Robert J F Kennedy

My portfolio is now two pages.

Robert Kennedy Portfolio page 1

Robert Kennedy Portfolio page 2

Have been designing some t-shirts.  To start with only one will be getting printed up, and it will only be availible in Large.

I am running a promotion so I can get some more designs for my portfolio.  This is a good thing for you because you can get a free banner or a header.  This is a limited time offer with no strings attached.  You will have to sign up for the Meetup Zone.  The visit the Free Banners thread in the Community Futures Group forum.  Just leave a message there with what you would like and I will get started on it.  When it is ready I will send it to you by email.

I have uploaded some of my graphic designs.  Have a look at Robert Kennedys Graphic Design Portfolio

The quest for the best social networking script continues. I take back what I said about dolphin. It just isn’t that great. I had high hopes for it but it does not offer what I want. The absolute bare requirement I have is to have a proper forum within groups. The way dolphin is set up everything is separate; Videos are one section, music another. If I built this software I would have those features inside of groups.

So far the script I am happiest with is buddypress. It is a wordpress product so you know that more themes and plugins will be developed as time goes by. As it stands now buddypress isn’t exactly what I want but it is the closest I have found so far. It is also free.

Here is my list of information on social networking scripts:

DZOIC :: Video Sharing Script and Social Networking Script - Youtube Clone - Myspace Clone - Youtube Script - Myspace Script

JomSocial - Social Networking for Joomla!

exo

tog

GROU.PS :: Create your own Social Network.

socialabc

Barnraiser

Lovd By Less — Open Source Social Network — Who loves you, baby?

The 5 Best Open-Source Social Networking Software

Powered by You! :: XOOPS CMS (Content Management System)

PHPizabi - Create Worlds

PeopleAggregator Update

The Elgg Community

Any recommendations for Social Networking Scripts (a la MySpace)? - SitePoint Forums

PHPizabi - Create Worlds

I am going into the SEO business full-time come mid Sept. My focus is on doing internet marketing for Okanagan Tourism. Being born in Kelowna and raised in Penticton I know what the Okanagan Valley is all about. The wine industry has exploded here and has created a tourism industry around it. I will be getting the word out about the Okanagan and everything it has to offer. We have beautiful lakes with gorgeous beaches. We host the Ironman each summer and have plenty of events such as the Show And Shine, The Beach Cruise. There are cozy, fun hostels for international travelers, as well as a variety of bed and breakfasts. It really is an amazing place and I am looking forward to promoting it online. My specialty will be promoting tourist related businesses and events. The Okanagan has lots to offer and it is going to be a blast sharing that with the world.

I started a basic social networking site where people can create groups and start forums. I used buddypress. It isnt the best setup, but it has actually been popular. We are at 98 members so far, and 8 groups have been started on topics from fitness, website design, to general discussions and a sound off board where you just let loose on what is bothering you.

As a website owner looking for traffic starting a social networking site is a very positive experience. People are constantly posting and discussing things. The search engines love this because it is fresh content being created all of the time. Already my site is ending up in first place on google in various places. Also this content is created by other people. I don’t have to site there and write and write all day long, it just happens all by itself.

You can create this kind of user generated content through various venues. You could have a forum. A blog can do the same thing with people commenting on your posts. The social networking site is really a blast because your members have more control over how they want to set up their own groups. This is why sites like myspace, face book and all the rest are so popular. It ends up being a win win situation for everybody involved.

I am going to create another social networking site just because it is so fun seeing people talk about different things. A niche specific forum is also in the works due to popular demand , and requests by those who have gotten alot out of the group.

One thing that is absolutely necessary is a captcha or something to stop the spam bots. If you start up a forum without one you might wake up the next day with your forum filled with spam posts. It can really damage a forum, and even bring them to a complete halt. I have had to close several forums due to spammers. Same thing with blogs make sure you get the askimet plugin installed. It works really well.

Captchas do get cracked, and bypassed. Also a captcha will not keep out the human spammers. You have to stay on top of posts and delete any that are inappropriate. Turn your most active members into moderators. These members are invaluable to your success. Most of them love what they do so they do it for free, but they really deserve some sort of compensation. Show them your appreciation as much as you can. If you can think of ways to reward them that is even better. Rewards could be allowing them extra privileges like promoting there products, maby giving them ad space. You could give them free enhanced content like ebooks, videos or podcasts. Use your imagination and you will come up with more ways to show your mods how much you appreciate what they do for your forums.

Ever since I heard Ning was becoming a paid service I have been looking for sites like Ning and scripts that can create sites similar to Ning.

I tried two more social networking scripts today. One was so bad it is not even worth mentioning. Then I found http://www.boonex.com/dolphin/. I had seen this site before and I don’t know why I didn’t try out the script, but I am glad I finally did. I haven’t tested it fully, but from what I have seen so far it rocks. The only thing is to remove their branding it costs $300. Personally I think it is more than worth it (as long as you can use that license on as many sites as you want).

If anyone else has tried out Dolphin I would love to hear what you have to say about it.

The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization (Theory in Practice)
is the ultimate guide to SEO.  As you know once you have mastered SEO and put what you have learned into practice you can write your own paycheck.

Written by Stephan  Spencer he shows what SEO tactics to take to generate traffic within a week.  If you are a programmer, designer, copywriter, manager, or even top level executive you need this book.

“The Art Of SEO will give you the opportunity to learn from all the people who taught me what I know today.  Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned veteran, this is the most informative read for the ever-growing and fast-pasted online marketing world.” - Tony Adams, SEO Program Manager At Yahoo!

First chapter of The Art Of SEO.

So you have decided that being an affiliate sounds like a great idea, now what?  First of all you need to find some companies that you can be an affiliate for.  Amazon would be a good choice, so would clickbank.  Share a sale is another good one, they have loads of companies to choose from.

If you already run a online store you could have a huge sales force working to sell your products by having your own affiliate program. Shareasale.com Affiliate Software makes it easy to get affiliates promoting your product.

For more information on affiliate marketing check out the Affiliate Marketing Videos .

Forum marketing would seem to be one of the best ways to get backlinks to your website.  Problem is most forums external links  have the no follow attribute added to them.  Forum threads also have no page rank plus with all the outgoing links the link juice is diluted. These factors make signature links from forums almost worthless.  I say almost because your links can still be found by people interested in what you have to say on the forum.  If you contribute worthwhile posts folks will click on your link to find out what else you have to say.  Other than that forum marketing may not be the ultimate way of getting backlinks.  But some forums do not use the no follow tag which is a good thing for you when you are building backlinks.  You can check to see if the links are no follow by viewing source and then looking for  <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://www.nameofsite.coml”>linked text</a> if the “nofollow” is not there then the link is followed.