December progress update on blogs

Travelwires.com
As per my blog post titled Blog Report – Travelwires.com to get a new look and logo on Travelwires.com, I’m changing wordpress theme and revamping logo.

Bid2load.com
Going to the future Bid2load.com will now be known as LoadsHub.com, which means the current domain name will be redirected to LoadsHub.com.

Also the current business format is being changed altogether. Instead of users posting their trade leads, then I approve before publishing…it’s now going to be a social network format. Where users pay a monthly subscription, and then have the liberty to post trade leads which are automatically published. Similar to Facebook, the homepage will only have the log-in and register links…which means any potential users will not have access to view any activity on the website until they pay up their subscription. This means the homepage will now be a landing page, which ensures the conversion rate increases.

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Google Adsense October report – still dismal

I’m still not happy with the progress thus far with Google AdSense, however I’ve resolved to focus my energies on other revenue streams. Within the next week, I’ll be introducing a Jobs Board on Travelwires.com where users will be able to advertise vacant positions for a monthly fee.

I’m also introducing a weekly newsletter, where I’ll sell exclusive sponsorship to target Travelwires.com mailing list which is currently not monetized. Read more

4TheDesign.com spots a new logo with new tagline

I’ve just done a revamp on 4TheDesign.com logo, which I’ve also revised the tagline. It’s now ‘creating profitable websites’, which clearly states the core focus of the services offered.

Though I’ve never taken 4TheDesign.com services into serious consideration, except for creating only in-house websites, now I’m ready to venture into creating websites on behalf of clients.

The newly revised logo

The website itself is currently undergoing a total revamp in order to compliment the new logo. Read more

July 2009 Google Adsense report

Below is my July Google Adsense cheque, which is not impressive compared to the previous months. This is my first time that I declare my monthly Google Adsense and intend doing so each month. Bid2load.com generates most of the clicks for google adsense, followed by Travelwires.com.

July 2009 Google Adsense

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Investing more resources on 4TheDesign.com

Ever since launching 4TheDesign.com, I’ve never actually taken the time and effort into marketing it and creating websites on behalf of clients. This I guess is as a result of various reasons, with one being that the web developer I was meant to outsource was too busy to take any further work as a result.

I too had many other websites that I was focused on and didn’t have the time to invest in this new baby, sadly as a result I’ve left it to die even before it could grow.

I’m now ready and willing to take this project into new height and start creating profitable websites for my clients.

The first step is by revising the logo, which I’m now changing the tagline into “creating profitable websites”. Together with the look and feel, this is meant to give the website a revamped layout as well. I’ll be creating a simple landing page with all services offered on display and an enquiry form where users will be able to submit quotation enquiries. Read more

Bid2load.com gets a new copy cat

Browsing through The Sunday World newspaper yesterday I came across an advertisement that caught my attention about trucking, since I run www.bid2load.com a freight exchange portal, anything about trucking always appeals to me. Today I got a chance to visit their website, just to figure out how their business is structured compared to mine.

Noticed a few elements that mimic my services, however was greatly disappointed to discover they went as far as copying my intro word for word. According to co.za the domain www.zakload.co.za was registered in June and not sure when the website went live on the world wide web. I don’t have any problem with competition, however using plagiarism is not acceptable in any form.

I then sent the owner an email as per below, expressing disapproval:

Greetings Dawie,

All email communication is initiated through the website, to avoid email harvesting. Read more

iBurst, you suck!

Can you imagine getting a threatening sms, about being blacklisted knowing very well you don’t owe that party any cent.

Exactly at 15h00, yesterday I got the shock of my life from iBurst/TransUnion:

“You have been handed over to TransUnion RM by iBurst (PTY) LTD balance R1,932.00, REF 09071147861. Please contact 0861 425 5742” Read more

Nomuzi.com undergoes a third wordpress theme update

This is the third time I’ve updated the wordpress theme on this blog. The first theme was the Citrus Theme by Unique Blog Designs, which didn’t last long as I discovered that the theme was not user friendly at all. Then followed UBD Moneymaker Theme by Unique Blog Designs & Phillip van Coller, which also proved not to be worth it after all.

Now the blog is on Typebased 1.1 by WooThemes which is a free theme and I’m happy with it’s layout and hope to retain it for a longer period than the rest and work on generating more content for the blog. Read more

Chapter 2: Concept behind saguest.com and the logo

As promised in chapter 1 last week (disappointingly no one took a chance to guess), I can now reveal the exact purpose of the domain. SAguest.com is going to be a travel booking portal, using three booking engines to sell accommodation, car rental and air tickets for a commission.

HotelsCombined.com a lodging booking engine, it’s my preferred choice because it aggregates all the major booking engines on the internet into their portal. It offers a traveller a wider choice of properties to select from. Read more

Chapter 1: Hello saguest.com, can you guess the purpose?

I earn my living from blogging and running multiple websites outside the tourism industry. I normally go about my business of creating an online project behind the scenes and only get to talk about it once it’s a finished product. This time around though, I’m taking you along the process of launching a website.

I purchased the domain saguest.com last year for R120 and parked (stored) it while I waited for the right opportunity to create the next revenue stream. Read more