I've had my fair share of weird error messages, both on my PC and my Mac, so that's probably why I could muster up a smirk when I saw this all new error message.
Now I have another reason to slam my head into my desk I think it's time I upgraded my office assistant for Windows. The paper clip is out! I'm replacing that stupid thing with Suzi the office bicycle.
I've seen quite a few people lately talking about the "art of link baiting". If you've never heard of it before, link baiting is when you post something (content or feature) on a website that somehow "baits" viewers/readers to place links to it from other websites. Why would you want to do this? In the short term, it will likely generate you some quick traffic or referrals from the sites that have taken the bait. Secondly, and arguably most importantly, link baiting can create a number of inbound links to your site, which helps a site rank better in organic (non-paid) search engine results.Link baiting isn't really a new concept, and you could argue that it's existed as long as the web itself. Everyone that runs a site or blog engages in a little bit of link baiting. Any one that tries to tell you otherwise is taking liberties with the truth. People place things on the world wide web for a variety of reasons, to educate, to inform, to make money. But there is always one common thread. People place things online because they want others to see and/or read it, if they didn't they would keep it to themselves.
Link bait is designed to stand out from the crowd. It's the post that kicks and screams to be heard above everything else. If your able to raise your voice above all others, then your link bait has been taken successfully.
What are the hallmarks of link bait?
If it's funny, people will link to it! Anything that has the ability to make people wet their pants with laughter will make for good link bait. Combine that with originality and you have yourself a winner.
If it's useful, people will link to it! Providing readers with information, tips, tricks or tools that they will find useful is another sure fire link baiting winner. Give them something they can use, something they think their own readers can use, and your onto a good thing.
If it's newsworthy, people will link to it! Probably one of the hardest ways to link bait, for the newsworthy angle to work you really need to get your news out there quickly. Be the first to get a good newsworthy story out, and you'll see quick rewards. Imagine being the first site to post pictures of Britney post head shave for example, gold!
If it's controversial, people will link to it! This is probably the easiest of the main link bait methods. Everyone has an opinion, this is your chance to share yours. Just make sure your opinion goes against the grain and give strong reasons for it. Write about a popular product, TV show or band that you just can't stand. When you think about it, writing a CD or film review could really be viewed as link baiting in some respects. No matter whether the review is positive or negative, chances are you'll find someone that opposes your view. If you want to take the gloves off you can always resort to letting people know how much you dislike Blogger X's blog.
Whoever your target is, you'll find most success when you strongly disagree with the masses.
Personally, I'm not convinced courting controversy is a wise long term method for building back links. It's one of those things that will generate a quick buzz and then drop off, and has the potential to alienate your own audience. If your after a quick boost, and are running a "fly by night" operation, then slag off the big names as much as you like. You'll see a spike in your traffic. However, it's unlikely to last, and even more unlikely to convert.
Link baiting is not new, and for that matter, it's not complicated. It isn't something you should bother forking out bucket loads of cash for consultants to do for you. Chances are your already dangling the line somewhat. To get a decent bite though, you may just need to fine tune your approach.
BONUS LINK BAIT TIP
If it includes Paris Hilton, people will link to it! 
I've done quite a bit of reading lately on goal setting. Very Tony Robbins of me I know. In any case, I thought it was time that I set a few personal goals for 2007. You can check them out via the 'goals' link at the top of the page.
Hopefully I'll maintain the motivation, and provide monthly updates on how it's all going.
This post is absolute gold, the top 10 Action Hero One Liners. Very pleasing to see 'Predator' well represented!
Sadly though, my all time favorite didn't make an appearance.
"If it bleeds, we can kill it!" - Arnie as Dutch aka. Captain Obvious.
The AGLOCO viewbar is inching closer and closer to release. Reading on the AGLOCO blog this morning I found this quote from their development team:
Viewbar Update: The engineers have informed me that the Viewbar release is currently scheduled for between Monday April 2 and Monday, April 16 (between 12 and 26 days from now.) I will keep you posted as I continue to hear word from them on progress. As they continually remind me, this is all dependent on the results of QA testing
That's good news, as I can't wait to see how this program pans out. If you haven't already joined AGLOCO, you really should do so now. Remember, there is no financial cost to you, no obligation, and a lot of potential benefits!
Here's another interesting quote from the companies blog:
According to Google more web pages are talking about AGLOCO (2,000,000+) than Kobe Bryant or Queen Victoria, and we are now creeping up on Lindsay Lohan and David Beckham.
If you've got a Mac and are running ProTools, then chances are one day you'll get a "Neo Access Error". In that case, you'll want to read this, fixing a Neo Access Error in ProTools.
I've had an Xbox related swicki for quite a while now. I can't remember why I really started with it. Probably for the same reasons I start most things, because I can, and because I want to see how things work. Before you ask, no, I'm not Sylar from Heroes.
What is a swicki? Well its a little like the love child of google and wikipedia. It churns out search results tailored to your interests, but also allows users to add, edit, or remove results and content.
Anyway, I'd neglected the project xbox swicki for quite a while, kept getting email notification every time there was activity there, but just chose to ignore the emails. Today though, I was bored, so I opened the email, and logged into my good old swicki. Things have changed in the swicki world.
It seems that swicki's have a adopted a revenue sharing model. You can specify whether you display adsense, chikita, context ads or adult friend finder ads. Gives you a great deal of variety there! The swicki functionality has also improved a great deal. For example, you can now specify a URL you wish your swicki to give priority to in the search results it throws out.
Being bored, I decided to create a couple more swicki's to cover off another couple of my key interests. Check them out.
Swicki's are potentially a great way to dip your toe in the water, before diving into the whole make money online, work at home thing.
