Franco's Blog - Guides to e-commerce, drop shipping and life on the web

Follow me on my new site

2009-01-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

I've create a new site which I'll be (hopefully) updating more often than I had this one. Please follow me there leave a comment and say hi.http://francofrenette.com

The Jing Project - Free Screen Recording / Screenshots + hosting

2007-12-21T23:25:00.000-08:00

I came accross this little Gem a while back that I'd like to share with my readers, it's called the Jing Project. Even they don't know what the project is exactly and what direction it's going but one thing that is for sure is that it's: 1) A free lightweight, yet powerful screenshot and screencast (or screen recording, screen video, whatever you want to call it :) ).2) A free hosting service to

The Secret

2007-10-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a cool movie on the concept of law of attraction, The Secret, it's well made and not too long.

Google Vs Microsoft Continued

2007-10-08T23:57:00.001-07:00

An update on my prediction of Google's plan to slowly integrate into the complete user's PC experience and slowly position themselves to compete with Microsoft as well as tie themselves a place in the PC market (very long term)... here is another Web Pro News video I found and wanted to share with you that talks about the Google aps that got a lot of press a couple months back.Here is the

Prepare your field for rain

2007-09-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

Recently, I watched a movie that was very inspiring, the name was "Facing the Giants", it was a football movie but it was a lot more a movie about life.In one part of the movie, the football coach to a continuously loosing team, was going bald, just learned that he was infertile, his car broke down, his stove at home stopped working and he just heard that the school was pushing to get rid of him

How To Get Lucky

2007-08-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

Full credits for this article goes to Paul Kearley; I read his articles which appear in my local newspaper every other week and this article I found so good that I have to post it here for all to enjoy.“The day you decide to do something is your lucky day”~Japanese ProverbPeople say that Dana Boutilier is a lucky guy. When he started ECCO Environmental in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia the early 2000’s,

What's keeping me busy these days.

2007-07-27T01:05:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I once again stand before you apologetic for the lack of updates :) ...I am getting busier by the minute...One project that has been keeping me very busy is one where I am managing all the technical support and development. It's an exciting Blogging / CMS solution for non-techies to launch and manage fully-fledged Web 2.0 presence. I say that it's for non-techies but really, it's

AGLOGO

2007-04-22T02:47:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,This is post is a bit different but I felt the need to share it as I think it's worth the minute it takes to read this.I recently joined AGLOCO because of a friend recommended it to me. I am now promoting it to you because I like the idea and I want you to share in what I think will be an exciting new Internet concept. AGLOCO’s story is simple:Do you realize how valuable you are?

Is the Google vs Microsoft war about to begin?

2007-02-23T15:43:00.000-08:00

Some say it's been going on for years, but the truth is I think it's only just starting; Google, for one has much more planned than it might first appear.A couple of years ago when discussing the direction of technology with a friend who was doing a thesis on a related subject, I told him that I was predicting that eventually computers wouldn't need to have the RAM, HD space, and processing

RSS technology, serious security time bomb that could blow any second?

2007-01-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

What do you think about the security issues with RSS? If you think about it, it's a malicious code writter's ideal vehicle. You put the malicious code on one website and instantly it gets displayed on all the users that are subsribed to the RSS feed through their RSS readers and also all the websites using the feed as syndicated content.So in reality the security each subscriber/website is only

Ebay.ca Fees going up again

2007-01-03T21:40:00.000-08:00

How riddiculous are ebay's fees and the worst part is they keep going up. Everyone knows that selling margins on the internet are already low as it is, selling on ebay for profit is an increasingly difficult challenge. What I would really like to see is a mammoth like Google come up with a system that would seriously rival eBay... they have a monopoly now and it needs to be taken away in my

Happy Holidays & New Year!

2006-12-23T09:34:00.001-08:00

Expert On PPC issues

2006-12-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting interview with a PayPerClick Expert.There is one point that is interesting which his opinion on the issue of click fraud. According to him, it's better to just let it happen. I kind of disagree with that, I would say it depends how much you are spending on PPC ads and what % of clicks are fraudulent, then if you can justify spending money to prove the click fraud because the

Community & Entertainment Websites

2006-12-10T05:43:00.000-08:00

We're all hearing more and more about these "content" sites wheter it's Community-driven sites or Entertainment sites or a combination of both. Blogs (although more like personal journal sometimes, it's still the community it creates that makes it succesful ) or community Forums could be in the "Community-driven" section and other sites like video sharing sites or other user-generated content

Amazing Graphic GOD

2006-12-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

This guy is simply amazing.... and because the video is speeded up, it just makes it cool... I have to share it with you guys...

Monitor your Google Page Rank (PR)

2006-12-03T05:54:00.000-08:00

Found this website for those who have many URLs... it monitors your google Pagerank... I'm always curious to check my PRs on my sites whenever google does an update, this service alerts you whenever you PR changes... cool little tool... check it out here.

Little Joke for you

2006-11-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

While reading a business book on negotiation, the author told a joke I would like to share with you :) It was done to illustrate how we can wrongly perceive perceive people sometimes and it's important to realize that your impressions of a persons are not always correct and that to be successfull in negotiation, you have to realize that when in negotiation with someone, you are really doing so

Very Nice Webmaster / online business forums

2006-11-30T00:08:00.000-08:00

I have to share this find with my fellow bloggers. I just found this forum today but it is very busy, with plenty of online goodies... seems like a very nice community to make online business contacts... I suggest everyone checks it out and bookmarks it. My username there is "Frankster"... I was greeted with opened arms on my first day.Check it out, click here.

Usefull tool for your website / blog performance analysis

2006-11-29T14:07:00.000-08:00

First, apologies for the real lack of post... I will try and get this blog going again with more regular content.If you own a site / blog, knowing the behavior of your visitors is vital to success. It allows you to optimize to meet what your visitors are expecting from your site. By analyzing where they are coming from and the behavior once they are on your site, you are able to better optimize

Cool Link / GOOG PR tool checker

2006-07-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

Found this cool tool today for checking backlinks and PR accross GOOG's different data centers and also for yahoo and msn... it's crazy the difference in numbers between google and yahoo for example http://freelogo.blogspot.com shows over 15,000 back links however google only show 180! Simply crazy how there can be that much of a difference I don't know but I wish google would wake up from the

150 Free BE credits Winner

2006-06-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

Executive Pajamas wins the 150 free blog explosion credits! Yeah! Congrats!

Google Checkout is Live!

2006-06-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

Anyone been following this? I've just checked and their service is live. I think this has the potential to seriously begin some drastic changes on the web, it's about time paypal has a significant rival... somehow the others that tried like paystorm and other similars have fallen a bit short and paypal reamains king. I've had alot of bad experience with Paypal and just recently received my

Free Business Cards

2006-06-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

Every business needs business cards, even if it's your personal blog, when you need to give someone your URL, it's alot easier and professional to just hand out your business cards. I personally use this site for my business cards, they are high quality full color business cards and you get 250 for free and you only have to pay the shipping. Great deal, 250 full color business cards costs alot,

FREE 150 Credits to Blog Explosion!

2006-06-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

Crazy Franco is offering 150 credit to Blog Explosion today. Post a comment in this post to participate. Enter your blog explosion username also so I can transfer the credits. Someone will be chosen radomnly when there are 5 comments. For those who don't know what BlogExplosion is, it's a traffic exchange program for blogs, you visit other people's blogs and earn credits redeamable for visits to

FREE hosting for a year!

2006-06-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

Alright, since I'm currently getting a brand spanking new server that just will plain rock, I've decided to share it.Dual Xeon 2.4 Ghz processors, Two 200GB HD with RAID setup, 1GB Ram and many more goodies, I've decided to give a way some free hosting on it as the first giveaway.By the way, the server is located with one of the largest, most reliable data center management company in the world,

Free stuff

2006-06-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

I've decided to cancel the blog I started and never continued, for free business stuff... instead I will try to post here, free stuff either things I can offer through my contacts/companies, things I have resell/give away rights to or things I find that are worth it. So bookmark this page and check back often, when I post something for download, it will probably only be available until the next

About time!

2006-06-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

It is isn't? I've neglected this blog... I could give you a ton of excuses like I've been super busy, etc etc, which would all be true but the the real truth is that there is no excuse for letting down any readers that might have been visiting this blog.I will make an honnest effort never to let this happen again.As a matter of update on the chitika post... Welll the verdict is out and it's a big

Happy Holidays!

2005-12-23T13:09:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to everyone!I appologize for the lack of updates but it's been a very hectic time with business. If some people like reading my articles, I promise to finish the current series on how to make money online as soon as the holidays are over.

FREE business stuff!

2005-11-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

I've had so much fun doing free logos over at http://freelogo.blogspot.com that I've decided to do another blog to give all sorts of stuff for free! If you have a blog, website or business or you just plain love to get free stuff... check it out, I will personaly give free stuff via a daily drawing and also post some links on how to get free stuff in other corners of the web :)Up for grabs today

Chitika e-Mini Malls

2005-11-21T13:54:00.000-08:00

I'm seeing these e-mini malls everywhere, I guess this company hit the jackpot in viral marketing... people must like the concept cause they're everywhere and it's relatively new. I suggest you testing them out, it's free and might add a revenue stream. I'm testing them out here and will keep you updated if I get good results. You can see the AD I added to the left hand side.<----

Ways to make money online continued.... Product / Service Selling Websites

2005-11-11T11:59:00.000-08:00

This articles is in continuation to:-Ways to make money online.-CONTENT WEBSITESAs mentioned, offering Products / Services for sale are the first way people think to make money when the "business" bug first bites them in the butt.I've been involved in the hosting, e-commerce and drop-shipping industry and have significant experience in these fields and having done that... I've also dealt with

Free logos... WHEW!

2005-11-03T16:08:00.000-08:00

Wow, the response has been nothing short of nuts for this free logo...I'm having a blast doing these but might have to change the format to a daily drawing for a couple of free logos if it keeps getting busier & busier... It's only been a week since I've started that blog and I've already done over 18 logos and it's been busy since day 1.If you'd like a free logo for your website or blog, then I

I've gone bonkers!

2005-10-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

I've decided to offer free logo creations! Loosing that contest probably affected me mentaly ;) . Free logos... yeehaaa... get yours now and spread the word before I return to my sanity.All kidding aside... check it out:fhttp://freelogo.blogspot.com

BostonSports Wins the logo contest

2005-10-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

So I didn't win :( but the good thing is that the winner was in fact a nice logo... I was afraid it would be a matter of popularity of the member who designed it.Congratulations BostonSports for winning, enjoy the $100.00!This thing gave me an idea however... so it's all good.

BlogExlosions.com's Blog - HelpMeBlog.com Logo Contest

2005-10-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

Blog Explosion held a logo designing contest for those who didn't know... the logo will be for their blog, helpmeblog.com.I submitted a design with 3 variations... Here are mine below and here is the link to vote for the logo:http://www.blogexplosion.com/members/poll.php?cmd=showPoll&VoteID=1Lot's of good submissions, I wish the best of luck to everyone.

Ways to make money online continued.... CONTENT WEBSITES

2005-10-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Content websites are websites that offer.. err... well content! :) Content could be educational, entertainment or news. It's not hard to give an example... this blog is a content website... I'd classify it as educational although I try to make it a bit entertaining... although maybe failling miserably? You tell me.The point is that a content website has to offer something that will attract

The Different Ways To Make Money Online

2005-09-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

There are various ways to make money online. I'd like people that read this to participate in this discussion by adding a commment. This isn't exact science but it's what I've learned over the years of online business.I'll just briefly enumerate the various ways in this post and go over each one and how you can get started in other posts... sort of a mini-online selling crash course.Content

Godaddy

2005-09-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post this here, it's a ressource I love very much because that dude, Bob Parsons is a very successful web entrepreneur like many of us want to be.He has some good insights on business. The comments get insteresting.Check out that guy's Blog, I'm sure you'll like it there too:http://www.bobparsons.com/

How to sell online? A little quicky tip.

2005-09-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

How to successfully sell online? There is alot of money to be made... but you need to be able to make people WANT to buy from you.How can you make thousands of people buy from you and become a millionaire? All you need to do is to be able make ONE person want to buy from you and many others will want too... put yourself in your customers shoes, what would it take you to buy? Be honest however,

The Importance of Email Lists

2005-09-10T09:24:00.000-07:00

Having a mailing list is important for every online business. There are various marketing gurus that have written texts on how to create these lists. Often however, the simple act of offering it to your visitors will generate subscribers. Offering incentives is a good way to get people to give your their email address. People visiting your website are the best prospects you can get, it doesn't

Need to make money? Sell yourself!

2005-09-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

Everyone has something to share and there are people out there that want it. I'm not sure what you were thinking, but I'm talking about selling your knowledge, in writting.Most people find this hard to believe but making money online (I'm using "online" because that's what I'm best at) can start with the thing you would think of last.When people first think about making money online, whether it

Writting

2005-09-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Someone pointed me to this website recently and I thought I should post it in my blog, even though most writters probably already know about this company, if I didn't know about it yet, I'm sure there are some people who don't either.I think this site, Lulu.com offers a great service. You can get get them print a professionaly looking book or booklet in a couple easy steps and best of all, it's

Floating floors are good to catch squirrels

2005-09-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

I got awaken today by some rufflling noise, almost like someone snooping around the house... so I follow the noise to a small storage space we have where there are venting holes that connect outside ( I should really put a screen or something to block those holes from unwanted things ). Anyways... I figured it might be a baby cat as there are some running around the house lately. So I grab a

Google Adwords $50 Credits

2005-09-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

Anyone use adwords to advertise? Get a $50.00 credit for opening a new account. Along with this, you'll also get a $50.00 credit for a Yahoo account and over $300 in other PPC search engines!Check out my auctions for this and more deals.

You and Wholesale Drop Shipping

2005-09-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

Another article I wrote.You and Wholesale Drop ShippingA Comprehensive Guide================================Hello Entrepreneur! Wholesale Drop Shipping; what kind of an animal is it and what does it eat during the winter, right? Hang on, we're about to shed some light on what exactly wholesale drop shipping is,

Hurricane Katrina

2005-08-31T20:41:00.000-07:00

It's truly sad what happened there. My prayers go out to all those affected and to the families of the people who lost their lives in this tragedy. It looks like after the tsunami hit, it's a real mess. Even those of us who weren't hit by the hurricane are still finding ourselves affected one way or another. I'm in Canada and we're feeling the effect through gasoline prices. Prices climbed as

Wow

2005-08-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

this was posted by Scott on his blogThe phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnind. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcusease the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey

A tip to combat procrastination

2005-08-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

I just posted this as comment on someone else's blog who wanted to know a tip to find the time to work on her online business, I thought I might as well post it here too in case it might help someone else. If you've got other tips to make you time more efficient, post them in comments!The best way I've found to discipline myself to work is to always have a "to-do" list and I list the in order of

Perl Hackers

2005-08-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

In my years of managing my own server (ok, I'm not the one managing it but my server administrator and I work closely together, so I'm involved... somewhat, ok?)Anyways... in those years of server management :)... I've come to realize that Perl - based scripts are more a liability than an asset (side-note, I recommend PHP to everyone). The reason being that PERL or CGI requires some special

Improve Customer Retention

2005-08-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

An article I wrote recently. ----- Rub 5 quarters for 5 minutes until it makes 75$. Rinse and repeat. Apply daily for best results. What I’m about to share with you is as silly as the title, everyone knows about it but far too few practice it. I’ll be using recurring membership based businesses but the principles can apply to non-recurring sales

Want to start making money online?

2005-08-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

Whether you want to make some extra pocket cash or plan to make online business your full time job, one question remains for all new entrepreneur who make this plunge in the online business pool. How and where do I start?There is a good and free resource out there that, if followed step by step will give you a good start without breaking your bank or requiring you to have any deep technological

E-business ressources

2005-08-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

I've decided to create an ebay account and sell all kinds of webmaster and e-business ressources. Let me share my years of experience with you and save you time and money! :)Check out my auctions hereAs time goes on, I will be adding more and more items.

What's taking up all my time

2005-07-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

I think it's time I reveal what is taking up all my time. Some might find it obvious however with the big animated ad in the in corner there :).First allow me to tell a little story... the story of my e-commerce road. First of all, I've always been interested in doing business on the web and started even before I had a computer to design web pages at the community internet access center.My first

A few months later...

2005-07-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm not very good at keeping this updated... but some updates is better than NO updates.As I read some of my post, I notice the merchant account post/rant :)I've got to say that Paypal is taking steps to protect the merchants, specially the ones selling intangible goods, latelly. I also feel the need to say that they have a new merchant account service that allows merchant to accept credit

News!

2005-03-21T11:56:00.000-08:00

I knew I would have trouble keeping this thing updated. Bah, later is better than never right? Maybe not.I just recently finaly got setup for my merchant account, 4 months later! Here is another tip for those who contemplate getting a merchant account. They take a long time! Plan accordingly. (At least mine did, if you're in the US I think it's much much easier to find a good, cheap merchant

Merchant Accounts

2005-01-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

When it comes to finding a way to accept payments from customers, most new web-entrepreneurs will go to PayPal. Why? Because they're very popular, most web users have heard of them and millions already have an account with them; but also because setting up an account with them takes but a few minutes before you can start accepting payments. Paypal is a "Third Party Processor", this means that

Overdue update

2005-01-10T09:46:00.000-08:00

Things have been hectic over the holidays with the death in the family but somehow manage to still have a decent holiday. Death of close ones are never easy but as cold a comment as this may seems in such situations... life goes on and it's too damn short to waste any of it feeling sorry for yourself.I received nice gifts including a very cool blende... stainless steel base with glass container

Freelancers Work Manager

2004-10-30T08:01:00.000-07:00

Any other online business persons out there use freelancers for work? If you do you've surely found that it can be a good and cheap alternative if you find the good freelancers or completely the opposite and can be a complete nightmare if you choose the wrong ones. The advantages of using freelancers are obvious and the inconvenience also which includes not being able to actually know if your

Blog Design

2004-10-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hey... Just made this design and logo. Too lazy to write anything else and enough time spent on a damn blog for today.

Ashlee Simpson has the honor of being my first blog entry :)

2004-10-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

I don't know what's worse... her getting caught lip synching (see: http://amysrobot.com.nyud.net:8090/files/ashlee/ashlee_snl_big.mpg ) or her pathetic excuse for doing it (see: http://www.nbc10.com/entertainment/3850712/detail.html ). It's obvious that her or any other artist doing this don't give a rat's ass about their fans. They just want their money without actually giving them what they