Save water and save money

By Matt Lukan

My company sometimes does pro bono work. I like the feeling that I am not only taking, but also try to give something back, even if it’s just a small thing.

For example, I recently created a new website which tries to convince people to save water. The website is called Leaking Faucet, and it is based on a simple concept that fixing your leaking faucet will save you money.

There is an easy calculator which allows you to calculate cost of leakage at your home and is supposed to motivate people to fix their leaking faucets to save money and save the environment at the same time.

Do you think it’s worth do build websites like this? If you do, share it (the website). The more we share the more water we save.

 

Almost got it…

By Matt Lukan

November is not over yet…

but I probably already might admit that I am a tad bit short of fulfilling my plans from last year.

If you haven’t read them… well…ekhmm.. they are more or less 4 posts previous to this one.

Yes – I haven’t really done anything to make this blog something better then it was a year ago.

Perhaps I even helped it to become something worse… See I did not update WordPress timely and as a result Blogsolid was a hacked. Luckily great guys at MediaTemple have restored everything for me before I even realised that the problem occurred.

There is one good thing about it though…

Blogsolid is a lesson for me that there is no such thing as a side project. You cannot build anything great “in the meantime” between other, more important things.

Having paid 2000 USD for this blog, I was since then very cautious when spending money or committing myself to anything that seemed like a good idea and “just needed a little bit of work every once in a while”.

I was spreading myself too thin before buying Blogsolid but it is this blog that suffered the most. It was always pushed off the table by something more important, but since it does not make any profit, well… at least I was making the right choices.

Because of its price though, BlogSolid was a good enough barrier to prevent me from moving to yet another venture. I would then have to answer to myself: “Matt how can you buy another website if you don’t even have time for the ones you own?”.

Perhaps this can also be a lesson to you. Do not spread yourself too thin – you might just end up spending 2000 USD on something that will not make you a dime :)

O! one more thing

To my surprise, I was approached to sell Blogsolid about 4 or 5 times in the last year. I am not really in desperate need of money and I do not like to part with my websites, so my prices were always to high, but it’s quite interesting to see that Blogsolid is still recognised in some way.

That’s it for today, from the commander of the BlogSolid ship, who did not even take his pretty baby out of harbour, not mentioning putting it to any real battle…

Over and out

How to install WordPress on Dreamhost – first screencast on Blogsolid.com

By Matt Lukan

Blogsolid slowly becomes my experimental playground. It’s the first website of mine, where I introduced Google Ad Manager. Now I’m giving you my first screencast. Yes – this is the first screencast I have ever done.

I had to learn how to do these to make an advert of a product I will launch soon on one of my websites. I figured that instead of showing my attempts to my fiancé, what I usually do with anything new I create, I will use you guys as my fist audience.  :) Read the rest of this entry »

Blogsolid December 09 stats

By Matt Lukan

The first month of my Blogsolid ownership is gone. It’s time for the first stats.

Visitors

  • 4015 visits:
    • 60.25% referrals
    • 19.85% search engines
    • 19.85% direct
    • 0.05% other
    • 1.86 pages/visits
  • bounce rate 66%

Let’s analyze: Read the rest of this entry »

Final Blogsolid design changes

By Matt Lukan

I finally finished working on changes to Blogsolid.

Here’s what I changed: Read the rest of this entry »

Choosing and using wordpress plugins if you’re not a coder

By Matt Lukan

Plugins add a substantial amount of functionality to blogs. Practically every blog has a good few of them. I also use several plugins on Blogsolid to enhance it a little bit. But plugins also have a dark side – they can overload your server or expose your installation to hackers.

Today we will look at how to choose and use plugins safely. Read the rest of this entry »

When you flip a website go for the quick wins first

By Matt Lukan

One of the dangers when flipping a website is the will to be too good. You purchase the site with a view of all the things you intend to do with it. You would gladly chain yourself to your computer, work like hell preparing everything all and then, when everything is ready, release your new beautiful baby to the world.

Well – that would be a mistake and here is why: Read the rest of this entry »

The plan for Blogsolid

By Matt Lukan

To keep it short and to the point:

I will try to turn Blogsolid into a mainstream blog about blogging and make money in the process.

Goals for the next 12 months:

  • Double the traffic
  • Monetize – by November 2010 Blogsolid will be making over $500 a month.

Read the rest of this entry »

The beginning

By Matt Lukan

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.

Dune by Frank Herbert

We cannot start our journey without defining exactly where we are. Read the rest of this entry »

I bought Blogsolid.com

By Matt Lukan

I bought blogsolidWell I did it. I bought Blogsolid.com. I’m sitting here now, typing my first post.

It’s an exciting feeling – kinda like taking your new car for the first ride. You’re not sure how everything works yet, but already want to get to the highway and check what this baby can do. One difference is that all of you are riding with me today. The reader shows 679. So buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Before I continue though, I have to admit that I feel also a bit awkward. I have never bought a blog before. I bought and sold websites, but never a blog. Read the rest of this entry »