Optimizing your blog and making money online

A blog I sometime read (and link to on my sidebar) is johnchow.com. I've mostly read it to learn how to drive readers to a blog--search engine optimization (SEO) etc. I'm really not as interested in making money at this point. I just hope to find readers who like what I talk about or want to read what I have to say on a product or topic. Since I'm just starting out, I'm more interested in generating some content. Then, I'll spend a bit more time in the "optimizing" department.

John's site is very highly read and he definitely has it down. I'm really impressed with folks who have figured out how the world finds information online to drive traffic and business to their sites. Reading John's blog inspires you to do more with your own blog.

John promises to link to my blog (and anyone else's) if they post this:

John Chow dot Com is blog that helps you make money online. If you review of his blog, he’ll link to it and send you a ton of traffic.

He also promises to be entered into a contest to win a Zune if I post this:

John Chow dot Com, a blog that helps you make money on the internet, is giving away a Microsoft Zune. To enter, all you have to do is write about it. This is my entry. Now give me my Zune!

This is a really clever way for the search terms "make money online" and "make money on the internet" to have johnchow.com on the first page of results. Of course, he can do this since he has so many readers and people to do the linking (like me). I hope he'll count this one post for both purposes. I care more about the link back to my site in hopes of improving my own search relevance over time.

The Roman Candle Pizzeria reviewed

My family, generally, goes out every Friday night for dinner. We have many old favorites that are good bets for our three-year-old daughter. However, from time to time, we like to try something new. This week, we tried The Roman Candle Pizzeria. They've had a location on Willy St. for a while along, with a brand new place in Middleton.

The decor and feel is hip and very casual. They have a game room in the basement with video games from the 80s. If you liked pumping quarters into Gauntlet, you can again do it here. The host and wait staff worked very hard and kept the drinks filled (they have Ale Asylum Nut Brown on tap--very good).

However, unfortunately, that is where the good things I have to say end. While I know they are very new and still have some things to work out, they have a very long way to go. Upon arriving at 6:15, we were seated promptly, only to wait an hour and 20 minutes before our two pizzas arrived. And, ironically, I thought they were over baked--we could have had them sooner had they just pulled them from the oven.

I'm not really sure what the problem was. They also offer take-out and my theory was that the take-out orders were pouring in and keeping the cooks from getting to the dine-in orders. At one point, all six tables in our view were impatiently waiting.

They have a pretty good menu, and their prices are very reasonable. For those reasons, we'll probably give them one more go. However, we'll give them plenty of time to straighten out their processes. At least the long wait allowed me to have plenty of great beer.

Finally--the New Zealand pictures

Well, almost a month after returning from New Zealand, I've finally found the time to post the pictures (and post here). I had taken over 900 pictures on the trip. After sorting through them, 386 made it to the site.

I used Picasa from Google to post the photos. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it. Not only do you get 1 GB of free space, but the tools for posting pictures, organizing them and adding comments couldn't be easier.

I tried to add commentary to most of the pictures to give you some insight into the trip. Go through the album one by one to read the comments.

Enjoy viewing the pictures, it was truly an amazing place on the other side of the world.

View Album