Friday, March 26, 2010

Free Domain Name

This is it. This is where I show you how to get a free domain name and linked to blogger. I'm using as an example :

http://www.sgsocialnet.co.cc. Keep your credit cards. It will be ZERO cost. Its a good idea to have your blogname and domain name to be the same. Why? So that your readers won't be confused. This blog started as http:// www. gazali-ahmad. blogspot. com, then now it is http:// www. gazali-ahmad. co. cc. The first address is still valid. When you key in the first address, Blogger will automatically point it to the latter address.


There are 3 sections for you to do.
  1. Register free domain name.
  2. Setup CNAME for the domain name.
  3. Setup Blogger Custom domain.
1. Register free domain name.

Click on CO.CC:Free Domain

Which will bring you to the next display:
Click on the "Create an account now".


Fill up your details and finally click on "Create an Account now" to complete. You will come to next display:



Click on the :"Getting A New Domain"



Enter your domain name and click "Check Availability". Some domain name need to be paid, I do not know why. Though most are free.


If the domain name is already registered, then you have to choose another.


Congrats you have just registered your first domain name for FREE!!! 
Now click the "Set Up"


2. Setup CNAME for the domain name.


Click on "Please domain setup now".

Click the radio button "2. Zone Records".


Now key in:
Host: Your domain name ie. "www. Your Domain Name. co. cc"
Make sure that TTL is "1D" and Type: "CNAME".
Value: ghs.google.com. Then click "Set Up"


And you have setup your FREE domain name hosted on Blogger.


3. Setup Blogger Custom domain.


Now to setup your blog to the custom domain name.

Sign in to your Blogger account. Go to SETTINGS ---> PUBLISHING. Click on "Custom Domain".

Now key in your domain name. Enter the "word verification" and click "Save Settings".


Don't forget to click the check mark box for redirect.


Congratulations, you have just set up your own domain name and hosted on blogger and all for FREE!!! Isn't that cool, your very first website.

Since today is a Friday night, I suggest that you go out and enjoy yourself. Why? The transfer of the domain name can take up to 48 hours. If you key in your domain name now, you will get an error message. Thought sometimes it can be quite fast. 

Its just the nature of the internet. Don't worry about that. All your posts are safe.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Using Blogger

I hope you have done your homework and have a ready subject or a business to promote.

First log in to Blogger, you need a GMail account for it. If you have than just use your Gmail login. If not sign up for an account. Try using your name or a close approximation to it. Its your choice, and do bear in mind you could use the email for your business. Examples like "Your Shop Name @ gmail.com" or "Your Biz Name @ gmail.com", or "My Passion @ gmail.com", I leave it to your imagination.

First timers will be greeted with this screen:

Fill up the relevant details, next screen will be:

Key-in your Blog Title  and blog Address. Then click "Check Availability". Example of Title: Cozy Homes in Singapore and blog address could be: http://cozy-homes.blogspot.com. That's a useful tip for property agents. Quick register it before someone else does! Next will be to choose your template.

Just choose what you like and click "Continue". Don't worry, if you don't like the template, you can always change it later. Next:

What just happened?. You created your very first website. Click "Start Blogging" and it will bring you to the built-in editor. Key in your post and click "Publish Post".

Congratulations on your first website and posting something to the world.

Your now have your own domain name, http://YourNameOrBusiness.blogspot.com hosted free on Google servers. Isn't that remarkable.

What you need to do now, is to experiment. Go ahead, change anything, get use to the User Interface. I'll leave you at that. Enjoy yourself.

My next post will be showing you how to get a better looking templates for free, and explain to you the finer details of Blogger and how to monetize your website and get a fully customize domain name like http://www.YourNameOrBusiness.com

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Self-Motivation


What's one of the best skills to posses in life? Self-motivation.

Who is our worst enemy? Its not any other person or institution, its yourself. If you think you can't do it, no matter what others said, you can't. We hold the key. If you feel sad, its because you allowed it, not because of what others did.


How do you develop self-motivation? You need these 3 steps:

  1. Know what you want to achieve.
  2. Create an action plan.
  3. Have a feedback or monitoring loop.



1. Know what you want to achieve.

From Alice in Wonderland:
“Which road do I take?" (Alice)
"Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.”
“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

First you must know what you want to achieve. Set a deadline on when you want to achieve the goals you have dedicated yourself to. Having a deadline will push your limits and put you in the mindset of achievement where your brain is subconsciously looking for solutions that can bring you closer to your desired result all the time.

2. Create an Action Plan.
Next is to create an action plan for your goal. What steps are needed for you to achieve your goal. Ask yourself right questions like "What kind of person do I have to be achieve this goal?" instead of "How can I take action when I don't know what to do?"

Imagine the type of person you have to be and then ask yourself this, "What action steps would that person take?", would he just give up or would he jump in head in and adjust as he goes forward?

3. Have a feedback or monitoring loop.
It is of vital importance that you monitor your results and adjust accordingly. Don't adjust too drastically or too many variables at one time. Doing that will invariably result in a lot uncertainty; just adjust one or two variables and monitor the results.

Have a great week ahead.


Photo Credits:

Monday, March 22, 2010

Free Website. Don't believe it.

Finally did it. I've have registered my own domain name.

And moved my blog, yes this blog, to it. Look at your address bar. If you typed in: http://gazali-ahmad.blogspot.com it will automatically redirect to http://www.gazali-ahmad.co.cc. And that's my new blog address.

I did some research, read so many articles, and finally took the plunge. And it was seamless. No hiccups. All post exists. No broken links. In fact it was a non-event. I thought I need to do a complicated web settings, or write some coding. Nothing. Just simple point and click, some basic information, and its done.

And how much did it cost me? SGD$0.00 Yes its free. I did not have to fork out a single cent for anything. I did not have to sign up for any affiliate networking or whatever. From the blog, to the domain name, and to the hosting. ITS ALL FREE.

My only investment: My time and my network connection charges.

Don't you find it hard to believe?

There are so many people telling you that you need to pay for this or that. That you do not have the skill or technical know-how to do it. We'll do it for you for a fee. We even do a web design for you for a fee.

Let me tell you something. Everything on this blog are from free sources. Including the template that you see, that presents this blog. All I did was a little bit of coding here and there and its up. In fact the standard template, is good enough.

And you can do it too. Really you can.

First thing first. Do you want a blog or website? Now don't get confused. A blog is actually a website, or more to the point its a dynamic website. Just by looking at my website address, can you really tell its a blog? With so many tools out there, the line between blog and a traditional website are getting blurred everyday. 

Why are blogs far better than a static websites:
  • You can post written text, audio and video and have it online within minutes. Try doing that with a static website, it takes hours and probably cost you because you need the web designer, if you are not familiar with building or editing websites.
  • Your blog can be up in minutes, write your first post and ready to do business online and invite search engines to visit you. In Blogger, you can have 10 static web-pages. You can use the static pages as an "About Me", "Services" or whatever. And you have your own mini-website.
  • Blogs tend to be indexed much faster than traditional web pages. Every time you post an entry, you automatically "ping" or notify the search engines telling them there is a new content and "come and take a look". Its all about traffic. The faster your website gets indexed, the more people comes to your site.
  • Blogs are the most cost-effective medium to promote your services. Dare I say, it can even be free? Your maintenance cost for blog is ZERO unlike a traditional web page; you need a budget to maintain the site and keep the site updated.
  • I am going to dare say that most website designers have no clue whatsoever about search engine optimization. Ok, that's an unfair statement. Probably most of them know. Ultimately, their strategy is to make your site look good. I do not know about you, unless the website content is regularly updated, you can have the most amazing Flash presentation; I'd probably visit it once in a very long while.
  • Bloggers establish credibility much faster static website owners because blogs by their very nature build a stronger and more vibrant knowledge base.
  • With a blog, you log in anywhere, write your blog post and click the “publish” button and your article is on the world wide web. Your post can easily be categorized, making it easier for your readers. With a static website, you must have an editor (DreamWeaver or Kompozer), write the article using the website template, update the page properties and finally uploading to your site using FTP software. Do note that you have to "wait" until the search engines visits your site to get it indexed. How long does it takes? It could be months.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not against of having a traditional website. It does serve a useful purpose for big companies and institution. They have the budget and the people to maintain it. They need to have one. Nowadays some of them also have a blog. I show how to compete with the big boys at a fraction of the cost.

I remembered a couple of years back, I wanted a website. So I met up with a couple of web designers from a web company.

I told them what I wanted, and they say it can be done. I had to provide them with the materials and graphics and they will do up the web page for me. All in all, it will cost me about $2,000 or so. That's the initial set-up. There is also the cost of maintaining (exactly what do they maintain? Do they need to "scrub" or "clean" the site?) the website that's chargeable yearly. Its something like $1,500 a year. With that package, if I need to update a page or two, they can do it every month. More than that, there will be extra cost.

The set-up fees of $2,000, that's ok, I guess. The deal breaker were the maintenance cost and I can't update it more than twice a month. And yes, they told me, when you build it people will come. I do surf quite a lot and one thing for sure, if the website is not regularly updated, the less frequent will I visit it.

I'd probably copy the website using HTTrack Website Copier if it contains useful information and that's it.

So are you ready for a website?

First, think about a subject that you are most passionate about. It could anything, from photography, scale model kits, travel or even a business that you like to promote, like health supplements, property, beauty products or even your own shop. That's right, if you have a brick and mortar shop, you can make your presence felt, by using a combination of social media tools.

Next chose your blogging platform. The 3 popular ones are, Blogger, WordPress and TypePad. I'm using Blogger, so naturally it will be about Blogger.

I'll show step by step on how to do it, from getting your own website to bringing in the traffic and how to monetize your blog and getting your own domain name (those http://YourName.com) and hosting it for free.

Are you excited? Watch out for my next post. It will be on the 24th March 2010 at 9:30pm (GMT +8) Wednesday night. In the meantime think about your passion or business that you'll like to promote to the world.

Photo Credits