• Tweet

• Tweet

I have written many reviews on this blog (probably too much) but I really do try to be as honest as possible and review only services and tools I have used and tested myself. I will be the first to admit that when I first started this blog, my only intention was to make money writing these reviews but that has changed. I can promise you that and if being ranked number one for one of the biggest launches in 2011 of Google Sniper 2.0 and ending up not recommending it is not proof enough than I don’t know what is.

Another important thing that is constantly changing is the internet marketing world. It is a dynamic world and the things (services and tools) that worked a few months ago like gangbusters might not be so good today.

This is exactly why I decided to create this very important, What’s Working Now page. This page will be updated from time to time and will only show what’s working great for me now in my online business and my online endeavors. I hope that this page will put things in a better perspective and will help you get a better understanding on what is working for me now.

Short Story

This is the short version in which I will just share what’s working for me now. For more details you should simply scroll down to the long story section in which you find the explanations for every thing I mention here:

Long Story

Content Creation

Content has always been important but after the latest Google Panda update it seems it is a little more important . The way I see it, I use 2 different types of content:

• For SEO and link building
• For my various sites

SEO & Link Building Content

The Leading Articles - If you visited my blog before than I assume it won’t be a surprise that the only content solution I use for SEO and link building are the Ultra Spinnable Articles and the Ultra Spinnable Minis. In case you don’t know what these services are than I recommend you read my Ultra Spinnable Articles Review and my Ultra Spinnable Minis Review so you will have a better understanding of what these services will provide you with and why I am using them for over a year now and don’t see any reason I am going to stop any time soon.

Article Builder – Jonathan Leger has recently re-launched Article Builder and it seems that it is going to be another homerun for him. I love his tools and also love Article Builder and I recommend you check out my Article Builder Review so you can learn more about how it can help you with content creation.

Site Content

I started building several niche sites over the past 2 months, aiming to get fist page rankings and monetize the sites with Google AdSense, Amazon products and affiliate products. In order to make sure the sites are created in the right way and will have the highest chances of getting ranked on the first page I needed unique content.

I have been testing and trying out various content creation services and I really can’t recommend anything in particular just yet as I haven’t found a service that I am going to use all the time. What I can say is that whenever outsourcing is concerned, it seems that Fiverr should be your number one stop. It is simply amazing what you can get for only $5.

A really great WSO that you should check out is called Fiverr All Starts. It will save you all the time it would take to find and test the best gigs on Fiverr. It is divided into several categories and under each category it will list the best gigs you can find on Fiverr. A real time and money saver.

Here is an article writing gig I fully recommend on Fiverr. I have bought this gig several times and was more than pleased with the articles I received. Just check the feedback rating and you will understand. Only drawback is the long delivery time (5-7 days) and be sure to be specific about the topic of the article and how you want it to be structured (sub headers, bullet points, etc.)

SEO and Link Building

Newbies

If you are new to SEO and link building there is only one thing I will recommend for you and it is called Backlink Battleplan 2.0. This is without any doubt the best link building course for newbies as it focuses on how to build links using only free tools.

Backlink Battle plan has recently been updated to include new tools and services that were not present when it was first launched and also to fit all the recent Google changes to their search algorithms.

Created by a member of my “Guru Trust”,  Shane Melaugh, you can be sure to be given the best quality you can. Backlink Battleplan 2.0 is a video course and believe me that once you see the quality of Shane’s videos you will wonder why others aren’t doing it the same way.

You can check out my Backlink Battleplan Review to learn more about this course but if you value your time and money and you are looking for the best link building course for newbies, than just go ahead and get Backlink Battleplan 2.0.

Article Marketing and Blog Networks

I want to make something clear here, article marketing isn’t dead. It is still here and still provides results and when I say article marketing I am also (and mainly) talking about submitting your articles to various blog networks. I know that Google Panda has came down hard on content farms (read: article directories) but that doesn’t mean you should forget about using article marketing for your SEO campaigns.

I know I didn’t.

Here are the things that I working for me know when it comes to SEO and link building:

Authority Link Network & Article Ranks

I am currently using both Authority Link Network (ALN) and ArticleRanks (AR) for free and I am getting great results from both of these blog networks. I am using the Ultra Spinnable Articles and the Ultra Spinnable Minis in combination with both ALN and AR so I don’t need any manual content creation.

The way I am able to take full advantage of these 2 high PR blog networks without paying for it is thanks to the fact that I added several high PR domains that I purchased to their networks. With ALN you currently (September 5th) must add PR domains to the network in order to use it but with ArticleRanks you can also pay a monthly fee but I recommend you make a one time investment and get two or three PR3-PR4 domains and add them to both networks.

I bought my aged domains over at the digital point forums. Be sure to check that the PR is real and not fake and I would also recommending checking the live and active links to the domain as well as if it was previously dropped or not. I will probably write a post about this process soon so if you have any questions, feel free to contact me for now or stay tuned for that post.

Unique Article Wizard

I am still using Unique Article Wizard and I still consider it to be one of the best mass article syndication services out there. You can read my Unique Article Wizard Review in order to learn why I love it so much. I am also using the Ultra Spinnable Articles & Minis with UAW and it is great for building second tier links as well as links to your money sites.

BuildMyRank

As you can see in my BuildMyRank Review and Case Study, the results I got were quite good so I am now using BuildMyRank as part of my Link Building. It is considered as one of the best link building services for very good reason and it can really have a positive impact on your rankings.

Keyword Research

Since I have been into creating AdSense sites in the past 2 months, keyword research has been a major thing for me and Market Samurai simply didn’t cut it for me. I started looking for an alternative and I found a software called Long Tail Pro.

Long Tail Pro

Long Tail Pro has been developed by Spencer Haws from NichePursuits.com. Spencer is known for making thousands of dollars every months from AdSesne and he build hundreds of small AdSense sites. Long Tail Pro has been developed exactly for that purpose and it has some great advantages over the competition and it truly does save me hours on keyword research plus it helps me find keywords I would be able to find otherwise.

Be sure to check out my Long Tail Pro Review in order to learn more about his new tool and why I find it to be better than Market Samurai.

SECockpit

SECockpit is a keyword research from swissmademarketing and Shane Melaugh is one of the people behind it. As you know, Shane is on my “guru trust” list and he is also the creator of Backlink Battleplan.

I decided to start testing SECockpit and after one week I can say that it is very promising and seems to be the best keyword tool I encountered being able to check thousands of keywords in a fraction of the time it would take other tools. It is more expensive than the other tools and it is based on a monthly or semi yearly payment plan.

Stay tuned as I will post my SECockpit Review in the coming weeks after I test it out more and feel comfortable enough to share my experience and thoughts.

WordPress

WordPress is the only platform I am using for all the sites I am creating as I am sure that is the same case for you. If it isn’t, than I would love to know why.

WordPress Themes

Under themes I would like to recommend two great themes I purchased recently and I simply love them. Each theme is designed for a specific purpose and both themes deliver.

OptimizePress – This theme is all about helping you create squeeze pages, landing pages, sales funnels, product launches and membership sites easy and fast. I created the squeeze page for my free Pingback Power WordPress plugin using OptimziePress in a matter of minutes. It is so easy to use and yet so powerful and I was really impressed with it. The reason I decided to check it out was due to the fact that I noticed it was used on quite a few product launches and membership sites and after getting it I can understand how it became so popular.

Heatmap Theme – I recently got back to building AdSense monetized niche sites and I decided to get the PRO version of the Heatmap Theme as I previously only used and recommended the free version. I can know say that you should get the PRO version as it is much more powerful and feature packed than the free version.

Be sure to read my Best AdSnese WordPress Theme posts in order to learn what the Heatmap theme is so great and why I recommend it for those that are building niche websites. The main reason I love it is that it is very customizable and comes with more than 20 ready made, drag n drop, widget positions so adding ads and banners is as simple as it can be.

Thesis – I can’t recommend WordPress themes without mentioning the great theme I use to run this blog. I am using Thesis and I love it. The main problem with thesis is that if you don’t know how to code it might be difficult for you to get it to look different than all the other thesis based sites out there. This is where Thesis Skins come into play and it took me a while to find a skin that I really love and that gives me all the options and features I need (and more) and the skin I am using on this blog is called BlogSkin by ThesisAwesome.

WordPress Plugins

The second major part and what makes WordPress so great is the ability to use plugins. I would like to share with you some of the plugins I think you should be using on your blogs.

WordPress SEO by Yoast – Forget about All in one SEO or headspace. WordPress SEO by Yoast is the best SEO plugin for WordPress and you should not be using any other plugin and if you are, make the switch. If you don’t know who Yoast is, than I recommend you find out by visiting his blog at Yoast.com. Don’t be intimidated by all the options that you will see, here is a simple guide that will show you exactly how to setup this plugin.

Automatic Bonus Delivery Plugin – If you are promoting Clickbank products and you are using bonuses as a way to get people to buy from you than you would probably want to know that you can automated the entire bonus delivery process. This is another great WSO purchase I made and it will also save you tons of time as your bonuses will be atomically delivered. Easy and short setup and your buyers will get their bonuses and will even be added to a buyers list (if you want) on autopilot without you needing to waste your valuable time.

W3 Total Cache – Loading speeds is becoming more and more important and it is definitely something you should start paying attention to on your blogs and sites. The W3 Total Cache is the best caching plugin and it will improve your sites performance. Since it is a very complex plugin with many options and features I recommend you read the following guide on how to set it up. Be sure to check your site loading time before and after you enable the W3 Total Cache plugin so you will be able to see the huge difference it can make.

BackupBuddy – After being hacked once and the site getting bigger I knew I needed a better backup solution than the free backup plugins that are out there. After some research I decided to go with BackupBuddy and I am more than happy with my decision. Being able to automatically backup everything (widgets, themes, plugins and SQL database) and also send it to Amazon S3 and/or Dropbox made my life easier and I know that my blog is safer now since I can restore everything with a click of a button if something really bad happens. Be sure to read my BackupBuddy Review to find out all the reasons that helped me choose this plugin over the competition.

Outsourcing

I am more than happy to say that I began outsourcing stuff and I know have a full time VA from the Philippines. Apart from that, I am looking to outsource just about everything in the process of creating new niche websites including the keyword research (yes, I know that might sound strange).

I will be updating you on how my outsourcing endeavors are working out and I will be more than happy to share tips that I will pickup along the way.

What I can tell you that it seems people are making outsourcing a lot more difficult and complicated than it really is. There are countless courses about outsourcing and how to do it the right way but after reviewing several of them I can tell you that there is no rocket science to outsourcing and you simply need to start.

Just decide on a job you want to outsource and go look for someone on Elance, oDesk, Fiverr or the WarriorForum. You should be able to find what you are looking for on these sites.

Books I Read

4 Hour Workweek – This is my current bible. Read it 3 times and I learn new things every time I read it. I love Tim Ferriss and I love the type of lifestyle he is living and showing how he was able to achieve it in this amazing book.

Do The Work – This is an amazing book written by Steven Pressfield that really hit home run with me. You can read my thoughts of the book on my Do The Work – Overcome Resistance post I wrote after finishing the book for the first time.

The War of Art – Another book by Steven Pressfield. After reading Do The Work I had to read this book and as I expected, it is another masterpiece. The biggest obstacle we have in life is ourselves and this book will show you how to go about winning your inner battles.

4 Hour Body – This is the second book written by Tim Ferriss. It is not about online business and making money but I still think it is great and I enjoyed reading it. I am sure everyone can find some great topics inside this book. If you haven’t watch the book trailer (yes, this is the first book with a movie trailer) than you really should check it out on YouTube.

Steve Jobs – The official biography of Steve Jobs, written by Walter Isaacson. Steve Jobs made a dent in the universe like only a selected few have been able to. I really enjoyed reading his biography and I learned a lot about him like how big of a role LSD had on his life . Great book about a truly great man. Don’t miss this one.