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Sometimes it pays to review and do some digging - I found a link to this Thirty Day Challenge Action List while browsing through Mike Mindel’s Summaries, Diary, Articles and Tips page from his Thirty Day Challenge.
Thanks to Mike and David and mmoexplorer for their work and for putting it in a place I could find it when I needed it.
This post is taken from the longer Re-Cap of Pre-Season Actionable Content…
If you’ve already gone through the 2007 Thirty Day Challenge Pre-Season Training and your looking for a short to-do list - this is the place for you. If you haven’t gone through any of the training - you can use this list to get set-up, but you won’t have the foundational understanding that the training gives you.
Here’s a re-cap of the actionable items/links from previous pre-season posts - I do recommend going through this blog post from the beginning so you can watch the videos and listen to the podcasts - these activities will make a lot more sense if you do:
Tools and Addons: Firefox browser - You can download it here
Google Notebook (requires a Google acc) allows notetaking while browsing
see http://www.google.com/notebook/
SEO for Firefox is at their own site - stats/tools for optimizing your site
http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html
FIREBUG,
it is a great tool for debugging your your web pages - I will say it offers some advanced web design tools - you probably won’t use it much until you’re proficient at website design:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1843
Del.icio.us - allows you to bookmark and tag websites
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1532
Fleck - allows you to add annotations to web pages you visit:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3908
Scribe Fire - a blog editor that integrates with your browser.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1730
Search Status - displays Google PageRank and Alexa rankings
http://www.quirk.biz/searchstatus/
Session Mgr - saves and restores the state of all windows
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2324
Stumble Upon
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138
TwitterBar
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4664
Sites to sign up/register for:
http://digg.com
http://www.stumbleupon.com
Facebook.com - your team can use this site to facilitate group activities
BlogLines is available here - just register, it’s free.
Youtube.com - another source for 30DC content - you can have a free account and subscribe to content from the challenge.
Teams:
Being part of a team will be a vital component of your internet success - if you’re not part of a team yet - find someone to take this journey with you. You’ll both benefit from it.
Media Access:
Go to www.apple.com and get iTunes if you don’t already have it - you’ll have access to 30DC videos and podcasts.
Get signed up for YouTube - another source for content.
Forums: We learned about ways to maximize the tools available within the Thirty Day Challenge Site and particularly within the forums.
I put this post together to simplify the process of “pimping” any other computers at home - or the MAC I will be getting someday soon…
Seriously, this is a handy collection of links - but you should go through this blog from the first post - watch all the videos and listen to the podcasts in order. It will take some time, but it will make a lot more sense if you “follow the process.”
Technorati Tags: thirty day challenge, pre-season, internet marketing, digg.com, stumbleupon.com, facebook.com, google.com, firefox.com, del.icio.us, rss, bloglines.com, YouTube.com, iTunes, Web 2.0, social networking
Currently, I don’t have a clue when it comes to YouTube - but I am a 30 day challenger; and I know some fellow challengers are looking for ways to leverage the viral possibilities of YouTube and the associated traffic.
I was just watching iCaught on ABC last night and they had a segment about common factors that viral videos on YouTube seem to have. Here’s their list:
1) Keep it short - 7 minutes may as well be War and Peace
2) The freakier the better - so get your phreak on…
3) Looks matter - production value, actors, graphics
4) Passion Pays - if you’re faking it, people will catch on
5) Sex Sells - always has, always will…
Those of you who are experienced with YouTube may already know this stuff, but when I saw the show, I thought of this year’s Thirty Day Challengers and started taking notes in my newly installed Google notebook for FireFox. (that is so flippin’ handy)
I have yet to get into video (need to upgrade computer / switch to a MAC, etc.). But when I do, I’ll try filtering my videos through this list and see if there are things I can do to make my YouTube videos go viral.
Ciao
Technorati Tags: YouTube, videos, thirty day challenge, viral, traffic, iCaught, ABC news, viral videos, internet marketing, traffic generation,
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The 2007 Thirty Day Challenge…
Preface: I joined the 30 Day Challenge a couple of days before it started and quickly realized I’d missed about 10 days worth of “pre-season” content. It made sense to take notes and it was mentioned we could blog the experience, under certain terms and conditions.
From that post by Ed Dale - here they are:
Speaking of Notes - We just don’t have the time to produce notes, so
if there are members of the community how want to do so, thats great,
but I make four key points (My legal team would call it - conditions).
We grant permission for you to do this as long as
1. People do not have to give an email address to access the notes
2. Your not advertising anything else on the page where the notes are
3. You are not allowed to sell the notes or profit from them in any way
4.You need to link back to the training page for the particular lesson and the main thirty day challenge page. -
http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com
This challenge is a pro-bono affair people are donating hundreds of thousands of dollars of services, hardware and time to make this happen. We want to make sure that same spirit is continued on. We promised people zero, none, nada, zip “offers” or “selling”. I think that’s fair and in the spirit of the challenge.
———————————————————————————————–
Being new to the whole blogging thing, I started using the myspace blog system. After a few weeks, I knew I should switch to WordPress - so I installed it this past weekend, set it up as best I could - and copied everything I’d posted to my original myspace.com blog. This did give me a chance to post it in chronological order - so you can read it from top to bottom and follow along in the order it was intended.
If you joined the challenge late this year or just need a refresher….
————————————————————-
First - go sign up for The 2007 Thirty Day Challenge
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Thursday, July 19, 2007
Pre-Season Notes: Day 1
TOOLS:
Useful tools for filtering and organizing information - points of difference 2006 to 2007 - lots of tools are web-based now - still some applications to download, but many can be accessed from any computer connected to the internet.
Key Point - all tools and 30 Day Challenge tools are available for free…how cool is that?
TEAMS:
Another key idea - teams and forums - the interaction of teams - the “mastermind” effect. Teams are a vital part of internet success.
MEDIA ACCESS:
We’ll be gathering a common set of applications, tweaks and tips so that we can iron out any possible file compatibility issues prior to Day 1.
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Friday, July 20, 2007
Pre-Season Notes: Day 2
Being a member of a team can really bring about a sense of accountability, motivation and focus. Ideal number in a team: 4-5 maybe six - much more than that can become difficult to manage. It is strongly recommended that you join a team or form your own - it may be one of the key success producing factors for people in past challenges.
Just go to the 30 Day Challenge - Forums - click on “team forums” and either look for a team to join or post a new topic and try to start your own…
In addition - Sites to sign up/register for today:
http://digg.com
http://www.stumbleupon.com
We will be using these sites throughout the 30 Day Challenge - we’ll learn more about the power of these sites during the coming weeks.
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Monday, July 23, 2007
Pre-Season Notes: Day 3
GETTING FOXY - PART 1
Insights into the work habits of an ultra-successful internet marketing guru. The recommended web browser is FireFox. You can download it here:
Of course, Ed does mention that MAC is superior to PC - with that said; probably 95% of us have PC’s (myself included.) I know MAC is better for audio/video applications - as internet marketing becomes more media driven - it looks like my next computer will have to be a MAC. Regardless, all of the tools we’ll be using will work on either platform.
Once FireFox is installed - there are several plugins/addons available that are recommended and used - here’s a list, most are available directly from the FireFox site - others will be linked to directly:
Google Notebook (requires a Google acc) allows note taking while browsing
see http://www.google.com/notebook/
SEO for Firefox is at their own site - stats/tools for optimizing your site
http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html
FIREBUG,
it is a great tool for debugging your your web pages - I will say it offers some advanced web design tools - you probably won’t use it much until you’re proficient at website design:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1843
Del.icio.us - allows you to bookmark and tag websites
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1532
Fleck - allows you to add annotations to web pages you visit:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3908
Scribe Fire - a blog editor that integrates with your browser.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1730
Search Status - displays Google PageRank and Alexa rankings
http://www.quirk.biz/searchstatus/
Session Mgr - saves and restores the state of all windows
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2324
Stumble Upon
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138
So, if you haven’t already - download and install FireFox and then install the addons above…. It won’t take as long as you think…
—————————
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Pre-Season Notes: Day 4
Session Manager Made Me a Better Man
Getting to know more about how to use session manager - it allows you to save groups of tabbed windows as a “session”. If you have a group of “core” sites that you like to have open at the same time - this can be a real time saver.
This all makes more sense if you watch the video.
Other things mentioned: BlogLines, Twitter and TwitterBar - looks like we’ll learning more about these in the weeks to come…
Twitterbar
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4664
Of Note: the use of Twitter and it’s ramifications for internet marketing. It seems to be very search engine friendly - and it allows you to update by computer or phone (like a text message) - I’m not sure if I really “get it” yet, but if it’s working for Ed and Dan - it’s gotta be worth adding to the arsenal.
You know what they say - if you want to be successful at something - find someone who is successful and do what they do…It’s an enormous privilege to get this
kind of mentorship from Ed Dale and Dan Raines
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Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Pre-Season Notes: Day 5
The Secret To My Success - RSS
About using BlogLines like a pro…the video shows you the feeds Ed is subscribed to - and most importantly how he uses BlogLines to organize business and personal information.
BlogLines is available here - just register, it’s free. Ed’s video walks you through the process of setting up and personalizing your BlogLines.
Here are a few additional tips:
To setup Bloglines as the default RSS reader for Firefox:
- In Firefox, go to menu items Tools->Options->Feeds
- Click on “Subscribe to the feed using…”
- Choose Bloglines
- Click OK
Pay
attention to the mention of “hot keys” at about minute 14 - if you’re serious about saving time - learn the hot keys… Really…
Mention is made toward the end of Meebo, FaceBook - more to come with regard to some of the media elements and audio/video implementation…
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Thursday, July 26, 2007
Pre-Season Notes: Day 6
A Little House Work Video For You
It’s a short video - Ed covers a few finer points on setting up and cleaning up your browser and bloglines.
In earlier videos you may have noticed some of the text being in red. They’re “nofollow” links - don’t worry if you know about them for now. They will become important later on.
You can either toggle those on/off with the SEO addon mentioned in previous videos/posts or … If you want to leave the SEO thing at the bottom ON, but don’t want to see the red stuff, you can go to (on windows machines) tools>SEO for firefox>options. Then uncheck the nofollow links.
Pre-Season Notes - Day 6 - iTunes pt.1
Audio and Video - THE Key to Marketing in 2007
I’m watching the “flash” video file - that’s what I’m used to. It turns out, I could be downloading all of this to my iTunes. Who knew? I had installed iTunes awhile ago for my daughter’s iPod. We got a new computer, but I never got rid of iTunes - bonus for me…
In the video, Ed shows us some of his favorite tweaks and let’s us know what we already knew - South Park rules 
Audiobooks and PodCasts: In the iTunes Edit>Preferences menu - make sure that audiobooks and podcasts are turned on.
One other thing to do - decide how you want to manage your podcasts; you can download and keep recent files - but for the purposes of the thirty day challenge - I think I’m going to download and keep as much as I can…
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Friday, July 27, 2007
Pre-Season Notes - Day 6 - iTunes pt.2
iTunes - Getting the Challenge Content
We’re looking at the “Dashboard” for the Thirty Day Challenge - it’s time to “subscribe to the blog feed.” Sounded simple enough - even easier when I tried it. Right click on “subscribe to the blog feed” - click on the “copy link location” option - go to the advanced menu in iTunes - click on “subscribe to feed” and paste in the link you just copied - iTunes does the rest. That’s pretty smooth, Ed.
From iTunes, you can “get” or “get all” of the available podcasts. Ed does recommend browsing through available podcasts and suggests subscribing to his
“Underachiever Life” Podcasts.
Pre-Season Notes - 30DC Podcast 1
30DC Podcast 1
Listening to Ed’s Podcast today - the first few minutes are kind of an overview of what we’re going to be learning, how we’re going to be learning and a little bit of why we’re doing it the way we’re doing it.
The internet keeps growing and evolving - this year’s challenge is taking those differences into account. This year - the pre-season activities are about tooling up and getting onto the same page. In past years, the first few days of the challenge have been about gathering common tools and applications. If you go through the summary of pre-season content - you’ll have a complete set of internet marketing tools - and they’re the tools used by the pros.
Most importantly, we’ll be learning HOW to use them - and we’ll have a process to follow as we go through the challenge. I encourage you to listen to this and all of the future podcasts. Watch the videos - follow the pre-season content and all of the training. As Ed says, “Follow the process.” You won’t regret it.
At the tail end of the video, Ed mentions the “Free Hugs” video on YouTube and goes into the impact of social marketing, web 2.0 and the opportunities we’ll have by staying on the cutting edge of internet marketing trends. More to come….
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Saturday, July 28, 2007
Pre-Season Notes - Day 7
The True Coolness of StumbleUpon - Part 1
Today, Ed shows us more about StumbleUpon. Why do we use it? It’s a great way to generate traffic for your site - when used properly. StumbleUpon offers us a unique opportunity to influence the shape of the web.
Ed shows us around the StumbleUpon toolbar on this video. We see the various buttons and tools available on that toolbar.
As he finds a site he really likes - he “tags” it with the del.icio.us tagging tool. He also gives it a “thumbs up” from the StumbleUpon toolbar.
For training, he guides us through the process of “stumbling” and “tagging” the thirtydaychallenge blog.
Towards the end of the video Ed mentions that there is a “right way and a wrong way” to use this tool. We’ll learn more about this in the weeks to come…
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Pre-Season Notes - Day 7 - part 2
The Super Coolness of StumbleUpon - Part 2
Watch part 1 first - really… if you watched it yesterday, you might want to go back and watch the last few minutes again…
First off, Ed shows us about utilizing “bloglines” - he quickly shows us how to subscribe to the “reviews” of the “thirtydaychallenge” blog. It’s a quick video - I had to watch it a couple of times before I “got it.
He used the “reviews of this page’ button on the StumbleUpon toolbar to locate review of the Thirty Day Challenge Blog - then he subscribed to that RSS feed - what a cool way to stay on top of information that can change so frequently.
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Sunday, July 29, 2007
Pre-Season Notes - Day 8
Pimp my Forum! How to make the forum work FOR you! - Part 1
This video shows us how to manage the volume of data going through the forums. By now, I’m sure you’ve already done this - register and then login to the “members” page. Ed shows us around the dashboard and other sections of the Thirty Day Challenge Site.
He mentions a gmail extension for FireFox - I’ll have to come back to that later…
Ed jumps into the forums and starts showing us how to own the forums.
There is a private message system available to registered users. Users have a control panel. We can edit our “signature file.” This allows us to display links to things like our blogs, twitter - maybe a skype address or e-mail. (No affiliate links though. That’s not what the forums are here for.) In addition to contact-type information, he also goes through the process of putting a picture into your signature.
There is additional information you can put into the control panel - like your website address, other profile information. One of the cool things is the default thread subscription mode and the private messaging system. * Time saver - set of posts to display to the maximum, save yourself some scrolling.
Keep in mind - most of these forum tips will only work if you’re registered. You can edit/upload your “avatar” or your picture.
You can search the forums. The quick links pull down menu offers a lot of self-explanatory options. The new posts button is a quick way to view new content without having to drill-down to the various threads. Between the thread subscription options and the various forum tools - this has to be one of the smoothest forums I’ve ever had access to… Watch the videos to make sure you catch everything…
Click the link above to listen to the podcast - Ed’s talking about the $10 in 30 days. Why $10 - because it’s not about the money - it’s about the process. If you focus on the money - odds are you’ll get frustrated, disappointed and give up. You don’t have any control over the money - and if you focus on the money or the monetary results - that’s what will control you.
What you do have control over is your own activities. You can control the process - so focus on the process. Do the activities throughout the 30 Day Challenge - and the results will follow.
Ed also announces the YouTube Video contest - and there’s a short re-cap on pimping the forums.
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Monday, July 30, 2007
30DC Cliff Notes Style Re-Cap of Pre-Season Content
If you’re following this thread - even if it’s after the fact - you’ve seen a lot of content and had the opportunity to implement some cutting edge internet marketing tools. Ed’s “Calm Before The Storm” video is here - he does recommend taking a break, grabbing a notebook and going out into the world. Get better at “noticing” things - find ideas - look at maybe a bookstore or mall - ask around and find out what’s popular, what’s selling, what’s hot, what’s new? A little bit of real world
research will pay off as the challenge gets rolling…
Here’s a re-cap of the actionable items/links from previous posts - I do recommend going through this blog from the beginning so you can watch the videos and listen to the podcasts - these activities will make a lot more sense if you do:
Tools and Addons: Firefox browser - You can download it here
Google Notebook (requires a Google acc) allows notetaking while browsing
see http://www.google.com/notebook/
SEO for Firefox is at their own site - stats/tools for optimizing your site
http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html
FIREBUG,
it is a great tool for debugging your your web pages - I will say it offers some advanced web design tools - you probably won’t use it much until you’re proficient at website design:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1843
Del.icio.us - allows you to bookmark and tag websites
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1532
Fleck - allows you to add annotations to web pages you visit:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3908
Scribe Fire - a blog editor that integrates with your browser.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1730
Search Status - displays Google PageRank and Alexa rankings
http://www.quirk.biz/searchstatus/
Session Mgr - saves and restores the state of all windows
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2324
Stumble Upon
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138
TwitterBar
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4664
Sites to sign up/register for:
http://digg.com
http://www.stumbleupon.com
Facebook.com - your team can use this site to facilitate group activities
BlogLines is available here - just register, it’s free.
Youtube.com - another source for 30DC content - you can have a free account and subscribe to content from the challenge.
Teams:
Being part of a team will be a vital component of your internet success - if you’re not part of a team yet - find someone to take this journey with you. You’ll both benefit from it.
Media Access:
Go to www.apple.com and get iTunes if you don’t already have it - you’ll have access to 30DC videos and podcasts.
Get signed up for YouTube - another source for content.
Forums: We learned about ways to maximize the tools available within the Thirty Day Challenge Site and particularly within the forums.
I put this post together to simplify the process of “pimping” any other computers at home - or the MAC I will be getting someday soon…
Seriously, this is a handy collection of links - but you should go through this blog from the first post - watch all the videos and listen to the podcasts in order. It will take some time, but it will make a lot more sense if you “follow the process.”
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30DC Promotions in YouTube
If you can’t have some fun while you’re doing it - is it really worth doing?
Check out some of these fun videos posted in the days leading up to the start of the 2007 Thirty Day Challenge:
http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com/blog/31/i-want-to-do-the-thirty-day-challenge/
http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com/blog/32/more-youtube-action/
http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com/blog/33/and-your-little-dog-too/
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Getting Into Groups on Facebook
This is a primer for joining and using Facebook.com - we’ll be utilizing Facebook as a way to facilitate team communication. If you’re not familiar with Facebook - it’s similar to myspace, but has some features and applications that make it well suited to our needs as internet marketers.
Click here for Dan Raine’s video
If you’re not already a member of Facebook - < click there - go through the registration process and then join the thirty day challenge group. If you’re on a team - start or joinyour team group for facebook too. If you’re not on a team yet, add some people from the thirty day challenge group as friends and see if anyonehas room on their team.
These connections will last long after the challenge…
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The WHY Series…a look at why
In this video - Ed shows us a “sneak preview” of the power and leverage available to us through the power of social networking and Web 2.0.
Ed walks us through his process - he opens a message from a facebook friend - he checks out the link - likes what he sees and determines that www.lensroll.com is a way to promote Squidoo Lenses - like Digg for Squidoo. Ed uses the StumbleUpon “I like it” button - then he subscribes to the RSS feed for the Lensroll Page - in Bloglines, he categorizes it with other internet marketing sites. He uses the del.icio.us “Tag” button - types in some quick notes and tags.
Next he uses Scribefire - to post a quick entry into his blog with a link back to the lenroll site. He uses a Mac application to capture the lenroll icon - uploads it flickr.
A blog post with a graphic looks nicer - and very well may hold reader interest better.
I’m not sure how that translates to PC users - if I figure it out, I’ll come back and update this post.
Now he hits the StumbleUpon “I like it” for the graphic he just created - adds notes and tags. He uses a del.icio.us tag for the graphic too - so far he’s created several backlinks to this site. He inserts the graphic image into his scribefire post - but he’s not done leveraging yet. He clicks on the scribefire publishing options and adds
technorati tags - checks the box to bookmark the post at del.icio.us using the same tags. He enables pings and publishes the post to his blog.
He checks his blog - yep, the post is there. He clicks on the post - clicks the StumbleUpon “I like it” - reviews it, clicks on the topic, tags it and submits the site.
To wrap it up - he mentions the leverage available to team members - by sending out a quick e-mail of a site to your team and ask them to give it the full Web 2.0 treatment. In minutes, you could generate dozens of quality backlinks and return the favor when called on…. All I can say is wow - this is still pre-season stuff
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Skype - we all need to talk
In this video - we learn about skype, a free program that can be downloaded here
Using your computer with a microphone and headphones- you can call other skype users, conference call several people, chat and send sms messages. You can also record conferenced calls - interview style. It’s a great way to facilitate communication.
Ed also goes over Meebo
- it allows you to chat with AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, and MSN chat software. You can get instant messaging everywhere. Definitely worth signing up for - your chatting can be handled within your browser - sweet…
Ed talks about the impact of web 2.0 being used for market research, traffice generation, conversion (the decision to buy), product creation and building a community - like we’re doing in the thirty day challenge.
So use Skype and Meebo for communications throughout the 30 days and beyond…
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Technorati Tags: thirty day challenge, pre-season, internet marketing, digg.com, stumbleupon.com, facebook.com, google.com, firefox.com, del.icio.us, rss, bloglines.com, YouTube.com, iTunes, Web 2.0, social networking,
