Media, Gangway! is focused more on the content, and less on heavy visuals. Blog posts, links, archives and authors are presented in a grid-like fashion, to give that organized feel.

If you need help installing, modifying, or tweaking the theme, please do post here on the official support forum.