I know what it’s like to keep wanting changes – been there, done that, got the t-shirt

Amin

Re handing over the project, I have thought of that but I think it’s about a $500 project on Elance or Rent-a-coder and, while I know what I want it to do and have an algorithm for it I also know that there will be things I want to alter when I start using it.

When I have what I want I can begin using/selling it while the all platform version is being created.

I know there are better programmers than me but I am reluctant to keep paying out for a program that I will want to change. If I had a tame programmer in my pocket, as I did once, I would let them do the job.

Oh Yeah, I’m a stubborn bear. Incidentally, I have the program about 50% done as of today.

Best regards
Mr Bearly

That’s a lesson that you learn once and never forget! It’s funny how when you’re taking care of the housekeeping things seem to keep working. Better safe than sorry, as we say over here.

The expire post plugin is useful for certain circumstances. If you have content on your blog that is time sensitive, for example a special offer that lasts for only a week, you may not want that page to remain online when the week is up. You might get angry complaints from potential customers who still want the deal even though it’s expired, for example. After all, if they can still see the page, they should get the deal – at least that’s what I’ve seen in support tickets before now.

So the expire post can either remove that special offer page, or if you prefer, it can silently redirect visitors the regular price page. That way you don’t lose the visitor – you may still get the sale.

You can also unpublish the post or page so you can use it again, later on. I’m thinking, for example, of seasonal deals. Say you have a very effective page for a weight loss product that sells really, really well in the New Year. You might want to turn the page off during the “off-season”. Or if you have a page tied to a regular sporting event you could turn that off. The point of that is to enforce scarcity. If a product/page/post is only available at certain times your visitors might make a decision sooner when they can visit the page – it’s sort of the equivalent of “limited time offer”.

Another very nice use of the plugin is with blogs that are set up to promote say Amazon products. There are lots of hot deals on Amazon and some of them are time limited. If you regularly publish those deals you might pick up some extra sales, but what to do when the offer is closed? Well, with the expire post plugin you just have the post redirect itself to a regular post/page for the same product – at the regular price. Any visitor interested in that product won’t be confused with offer pricing that’s no longer available. And blogs showcasing Amazon products are a nice way to pick up some affiliate income

Amin

p.s. You probably would never use the plugin on a ‘normal’ blog – this one, for example. I had it made really for sales type blogs. I’ve let it slide a bit because of lack of time, but I started a weekly deal blog where each week a particular product was offered at preferential pricing, but just for that week. I still wanted the product to be available at regular price after that week, so redirecting visitors to the regular price page at least could pick up some extra sales that way.

It’s very interesting that you say you’ve had some roadblocks of your own making. I have a sneaky feeling that most roadblocks are of our own making. I know some come up from time to time, but I think a lot of them are our internal editors clamoring for attention – wanting us to know that we’re fallible. And of course a roadblock is really just a way to find a better way to do something. That’s my view, anyway.

I remember once a major roadblock when I wiped a rather large portion of my own source code – too broke in those days to have an expensive backup disk! But in being forced to find a way to reconstruct the code as fast as I could, I ended up with a more elegant, clean and simple piece of code that worked better than the original had. So, yes, I think there are some hidden opportunities in roadblocks

I’m a bit intrigued that you’re not having a programmer do the work for you – you’re creating your link tracker first then having someone replicate it. Just a thought – might it be something you should let go of and let a programmer do for you while you move on with other parts of your business? I’m terrible for wanting to do everything myself, but I’m learning that:

a) I can’t
b) I don’t have the time anyway
c) Other people sometimes are (hate to admit this) better than me at certain things

I’m not saying that’s the case for you, but there’s something about the tone of what you say that just makes me wonder whether you might be better served handing over this project of yours.

Amin

Recently I have been working on a desktop tool to help me with backlink building. A way of managing to track and return to sites I have links, articles or pages on – there are so many for an active marketer.

The software I wanted to write involved learning a new language but I really don’t have the time to commit. So I attempted several other approaches including a spreadsheet, which works but isn’t scaleable.

Meaning that I have to go back to the software I know and have some skills in. Once I have it working properly then I can give the working tool to a programmer in the language of choice and get them to replicate it.

Slower than I would like but do-able and now I can have a tool that I can use while the programmers do their thing. Roadblocks of my own making to be sure but roadblock just the same.

Incidentally, I removed the last roadblock this afternoon. Now I just have to write the program.

Yes, I know the feeling. I bought a new computer with all the latest and greatest technical features. I felt that I could delay backing it all up for a week or so while I loaded it full of software and files. Little did I know, the next day the hard drive crashed and was totally useless and I had not backed it up. Back to square one! Had to do all over again, but this time I backed it all up every day. Now that same hard drive has ran for 4 years with no problems! Sometimes, I think God is trying to teach me a little patience.

Say your prayers–and also backup your computers often!

PS. A question about the “expire post” WordPress plugin. Is there a reason why I would want to use that on any of my blogs? It seems it would make the “footprint” of the blog smaller with fewer pages and fewer posts? Maybe I am missing the point?

John B.