WARNING: SHAMELESS STUMBLEUPON PROFILE PROMOTION

My StumbleUpon profile is http://technojavi.stumbleupon.com. If you actually visit that site, you will notice that I have already stumbled loads of blogs/sites(7,210), videos(361), and photos(867). Big deal right? Well, it actually is if you happen to like traffic. You see over the past few days that I have experimented on Stumbleupon, I noted that just one SU thumbs up by me results in a significant jump in page visits/views.

Ok, so I may not be talking about thousands of page views here, but definitely in the hundreds. I’ve experimented on SU using my own blog posts. For someone who only gets an average of 50-60 hits a day, getting at least 200 hits in just a couple of hours is a thing of excitement. A couple of weeks ago, a blog post that I stumble would result to at least 80 SU visits. Earlier I stumbled a post I did the previous day and it got me 300+ hits in less than 2 hours. Awesome isn’t it?

There’s nothing really special in what I did, and this thing is applicable to all social networking sites out there. One doesn’t just register in a social site and then watch the numbers roll in. You have to do a little bit of legwork. With SU I stumbled like crazy and connected with a lot of SU users. I don’t have a lot of SU friends now but just consider the amount of traffic I can bring to a site as I grow bigger in the SU universe.

So if you’re into crazy numbers, I could be one of your best friends. And we could start our relationship with you befriending me in SU. lol. Of course it would help if you start stumbling any post here that you find interesting or useful. That should get you on my radar, and if you have a blog or a post that I think people would benefit from, I’d gladly stumble yours as well.

Just a quick caveat though, the SU traffic has a very high bounce rate. This means that although SU users will swarm your site, it doesn’t mean that they will stick around unless you have a very interesting site. So if you’re thinking of conversions and all that, you may focus your traffic building strategy somewhere else. But then again, numbers are numbers, and SU traffic, no matter how fickle or fleeting the visitors may be is still a welcome thing.

In case you’re interested my profile is http://technojavi.stumbleupon.com.

I wasn’t able to update this blog as much as I wanted to because of some whatever reason. But now that I’ve finally gotten around to doing what’s supposed to be done, I came face to face with a rather daunting task for a wordpress newbie– modifying my free wordpress template so it won’t look like one of those cookie-cutter themes.

Because I used to be a Blogger fan boy (I think I still am except that I’ve migrated my blogs to wordpress), I am somewhat perplexed as to what to do first. Since I have a self-hosted wordpress installation, I had to deal with changing permissions and making sense out of all the wordpress .php files. I guess all that practice in modifying blogger templates did pay-off. Still I managed to make a decent (still not perfect) job I guess. Although, man, Internet Explorer likes to make a mess of things.

How I Came Up With My Gorgeous Wordpress Template

Let’s see, I started with a whole lot of searching in the internet for the template that would suit my needs perfectly. I wasn’t really sure what I want exactly but I know I want a widget-ready wordpress template, and it has to have 3 columns. I also wanted a template that would allow me to display ads in the sidebar, and something that’s adsense ready as well.

The good thing and the bad thing about Wordpress is that it has a lot of beautiful templates that are offered absolutely for free. It’s a good thing because you have a lot of choices but at the same time it’s a bad thing as well because without a clear template in mind, you could be overwhelmed by the choices in display.

After several days of searching for the perfect wordpress template, I finally stumbled on Dezzain Studio where I got to see the Timeline Theme for the first time. I was instantly drawn to the color combination and the features embedded in the theme. So I worked on putting all the necessary wordpress plugins and widgets and did a little template tweaking until I was satisfied. Now it still retains its proud form but somehow I’ve managed to insert a little of me here and there.

And then I came across this wordpress template collection at WPZoom. Holy guacamole, I may have to change my template again. Gah.

Next up, I’ll be compiling my ten best free wordpress templates.

I just signed up at Scoutle, a very interesting social networking site.

I first read about this site at Techcrunch and while I thought it was a very novel idea then, I didn’t really pay much attention to it. As I am wont to do however, I just starred the article on my Google Reader for my weekend review. When I read the article again earlier I decided to give it a go.

Scoutle is very interesting in the sense that you don’t actually do the networking yourself. Once you register to their site, you will have to create your own scout. You select the category and subcategories that are relevant to your site. You then name your scout and place a tag line or a slogan to make it more interesting. After installing a code snippet on your site also known to Scoutle as a Stage, your scout is ready to go.

Your created scout will automatically crawl the internet for scouts of related interests. Your scout will then log all its meetings with other scouts in your Scoutle profile for your viewing at your convenience. You can then opt to connect with the other scouts that your created scout met depending on whether their sites appeal to you.

Scoutle also works based on a point system. This system is elaborated in their site but the general idea is that you get points based on the number of your visitors and the Scoutle connections you have. So far, I have already made two connections with 3 other requests pending confirmation. Like other social networks, a connection will be made once both parties agree.

I think Scoutle has the potential to grow big in the social networking business given the quality of its offering. Even the stage that I placed on my site is waay too cool. I’ll be very interested to see how this service will fare a few months down the road.

If you’re thinking of going or spreading your social networking wings, I would highly recommend Scoutle.

Help me spread the word by clicking here ==>> [SB stumble]

I’ve never been a Rockstar. Let me be clear on that. I’ve never received any red carpet treatment in my life and I’ve never had the velvet rope parted for me wherever I go. But that doesn’t stop me from dreaming of becoming one, does it?

Now if I can’t be a rockstar, I could at least blog like one– perhaps we could all blog like one. So put on the game face and let’s be on our way to blogging like rockstars

Lose the Loser Attitude – Rockstars believe in their music. If they didn’t then they would be accountants by now. This is the most important thing. You cannot go into the blogosphere thinking that your blog is destined to fail! In the movie The Rock, Sean Connery in reply to Nicholas Cage; “Your best!? Losers always whine about their best! Winners go home and *bleep* the prom queen!” So, stop whining and start blogging!

Practice! Practice! Practice! – You don’t really believe that Slash got so good with his riffs just by wearing that top hat and growing that hair long did you? He must have practiced his fingers to the bone to get that good. One amateur writer once said to an established author; “It’s unbelievable how you can come up with these flawless stories!” The established author said, “Son, you should see my trash can.” In the same vein, my blogging mentor told me that the best written articles are re-written. I can still hear him everytime I blog.

Gain a following – Blogging stardom is all about gaining a following. It’s not like the Stones got off of their bed one day and walked into a stadium full of people, yeah? Everyone has to start from somewhere, so don’t be afraid to do the dirty work. Network like crazy—bloghop, join social networking sites, speeddrop like a hummingbird on steroids with Entrecard, get yourself Dugg, Stumble just like everyone else. Every single link and visit is important. Go after them.

Perform to a global audience –The blogosphere is not demarcated by race or color or origin. There may be A-listers out there but everyone is playing on the same field. You can’t be geotagging yourself all the time. Get out of your own pond and play with the big boys in the great blog ocean. Make sure that your blog has a global appeal. If you really want to remain local and you’re happy with what you are and have, I say more power to ya and goodluck in your boondocks! But if you want to be a legitimate rockstar, pull your head out of the sand and perform to a global audience!

Play like there’s no tomorrow – as they often say, you’re only as good as your last performance. One lousy act will negate all the brilliant gigs you’ve done before. Fans like passion and if you come up with a tepid entry, be prepared to receive an icy reception afterwards. I say dish out blog entries like your blog is getting deleted after! Pour yourself into it! Sure there are folks who would say that it’s alright to have lousy posts every once in a while—but if you treat each post as if it’s your last, you don’t want to be remembered as that guy who fizzled towards the end now, do ya?

And most importantly, Wear Shades – Every Rockstar wears shades. And so should you—even when you blog. This is to shield your eyes when your bright, shiny, tidal wave of a traffic comes rolling in. Now hook your fingers, lift it above your head, headbang to some silent music and say YEAH!

I’ve recently joined PostonFire, a social bookmarking/networking site that has all the services and features of the bigger, and more established social networking groups. And to a small blogger like me, this is a very good social networking tool that I am hoping would reap benefits for my blog.

With PostonFire a blogger can submit his post on the site where other bloggers can discover and vote if they like what is submitted. Unlike the other big networking groups where the already popular blogs dominate, PostonFire has the most breakthrough potential for the ordinary blogger.

PostonFire is still in its early stages but it is already experiencing rapid growth. For us bloggers who are waiting for the next big wave that will take our blog to whatever height we imagine, this site has the capability to take us where we want to go.

And now is the best time to join.