Pre-WordPress, JuniorBiz was hacked three times. After it was hacked, the number one keyword associated with my site was ‘Viagra’.

Since I transitioned to WordPress and started using some of these other tools, my site hasn’t been hacked once.

Today, Matthew Denos from Weight Loss Triumph is going to share the tools that he uses as a budding blogger. They will make your blogging life easier, more effective and reduce those painful “why won’t this work right” headaches.

1. WordPress

Of all the blogging platforms out there, many of which are really nice, I adore WordPress. You have to spend a few dollars a month to host it. But if you want a monetized blog, the options available are staggering. Nothing compares to the flexibility of the WordPress blog, and the platform itself is FREE. How can you beat that?

Next: How to Properly Publish a WordPress Blog Post

2. HTML Code Editor

Unless you are a geek in every sense of the word, and can write strings of code in your sleep, get yourself an HTML code editor. It will save you hours of hair pulling frustration as you try to find that one little missing < or /. HTML is the invention of the 20th century. It revolutionized how we communicate, and as "old school" as it is, it remains the key to the kingdom…but it also severs a lot of heads along the way.

3. Google Analytics

The big “G” can be a big pain sometimes, but when it comes right down to it, they offer so much to the blogging entrepreneur. Analytics lets you accurately track your blog’s performance—or even several blogs at a time, and gives you access to track everything from hits to clickthroughs. Analytics will tell you how long a visitor stayed on your page, where they came from, and what sales techniques are working for you.

4. Google

Yeah, okay, the main “G” in the big “G” network, but try as others may, they can’t compete with the incredible research function that the Google search engine provides.

5. YouTube

If ever an invention spoke to the minds of the “X” generation, it is YouTube. One of the most important elements in creating blog diversity and interest is pictures, and “moving pictures” are even better. Not only can you incorporate other peoples concepts into your blog topics, but you can create videos for your subject matter.

A great additional perk to the embedding YouTube videos on your blog, is that those videos can also gain traffic through the YouTube site itself. You can link back to yourself, or add your affiliate link to your video description right on the YouTube page for even more hits.

6. Discussion Forums

Not a blog, but a great way to promote your blog. When I sign up for a forum that is related to my topic (weight loss), I almost always feature links to my blog, and to my pages on Medifast coupons and Diet To Go discounts. It’s a great way to kill two birds with one stone.

7. PaintNET

It’s not Photoshop, but it’s a really good picture editor and paint program that is FREE. There are a few things that Photoshop does better, and a few others that Photoshop does that PaintNet doesn’t do at all, but considering that Photoshop costs about $700.00, PaintNET is a great deal.

By the way, for anyone using either Window’s OS Vista or 7, for minor picture adjustments such as cropping, resizing color adjustment and such, the Microsoft Picture Manager is fast, easy and comes with the program.

8. Downloads.cnet.com

I don’t think I could live without this delightful platform. When I need a program for ANYTHING, that’s where I go. Some are free, some are cheap, and some are the most expensive out there. You’ll find reviews from the Downloads site itself, as well as others who have downloaded and used the software.

9. Twitter and Facebook

Two birds of the same feather that are great ways to get the word out about your blog. Not only can you share recent posts by linking to them in your status’ on both platforms, but you can encourage readers of your posts to click on a Twitter or Facebook icon and share your links with their friends as well!

And finally the big number 10 is… WordPress’s (did I mention I love WordPress?)

10. AllinoneSEOpack

The plug in that lets you control every option for how your site is indexed in search engines. It’s an Internet marketer’s must have.

Editor’s note: If you use Thesis, the ability to control SEO details is built-in.

Those are my top ten must have blogging tools. What business tools do you find useful, and what tools can you not live without?

Need more convincing that blogging is a good way to get traffic? Every Blog Post Earns an Extra 1,320 Visits Per Year

Exactly four months ago I interviewed a 17-year-old, bestselling author with more than 100,000 followers on Twitter.

Twitter has been all the rage over the last year or two. But does Twitter still deserve to be “all the rage”? According to one of the few people in the world with more than 100,000 followers, there is a better solution to your social media struggles.

I’m going to share Stanley’s secret tip, explain what we changed, and detail how this change has boosted our Facebook traffic by 356% with almost zero additional effort.

Before Stanley Tang

Prior to picking the brain of Stanley Tang, like most website owners I put almost 100% of my social media effort into building my Twitter account. I put several hours per week into tweeting, retweeting, replying, searching, following, listing, and perusing the Twittersphere. With all that, I managed to extract 4.6% of my traffic from Twitter in the four months leading up to Stanley’s interview.

What Did Stanley Say?

“Over the past year, the effectiveness of Twitter as a marketing tool has decreased slightly. Before, when I had 10,000 followers and I sent out a link, I’d probably get the same amount of clicks as I get today – and I have over 100,000 followers. Twitter has gotten kind of saturated.

“I would start with Facebook, as opposed to Twitter. Mark Zuckerberg has done some amazing things, including the open graph project, which is a great idea to connect people. Facebook is going to be the next Google.”

What Did We Change?

I realized that I’ve experienced the same thing, except on a smaller scale. When @JuniorBiz had about 800 followers I would get anywhere from 5-15 clicks within 10 seconds of posting a tweet. Now with 2700 followers, I’m lucky to get a few clicks per tweet over a matter of days.

So I immediately looked into how I could more effectively integrate Facebook with my site. I found the Like-Button-Plugin-For-WordPress plugin and installed it. This easily customizable plugin puts the nifty “Like” button at the top of every post (or page too, if you want). Here is a working example of the “Like” button:

Click it and comment to see how it works.

We also created a Facebook page for our book, but this was meant to drive traffic back to the book site, not JuniorBiz.

What are the Results?

In the last four months since interviewing Stanley Tang, our Facebook traffic has increased by 356% and the only significant change we made was adding the “Like” button to our posts. We have 2,739 followers on Twitter compared to 110 fans on Facebook. Yet, Facebook now drives 406% more traffic and I’m still spending more time on Twitter.

Stanley Tang was Spot-On

Two paragraphs in Stanley’s interview helped us increase our traffic from the 2nd biggest site in the world by 356%. There are eight other things that Nick and I are working on right now as a direct result of Stanley’s advice.

He continues to detail exactly:

• How his business got him into an Ivey-league school half-way around the world.
• How he launched his book as an instant best-seller.
• Why he is getting out of internet marketing.

And this is just one of the 25 interviews in our book. Reading it is the only way to learn the proven money-making secrets from the world’s top young entrepreneurs. When you buy What it Takes to Make More Money than Your Parents, we guarantee that you will be inspired and find practical advice on every page — or your money back.

Photo by: Daily Herald

As a young person, clients and customers are naturally going think your business is wanksta’ and you have to convince them that it’s gangsta’.

It’s not fair, but you have to give them a reason to trust and hire you. It’s one of the biggest problems that young entrepreneurs encounter and you need to know how to deal wit’ it if you want to have a successful business.

In this post I’ll explain exactly how you can build your street credz (a.k.a “credibility”) as a young business owner and how you can use their lack of trust to make yourself more impressive. I’ve broken ‘em down into offline and online techniqz.

Aight, let’s stop kickin’ it and keep it 100 by getting down to the nitty gritty of how you can get mo’ scratch for yo’ biznezz.

Offline Street Credz

If your customers are actually out on the streets (i.e. in your neighborhood), then there are four things you can do to attract them to your business.

1. Fitted wit’ Threads

When you approach a potential customer for the first time, they’re going to judge your appearance. So you need to look as professional as possible. You need to be reppin’ your nicest shirt, some professional slacks and nice shoes. The more professional you look, the more seriously they will take you.

2. Biznezz Cards

No matter your age or your business, every young entrepreneur needs to have business cards. If someone asks for your card and you don’t have one, you’ll lose credibility. But more importantly, you’re going to be coming across tons of potential customers in your daily life. Make sure you can give them an easy way to contact you.

3. Sick Flyers

In addition to sweet-lookin’ business cards, you need to have fly-lookin’ flyers. If your primary way of marketing your business is with a flyer, poster or door-hanger, that flyer needs to look professional. They will base the quality of your work on the quality of your flyer.

4. Swagtastic Pitch

Your sales pitch needs to be rock solid. You need to walk up to that potential client with confidence knowing that what you’re about to say is going to convince them to give you their business. You need to have a response prepared for every possible objection. The only way to perfect your pitch is to practice it whenever you can.

However, this doesn’t mean you should approach people wit’ yo’ hat turned sideways and yo’ pants on the ground (a.k.a. “arrogantly”). Just know exactly what you’re going to say, how you’ll respond to their questions, and be courteous about it. The same applies for every situation in which you talk to your customers.

Online Street Credz

If you want your customers to find you on the internet, then you have to have a sick online presence. They need to be able to find you and when they do, they need to be impressed. Yo’ skillz need to be drippin’ like a hot, freshly painted e-class that looks like candy.

5. Prada Yo’ Blog

A blog is the most powerful tool a freelancer could ever have, period. As a freelance (whatever), your blog is your storefront. Write about the services you provide, how you provide them and examples of your work. People who are interested in the work you provide will find your site, be impressed, and beg you for your services. If you want to attract customers online, your blog (not just a standard website) needs to be snug.

6. Flossin’ It Wit’ Social Media

Social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) is the best way to connect with people in the world. You need to use it to seek out your clients. If someone tweets, “I’m looking for a freelance logo designer”, you need to be the first to respond with, “I’m a designer. Check out my site, my portfolio and let me know what you think.” They’ll check you out, find a sick lookin’ blog, and ultimately hire you. That’s some of the cheapest marketing in the world.

7. Display Yo’ Kool-aid (Portfolio/Previous Work)

You know what? I’m going to eat my words. A strong portfolio is the most powerful tool a service-provider can have. It’s proof that people have hired you before, that you’ve done a good job and that you want to continue to do a good job.

8. Word Up Wit’ Testimonials

Testimonials validate your work through other people’s opinions. You can say that you provide a quality service, but when other people say it, their word carries a lot more weight. The standard structure for a good testimonial is:

1. This is where I was before.
2. This is what happened when I hired (your name).
3. This is where I am now and “I couldn’t be happier.”

The more testimonials you have, the better.

Use Their Lack of Trust to Make Yourself More Impressive

There’s an old-skool marketing concept that explains that a customer is satisfied when their perceptions are greater than their expectations. How does this apply to you?

Well, when you first approach a customer as a young person, they’re going to have low expectations. This is good for you. When you establish your high-rollin’ street credz, it’s going to blow their expectations out of the water. They’re going to be super impressed because they weren’t expecting much.

Despite the colloquialisms, I hope you take this advice seriously. In most cases you’re at a huge disadvantage simply because of your age. Let’s prove ‘em wrong!

You feelin’ me?

Fo’ shiggidy mah weeble,
G. Money Mikey

Want more G. Money Mikey?

Find out how to sell you idea to everyone, everywhere:
Elevator Pitch: 7 Salty Secretz to the 60-Second Sell >>

Photo by: Auré From Paris

Syed Balkhi used to get online at three o’clock in the morning to trade stones for a game called Neopets.

When he was 12, his cousin pointed out that he could do the same thing with domain names – all while pulling in a handsome profit. Soon he was developing websites, designing them, and running a paid domain name directory.

Originally from Pakistan, Syed is now 19 and attending the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Along with a handful of college friends (Amanda Roberts, David Pegg, and Mohammed Karim), Syed has started a successful web service company called Uzzz Productions. His blog for WordPress beginners, WPBeginner, has been up since July 2009 and already attracts an incredible 145,000 unique visitors each month.

Maybe it’s genetic: Syed’s six-year-old brother is running a successful blog of his own with Syed’s help.

The following is a short excerpt from 50 Interviews: Young Entrepreneurs (Volume 1).

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?

A: That’s a tough question. I don’t want to grow up. I like the way I am. I want to be an entrepreneur and I don’t want to work for anybody else. I love that I can work from wherever I want, whenever I want. I’m making money when I’m sleeping. It’s a great feeling when you can wake up and say, “Oh wow – I just made $600 while I was sleeping. I was a productive sleeper.”

Entrepreneurship has really opened a lot of doors for me. To give you a personal example, I got a traffic citation. I knew a lawyer who was my client. So I didn’t have to find a lawyer to fight my ticket. Same with my finance guy and my insurance guy. I get the best discounts you can get on my travelling, on my car insurance – on everything. If I was working as an employee, I would not even know how my boss was making money. Now I see a bigger picture.

Another thing is that I get a lot of technology before everyone else because all of these companies get it as a gift for me. Mountain Dew sent me a Flip camera and eight never tasted Mountain Dew flavors. I helped decide which flavor should be on the shelf. That was a great opportunity and that I owe to entrepreneurship and social media. I was really happy. I love Mountain Dew.

Q: What would you tell a young entrepreneur who is just getting started with social media?

A: Use social media as a communication tool rather than a marketing tool. When you are using Twitter, don’t set auto-tweets every time you publish a blog post. If you had a customer on a call, you wouldn’t tell him, “Hey – I don’t have time for you. Bye.” That’s how I see social media: if I have 4,500 followers, that’s like 4,500 clients for me. I don’t want to treat them with disrespect. So, I actually spend the 30 seconds that it takes me to write a clean title, show them my URL, and tweet that [instead of auto-tweeting].

Second, a lot of people try to get on Digg’s front page. But Digg can do nothing for your Search Engine Optimization. Stop submitting your own articles, because that’s not the way to go. It’s meant to be shared. No matter how good of an author you are, not all of your articles deserve to be on Digg. Keep your promotion for only the best articles. You’re building a brand – and when you have a brand people just talk about you. That is what you really want.

Don’t go after the quantity, go after the quality. People are following 120,000 people to get 120,001 followers. But because you don’t have a real connection with those 120,001 people, it’s not going to do you any good. I would rather have 200 converted followers who, when I send them a message, they go and do it.

Q: Anything else you would like to add?

Get Your Blog Set Up for Free, WPBegginer.com

A: I think we talked about pretty much everything. I want to give a shout-out to WPBeginner. If anyone is starting to blog and wants to learn the technical aspects, they shouldn’t pay someone $400 to take a mini-course. Everything you need is free on the site, so go check it out.

We also set up WordPress blogs for anyone who signs up for one of our hosting services. You would be paying for the hosting services anyway, so you might as well go through us and we’ll set up the site for you.

This is an abridged version from Syed’s interview in our latest project, 50 Interviews: Young Entrepreneurs. Syed is a self-proclaimed “talker”. But when you find a “talker” who actually knows what they’re talking about, that’s a goldmine of information. Needless to say, I tried to hang out with him as much as possible. Also, since I talked to him, Syed has released a new site that features the dopest handshakes and greetings from around the web, Dopello.com

Syed Balkhi’s Top Quotes

“A lot of people have said that the internet is a teenager. Guess who understands a teenager best: a teenager.”

“You should always stay hungry. Stay hungry, so you can eat.”

Want even more inspiration?

Find out how Syed’s friend from the UK makes 6-figures with his blog:
Michael Dunlop Interview: Voted ‘Most Likely to be a Millionaire’ >>

College tuition: $5,000

Room and board: $2,000

Textbooks: $500

Saving $300 on books by using WeCompareBooks.com: priceless (actually it still costs $200, but you get the point).

I recently had a conversation with the owner of WeCompareBooks.com, Eugene Aronsky. Not only does he have a site that can help young entrepreneurs, he has valuable insight regarding the entrepreneurial process.

Eugene has degrees in business and philosophy from Carlow University and is finishing up his masters at Seton Hall. He is a self-taught entrepreneur who had no prior entrepreneurial experience before starting WeCompareBooks.com.

JB: Why did you start WeCompareBooks.com?

Eugene: As an undergrad I spent a ton of money on textbooks. I would visit various stores and sites comparing the prices by hand. Then after I would purchase the books, I was always able to find a better deal.

In the meantime, I started selling books on Ebay. This gave me experience selling books online and paid for a year of grad school. It primed me for the market.

I was able to find websites that compared book prices from various online retailers, but I couldn’t find any that I liked. Most weren’t user friendly and I had a hard time navigating many of them because I am visually impaired.

So, two years ago I set out to build a site that I would want to use.

JB: Briefly describe the process from conceiving the idea to launching the site.

Eugene: After I came up with the idea, I did a lot of research. The site I wanted to build was heavy on programming and I needed a top-notch developer. So I partnered with someone who could create the site and we worked from there.

The original project was OnceOwnedBooks.com. I really liked the site but others did not. So I hired a marketing consultant and he told me it was hideous and that no one would want to use it. It was what I wanted, not what people wanted.

Starting from scratch, my partner and I built WeCompareBooks.com. Now the site is up, working, and we just made an update to it last week.

JB: What has been the most effective thing you have done to market the site?

Eugene: Twitter. Very few people know how to use Twitter.

As an Internet entrepreneur, you have to be everywhere. When you google your name, you should be the first spot. But from a marketing perspective, I haven’t found anything to be more effective than Twitter.

Also, I have practically disowned Facebook. There are far too many restrictions on that site to be able to effectively use it as a marketing tool. Plus, there’s no way I can afford their ads.

JB: If you weren’t talking to me right now, what would you be doing?

Eugene: Writing for my site. I’m way behind when it comes to writing. Quality content is the most important part of a website.

I need to spend more time writing, but I always find myself busy with other things. It’s not uncommon that I spend 15-16 hours a day on my business. Then, I also like to have a life!

JB: If you were taking a young entrepreneur under your wing, what golden nugget of advice would you share with them?

Eugene: Look at what other guys are doing – and then do more. I believe this is a quote from one of Napoleon Hill’s books, but I’m not sure.

There is so much opportunity to improve on existing products, businesses and business models. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Just make it better.

JB: If you had to battle a giant, what weapon would you use?

Eugene: Twitter and social media. It levels the playing field.

There are all of these huge sites out there that have giant marketing budgets, but they don’t have a clue when it comes to social media. Most of my competitors have a couple hundred followers on Twitter [Eugene has over 7,500 and is ranked 6,291st in the world].

Also, Google gives a huge advantage to the bigger guy. It’s hard to compete in search engines, but I’m more than competitive in social media.

A note from the interviewer

Thanks for the interview, Eugene. I had a blast talking to you and certainly learned a lot.

I’ve used Eugene’s site a couple of times. Had I known about it a month ago, I would have saved $50 on one of my textbooks. I definitely recommend using his site to find cheap textbooks.