Today, I still use my original Yahoo e-mail address, but mostly as a spam box for the many things I sign up for every day online.  Yes it’s true, nary a day goes by I don’t sign up for at least one new web site.  Because I have signed up and used so many web sites, I have been able to uncover some that are absolutely invaluable to my life.  Perhaps it’s a catch-22, but for my career and lifestyle, it’s been a blessing.

Hopefully after looking through this list, you will find some sites that can add some true value to your life, or somehow make your job or life easier.  Feel free to add your own in the comments as I’m always on the lookout for great new sites.

#25 – ESPN – I’m sure everyone knows about this site, but if you care about sports AT ALL, it’s invaluable.  Great writers, comprehensive coverage, live updates and more.  I watch less and less sports each year, but when I want to know the latest in any sport, this is the place I go to.

#24 -  Wordpress – Ever since joining Myspace (which didn’t make this list because I stopped using it 6 months ago) in 2003, I became intrigued with blogging.  It took me a couple years to figure out that blogging on my own was far more valuable and rewarding than doing it for someone else, but now that I know, Wordpress has fast become one of my best friends.  I don’t spend time on the site per se, but each time I start a new blog or set one up for a client, my first thought is Wordpress.

#23 -  1&1 – Another site I don’t use much, but can’t do without.  I am a fanatic for buying domains and own around 75 of them.  The first few I bought were from MSN, Yahoo and GoDaddy, but since discovering 1&1, they have received ALL of my business.

#22 – Bluehost -  Hand in hand with domains is web hosting.  I’ve tried several companies, but have firmly stood by these guys for the last 2 years.  No one has been better.  No one offers more for the price.  Fantastic.

#21 – Meebo – I can’t even actually remember visiting this site one time in my life since it’s built into my #1 web site, but as an application, it is invaluable.  Have more than one instant messenger?  Tired of having to start up your instant messenger before using it?  Check out Meebo.  All five major instant messengers built into one web page, which means you can access them from any computer instead of just the ones your messengers are downloaded on.  The future of applications looks exactly like Meebo.

#20 – Fast Co. – I can’t even begin to say how much I love this site.  The only reason it isn’t further up on the list is because I’m a subscriber to the magazine.  If you are an entrepreneur, this is a must read.

#19 – Quantcast – As a marketing professional and a full-time blogger, understanding site statistics is a demanding necessity.  There are other sites that provide free traffic statistics, like Alexa and Compete, but none come close to Quantcast’s accuracy and depth of coverage.

#18 – LinkedIn – Just because I gave up on MySpace doesn’t mean I don’t like social networks.  Indeed, I have accounts on no less than 12 social networks (Yelp, Facebook, Hi-5, etc.), but I’ve grown up a little and find that business networking is far more valuable than simply socializing with friends.  If you are interested in building up your business network, there is no better place than LinkedIn.

#17 – Feedburner – If you have your own blog, you probably are interested in building up your subscription base.  The best way to optimize your feeds and receive traffic analysis for those reading your blogs, Feedburner is the gold standard.  They’ve recently been bought out by Google, so most of their services are even free now.

#16 – PartnerUp – Another great social network for business, PartnerUp focuses more on entrepreneurs looking for investors and vice versa.  I’ve networked with some great people here and look forward to finding many more business partners through this service.

#15 – Technorati – Another blogging must.  Technorati keeps track of all the vital traffic analysis you need to help you improve your blog.  Basically the search engine for blogs, Technorati ranks blogs from 1 to who knows, and is a great place to network with other bloggers or find others in your niche that you can market your blog to.

#14 – Omgili – Omgili stands for Oh My God I Love It.  It is the best search engine for forums.  As a blogger and marketer, this site is invaluable for finding out what people are talking about right now.  Used in conjunction with Technorati, it’s nearly impossible to not know what’s going on on the Internet.

#13 – IMDB – I’m a movie fanatic and can’t get enough trivia, goofs, quotes and production information. Luckily, the Internet Movie Database has all this information all in one place.  No need to visit any other movie site.

#12 -  LastFM – I’m also a huge fan of music, especially underground hip hop which has very little aggregated information online.  Enter LastFM.  The IMDB of music, this site will give you all the information you will ever need on your favorite artists, as well as rank their songs based on plays in the LastFM community.  Looking for more great music by an artist?  Check their page out here and you’ll find all you need.

#11 – Mashable – I consider myself an expert on what is commonly referred to as Web 2.0.  Not only am I addicted to researching, using and trying to make these new sites better, I am constantly creating ideas for my own sites.  Without Mashable, it would take me months longer to do much of the research I do as they are the king of information concerning the social Internet.  If you like social networks or sites that allow you to participate, you owe it to yourself to check this site out.

#10 – Problogger – The site that gave me the courage and inspiration to become a full-time blogger myself.  Darren, who runs this site is widely regarded as THE Pro Blogger on the Internet and offers valuable information on how and why you should be blogging, even to the point of making it your career.  I don’t read it as much as I used to because I have a pretty solid understanding and insight of blogging myself, but it’s still a go to source for blogging information.  Excellent.

#9 – StumbleUpon – This site continues to become more and more invaluable for my needs.  Think channel surfing for the Internet and you’ll have a good idea about what this site is about.  Again, I don’t visit the site much anymore because of their wonderful toolbar that does most of the work without having to go to the site, but as an application, it’s a Godsend.  It’s also the perfect tool for marketing your blog if you have one.

#8 – Amazon – Everyone knows about Amazon.  What everyone doesn’t know is how much I use this service.  The largest store in the world is also my favorite.  I shop in the real world less and less every year thanks to their ease of shopping, great recommendations and fast shipping.  If you’ve ever gotten a gift from me, it most likely came from Amazon.

#7 – Youtube – Another great site that most people should know about by now.  As a marketer, it is becoming more important to me as time goes on.  In 2008, I look forward to creating my own videos and participating on this site much more. I’ve also got blogs that rely solely on Youtube videos that bring in some extra cash every month.  Thanks Youtube!

#6 – DoshDosh – Very likely my favorite blog, far more so than even my own.  If you are interested in making money online whatsoever, this blog is for you.  The articles are deeper than those you will find anywhere else, and Maki’s writing style simply inspires you to try out his advice on your own.  His blog has won many awards in the past couple of months and is less than a year old, but I have the feeling there are Internet marketers (including myself) who swear by this guy. Lots of great anime pics too!

#5 – del.icio.us – I bookmark on average, 25 sites a day.  Without an application to organize all these links, I don’t know how I would ever get anything done.  I’m also a huge fan of web applications that allow you to access your information, in this case your bookmarks, from any computer.  That means I can go to someone else’s house and basically turn their computer into mine in less than a minute.   My absolute favorite Yahoo service nowadays.  If you are an information junkie like myself, a social bookmarking site like this is mandatory.

#4 – Wikipedia – This site has fast become the go to source for information across the Internet.  Not much needs to be said about it.  When I need information about a certain topic, I almost always start at Wikipedia and jump down the rabbit hole from there.

#3 – craigslist -  As a marketing professional, I’m highly interested in advertising.  As a business owner, I’m equally interested.  In either role, my first start is with craigslist.  You can target any community you want and any group in that community.  It’s not the highest converting source of traffic, but used correctly, it can be a small business owners best friend.  No need to even mention the other valuable services on this site like finding housing, jobs, friends/dates, events and even plain entertainment (rants and raves anyone?).

#2 – Google – Every time I check my web history in my Google account, I am absolutely stunned at how much I use this search engine.  Not one day a month goes by where I don’t make AT LEAST 100 searches, and my monthly number is usually pretty close to 5000.  I’m an information junkie, highly curious and inquisitive and yes, addicted to the targeted results Google returns each and every time.  In addition, I’m a near daily user of some of their other services like Trends, GMail (by far the best e-mail service on the planet), Analytics, AdWords (spend money), AdSense (make money), Maps and more.  I’d put Google #1 if I used iGoogle, but I don’t because…

#1 – Netvibes – My absolute favorite and necessary website on the Internet.  It amazes me that just about no one else I know, at least in real life, don’t use this application.  Not only is the best feed reader on the planet, it’s also the best start page by far.  So many other sites could make this list, but Netvibes makes them less important for the simple fact that I no longer need to go to them.  As my front page, I can check my GMail, read my favorite 150 or so blogs, store all my bookmarks, perform Google searches, view my calendar, keep to-do lists, take notes, update my address book, use all 3 of my standard instant messengers and create full tabs on any subject I wish (perfect for keeping tabs on new clients and competitors alike).  Add the fact you can sign in to all this from any computer in the world, and well, there is really no web site in its class in my opinion.  Absolutely pivotal to my online experience.

Well, there you have it.  As you can see, I’m into saving time, performing valuable marketing research, keeping up with the state of the Internet, accessing my favorite entertainment information, anything that will increase the efficiency of my business and the progress of web applications.  These sites won’t be valuable for everyone, but if you are into any of these things, this list should be perfect for you.  Either way, there should be at least one new site you can’t live without on this list, so check them out and let me know what you think.

Blogging is now my full-time hobby, if not my full-time job, the benefits of which you just can’t get on a hosted platform. If you don’t own your domain name, you don’t own any of the content on your blog, and worse, someone else is making money off of the content you do publish. On MySpace, there are little Google ads next to each post that contain some information related to the topic of the blog post. When someone clicks one of those ads, Rupert Murdoch gets paid half and Google gets paid the other half. If for no other reason than YOU could be making money from those clicks, taking control of your blog should be an immediate priority.

Where Are Blogs Headed?

Blogging has become the new media, whether people want to admit it or not. Each of us is an expert on something, and the aggregation of all of our expertise far outweighs the supposed expertise of traditional journalism. I have a degree in journalism and know very well that I’m a far more effective communicator when I’m knowledgeable and passionate about the information I’m sharing. When that information is restricted to a specific topic instead of as in journalism, a different topic every day, the information takes on life.

Because people can create their own publishing platforms and establish themselves as leaders in a specific niche, they can command advertising revenue. Therefore, there is an incentive to offering the most thorough content possible. According to a recent poll on Problogger, 18% of the 2490 readers polled were making over $1000 a month from blogging, and 7% were making over $10,000 a month.

In October, How Much Did You Earn from Blogging?

 

• I don’t make money blogging

  658 26% of all votes

• Under $10

  454 18% of all votes

• $10 – $29

  204 8% of all votes

• $30 – $99

  244 10% of all votes

• $100 – $499

  341 14% of all votes

• $500 – $999

  155 6% of all votes

• $1000 – $1499

  81 3% of all votes

• $1500 – $2499

  63 3% of all votes

• $2500 – $4999

  67 3% of all votes

• $5000 – $9999

  47 2% of all votes

• $10000 – $14999

  19 1% of all votes

• Over $15000

  157 6% of all votes

Total Votes: 2490 Started: 11/7/2007

Poll Courtesy of Problogger.net

The thing is, these bloggers are publishing in any number of niches, from making money online to celebrity gossip. It doesn’t matter what topic you pick, what’s important is that you are passionate about the topic you pick and that you improve on your research and organization skills so that your writing will continue to improve. With the right combination of time, effort and passion, you can turn any blog into a money making venture.

What Else Do You Need To Know?

Hopefully by now, you believe you can make money becoming your own publisher, as well, but there are many other things to think about and learn before that will ever become a reality. Most of these things took me more than a year of consistent blogging before I even knew what they were and truth be told, I learn something new every single day. To get started though, let’s keep it to a short list of must knows.

• An understanding of Search Engine Optimization – READ This Book ASAP…You’ll Save Yourself A Year
• An understanding of HOW to make money with a blog – Check out this post for 60+ great blogs on the topic
• An understanding of the different blog platforms – Read this article to help you decide
• An understanding of social media – Read this article to see how to use social media to bring new traffic to your blog

Like I said, there are literally a million other things to learn about blogging, but those are the basics. It requires little to no understanding of HTML, can earn you money, build your reputation, establish you as an expert and replace all your current hobbies. If you aren’t blogging, start. If you’re blogging on MySpace, stop.

You deserve more.

1. Jay-Z

1. Blueprint
2. Reasonable Doubt
3. The Black Album
4. In My Lifetime Vol. 1
5. Kingdom Come

2. A Tribe Called Quest

1. The Lowend Theory
2. Midnight Marauders
3. People’s Instinctive Travels and The Path Of Rhythm
4. Beats, Rhymes & Life
5. The Love Movement

3. Outkast

1. Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (contains my favorite hip hop song EVER)
2. ATLiens
3. Aquemini
4. Stankonia
5. The Love Below

4. Talib Kweli

1. Reflection Eternal
2. Eardrum
3. Black Star
4. Quality
5. The Beautiful Struggle

5. Atmosphere

1. You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having
2. God Loves Ugly
3. Lucy Ford
4. Seven’s Travels
5. Overcast

6. Wu-Tang Clan

1. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (my favorite hip hop album EVER)
2. Enter The 36th Chamber
3. Tical
4. Liquid Swords
5. Wu-Tang Forever

7. Zion I

1. True And Livin’
2. Mind Over Matter
3. Deepwater Slang 2.0
4. Heroes In The City Of Dope
5. Curb Servin’

8. Cee-lo

1. Cee-lo Green Is The Soul Machine
2. Soul Food
3. St. Elsewhere
4. Cee-lo Green And His Perfect Imperfections
5. Cell Therapy

9. Masta Ace

1. A Long Hot Summer
2. Disposable Arts
3. Slaughtahouse
4. Sittin’ On Chrome
5. Hits U Missed

10. Brother

1. The Undisputed Truth
2. Shadows On The Sun
3. Champion
4. Rites Of Passage
5. Lasting Impressions

If you haven’t heard any of these artists or albums, I highly recommend them all. I could probably tinker around with the order a bit, for instance I like Wu-Tang Clan more than Atmosphere though I listen to Atmosphere much more currently than I do WTC. Jay-Z is definitely my favorite hip hop artist of all time and there are some artists that could’ve made the list but didn’t really have 5 albums I could say I truly love (i.e. Eminem, Dr. Dre, Scarface/Geto Boys).

Top 10 Favorite Non Hip Hop Artists

1. Earth, Wind & Fire

2. Led Zeppelin

3. Bob Marley

4. Queen

5. Sublime

6. Nirvana

7. Natalie Merchant

8. John Mayer

9. Jack Johnson

10. Norah Jones

Off the top of my head, that’s a pretty accurate depiction of my favorite non hip hop/r&b artists. Earth, Wind & Fire is probably my favorite group of all time, regardless of genre.

Well, thanks for reading my list. Hope you find some new music you’ll enjoy as much as I do. If you are interested in finding more great new music, I highly suggest trying out Pandora. It’s an awesome free music application that learns your tastes over time and serves you up new music related to songs you like based on a number of musical attributes.

I’m a natural born teacher and nothing is more gratifying to me than to teach my children about the world around them and letting them live their lives and make their own choices. I want my daughters to be strong women that make good decisions in life, and they can’t do that if I make them all for them. More and more, they make decisions that make me proud to be a part of their lives.So who are these amazing people?

Shawna – I can’t believe my oldest daughter is already 11. She is my mini-me and just reminds me so much of me as a child that it teaches me new things about me all the time. She’s a great student, an avid reader, an awesome gymnast and a pro with many Web 2.0 applications.

Alexia - Lexi recently turned 9 and is growing in leaps and bounds. She looks and acts just like her mommy and plays all day long with her dog Snoopy. She’s a tomboy (for now) and loves to show the boys they don’t have a monopoly on any activity and finds a new hobby seemingly every day.

Jessica - At 6 1/2, Jessica is the baby of the family, but boy does she have big spirit. A true free spirit, she isn’t much like me or her mother. On of the girliest girls I’ve ever met, Jessi loves to play dress up, pretend she’s a princess, primp herself with tubs of makeup and most of all, TALK.