How did I get to #1 on google with the keywords “Demand the Debates”…… to be honest it was by accident. My goal was not to rank #1 on google it was to put out a petition.

The other day when McCain “suspended” his campaign I was enraged and asked myself… Self what can do you to voice your opinion?

What did I do?

1. Got Passionate about something
2. I found a (free) petition script on hotscripts.com
3. Went to google.com and registered a http://demandthedebates.com,
4. Then set up hosting with hostnine.com
5. Found blogs on blogcatalog.com about debates and posted comments back.
6. Added sitemeter.com to my site (for quick stats)
7. Added to twitter, facebook, posterous, blogcatalog and stumble, plus sent out a email to about 100 friends.
8. Added 2 articles with links about the candidates.

Mistakes I made……
1. Biggest mistake was putting the site out there without the petition verbiage. I only had the sign up and a header.
2. Not using SEO or SEF to the best of my ability
3. Not thinking about the possibility of ranking on google.

Next time……

1. Well I have the petition script and since it was free I can use it over and over again.
2. I might be willing to put google ads on the site.
3. Use the petition for list capture.
4. Attach a blog to it, like demandthedebates.com/blog
5. Comment on more blogs, only commented on about 6 blogs.
6. Spend more than 3 hours on the entire project
7. Spend more time promoting. I was about 3 hours late on getting the petition out the masses.

Lessons learned

Following a system even 50% will produce a success or a result.
The more time you spend the more you love it.
The hardest par of getting started is getting started.
We are living in a time that anything and I mean ANYTHING is possible.

Here is a simple list of 10 ways to make you blog cool. Some of these tools might bring traffic, some might make your blog viral, one might even make your blog money

commentt.com

Commentt.com is a brand spankin’ new site that allows for you to post comments via a widget that is embedded into the comments section of your blog. There is even a easy to use Wordpress pluging. Commentt.com also gives you the ability to put a widget on your page so everyone can see the comments that have been posted on your site.

Viral Aspect - HIGH!!! people like to watch people (youtube) This will bring them back to your blog to see what people had to say.
Widgets - yes

polldaddy.com

How cool is this… what if people that came to your site could take a poll and you can get the stats real time? Polldaddy gives you this ability. You can poll your site visitors on anything. Did they like your post? What do they want your next post to be about? You can put all kinds of questions to the test FREE!

Viral Aspect - Medium, polls are cool, but do people really care? I think that people will care and will enjoy taking polls. This is a great way to add interactivity to your blog.
Widgets - yes

zannel.com

Ever heard of life casting? Well twitter was the first that allowed you to let everyone know what is going on in your life through micro posts sent from a cell phone,a blog, facebook, email or anywhere else. Well Zannel is following in the footsteps of twitter but with some very cool features. Zannel allows you to put a multi-media widget on your blog. With zannel you will be able to give everyone that visits your blog a way to see what is going on via short messages, email messages, uploaded pictures and even VIDEO. You can post from the zannel site, email or even your cell phone.

Viral Aspect - HIGH, but has twitter already cornered the market? Zannel is cool, but twitter has a grassroots geeky following.
Widgets -yes

twitter.com

The argument can be made that twitter was the first to allow people to life cast at the drop of a dime! Simple cool service that allows you to give up to the second status on what you are doing. People can track your status on a blog, website, cell phone or the twitter site.

Viral Aspect - OFF THE CHARTS, can anyone knock off the original?
Widgets - Yes

youtube.com

Embed a youtube video on your blog and you have an instant way to broadcast your video or any of the millions of videos that are on youtube to your blog community… if you have not heard of youtube where have you been?

Viral Aspect - OFF THE CHARTS… all kinds of videos, success, dancing, stupid, silly, funny, sad, tributes, you name it, it is on you tube.
Widgets - No

blogcatalog.com

blogcatalog is the ultimate way to promote your blog to bloggers. This is a community for and by bloggers. They even have some really cool widgets that you can put on your blog. To be a part of blogcatalog you must have a blog with a few posts. Again this is a closed community… but that is what makes is special.

Viral aspect - Medium, but getting better, keep your eyes open for things that are new and exciting
Widgets - YES

grandcentral.com

How many phone numbers do you have. Well Grandcentral gives you one number that will ring all of your other numbers. They advertise that you will have this number for life. The coolest thing about Grandcentral is that you can put a widget on the page and with a click of a button your clients or blog readers can call you. You can even listen in on the voice mail and see if you want to take the call or let it continue to go to voicemail. There are to many options to talk about, but lets say that there is a reason why google purchased this company months ago. I got my number do you have yours.

Viral Aspect - Medium, this is great for online businesses and mobile professionals.
Widgets - yes

cliqin.com

A widget service that serves up unique blog posts to a widget that is on your web page. The larger your cliqin community the more diverse the posts you will get from other blogs.

Viral Aspect - medium, see the blogrush.com, very similar
Widgets - yes

blipback.com

Pretty cool over all, can out before commentt.com but seems a pick more clumsy and bulky but still a cool widget that allows you to receive flash video or audio comments on your blog. The comments that are left on your blog become part of the blipback community.

Viral aspect - Medium, they might get beat by commentt.com
Widgets - Yes

widgetbucks.com

Widgetbucks is catching on very fast. Appears this might be a great way to earn money on your blog. I am going to test them out very soon. So many widgets so little time.

Viral Aspect - HIGH, the buzz is huge, bloggers seem to really like what is going on here.
Widgets - Yes

Tonight you can win a free blog design. All you have to do is to tune into The Gylon Jackson Show. Go to Gylon Jackson.com to listen to the show. Or click on the LISTEN LIVE BUTTON BELOW!

Have you ever wanted to change your Wordpress theme? Do you want to make money from google adsense on your blog. Well here is a quick tutorial on how to find a new wordpress theme.

Here is a short tutorial on how to had video to your blog directly from youtube. There is always great and informative information on youtube. With a blog redesign you can share it with all of your potential readers.

This is a short crazy video about the misconceptions of being creative. Don’t be afraid to let your creativity soar. Blogging can give you the best way to be creative. A blog redesign can enhance your creativity by giving you a fresh look.