I started the day doing an FBI news story that you really need to read, and then, strangely enough, saw an ad later on that caught my eye.

The web site I ended up on is called Swipebids. Now, first and foremost, I did NOT create an account. I will tell you it looked awful tempting, BUT I’m savvy enough to first investigate.

Always look before you leap.

This auction site looks impressive at first glance. It’s ratings in terms of traffic are through the roof. The products shown on the front page, in real time bidding, also impressive. Information on what’s what, well I did not go by what the site says, I first put it into Google to do a “background check”.

Turns out that when you open an account, it works the opposite of say eBay. On eBay you can bid, but it doesn’t cost you anything unless of course you are the lucky winner and get what you wanted.

Swipebids makes you pay upfront each time you bid. For example, say you see something for $2 and there is, oh an hour left on that item. According to sources online, your $2 is removed from your account right then and there. You literally put your money where your mouth is… and then you wait. If someone else bids, and you still want it then you bid again.

This time say you want it badly enough to outbid the last bid by another $2 (let’s assume the other person bid $4). It now costs you $6 on top of the first $2 you initially placed.

And, yes, the money is taken… gone for good, unless you win the bidding war and get that precious whatever for $6.

I found comments at Yahoo! Answers ranging from “don’t go there” to “swipe bids is ‘legit’ but you need to know what’s up with these sites”.

So there you have it, my advice for the day. Plus you really, really need to read the FBI news story. It, too, is advice you don’t want to disregard.

Have a great weekend!

I will be the first one (okay maybe not the very first one, but…) to tell you that commenting on blogs is an excellent, free way to potentially expand back links to your own website. Not every blog gives out “link love,” but those that do (like this one) I salute you. Those that don’t, depending on who they are and how they are doing, are still invaluable.

The reason is simple. People read the comments almost as much as they read the post itself. In fact, I’ve spend literally an hour or more going down through the comments of some posts totally intrigued on the back and forth that happens. Some truly strike my fancy, and I am apt to right click on a name (this way I control how it opens – in a new tab or a new window) just to see what that particular person is all about – what they are “into.”

Yet, logging into the admin area, there is also the inevitable spam comments. With good plugins, they are kept to a minimum, but on occasion the software doesn’t quite know how to classify the remark. Thus, the yellow box (in WordPress) tells me someone has said something and WordPress needs my hands on assistance to decide should it be posted or tossed in the trash. (more…)

This morning, after reading the news of the day, and of course stumbling several of the news items of import, I also started stumbling (using StumbleUpon of course) one of my favorite categories, Web Design.

Immediately, I came across two that I would like to draw your attention to:

o CSS Basics
o Nice and Free CSS Templates

The first is a lesson-by-lesson, 18 “chapters” leading you by the hand so you can create your own website stylesheet. You can also choose to download all the chapters, or even print them all out (put in a binder, sometimes it’s easier to reference points via print).

The second web site actually gives you 11 pre-made stylesheets. From a single box on a page to a full four-column layout, all your css stylesheet components are right there! Of course this would be the easy route to take, however, I urge you to also visit and study the principles behind doing anything online.

Sure there are WordPress, Blogger, Moveable Type, and other blog frame works from which you can work. There are also numerous html editors one can use to create web sites themselves. I, personally, believe that everyone needs to know the underlying reason and/or methods used that make the magic of a blog or website happen.

Ten years (plus) ago, I knew absolutely nothing about web page creation. In fact, my first “web site” consisted of nothing but banners centered down a page. At the time, I was thrilled to have accomplished even that much. But, as we all should know, that’s just not going to cut it out online. Visitors need a sense of uniformity and the means to navigate a website or blog. Knowing how to do this yourself, independent of the program you use, really understanding the coding involved in linking up, inserting images, creating the framework page, and navigation are but a few of the “I really need to learn this” strategies I would recommend you learn.

Then, you are no longer confined to a web site given to you (or one you pay for or use for free). You have learned a new, and highly valuable skill. In fact, for job seekers or those looking to add to their present skills, learning and implementing coding can be a good job skill enhancement.

Coding by hand is an art. Coding an entire website of say over 100 pages without understanding how it all comes together is insane. After visiting the above, you might also like to check out an article I wrote quite a while back titled, How to Learn HTML Without Even Trying.

Go for it! You can do this – it’s fun and you will never be at the whim and mercy of others. I’ve seen people pay exorbitant prices for web pages (websites) not worth a fraction of what they spent. When you learn a new skill, duh, you grow. Today is your day to do just that

First, my apologies for the title and all horse-lovers out there! I often find myself using the expression, “You can’t swing a dead cat without…” However, I am lucky to have two wonderful feline friends and I try (seriously) to make sure they are out of earshot when I make the remark LOL!

So what THIS post is about is to refer you over to one I just made on the My Wizard Ads blog. It is very pertinent for all internet marketers, yet redoing it here would be… well redundant. And, I just finished that post up and if I say so myself I did a decent job

Now I’m off to work on the two newest members to our Whole-Hog-Blogs Network family – Joe’s Time Life Travels and Ron’s All About Alternatives. I just love blogging, don’t you? And getting people up and running and successfully driving traffic to a well-thought-out blog is gratifying. (Starting a blog often sounds easy; too often people just give up without proper blogging coaching, mentoring, and support.)

(BTW, Joe Eisenbeil’s travel stories are not to be missed! He’s been traveling the globe for more than 60 years and his perspective is truly unique!).

Now don’t forget to read the above post over at My Wizard Ads (or you could be very sorry).

Ciao!