Another quickie :)

Just sent payment to Peter for another 8 logos and 2 site designs.

He is another really good designer and I have always been impressed with his work, he uses a lot of detail and is really creative, just like Sheldon ;)

Loving the new bike, amazing sound from it when I ripped up the street outside today, there's a really long, straight road right outside me, still don't have enough time to top the speedo haha ;)

I need to get new bike gear, I gave it to someone a while ago and still waiting for it but the colours wouldn't suit the new bike, leathers are pretty expensive, around £500-£750 (Not $) so I'm waiting until I get back from Orlando to even think about it.

I got some banners designed for DeuceAce.com poker forums.









I will post an update here when I get the first logo back from Peter, should be soon enough.

Most are going to be for sites I have been planning for ages but just haven't had the time to get people to organise it.

It is better to work on your business than in it :)

I have always thought that and I heard someone else saying it a while ago, its a good thing to think about, just make sure you aren't spending too much on people working in it when you could do it yourself quickly and easily, no point in throwing money away that could be spent better on something else to improve it.

New bike and updates on new sites

Hey,
Decided I will still do blog posts but they are going to be a lot shorter.

I bought a new bike last night, heres a pic of the same model but I have different colours:



Its a nice bike, a lot more power than I thought, nearly crashed it the first time I went on haha :)

I got a logo back for one of my new sites, its going to be a site with resources for poker and gambling affiliates, the domain is GamblingAffiliatez.com













I was hoping Sheldon could get started on my designs for two new forums but he just told me he couldnt start until the 15th :(
Thats going to delay things a lot because these were two sites I was planning on getting going as soon as I get back from Orlando this month.
He is well worth the wait so I don't mind, I would recommend him but I don't want any more people taking up his time when I need work done :p

Guess I will have to get started on some others first, not too worried but I have been planning these two for a while now.

Anyone got a good idea for a poker site that you wanna share ;)

Talked to Jon a few days ago, first time I talked to him in a long time, seems like everyone is really busy these days!

Right..going to finish watching the football then try kill myself on the bike for a bit :)

Waa hayyyy its an update!

NOTE: I started writing this on SATURDAY but only got a chance to finish it off today! Sorry it too so long to update!
The blog is taking up far too much time now and I am thinking of just leaving it.
It might help a few people but I don't think its worth how long it takes every week

-------------------------------------------------------------

I seem to be doing a load of work but nothing is getting done, online and offline.

Anyone else notice the same thing?

Alright, I have had a look through my blogs and they aren't easy to read, so
I am going to try lay it out so its easier to follow.

Right...

Todays classroom topics are:

• DeuceAce


• Business Course


• General Poker Network


• New Site Idea


• Referrals


• Motorbike and Car


• Holiday


• Photos coming soon!


• Income

DeuceAce

DeuceAce is my main site now, everything I do will be based around it and will
be part of the "DeuceAce Network".

I am actually thinking of setting up another company named DeuceAce because
I am doing this as a long term project.

Right now I am a legal business online and my company name is GlobalEire -
Eire is Irish for Ireland, for anyone that doesn't know, I'm in Ireland :)

The DeuceAce design is complete now, I just have to finish up some small things
as well as add a few new sections.

I had an advertiser contact me and ask to purchase EVERY advertising space
I have available, that's quite a lot and I was surprised.

Then I had a look at the domain he was emailing from, its a VERY big company
that sponsors a football team in the English Premier League as well as owning
some big name companies.

I wasn't expecting that but they are looking to advertise with me as much as
possible because they have a poker room starting up.

I let him know everything that was available and asked if he was sure he wanted
everything (20 text links is a lot for any one site!) and he said just give
him anything going!

Money will be sent early this week.

Business Course

I just went and signed up for a business course on Friday.

I was at the course before and its great, but I didn't finish it because I
didn't have enough time then to keep going.

The main reason I want to go is to get a professionally written business plan
which I need for a few things.

The course has people that really know what they are doing.

The financial section was run by an ex bank manager and someone from the tax
office that told me every trick going, saved me a lot of money in tax ;)

Of course, it was all legit ;)

General Poker Network

I have hired a content writing company that will be working for me constantly,
I have given them work that will finish up on Friday and I will be asking for
more writers in their business to take on a lot more content for me once that
is complete.

Content is really important in a site, I didn't think it was so important until
I started hiring people to do unique content for me a few years back.

Now that I am working in a really competitive industry (Poker) I need to keep
on the ball, adding new content to my other poker sites should help keep them
up in search engines and have something to keep people coming back at the same
time :)

I haven't had much chance to start working on the other sites I have planned
for the network, apart from getting the content writers to work on the content.

I have put a few posts up on forums looking for people/companies that can take
on PHP coding/design work and a few other things but haven't got many people
that I think can do the job..

For any graphic designers you might be interested in this:

http://talkfreelance.com/thread17045.html

New Site Idea

I came up with an idea for a new poker site.

Its based on another site (Although I forgot all about that) and its a really
simple idea, but simple ideas are the best ;)

I bought a script last year that I think I could use, it should make it quick
to setup the new site.

Once the design is complete I will give more details and post a preview :)

Referrals

I am offering up to $5/referral for DeuceAce!

Here's the full details:

Option 1: Refer a user that makes 10 posts minimum and make $2

Option 2: Refer a user that makes 20 posts minimum and make $5

You can only get paid for one of the options, i.e. you cant get $2 after
10 posts then another $5 after 20 for the same user.

The users must be REAL referrals, in other words, you can't register accounts
yourself and put them down as your referrals.

Anyone doing this will be banned and will not be paid for any referrals, too
many people have tried it on other forums I owned in the past.

The maximum number of referrals you can make is 50 in one week.

You must make at least 5 referrals to be paid.

Interested? Just signup at Http://www.DeuceAce.com/register.php and when people
register, tell them to put in your username.

This is the most I have seen offered for referrals on a forum!

Motorbike and Car

Without a doubt I live in the worst city in the UK and Ireland for insurance.

My insurance is £3000+/year for the car, but I need it.

Car needs to get taxed, insured AND MOTd this month!

I gave someone my bike for 2 months to do his test and he did some real damage
to it.

If he told me I could have easily fixed it but he used it the whole time when
he knew he broke something and I don't even know if I can find anyone that can
fix it..I need to get cast iron welded on and some other work, not an easy job.

I have been looking around for a new bike now and I think I might have found
one that I will go for.

The owner is only a mile from me so that makes it easy! I haven't got a look
at it yet but if its good looking I think I will have a new bike this week :)

Holiday

I have been thinking where I will go this year for a while, decided to go to
Orlando, Florida.

Going to try book it this week but I don't want to go right in the middle of
the summer because I think its 35c+ and I couldn't stick that, I'm used to the
cold weather in Ireland ;)

Not too sure how much it will cost,I will be paying for two people anyway.

We went away to Santa Ponsa last year which was pretty good, but we didn't have
a TV in the hotel room!

I'm not in the room a lot but I hate not having something on, even if it would
have been in Spanish haha.

I want to get a really good hotel right in the middle of everything anyway,
been told there's a lot to do in Orlando so it should be good anyway!

Photos Coming Soon!

I will be getting some photos up soon, I just have to get a new digital camera,
the one I have is broke.

Should have it this week and when I do I will post up some pics :)

My income

Well I said a while ago that I wasn't posting my revenue details.

I am going to post how much I have made in the (roughly) last 30 days.

The earnings are just over $20,500.

It might seem like a lot but starting up so many new sites isn't cheap ;)

Hopefully that's a lil inspiration for anyone that wants to be a full time
webmaster.

I gave up my full time job less than 6 months ago so it can be done very easily.

I think its a LOT easier with the blogs online now, Tylers blog is one of the
best, you should check that out.

Its on the right navigation of my blog.

Jon's used to be very good but I haven't talked to him myself in a few months
now and don't see many updates on his blog.

I don't know if there's many others of people that own sites and make their
living from their websites, theres some good blogs out there, but none like
Tylers and Jons. I'm still looking for more though.

Just a general update :)

The new DeuceAce design is online!

I just put the design online yesterday.
I have been working on the site for ages but needed the design until I could do most of the work.

Some sections still aren't finished but they will be done and online soon, prob this week.
Take a look and let me know what you think, if your into poker you might like the site itself, I have a lot planned including freerolls (You can enter tournaments for free and win cash) and tournaments, so you wont regret it!

I got the directory integrated with the new design as well, Http://www.DeuceAce.com/directory/

If anyone is looking for a vbulletin designer I HIGHLY recommend Sheldon from www.vbulletinskinz.com - You will be more than happy if you go with him.

I dont like doing that because I have loads of work for him and know if I do it he will get more people that will take up the time I want :p
But seriously, you will be more than impressed with his work!


I am trying to come up with some concepts for more poker sites, I haven't got enough sites online and I need to get it sorted out soon!

I have one of my sponsors on DeuceAce renewing today, the sponsor is RakeNut.com, they are a great rakeback site and have been advertising with me for a while now.
They had a problem and couldn't pay their last bill because paypal isn't working for them, I have been in the same situation so I know what its like.
I kept their advertising on for the 3 weeks because I know they are good for the money.
Heard back and they are renewing for 3 weeks - Like I said I don't want to post any earnings on here but it wouldn't be hard to find out ;)

Many other blog owners here post their earnings?
I wont be doing it again because people were reading my blog and bumping up prices when I already knew their normal prices, I know a few other people said the same thing happened to them when they were posting earnings.
If you own a blog, you might want to think about that!

Something I have seen a lot of people doing is being very secret, not about projects before they are live, because I would do the same myself, but about the running of their sites.
I thought the blogs are about how they run their sites so other webmasters can learn from it?
I love reading the blogs of other webmasters, if anyone has any good links, post a comment and let me know!
Right now I only read Tylers, Jons and Anthonys, they have all been in my links to the right of the blog posts since I started my blog if you want to take a look :)

The money from the AllDotNet sale should be here any day.
Once its here Im hiring a load of people to do different work for me so I can get these other sites online soon.
I want to make them as automated as possible but non of my sites have been automated before really..
Advertising management is one of the main things, I spend far too much time on it.
I did hire a PHP coder to do me a custom system months ago but he never finished it off and just left it, I dont want to waste time again getting someone else because its a lot of work.

I need to buy some more things for my new place, just finished putting up the TV stand, 3 weeks after I moved in :p
Its not as bad as it sounds, there was a stand here already but I have a silver TV and the stand is wood, I just finished putting up the silver stand.
I said I was going to take photos when I moved in but I have been too busy, the place is a complete mess.
I need to get my girl to clean it up, she does it nearly every day but I seem to make it worse an hour later.

Damn freeview...I have freeview here and its crap.
I had Sky Digital in my old place but haven't had a chance to move it over.
Not sure if Freeview is everywhere but its digital TV without a contract.
Sky Digital is digital TV, with a contract. But it has a lot more channels.

Need to get digital organised because freeview keeps freezing, it has all the channels I need but no point if I can't watch them eh!

I have been using my laptop since I moved but I think I will get a desk setup.
I do more work when I am working at a desk, I dont have any idea why.
Also do a lot more when the place is clean, maybe thats why I have been slacking eh ;-)

Right...spending too long blabbing on.
Off to work again!

DeuceAce v2 - 95% complete!

Hey all,


The design for DeuceAce is 95% complete now, I am still trying to get a way so I can give you a link to see the skin before its live, but I can't find a way vbulletin allows it, still trying :)

I am trying to hire a content writer that can do a lot of content on a regular basis for me, I think I have found a company but just want to work a few things out first.

I need to hire someone to write reviews for me, its not easy work and each review would take at least 2 days, more than 1 day using the poker room then writing the actual review.

I found someone that had good looking reviews and he just got them done, he wont tell me who wrote them though.
I hate when other webmasters hide things like that, its so stupid.

I think if webmasters work together we can do a lot better than trying to work on our own.


I bought a new design last night, its a vBulletin skin but I am going to use it on vBulletin and an Arcade site.
Just need to find a coder now :)
Don't want to spend too much on this one, I am doing it for a friend really, arcades aren't my type of thing since there's so much competition.

Ok, got a reply from vBulletin and they told me that I can't set it so one user can view the board.

I bought a new review and article system for DeuceAce
I am about 80% complete with the basic features on DeuceAce, I am trying to stick to vbulletin products as much as possible so it integrates well.

The money hasn't come through from escrow yet, hopefully it will come on Monday.

I am buying another poker site this weekend, it needs some work done to it but I think it looks very promising, I just need to get a PHP coder.

Seriously...I think I'm at a stage where I need a full time coder!
I'm constantly looking for someone to do coding work for me but still haven't found anyone good and reliable.

I'm looking for a coder to integrate designs to phplinkdirectory, vbulletin and gamescript right now as well, want to get those finished up soon.

Ok, I need help from anyone reading!
I want to setup the blog so it uses a domain name, but I have no idea how.

The only thing I use this for is writing and I had a quick look at the backend but it was asking for FTP info when I put in a domain...anyone know if theres a help file in blogger for setting it up with a domain?

Next....anyone have any suggestions for a domain?
I don't want to use the subdomain it has here now because I can't even spell it myself half the time ;)

Long time no update..things going slow

Hey
Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I have been really busy but I'm not getting much work done.

I was in England for 6 days (i think) and I only got to check my emails every few days, so I didn't get any work done at all there.

I got back on Tuesday night and I have been catching up on things since then but haven't got any real work done yet.

The DeuceAce design is nearly finished now!
Sheldon has installed it on my server now and it should be finished tonight or tomorrow, it was going to be finished tonight because he only had to do the buttons and icons, but then I gave him more work and asked for a custom postbit :p
The postbit is the part around your post on the forum that has your post text, sig, avatar and all the buttons.

I think its looking really good.

I am trying to finish off the other things for DeuceAce now so it will be ready to go live within a few days, once Sheldon is done I will setup a test account and let blog readers see the working skin before anyone else ;)

The AllDotNet site was taken off the market for a bit but it is now being sold again, the money is actually being sent to escrow today.

I don't want to say how much it went for, but it was xx,xxx :)
More than I thought it would but its a great site that takes very little work, I honestly think the revenue could be a lot more as well.

Once DeuceAce is finished up I am going on the hunt for advertisers again, I think a few more advertisers will cover all the costs I have had.

DeuceAce is looking like it will be a great site, but it still doesn't have that x-factor.
I am looking for some ideas on how to make it totally unique, if anyone has any suggestions please email me at john [at] deuceace . com

Has anyone used print material for advertising?
I am thinking of getting T-Shirts, mousepads and a few other things for DeuceAce.

But would anyone really use them. I know I would use the mousepads anyway, but I don't know if I would even wear T-Shirts with the name of a site on them, just seems too geeky to me, but the logo is amazing looking and I think it would look good.

Ok just spent 20 mins trying it out, the mugs look crap and I couldn't find a mousepad, that's the main one I want to get.




Come on..it had to be done ;)



I done it with cafepress, going to try it out somewhere else when I have more time and when I'm going to buy them.

Ok gotta get back to work now!