Gabe Jacobs Productions is the name of my company that produces iPhone applications. I figured it was necessary for it to have its own site instead of having it be fused with my blog. These sites will function as separate entities, one as a blog and the other as a place to display my portfolio of iPhone applications.
Check it out.
]]>This somewhat saddens me because I love writing on this blog. I love expressing my thoughts, bringing new ideas into the work. Now, I really have no time to do that. At the same time… I am doing another thing I love, making iPhone apps.
See, iPhone apps are fun to make because the outcome can be outstanding. The actual production of the app is not so exciting, but once the app is in the app store, well that is another story. It’s extremely exciting to see how well an app is doing and how much money you’re making. It’s not everyday that you can do something fun from your computer and make money for doing it. There’s another difference between iPhone programing and blogging. I didn’t get paid when I blogged, it was simply for my own benefit.
After not posting for about 2 weeks, I feel that I am more than over due for a post. In a way, I feel like I have let my readers down. A blog is there for a reason, so that the blogger can blog on it! If it just sits there, collecting dust, there’s no reason for it. That’s why I am going to TRY my best to post a little more.
Hopefully I’ll get around 2 posts a week. I have 2 apps being reviewed in the App Store, so I do not feel rushed to start coding another one. This will free up some time for some good, quality posts that I hope you guys will like.
]]>1) The Black Keys
The Black Keys is a blues-rock band consisting of two members. Dan Auerbach (vocals and guitar) and Patrick Carney (drums and percussion). They are one of my favorite bands to this date. I love almost every song by them, but here are some of my favorites:
2) Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend is an indie rock band from New York City (REPRESENT!). The band consists of Ezra Koenig (lead vocals, guitar), Rostam Batmanglij (keyboard, guitar, vocals), Chris Tomson (drums), Chris Baio (bass guitar). They have only released one album, but man is it good. They have gotten so much hype over this one album, they are already set for life. Here are my favorites:
3) Dispatch
Dispacth is actually not new, but since I love them so much, I had to put them on the list. Unfortunately, they actually broke up and stopped making music. Dispatch was an American indie/roots folk jam band who created a great reggae/rock type of sound. Here are my favorite songs:
4) Coldplay
Coldplay is a very popular band and with their new album “Viva La Vida” they are even hotter than they were before. They come from London, England and consists of vocalist/pianist/guitarist Chris Martin, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Will Champion. Here are my favorite songs by them:
5) Jurassic 5
I don’t only like rock/alternative stuff! I am a man of GOOD music. Whether it is rock, hip-hop, techno… All it has to do is sound good. I am a huge fan of classic hip-hop/rap and Jurassic 5 re-creates that for me. Jurassic 5 consists of rappers Chali 2na, Akil, Zaakir aka Soup, Mark 7even, and turntable maestros DJ Nu-Mark and DJ Cut Chemist. Here are some songs I like:
Well thats it! I hope you enjoyed learning what kind of music I like, I know it is a bit random due to the fact that this is a tech blog and almost never have anything but tech. Anyway, tell me if you like or dislike this kind of music. Comment!
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I am sorry to say, I will be away for 2 weeks without a computer starting this Sunday. This sucks for both me and you, but unfortunately, there is no way around it. I am going to Connecticut to play tennis at a camp I have been going to for a while (this would be my last time) and I am just a little scared that if I brought my MacBook, it would get stolen. The good news it, I am bringing my iPhone and I will still be able to answer any questions you have or comments. I will also be on AIM some times in the day or night at GabeJacobs824. I should have a ton of good posts when I get back! C ya
A few days ago I wrote my 5 Tips For Increasing Blog Traffic. One of the tips was to use forums and comment on other people’s blogs. Well today, I have a good example of why this can help. I commented on a famous bog by Darren Rowse called ProBlogger. He writes a lot about Wordpress, blogging and the various ways to make money and increase blog traffic.
Recently he posted a post called “Best WordPress Template Designs” in which he wanted people to comment about what they think is the best Wordpress theme. I obviously commented about the theme I use, FreshNews by Adii. Since I thought my blog was a good example of it, I posted my link. I have had 100 uniques since then. This shows how important commenting on other people’s blogs can be. Even Darren thinks this is one of the most important things to drive traffic to your blog. Watch this clip he made:
Learn from the greatest…
]]>Here are the topics that I think need to be added in order for things to be a lot simpler and easier.
1) I love writing about Wordpress, Digg, etc. Digg needs a “Internet” topic for blog posts and news about things on the Internet. This would be a solution for so many of my blog posts that are forced into a bad topic like “Industry news,” which is becoming a common topic for links that do not fit into any of the topics.
2) I would also love a topic called “Tech Opinion.” This would be a great place for blog posts and rants. I would submit a lot here since I am always expressing my opinion in my posts. I would also spend a lot of time here since I love reading people’s blogs and tech opinions.
Really, those two topics would help a lot. There is no reason any link should not have a place in Digg. I doubt Digg will even take this into consideration, but maybe if a lot of people agree with me, someone will realize that there need to be a change. For example, I really do not think this post belongs in Tech Industry News, but that is exactly where I am forced to put it. Anyways, even if my suggestions aren’t the best idea, I think everyone can agree some sort of change is needed. Thanks for reading
1) Title your content well. I get almost all of my traffic from Google, so it is really important that people can find your content on search engines easily. In order to increase the likelihood of you site coming up on Google, you need to title your posts correctly. Try to think about what a searcher will search for on Google and put those keywords in your title. You also do not want to make posts that only make sense based on the current time. It has to be understandable no matter how long ago the post was written. Also, the most important thing is that the title is relevant. Your title has to be exactly what your post is about. This post’s title is, “5 Tips For Increasing Blog Traffic” because I am giving 5 tips for increasing blog traffic. I wouldn’t title it, “My experience with blog traffic” because no one would search that and it is not good at summarizing the content of the post. A person is much more likely to search “tips for increasing blog traffic” than “experience with blog traffic.” This is why titling you blog posts are so important. You need it to be relevant, catchy, straight to the point and time irrelevant.
2) Use forums and twitter and other social networks. When using these services always put a link to your blog for other people to click on. A good way to do this is to put the link in your signature on all of the forums you use. This way if any reader happens to glance and see a post of yours, they may just end up clicking on it. The more people that see your blog, the more you have a chance for loyal readers. You never know when someone may see your blog and like it. That is why you need to make it available for as many people possible. Whenever you meet someone new online, whether it be facebook, twitter or on a forum, give them the link to your blog. They are almost forced to check it out. Also a good tip is to go to forums that specialize on what you write about. The viewers will be much more likely to subscribe to your RSS feed if they like the topic you write about. For example, I love macs, so I go to the MacHeist Forums a lot and post my link whenever it is relevant. One thing though, do not spam. No one likes spammers…
3) Write well, spell check, and don’t be lazy! If you seem smart to your readers, they are much more likely to stay around. This is because smart people are attractive (no, not in that kind of way). People like smart people because they feel they can learn from them. If they read your posts finding spelling mistakes every 3 minutes, they are probably going to either leave or put up a nasty comment on your blog. You don’t want that kind of vibe hanging around your blog, so don’t be lazy and proofread. I have to say, I am lazy all the time and I do not proofread. This is a really bad habit of mine and it is something I am working on. If you see any spelling mistakes, please point them out to me. If you cannot help your laziness, you can always admit it to your readers, that way they will have more sympathy for you (hehe).
4) Digg almost everything you have. Even if it is not very relevant, Digg it. Every click you can get is worth it and you never know when something of yours will blow up on Digg. There is no harm and it can only help spread your blog more.
5) Analyze your blog statistics. I have an account at Clicky in which I use all the time to look at how my readers are coming to my site. You can see what they search to get there, what links they click to get there and exactly what they are most interested in. If they love one of your posts especially, write more about that topic. If they keep searching the same sort of keywords, write more posts with those keywords. Simply follow your traffic and soon the traffic will follow you.
Really it all comes down to how good and interesting your content is and how much your write. I go by this, don’t write unless you are interested in what you’re writing about. If you are interested in a lot of things, blogging should come easy to you. I love writing so I don’t mind writing a post almost everyday. The more content, the more readers have to read.
If you get frustrated with the amount of traffic you have, don’t worry. If you genuinely feel you have good things to say, you will get traffic eventually. These things take time. I would give it a month or so with good consistent writing until you can get worried. Until then, just keep on blogging!
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I have had a lot of trouble getting Feedburner to work with my blog ever since I switched the domain name, but I finally got it to work today. Now, my blog’s feed is run by Feedburner and I would appreciate it if you re-subscribe to it, if you are already subscribed to my old one. I love keeping stats about my blog and page views isn’t everything. I like seeing how many people are subscribed and Feedburner lets me do this.
Heck, subscribe even if you are not subscribed yet. I got a lot of good posts coming up!
]]>It is called Wordpress Thread Comment and it is one of the best Wordpress plugins I have ever used. It does its job perfectly, works fine with your theme and is very customizable.
If you look at the screenshot, this is essentially what the plugin lets. It will create a link under every comment saying, “reply to this comment” (customizable) and when you click that link, it brings the comment form under the comment. If you decide you do not want to reply, simply click the red link on the bottom of the new form. When you actually send a reply comment, just like on YouTube, puts your comment under the one your replied to. That person will also get an e-mail informing them of your comment.
There is not coding that is needed to be done, all you have to do is activate the plugin. It even works with my ajax comments plugin, which I love. This plugin should be included in Wordpress because it is that useful. Try it out here and see how it works!
I give my best regards to the developer and I thank him for all of hist work.
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