So about a week or so ago I purchased a Westinghouse 24 inch 1080P LED TV for my bedroom. The TV is probably the lightest and thinnest TV I’ve ever owned. The picture so far has been great and setup with my HD Comcast DVR was pretty much seamless.

One issue I did run into was I couldn’t figure out how to control the volume for TV using the Comcast remote. Comcast has a page on their site with a tool to help you find the proper codes for your TV, but unfortunately it’s complete horse shit.

After about 30 minutes of using their crappy tool, trying numerous other sites with other Westinghouse remote codes, I happen to run across a page that suggested the Comcast tool on their site was outdated and sucked (which it did), and that I should try using the tool, but instead suggested using Samsung as my TV manufacturer… Voila. First code worked perfectly.

I imagine others that bought this TV or a similar Westinghouse have also run into this problem, so I thought I’d add a tip here and run you through the steps.

Locating Your Comcast Remote Control Codes

1. Go to Comcast’s Remote Codes tool.

2. Select your current remote.

3. Select your current device. (TV in this case)

4. Select your brand. (Instead of typing Westinghouse, type Samsung)

You will now see a list of codes to try and one suggested code. The suggested code worked perfectly for me in this case with a Westinghouse LD-2480.

Most likely code: 10812
Others to try: 10060, 10702, 10766, 11903, 11060, 10587, 10814, 10650, 10178, 10030, 10386, 10842, 11993, 11755

Now that you’ve found the proper code to program your Comcast remote, you need to follow these steps.

Programming your Comcast Remote

1. Turn on the TV or other device that you would like to program.

2. Press the TV button on your remote control.
NOTE: If you would like to program your remote control to work with a DVD Player, VCR or Audio device press the AUX button.

3. Press and hold Setup until the red light blinks twice, then release Setup.

4. Enter the first code for your device listed above. If you perform this procedure correctly, the red light will blink twice.
NOTE: If you enter an invalid code, the red light will display one long blink and exit the programming mode. Repeat steps 2 to 4 with a valid code.

5. Aim the remote control at your device and press Power once (press the Play key for devices that don’t have a POWER button). If the TV turns off, make sure that the VOL+/- and Mute buttons also work. If so, you’re all set!

6. If not, repeat these steps using the next manufacturer’s code (you may need to try several codes to find the one that works).

Hope this helps. Any questions, let me know in the comments below.

So yesterday after almost 36 years since co-founding Apple in his parents garage with Steve Wozniack, Steve Jobs announced his resignation as Apple’s CEO. While he’ll still stay on as Apple’s Chairman… Apple fans, the tech world, investors and Wall Street analysts now wonder what the future holds for Apple. Tim Cook, Apple’s COO will now take over as full time CEO. Tim is regarding by many in the tech world as an operational genius so only time will tell if his leadership and vision align with what Steve did that made Apple what it is today.

Resignation

Here’s Steve’s resignation letter to Apple Employees…

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

Going Forward

Here’s Tim Cook’s letter to Apple employees on Steve Jobs resignation…

Team:

I am looking forward to the amazing opportunity of serving as CEO of the most innovative company in the world. Joining Apple was the best decision I’ve ever made and it’s been the privilege of a lifetime to work for Apple and Steve for over 13 years. I share Steve’s optimism for Apple’s bright future.

Steve has been an incredible leader and mentor to me, as well as to the entire executive team and our amazing employees. We are really looking forward to Steve’s ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman.

I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple’s unique principles and values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that—it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do.

I love Apple and I am looking forward to diving into my new role. All of the incredible support from the Board, the executive team and many of you has been inspiring. I am confident our best years lie ahead of us and that together we will continue to make Apple the magical place that it is.

Tim

What I’ll Miss

Most knew it was coming probably sooner than later considering his bout with pancreatic cancer, recent liver transplant and other medical complications, but it still didn’t soften the blow. Anyone who’s followed Steve Jobs over the years knows Apple is his life and that Apple itself has been defined by Steve Jobs.

While I will definitely miss Steve Jobs the showman, pitchman, innovator and genius marketer… The executive team Steve assembled at Apple is second to none and

More than anything I hope Steve’s health improves with his time off. We all know he won’t be too far away and I’m sure he’ll still be giving plenty of input on product development and advertising at least for the near future. Remember he still is the Chairman of Apple.

I think what I’ll miss most about Steve running Apple is his vision and ability to deliver products the public doesn’t even know it wants and thus creating a new market. I think what set him and Apple apart from the other technology companies is Apple didn’t focus on technology and just shoot for making what’s already out there faster or thinner although they do that as well, but that they strive to combine technology with liberal arts

During the iPhone 4 and recent iPad 2 announcement Steve closed his keynotes with this… “We’re not just a tech company, even though we invent some of the highest technology products in the world. It’s the marriage of that plus the humanities and the liberal arts that distinguishes Apple. It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough. That it’s the technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities that yields us with the result that makes our hearts sing.”

People have always asked me why I like Apple products so much. What Steve said above answers that question. His vision, leadership, emotion and salesmanship combined to make devices that are a combination of beautiful hardware, incredibly advanced software that all works seamlessly together and is designed to work around an easy to use and well designed user interface. Some argue his inventions are just a phone or just a computer or just a music player. Those inventions changed the world. They changed the way we work, the way we listen to music and watch movies, the way we create and interact with each other. Those are some pretty important things in my book.

Thanks for a great 35+ years and best of luck in the next chapter of your life. Your time at Apple may be done, but your life and inspiration to others isn’t. Just like you said in your 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech… “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.”

We’ll miss you Steve!

Videos

Below I’ve embedded some of my favorite Steve Jobs and Apple videos from over the last 35+ years. What’s your favorite? If I didn’t include it, link to it in the comments below.

A Bit of Background

Every June or July for the past 3 years I’ve found myself waiting in line in the wee hours of the morning at a local Apple store excited to get my hands on Apple’s new iPhone. I’m an admitted Apple Fanboy (I readily admit this on my Twitter page) and have been for about the last 9 years. I have a MacBook, iPod and in the past have also owned an Apple TV.

So this past June I again found myself in line at about 6AM waiting to get my hands on the new iPhone 4 which at the time was only available on AT&T here in the US. I like many others already had plenty of problems with AT&T dropped calls (before AntennaGate) with previous versions of the iPhone and spotty coverage specifically in certain parts of Las Vegas where I previously lived, but no matter I still liked the phone so much and had already heavily invested myself in iPhone apps and thoroughly enjoyed the eco system Apple had built around the iPhone that I was willing to sacrifice the occasional dropped call or spotty 3G service for the benefits of the rest of the eco system that came along with it. Well, no more.

My Reasoning

Over the last 6 months or so I decided after looking at my AT&T iPhone bills I was only using about 100 minutes of call time per month and mainly using it to text, surf the web and use apps. Also the quality of service AT&T was providing along with some other various reasons that I wanted to take another look to lower my monthly bills across the board and not spend so wildly on technologies latest and greatest with no thought as to how much I was actually putting out monthly.

The solution I came up with isn’t for everyone and definitely isn’t perfect as it has a few workarounds, but for me has given me pretty much the same experience at a fraction of the cost. A short time ago I decided to put my iPhone 4 up for sale on Craigslist. It only took hours to sell it while making hundreds over what I paid for it.

What About The Verizon iPhone?

This Christmas I kept hearing that about the infamous Verizon iPhone becoming available, but those rumors had been circulating since the first original iPhone and although Verizon has a much better track record for call quality I was worried about getting into another high priced 2 year contract while knowing Verizon’s CDMA network didn’t allow for voice and data at the same time and that it was quite a bit slower than AT&T’s 3G network. I was also pretty sure Apple wouldn’t release a Verizon 4G phone yet as they like to wait for technologies to mature a bit before deploying them in their devices.

At the time of writing this we all now know Verizon did get the iPhone 4 which will launch February 10, 2011, but with the annual June/July launch of the next generation iPhone along with the fact I really wanted to lower my monthly bills and not commit to any long term contracts I decided to go a completely different route.

The Solution

So what did I decide? I decided to instead purchase a new 4th generation iPod Touch and use it as a phone. Some friends still don’t even understand how it works, but when I explain to them I have almost exactly an iPhone 4, but for $5/month they are definitely interested in hearing more.

As I stated earlier this solution isn’t for everyone especially if you live in a rural area. For years I decided the monthly cost of my beloved iPhone was simply worth it, but I guess as I get a little older and hopefully wiser I decided the iPod Touch 4th Generation does pretty much everything an iPhone 4 does, but without the cellular chip. So how do I make and receive calls, texts, browse the web? First let’s compare the iPhone 4 vs the iPod Touch 4th Generation.

The Comparison

Let’s first start with the iPhone 4 vs the latest iPod Touch. Software wise they’re almost identical. They both run virtually all the same apps and run virtually the exact same iOS software.

Hardware wise they’re slightly different as the iPod Touch is quite a bit thinner. There’s no cellular chip and along with that no need for an antenna which Apple made the band around the outside of the iPhone 4. There’s also no ear speaker so I do use Apple earbuds with a mic for phone calls. Both use a beautiful HD retina display, both have front facing FaceTime cameras along with HD video recording on the rear cameras. Unfortunately the still camera on the back of the iPod Touch isn’t nearly as good as the 5MP camera on the iPhone 4 and the iPod Touch camera doesn’t have a built in flash. Virtually everything else is the same. Similar hardware running the same software and remember the iPhone/iPod Touch is basically just a touch screen running software.

iPod Touch As A Phone

Since the iPod Touch doesn’t have a cellular chip (thus no contract) I use Wifi for all my incoming and outgoing calls, texts, apps and surfing the web. I live in Minneapolis which has a city wide Wifi program along with the fact that almost every coffee shop, restaurant, bar, club etc… has Wifi available for free. I work from home where I have Wifi and almost any friends house I go over to has Wifi. This is a huge factor in my decision to give using my iPod Touch as a phone a try.

So how do I make and receive calls? This is one of the current workarounds, but it’s really not much of one. For incoming and outgoing calls I use the Skype App. Something that made all this possible was that iOS 4.0 allowed for multitasking so I can receive phone calls to Skype while the phone is asleep or I’m using another app. Skype is a free download, but does cost me $5/month for the Skype number and North American landline/cell calling. That’s my only monthly cost. Period.

For texting I use the Google Voice App which is also a free download. I also use my Google Voice number as my main phone number. The texting is 100% free for SMS although one drawback is it currently doesn’t support MMS. It also comes with free voicemail, call forwarding and the ability to screen calls. Say someone you don’t want calling you anymore keeps trying. You can set it so that person’s calls always go straight to voicemail. You can also set up forwarding so if someone calls your Google Voice number it will ring other specific phones at specific times of the day like your office number or business cell phone. Or you can simply turn on “Do Not Disturb” and all calls will go directly to voicemail. Since I use my Google Voice number as the main number I give out to people Skype allows you to set any of your current phone numbers as the caller ID number so I simply set Skype to show my Google Voice # when calling people.

So you may ask what if you’re not in a Wifi hotspot. Well again that’s one of the small drawbacks. For me and my situation I’m in Wifi almost 90% of the time either at my home office, at local restaurants or bars. For the other 10% of the time that I’m not or if I need to travel and drive somewhere… I purchased a prepaid Verizon flip phone for about $15 and loaded it with $30 which at the pace I currently use it will last me for at least 3 months as I only pay $0.10/minute for calls and texts and simply forward my Google Voice number to it if I’m going to be outside of Wifi. Again Google allows me to set the caller ID on the Verizon phone as well along with forwarding calls to it and setting it up to use Google Voice as it’s voicemail.

One other option I looked at if I ever decide to move out of the heart of the city is getting a 3G or 4G Mifi device. They’re available from Clear 4G, Sprint, Virgin Mobile, AT&T or Verizon. Most devices are about the size of 5 credit cards on top of each other and usually less than 5oz. You simply hit the power button and stick it in your pocket and now you have 3G or 4G (depending on the device/service) anywhere you go not only your iPod Touch, but also for anywhere from 5-8 other devices which is great if want to jump online on your laptop from anywhere.

I haven’t gone that route yet, but I’m definitely thinking about it as most of the Mifi services are available for less than $50/month which is almost half of a current iPhone monthly bill and would give me 3G or 4G service virtually anywhere with the ability to also connect via my MacBook or of course allow my friends to connect as well if their crappy AT&T service isn’t working.

Improvements I’d Like To See

Some improvements that would make it even more seamless are an ear speaker on the iPod Touch or at least for Skype to add Bluetooth support so I wouldn’t have to carry earbuds, vibration added so I can get alerted of calls or texts while the iPod Touch is in my pocket and for Google Voice to finally add MMS messaging and VoIP so I can do away with Skype completely.

Closing

Some may call me cheap. Some may call me thrifty. In my life I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor so I just call it being smart.

Have any of you thought about something similar? Other options? Let me know in the comments below.

Recently there’s been a lot of talk about who Apple, Inc. is planning to acquire since they’ve been sitting on a $50 Billion + pile of cash over the last couple years and based on market cap are now the second largest company in the world. The debate has recently heated up due to Steve Jobs comments during it’s Q4’10 earnings call. Steve said…

“We would like to continue to keep our powder dry, because we do feel that there are one or more strategic opportunities in the future.”

Some believe those comments just mean they’re looking into buying a startup or cloud media management company, but other rumors are more fixed on Apple making 1 or 2 large acquisitions in the very near future. Let’s take a look at some of the rumors and why they would or wouldn’t make sense. Mind you I’m not coming from a hard numbers or valuation angle… merely from a culture/product one. I’m sure some commenters will have some insight into the possibilities numbers wise.

Adobe
This rumor has been floating around for the last couple months and honestly doesn’t make any sense to me. Apple and CEO Steve Jobs have made it clear they’re not interested in adopting Adobe Flash anymore in their products. This was apparent even way back to 2007 when Apple left Flash off the 1st gen iPhone and of course even more apparent when they left it off the iPad in 2009. Now Apple has started shipping new MacBook Air’s and other Macs without Flash preinstalled.

Outside of Adobe’s creative suite software which I don’t think is valuable enough for Apple to actually want an acuisition I don’t see any reason why Apple would have any interest in Adobe.

Facebook
This rumor has also been floating around for quite some time and ramped up recently when Apple CEO Steve Jobs was seen taking a stroll with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg around Palo Alto who he had invited over for dinner.

Apple and Facebook have had an up and down relationship over the last few years. It first started out on good terms with it’s Apple Student Groups, but has recently been on rocky terms as Apple apparently pulled Facebook Connect from it’s integration with Ping, Apple new social networking venture based around the music aspect of iTunes.

As we all know Facebook has turned down quite a few acquisition offers over the years so there’s no reason to believe this one would finally be the one they accept, but on the surface this one actually makes the most sense to me. It gives Apple instant access to over 500 million users along with loads of personal information about their habits, interests, likes etc… It also gives them the world’s largest social networking site and the ability to integrate sharing on iTunes, iOS devices and Macs.

Even more important to me it gives them two things that are about to change the way many of us search and pay for things. The first one being a fast track into what some are calling the paradigm shift in search… Social Searching. Gary Vaynerchuk has talked about this many times and I fully believe that’s where Facebook is going. The ability to search on Google gives you results based on numerous factors including popularity of a site based on incoming links, authority of those incoming links to that site and SEO. As Gary has said… wouldn’t you rather get results based on friends recommendations first rather than how well a site was SEO’d? I sure would. If I’m looking for Chinese restaurants near me and I could get results from Facebook search based on Chinese restaurants in that specific area that my friends or friends of friends have liked… that would be extremely powerful.

The second one being Facebook credits or currency. Facebook recently announced Walmart and Best Buy would join Target in selling the digital currency for purchases in games or virtual goods without the need for a credit card or Paypal account. Although it’s currently only available for game/app purchases and virtual goods… it won’t be long until you can purchase goods online or at retail stores with Facebook credits. This also would be a huge pump in revenue for Apple with it’s online App Store, iTunes Store and retail stores. They could get a deal done for currency without an acquisition, but the benefits of all the personal data still make Facebook one of the most desired companies in the world to buy.

This acquisition is a long shot based on Facebook and Zuckerberg’s history, but also makes the most sense for Apple imho.

Twitter
While Twitter has also long been rumored to be courted for an acquisition by many of the worlds top tech giants I’m not sure they have enough personal info stored away on it’s users to be worth it as a major acquisition. I love Twitter and not only use it personally, but also as a business tool. I actually think the best part of Twitter is it’s ability to receive customer service quickly. This is because it’s open and public and demands a response from a company unless they want quickly spreading bad press. On the other hand I don’t see Apple finding much value in the company outside of it’s social networking which could be integrated natively into iOS devices, Macs and iTunes without the need for a costly acquisition.

Yahoo
This one is interesting for a few reasons. Yahoo has been struggling for a while now and seem to have no real road map. They’d be a semi cheap acquisition and could leap frog Apple into the search business which would allow them to possibly rebrand Yahoo and further move Google out of their iOS devices which they currently use as the default for search and maps.

Yahoo has been a mess for years so maybe it would take a company like Apple to come in and overhaul the company first by narrowing down it’s focus on a handful of areas and redesigning it’s site and search. Currently they’re all over the place and getting the crap kicked out of them by Google and now even Bing. This would also allow Apple to expand it’s iAd services to not only mobile, but to desktops/laptops as well.

Netflix
This also would would an interesting one, but not sure how much sense it would make either. Netflix has well over 10 million monthly subscribers which can order new movie titles delivered via mail or stream over Netflix capable devices including Apple iOS devices like the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and of course the Mac as well. Not even the best Directv Deals can beat this, not for the price or the convenience.

Apple clearly is already making a push into more cloud based computing and content streaming with the upcoming opening of a huge server farm in North Carolina and their recently released new Apple TV which only streams photos, music and movies. I’m not sure how much benefit scooping up Netflix would be considering Apple already has a huge userbase tied into iTunes. Plus the acquisition would have to be retroactive as lots of companies have contracts with movie and music studios stating that if they are acquired by another company all contracts would have to be renegotiated with the new owner and as we know Apple has already struggled on negotiations with studios with iTunes. Not sure this one is plausible, but I would love to see Apple finally get into an iTunes subscription based model for music, TV and movies.

Disney
This rumor is also one that’s very plausible as Apple CEO Steve Jobs is Disney’s largest shareholder and sits on the board of directors. You’ll remember Steve was given stock and a board position at Disney when Disney bought Pixar Animations. Apple and Disney also have a long relationship of working together and typically is usually one of the few companies that jump on board as a partner whenever Apple introduces new features that require partnerships with movie and TV studios. Disney also owns ABC and ESPN which would be a huge gain for Apple as they could immediately integrate content from these companies into their services.

Spotify
Spotify is a music streaming service that allows you to pay a membership fee to stream any track you want at anytime. It’s not available in the US yet as they are yet to agree on a deal with US record lables, but rumors have been everywhere the last few days about negotiations going on daily between Apple and Spotify.

Apparently Google was in talks last year with Spotify about an acquisition, but fell through because the deals it has with record labels in Europe wouldn’t be grandfathered in. Apple may run into the same problem and with their recent acquisition of streaming service Lala, I’m not sure how much sense this would make. One thing is for sure… people in Europe love the service so either way let’s hope it comes to the US soon.

Update: Spotify denies talks with Apple. I still don’t necessarily believe them when they say they’re not in talks. I understand why they would say that as there’s no deal in place and the public rumors are that Apple basically shut down Lala after acquiring them so it would make sense to make sure the public doesn’t think that’ll happen to them. That kind of news is just bad for business especially if there’s no deal in place.

Now up until this point these are all just weekly rumors we hear on tech blogs backed up by a few anonymous sources and market analysts, but I’d love to hear some opinions on which ones you think might actually happen and why.

At many of my recent online business ventures I would get affiliate program applications daily from all sort of people. Some are seasoned veterans in the world of affiliate marketing, but most are people who just set up their first site and simply want to link to products we offered with an affiliate link in their footer or put up an affiliate banner in their sidebar with the hopes of generating some extra monthly income. This post will focus mostly on the latter and provide a general guide to becoming a more successful affiliate marketer while using tools like WordPress and the StudioPress Genesis Theme Framework.

Setting Up A Professional Web Presence

One of the most important factors in creating a successful online presence is setting up a professional looking website that not only looks great, but functions great as well. Obviously I’m biased, but no matter what platform you use (I suggest WordPress) or what theme you decide to go with (I suggest StudioPress themes) you should make sure it’s something that’s powerful enough to create the site you want, yet simple enough for you to manage. WordPress is just that. It’s powerful enough as a CMS (content management system) yet easy enough to use that if you’re familiar with Microsoft Word you can probably make your way around WordPress with ease.

When setting up a WordPress site for affiliate marketing purposes or even simply for your personal blog there are a few important factors to keep in mind…

Find a solid web host.
Some web hosting companies work better with WordPress than others. I’ve compiled a list of my favorite WordPress web hosting companies. These companies specialize in WordPress hosting and have features like one click installs and solid support.

Stay Up To Date
Keep your sites WordPress install and theme up to date to get the most out of it and of course for security. (WordPress and the Genesis Theme Framework which I use to run this and other sites I own both now come with auto update features.)

Site Layout
Layout your sites content so visitors can easily find things. Sometimes less is more. Genesis comes with 6 default layout options built right in along with dozens of stylish child themes.

Web Analytics
Use web analytics software like Google Analytics to track your sites visitors and gain important information into how well your keywords, marketing and advertising are performing on Google and other search engines.

Content Is King
I’m sure a lot of you have heard this before, but it’s just so true. Writing fresh, daily content that your visitors will appreciate and link to along with writing content that is keyword rich will keep not only visitors coming back, but will also attract search engines like Google to continually crawl your site.

A good rule of thumb is to write a catchy title to your posts that will grab the attention of readers. You should also keep your posts informative, but fairly short and to the point if possible. Sometimes that’s hard like in a post like this where you’re giving advice, but try to stay on point. You probably only have the readers attention for a short time so make the most out of it. Using a nice graphic doesn’t hurt either. It’s a great eye catcher.

Find A Niche. Dominate the hell out of it. Then dominate another one.
One thing I learned a long time ago is to “never put all your eggs into one basket.” It’s much easier to dominate multiple smaller niches than it is to try and be one huge site that caters to everything. If you’re goal is to generate $10k/month in revenue… it’s much easier at the beginning to have 10 sites generating $1k/month than it is to have 1 site making all $10k. If one of the sites eventually takes off and is outperforming the others then it completely makes sense to focus more on developing that site.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

While your most important aspect of content creation should be aimed at generating visitors that will continually return towards your site… you should also focus on a few basics that will help search engines like Google to continually return and crawl your site. StudioPress and the Genesis Theme Framework have powerful SEO options built right in so no need for a 3rd party plugin. To find out more visit the post titled Genesis 1.3 Rocks for SEO. Also, using a helpful plugin like Scribe SEO in combination with the built in SEO tools allows you to optimize each page/post before publishing.

Follow these basic SEO steps and you’ll be well on your way to generating quality traffic through search engines…

• Create rich title tags and informative descriptions on pages/posts.
• SEO friendly urls. Otherwise known in WordPress as “pretty permalinks”.
• Mask affiliate links and use no follow tags.
• Link to other pages within your site using keyword rich words.
• Gain high quality incoming links from trusted sites by writing great content.
• Use an XML and user sitemap. (XML WordPress sitemaps)

Advertising, Marketing and Communication

Many people think they can just throw up links on Google Adwords or banners on any site and they’ll start making tons of money. This just simply isn’t true and more importantly not cost effective. The best way to generate traffic that converts to sales is through inexpensive means like great content, solid SEO work and using free tools like social media.

Whatever your affiliate site is based on… Stay up to date on recent news in that industry by following people and companies through RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook etc… Also make sure to interact with those people. Don’t spam! If what you’re saying is honest and informative, people will see that and visit your site. Engage your social media followers and others talking about the similar topics. This is such a powerful tool that many leave unused and will most definitely lead to new readers and followers.

Once you start generating traffic using the tips above make sure to engage your readers and followers. If someone posts a comment on your site make sure to respond. This makes the reader feel appreciated and creates a relationship between yourself and them and most importantly will probably get them to come back to your site and/or tell others about it.

If you do decide to pay for advertising make sure you really research the sites traffic, top keywords it ranks for and obviously if the price warrants a purchase. Also make sure to stay focused like I mentioned earlier. No reason to advertise StudioPress themes on a golf site unless they have a theme that compliments the readers of that site.

Last, but certainly not least… Create a call to action. After all in the end your main goal is convert a visitor to an affiliate commission. Easiest way to do this is to identify a problem and present a product that solves that problem. I already did a one above for you. Did you catch it? Although subtle I presented that some hosting companies might not play nice with WordPress and then suggested a list of our favorite web hosting companies through a link. Now in this case I’ve actually used them previously and really do suggest these companies, but what I did is get you to think about your current hosting company and to take a look at who I suggest and work with. A call to action can be as simple and subtle as this or could be a contact form, email newsletter sign up. All you’re trying to do is suggest a direction to your users and make it easy for them to follow that direction.

I hope some of these tips help you in your affiliate marketing efforts. I’m sure it’s not a complete list so I would love to hear other suggestions in the comments below.

So now that you have a few basics and you’re ready to turn your WordPress site into some extra monthly income… browse the StudioPress Themes to help create a professional site and join the StudioPress Affiliate Program now.

While the new Apple TV announcement today didn’t quite have the “wow” factor we were all hoping for it did lay the groundwork for what’s hopefully coming soon.

Yesterday my roommate and I decided we were done with Comcast. We just couldn’t justify paying an extra $100/month for some HD channels and HBO. Although we haven’t completely cut the cord as we still pay for basic cable which includes local HD channels and of course internet we did cut our bill from $170/month down to around $70. I mean we really only watch a handful of channels as most channels are full of crap we have absolutely no interest in.

With the announcement from Apple today we had high hopes that all the networks would be on board, but so far it’s just ABC and Fox. Hopefully the others will hop on board soon including premium channels like HBO. I’d love to be able to stream a rental of Entourage in HD the day after it originally airs for $0.99. I know Roku does some of these things too and that’s definitely an alternative, but I really think it’ll take a company like Apple to finally push ala carte programming into mainstream.

Apple also announced the new Apple TV will allow you to stream in HD directly from Apple TV, Netflix or any iOS device. This is great and honestly takes care of most of my programming and I’m sure others will work with Apple to provide content for it in the future for streaming, but it still doesn’t take care of my main reason for even turning the TV on… Live sports.

I know ESPN is now offering a streaming service for Xbox which hopefully will come to the Apple TV, but it’s still limited in what sporting events you can watch. The NFL still doesn’t allow it as they have a huge licensing agreement with the cable companies (don’t even get me started on the purchase of NBC by Comcast), but again… hopefully our selection will grow.

For now I’ll just have to deal with paying Comcast my share of the $70/month for basic cable and internet. I’ll still be able to watch live sports on local HD channels and typically go to a local bar/restaurant anyways on Sundays for the NFL games. With the addition of the new Apple TV I will be able to rent TV shows for cheap, movies albeit still to expensive, watch movies on Netflix and hopefully one day soon watch live sporting events in HD for a small fee or monthly subscription. I know it’s not the technology holding up this up, but the cable company contracts and Hollywood studios, but for God’s sake this is 2010… here’s to getting rid of the monopoly knows as the cable companies and allowing the user to choose what content we want, when we want it and where we want to watch it.

What would it take for you to ditch your cable company?

ModThemes launched in March of 2009 with the goal of developing stylish, powerful, yet easy to modify Premium WordPress Themes. From the start we analyzed what other top development sites were offering, what customers wanted most in WordPress themes and how we could offer niche markets specialized themes with plenty of options while still keeping the themes simple yet stylish.

In the last 15 months or so we’ve seen the incredible work and innovation industry leaders like StudioPress and WooThemes have attained. These companies are made of up highly skilled, dedicated teams that focus on offering their customers nothing but extremely polished, high quality themes and frameworks. Each week these companies are launching new products with exciting new features that not only make using WordPress more powerful, but also more versatile and easier to use. After watching the growth of these companies over the last couple years we realized competing was going to be quite a challenge without a large team of full time employees. Discussions between ModThemes and StudioPress about joining forces go back over a year to 2009 WordCamp Chicago. At the time we just couldn’t come to an agreement on a few specific terms, but recently the timing just seemed right and everything finally fell into place.

I’m extremely proud to announce the acquisition of ModThemes by StudioPress the world’s leading Premium WordPress Theme development company.

What’s even more exciting for me is I’ll be joining my long time friend Brian Gardner and his incredibly talented team at StudioPress which also includes the extremely talented Nathan Rice who helped get ModThemes launched in it’s first few months. I’ll be joining the StudioPress team as the sites new Affiliate Manager. My duties will be to collaborate with the team on various projects, grow the affiliate program though my many contacts and experience in the world of affiliate marketing and work hand in hand with current StudioPress affiliates to help them increase their affiliate marketing efforts through special promotions, contests, tips and tricks and more. Roderick Sauskojus our creative theme designer will also be designing new themes for StudioPress so stay tuned for more stylish themes from him.

So what does this all mean for current ModThemes customers? Pretty exciting stuff if you ask me. Here’s a list of what you’ll now get…

- Legacy Theme Support: All forum members will be moved over to the StudioPress support forums in the coming weeks where you’ll be able to continue receiving theme support for the current versions of ModThemes themes.

- Free Upgrades to Genesis Versions of themes: All current themes on ModThemes will be recoded by StudioPress to function perfectly on the new Genesis Theme Framework which is filled with options and is constantly being updated with new features. All customers can continue to use their current version of their themes or upgrade for free to the Genesis versions. All developer pack customers will now get access to over 30 gorgeous StudioPress themes at no additional cost.

StudioPress Theme Features and Benefits

- Themes built on the Genesis Theme Framework
- Free Theme Updates
- WordPress 3.0 compatible
- Theme Options Page
- Professionally Search Engine Optimized
- Easy to Use Theme Options Pages
- Fully Widgeted Sidebars and Footers
- PSD Files for Image Customization
- Support and Detailed Theme Tutorials
- Auto-sized Thumbnail Management
- Comment Functionality
- Developed for Localization
- Ready for Advertising and Monetization
- Lifetime Support
- Text and Video Tutorials for each theme
- Professional Theme Customization

This is a pretty exciting time for our customers. I think you’ll love the new themes, features and incredibly dedicated support team over at StudioPress. Thank you so much to all our customers, affiliates and anyone who’s helped get ModThemes going over the last 15 months. It’s been a fun ride and were so excited about what the future holds with StudioPress.

Bryan Hauer
StudioPress Affiliate Manager
StudioPress.com
twitter.com/studiopress
facebook.com/studiopress

Tell me if you’ve heard this story before? Almost two years ago AT&T screwed up the iPhone 3G launch when millions of customers overloaded their servers while trying to activate their new iPhones via iTunes. Then last year they screwed us by not offering tethering or MMS right away in the US. Now this year both AT&T stores along with Apple Stores were completely offline for hours as iTunes couldn’t connect to AT&T servers for authentication.

Now two years later we have a similar problem. As Apple and AT&T online stores started taking pre orders late last night for the new iPhone 4, customers found themselves completely shut out and even after hours upon hours would only see the following message.

Numerous tech blogs and commenters reported wide spread issues with everyone seeing basically the same message. Some commenters offered tips on what worked for them. Some tried different browsers, some tried going directly through AT&T’s website which also completely went down. At about 1:45PM CT I tried using the brand new Apple Retail App on the iPhone which eventually let me reserve a phone to pick up on June 24th, but wouldn’t allow me to actually pre-order it for delivery. It also sent me a confirmation email that I am confirmed to pick up the new iPhone 4 on June 24th with stores opening at 7AM.

After taking a look at numerous other blogs and tech sites I’m almost positive it’s an AT&T problem and not necessarily Apple’s fault. Any other product on the Apple Store can be purchased without incident, but as soon as you enter your phone number, zip code and last four digits of your social security number it says it’s connecting to AT&T servers to verify your information and check upgrade eligibility and this is where the problem lies… it just keeps hanging on that page and usually returns a “Your request could not be processed” or “Your session has timed out.”

It’s been maddening for millions of people trying to get their hands on this device for launch day. Although it’s not the end of the world and far worse things are going on in the world it’s still very frustrating when you want to give a company money and they won’t take it. My buddy in Huntsville, AL even went directly to the local Apple Store and was told the only thing they could do is have him try on the computers there which of course didn’t work. He said there were lines of people around the store trying to no avail. He did hear numerous Apple employees saying things like… “This is so embarrassing.”

What I don’t get is how AT&T wasn’t ready for this? They’ve had a year to prepare, get their infrastructure in place, test it, have Apple test it. I can’t imagine Steve Jobs and Apple are too happy about this and think it’s finally time Apple opens up the iPhone to Verizon, T-Mobile and others. At least this would take a load off of AT&T’s network and spread the data. Remember since the launch of the first iPhone AT&T supports more data than all of the other US carriers combined. That’s definitely no excuse for this crap and they definitely should have been better prepared. I know there are hardware/network issues with other carriers and things would need to be changed for it to work, but maybe, just maybe this is the straw the broke the camels back. Let’s hope anyways.

Let me know about your experience trying to buy the new iPhone 4 today in the comments below. Also, please share any tips or tricks if you got it to work.

Gizmodo released pictures and video today of what they call proof that they have a lost 4th generation Apple iPhone and go as far as to say there’s “very little possibility it’s a fake.”

The iPhone in question was apparently found in a bar in Redwood City, CA. The device was then obtained my Gizmodo and has been in their possession for about the last week.

I won’t go into too much of the details of the article as you can read the post titled This Is Apple’s Next iPhone.

What I do want to focus on is what the apparent new iPhone has as far as new features. Most speculate the new iPhone will ship in June or maybe early July at latest.

I made a post about my experience with the iPhone 3G back in September of 2008 which you can read here. Towards the end of that post I made a list of current problems and future features most had already wanted and were patiently waiting for. It’s funny now that I look back at that post and see although it took a couple years… Apple got most of it right. They added almost every feature that had been requested or will have it in this new iPhone about to launch along with the new iPhone OS 4.

Some of the features I mentioned (remember this was just after the launch of the iPhone 3G, I now own a 3GS) were copy and paste, shoot and record video, full voice GPS turn by turn directions, widescreen landscape texting/email/apps. All of those are already here in the current iPhone/OS. How about some other features that aren’t currently here… Well the new iPhone Gizmodo is reporting as the “real deal” sports a much higher resolution touch screen along with a better camera with a built in flash (thank you baby Jesus) and a front facing camera for video chat. The phone also seems to have a completely new design and shape. Gone is the tapered edges Apple has put in the last two iPhones and instead they went with a flat look which I actually like better.

With the new iPhone OS 4 software launching along with the new iPhone in just a couple months it’s hard to find too many things to still complain about. The new software includes multitasking, folders for Apps, an eReader, updated mail and other apps, social gaming network, bluetooth keyboard and more.

So with the combination of the new iPhone OS 4 and what looks to be an almost finished 4th generation iPhone hardware update that ads video chat, a better camera that finally has a flash is there still anything you want as a feature that you don’t already have or know about in the upcoming updates?

Obviously the competition is getting tougher in the smartphone industry and I think that’s a good thing. Apple can’t just sit back and hold out on as many features so people will buy the next version. Not as Android grows anyways and people expect to see certain features.

So is the new 4th generation iPhone and iPhone OS 4 what we’ve all been waiting for? Let me know if there’s anything you still want to see in the upcoming iPhone update in the comments below. Even if this finally is the device we’ve all been waiting for… We do however always have AT&T to pick on:)

The App is great cause it lets you easily input all of your cards info into a simple interface where it then creates an exact replica of your bar code and number so you can then just pull out your iPhone when checking out at a store and you or the clerk can scan the barcode on your iPhone rather than having to lug around 30 different store or discount cards.

Most of the recent reviews have been good. Some people have complained that barcode guns work better than the flat bed scanners and also that the distance you hold the iPhone from the scanner is important. Most suggest holding the iPhone about 5-7 inches from the scanning device.

Two good suggestions in the App Store reviews was to also include the date your membership expires where you could then receive an email update in advance and also a phone number to the rewards program so in the example given if you called Hilton rewards to reserve a room you’d have the number right on the phone to easily call and reserve using your rewards number.

Also one other tip I’d like to state is I believe when entering your member ID number make sure to enter it just as it is displayed. If it has spaces enter those as well as typically it already knows the proper format, but seems to not exactly know how to do it if it’s not one that’s already in their system. I’d love to get a clarification on this from someone at CardStar or from someone who is familiar with barcodes.

CardStar works with almost every major retailer, grocery store, gym, library and more. What’s even better is you can manually add one if it’s not already listed.

According to the site… Google Android and Blackberry versions are also coming soon.

For more information visit the CardStar Official Website and for any questions visit CardStar Support.

Download the free CardStar iPhone Barcode App from the iTunes App Store link below.

Note: I do not have any affiliation with CardStar, nor am I an affiliate of theirs or make any money from them. I simply thought it was a cool, free app. Enjoy!

BTW… I’m going to try out the app tonight at Dicks Sporting Goods since I’m buying a new Mountain Bike. I’ll report back on how well it worked.

Update: Tried it tonight at Dicks Sporting Goods and it worked flawlessly. Pretty convenient and useful for a free app. I give it a thumbs up!

Here are some screenshots of the CardStar iPhone App…