Archive for May, 2008
The Importance Of Consistent Blogging
When I started blogging again on this site, I tried to make it a goal to write at least once every two days, if not every day. Why, because I read this article on Problogger about the importance of consistent blogging. I also found a similar article on MonkeyBlogger. I’m not going to go into details about why you should post consistently because I believe that those two sites already do a good job of summarizing that for you. What I will go into is what happened to the traffic on my site when <sarcasm> I didn’t post for *gasp* 4 days. </sarcasm>
The first thing is that my traffic didn’t decrease immediately. As a matter of fact, it went up for a day before returning to the average number and going down again. I’ve posted a screencap of the stat for my site for your viewing conveniences. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the fact that the traffic was high during the weekends, or if something else triggered the increase in traffic.
However, the evident fact is that my traffic did decrease eventually. I still dropped my entrecard, I still returned comments, and I still commented through despair regularly, so the only cause for this drop in traffic is the fact that I slacked off for a couple days, which worries me because I’m going to be gone for 3 weeks from tomorrow, so God knows what’s going to happen then. Also, not only did my traffic drop, my topsite rank dropped as well (I didn’t check my Alexa or Technorati ranks).
So to save my site (and maybe yours) from drowning, I’m here instead of packing for Taiwan. Now you’re probably wondering, does that mean I have to post everyday? The answer is no. I know it might sound like a contradiction to everything I mentioned earlier, but consistent blogging doesn’t always equal blogging many times a day. It means blogging consistently every two days, every three days, every week, or whatever your pace is. Of course, you don’t have to be on mark every time, but fluctuating from 2 posts a month to 15 posts a week is obviously a no no. Try to make a goal of posting at least # times a week, but if you don’t reach it, it’s ok. What’s even more important then blogging consistently is blogging with quality. I much rather read 1 good post a week than read 5 poo posts a day. TheMadHat has a good article on this.
Since I’m trying to build up the content of my site, I make an effort to write more often. It can get tedious because sometimes you run out of topics to post about. But as I continue blogging, I’m beginning to find that there is a lot you can write, from reviewing your must-have makeup item to ranting about stupid people you encounter online. And believe me, you can write a poo load on the latter 
So what’s my conclusion? Find a blogging schedule that works for you. Don’t pull out your hair if you don’t always meet the dateline. Don’t force yourself to churn out 10 mediocre posts just because you feel like you have to. Quality > Quantity any day. 
11 Comments » | Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
Police Gear
Looking to buy some police gears? Look no further! LA Police Gears offers many great products at affordable prices. Some of the brands they carry include Under Armour, Blackhawk, Converse, and much more! The variety of their products range from rifle slings to shoes to flashlight, every sort of equipment an officer needs! If you can’t find what you’re looking for, they also have a live chat where you can talk to customer support, and they’ll help you find what you’re looking for or give you a free estimate! Whatever your police gear needs are, LA Police Gears offers it all. They also have special payment plans for the government and military.
1 Comment » | Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
Want Smooth Silky Hair?
I really don’t like my hair. It’s naturally wavy, but not wavy enough to actually look good, so it’s just looks sort of bent and poofy. So to make my hair look good, I use to get it straightened every half a year or so for about 2 years. On top of that, I used to dye my hair with those hair dyes you buy in CVS. Obviously, you can imagine the state of my hair after all that straightening and dying and what-not. So the more damaged and weird it gets, the more I straighten it, which just leads to a vicious cycle of crappy and crappier hair. Of course I tried all the creams and conditioners and oils out there, but none of them did half of what they claimed to do.
The one day, I found in my boyfriend’s bathroom a bottle of Garnier Fructis Anti-Frizz Serum, which I found strange because guys don’t usually use things like these. Then he told me it was Steve’s, which explains everything, but since he wasn’t going back to get it anytime soon, I could use it. I did, and oh my goodness, my hair became amazingly soft and sleek, even after I used my straightening iron. I couldn’t stop touching my hair afterwards because it was just too soft! My boyfriend thought I was crazy until he touched my hair, and then you just saw the two of us standing there grinning like idiots while stroking my hair. Since then, I affectionately called the product the “Steve Thingy” and after my friend tried it, she demanded one for Christmas because it was just too good. “No wonder Steve looks so pretty all the time!” she said The only complain I have for this product is that it makes my hair oil easily. I wouldn’t recommend using too much of this if your hair is normal/oily. Also, I recommend only applying it to your the mid section of your hair and below unless you want your head to look like someone fried an egg over it.
Along with the amazing Garnier Fructis Anti-Frizz Serum, I also found two products that compliment it well. The Garnier Fructis Style Sleek & Shine Anti-Humidity Smoothing Milk
The last product of this amazing set is the Garnier Fructis Style Brilliantine Shine Glossing Spray
So what about the Garnier Fructis Sleek-and-Shine shampoo and conditioner? I’ve used those too, but in all honesty, they’re just like all other shampoos and conditioners. If you want to build up the scent, then by all means use it, but if not, then I recommend getting some other ones. There are definitely better shampoos and conditioners out there (I use Tresemme). But the above three products I mentioned today, especially the first two, are must-haves for those with dry and damaged hair like me. Even if you have healthy hair, you still have nothing to lose and everything to gain from these products. Happy shopping!
14 Comments » | Saturday, May 24th, 2008
Faking It - Plants
First I’d like to begin with a little story about a habit I have when playing Sims 2 (and Sims 1). When decorating the rooms for my simmies, I always have to have at least one pot of plant in each room. Usually it’s at least 3 pots or more, but never less than 1. Why? Well one, they give the room some beauty points and two, they’re usually less expensive than other forms of decoration. By using plants in the game, it’s easy to build a house with great interior scores and not breaking my simmy’s piggy bank at the same time. What was annoying in Sims 1 though was the fact that the plants actually requires watering, and if the simmies get lazy, then the plants die. But Sims 2 made a change for the better (at least in my opinion) and made the plants fake! Well, I don’t know about the fake part, but I do know that you no longer need to water them.
I bring up this story because I’ve always fancied having plants or flowers in my room. However, a lazy butt like me can’t be bothered to keep up with the watering and all, which is why I’ve hesitated on getting them. I’ve had people give me flowers before, and they’re absolutely lovely to look at, that is until they wither and die. Honestly, I don’t have the money to keep buying flowers nor the time to take care of them. And when I think of live plants, I think of bugs, and that is another huge turn off for me.
Silk plants are the solutions to my problems. The site offers a huge variety of artificial plants and flowers, everything from flowers in water (gorgeous) to topiary (I like putting these in my simmy’s bathrooms) to bonsai plants! Their products look convincingly real, but they don’t come with the hassle of taking care of them. Of course, the downside to silk plants is that you don’t get the aroma of flowers, but some scented candles should do the trick.
Of course, some people insists on keeping things real and don’t like the idea of fake plants, but for lazy people like me who still want the illusion of having greens in their rooms, silk plants is the way to go.
4 Comments » | Friday, May 23rd, 2008
Experiencing With Different Advertisements
I’ve been experimenting with advertisements on my site, starting from Google adsense to Project Wonderful and soon to self-hosted ads. Google adsense, contrary to what people say, didn’t work at all for me. I had it for about a month and I got 0 clicks. I’m not saying that it’s hence ineffective, because many people still consider it their main source of advertisement income, but it simply didn’t cut it. The fact that ads are ugly and I don’t like Google is besides the point
I tried advertisements similar to Google like Bidvertiser and Adbrite, but they produced similar results. It’s not like I actually tried them out for more than a week, but since the system is more or less the same, I figured there wasn’t the need to. If the grand daddy of CPC advertisements wasn’t going to get me anywhere, I doubt the other would either. I guess my visitors just don’t like ads, or they have the AdBlock Plus for Firefox so they don’t even see the ads. Eh, I’m not too fond of them either.
I also tried some other programs like Chitika and Text Link Ads, and though TLA seemed to be working well at first, fear of being rank slapped by Google persuaded me to stop using them. Now that I’m thinking about it, since I’ve already been slapped into Google hell, I might as well try them again. There are a couple other programs similar to TLA like Linksworth and TNX. I will try them out and let you know the results.
I’m currently trying out Project Wonderful, which allows me to sell advertisement spaces through their auction system. I’m not too sure how this will work out as I have only had it up for a day, but from what I’ve seen, selling the ads by yourself seemed to work quite well, especially for the blogs I usually visit and associate myself with. I might add that soon, depending on how Project Wonderful works out for me.
This concludes my 1 month experience with ads, which really isn’t much if you think about the short time period. However, I will keep updating as I find new methods to generate $$$. If any of you use any sort of ads on your blogs, please share with me your experiences! Look forward to hearing them 
