Leif “the lucky” Erikson and family

February 22nd, 2008 by thrandur

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As you may know, Leifur Eiriksson or Leif Erikson was the first European to discover America. The website www.islendingabok.is (Book of Icelanders) allows me to look up my relation to all Icelanders -  living and dead. So I found out how we are related. Our common ancestors Úlfur and Björg where obviously born in Norway, since they were born around 850 and Iceland was found in 874 and settled in the years after.

For many, Leif Erikson is almost a mystical legend than a real person!  But here he is and I have followed his line as his great nephew around 25 generations back! Yeah - it’s amazing how close to these times a family tree like this makes us feel :)

Erik the Red was a Norwegian who fled high taxes and came to Iceland. Erik The Red’s real Icelandic name was Eiríkur “rauði” Þorvaldsson. Living from around 920 - 1006. He moved to  Greenland in 986 and built his farm “Brattahlíð”. This was written in the book “Landnáma” (Book of Settlers).

Everyone in Iceland knows that his son Leif was the first man from Europe to go to America. There has been some controversy about the nationality of Leif the lucky. Leif was born in Iceland and therefor Icelandic.

 

Check out these blogs about the legendary Leif Ericson:

Thee Mighty Saga of Explorer Learning
Are You Smarter Than a 6th Grader?
Sagas of the Greenlanders

Popularity: 28% [?]

Freedom of the Seas - SBI Cruise 2008

February 20th, 2008 by thrandur

We have never been on a cruise ship before and never to the Caribbean so this is going to be an adventure to remember! Among the thousands of passengers on board the Freedom of the Seas are Webmasters from SBI who organized the cruise on the Caribbean.

Freedom of the Seas

Freedom of the Seas is currently the largest cruiser ship in the world. At an overall length of 338.77 meters (1.111.5 ft), width (beam) of 38.6 m (126.65 ft) it is truly massive.

Click here to read the rest of the story and see the pictures from the Freedom of the Seas and the Caribbean cruise…

 

Freedom of the Seas on other blogs:

Freedom of the Seas
Caribbean Cruises: Freedom of the Seas
Caribbean Cruises: Cruise With “FREEDOM OF THE SEAS”

Popularity: 57% [?]

GPS - Compare Best Prices & Brands

February 17th, 2008 by thrandur

GPS systems come in various shapes and sizes. In the early days GPS systems were big and bulky and the cost was way out of reach for the average traveler. Now the GPS systems are getting smaller by the year and the functionality and usefulness is constantly growing.

The hardest part is now to compare prices and features between brands.

GPS-Compare.com is now live and can help you select the right tool for your needs.

GPS Compare

GPS Compare is the newest member of my series of BANS - Make Your Own Niche Store sites. You should be able to find a GPS system for any use and the price range is wide:

GPS articles on blogs I like:

Car VS Handheld GPS for geocaching.
Compared GPS and GPS Ratings - Do They Help?
Nokia Bluetooth GPS Module LD-4W review
GPS School of Hard Knocks: #1 Why Buy a GPS?

Popularity: 36% [?]

Security Camera Direct!

February 15th, 2008 by thrandur

The need to keep an eye on your property is ever growing. The prices for security cameras are constantly getting lower and this makes it easier for you as a home owner or a business owner. Instead of hiring an employee or keeping watchdogs you can now setup an automatic security system.

Security-Camera-Direct.com is made to serve this need.

Security Camera Direct

It is of course on of the newest BANS - Make Your Own Niche Store sites I have created. The product line is incredibly extensive:

Feel free to take a look and let me know what you think…

Further reading on Security Cameras:

How Security Camera Systems Work
The Utility of Security Cameras
How To Choose The Best Wireless Outdoor Security Camera
A Guide To Security Camera Installation Skills

Popularity: 38% [?]

4×4 Sale .net - Used 4×4s for Sale

February 9th, 2008 by thrandur

Time has come to open the next Niche Store. This time it fits directly with the 4×4OffRoads.com website.

The web provides a convenient way to search for used 4×4s for sale on eBay.

4×4 Sale

This time I spent a little bit more time working on each category to get it just right. And I also started an PPC campaign on AdWords to drive some traffic to it. Most of the time I spent working on these two things.

Here is a list of the major brands available at the 4×4 Sale as well as the major categories:

A few good blogs about buying 4×4s as RC trucks:

4X4 Guide: Buying a good used 4×4 vehicle
BUYING USED 4X4 VEHICLES
RC Cars and Trucks
Off-Road RC Cars
RC Cars Getting Started In The Radio Controlled Hobby

Popularity: 35% [?]

Make Your Own Niche Store

February 6th, 2008 by thrandur

I just came about a neat system. I am currently testing it out and it really looks promising!

The system is called Build A Niche Store and makes it easy to build a website selling stuff out of the huge inventory on eBay.

The technique used is based on RSS feeds from eBay providing live links to the most current products in a certain category or categories. You can also narrow down the selection to fit your chosen niche.

As a simple test I used the system to build a store around diet products. It is called:

My-Diet-Program.com

After spending a couple hours reading the manual, I made a nice looking and functional site in less than a day:

My-Diet-Program.com

As you can see I added a few AdSense ads to the site. The ads work well with the eBay listings and add value to the customer.

Of course it helped me to have a good understanding of the regular hosting procedures. It could take you a bit longer if you haven’t done anything like this before. Help is great - and you get access to a forum full of other store builders with similar things in mind.

I intend to make other niche stores using this system to accompany my other sites.

Click on the link below to read more about this system:

Build A Niche Store

 

…and you can read these blogs as well:

Build a Niche Store Add-On for Onsite Search Metrics
How to Make Money Off eBay
Build A Niche Store Review
I Created a Checklist for Niche Stores

Popularity: 43% [?]

Site Build It! - HTML & JavaScript Magic

February 3rd, 2008 by thrandur

On the SBI Cruise on Freedom of the Seas I had the opportunity to talk about HTML & JavaScript Magic.

If you want to view the slides you can download them right here:

http://thrandur.net/files/Thrandur-JavaScript-Magic.pdf - (Adobe Acrobat Reader)

http://thrandur.net/files/Thrandur-JavaScript-Magic.ppt - (Microsoft PowerPoint)

Popularity: 24% [?]

Best Web Hosting

February 3rd, 2008 by thrandur

My Digital Photo Webs are made in Iceland, hosted at the Best Web Hosting company and for YOU and the rest of the brave new world to enjoy!

Everybody is a peer on the internet and I am a firm believer in the new on-line lifestyle. It truly is a GLOBAL VILLAGE.

As you can see my sites ranks already in the TOP 1% of all internet sites as measured by Alexa. This I can contribute in no small way to the Best Web Hosting I know. The statistics show estimated traffic rank number from all the millions of sites on the whole internet :)

…you may as well ask - How come my sites are doing so well?

4x4OffRoads
Digital Photo Web
Art Iceland

Why I Built These Sites

I had been searching for the best way to start my own web sites. I didn’t want to just start and throw up something but wanted to do the right thing. The idea was to build a site that had a message to the world and preferably could sustain itself.

I know from my work as computer expert that setting up a website from scratch was not going to be a simple task - with all the firewalls, bandwidth issues and programming. All my time would be spent building the framework and very little time to do actual content. Also another issue I thought about was HOW to get any traffic.

I was lucky enough to come across this FREE e-book about building sites that really got me THINKING - if I could perhaps find my own niche and even a new mission in life. The book showed me a whole new way of looking at the web site building process - much more into the WHY but also centering on how to FEED the “other” side of the search engines like Google and Yahoo.

This looked like a perfect match for me - a set of tools that are simple to use and allowed me to concentrate on delivering content and not worry about all the technical details.

As it has gradually turned out the hosting company I found delivers much more than simple web hosting. In fact, web hosting is only a part of a much larger and more valuable package.

 

 

How I Built These Sites

  • Starting out by BRAINSTORMING about a few possible concepts - I came up with 4×4 and off roading. My love for travel in the Icelandic highlands would fuel endless ideas for content.
  • Measuring SUPPLY and DEMAND for keywords related to 4 wheeling showed a lot of potential.
  • I researched a lot of possible ways to monetize and found that Google AdSense is the perfect solution for this site - unobtrusive ads that are relevant for the content of each page.
  • Concentrating on REFINING the concept I also started to look for a DOMAIN name. When I saw that 4×4OffRoads.com was not taken - you can imagine my surprise and joy. I immediately jumped on it!
  • Only then did I begin to design the structure for the keywords I would use for the various tiers on the new site. This had to be pleasing for the search engines but also the 4 wheelers visiting the site.
  • As soon as the site was up - I started to draw traffic using various means available - link exchange, forum discussions and even Pay Per Clicks - like Google Adwords.
  • Since the start of the site I have continued to add content to the site - writing articles with lots of pictures to make the site as valuable as possible. This will of course be an ongoing process.
  • The concept for the art site didn’t show nearly as much potential for profits. Icelandic art is not that popular and there where a LOT of sites dealing with this theme. Still it was a natural step since my wife had been running a gallery with four other women.
  • We decided on the domain name Art-Iceland.com and started building it.
  • Soon it became obvious that changes were necessary in the running of the gallery. We decided to give it a shot and did all the work needed to establish it.
  • Still on the first year of operation we know that the web site is a tremendous support and this will be good if we give it some time and effort.

The Best Web Hosting Tool I Use

Well it is actually more than a tool. More like a guideline for BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS. It supports the most difficult part by outlining four simple steps - necessary for true and lasting SUCCESS on the internet:

C -> T -> P -> M

C - Content building is the foundation

T - Traffic comes from good content, link building and other techniques

P - PREsell visitors by supplying quality information and friendly atmosphere

M - Monetize as the final step

…and then giving me the set of tools to support every step of the way. You really have to see it to believe it.

To get you started on your own web efforts and get a feel for the quality of the SiteSell products, there are two e-books I suggest you read.

They are both FREE and can safely be downloaded from the 4×4OffRoads.com site.

The first one proved a real eye opener for me. You can read more about it and the 10 day Affiliate Masters Course right here. Even if you don’t end up using any of SiteSell’s products this is a good read. The 200 pages provide a good overview of the ideas you will need to grasp. The how’s and the whys. I’m sure it will help you as it did me, in finding your niche and building a site that sells. Take your time to read it and grasp a fuller picture of the necessary steps.

Finally I have also set up a page where you can get other books by Key Evoy. Go to my Winzip Downloads page to collect them all!

P.S. The fact is that this is NOT the only SBI site doing well on the internet. If you take a look at the results page you can find lots and lots of successful sites and of course 4×4OffRoads.com under Hobbies!

Click Here For Information About SBI…

Popularity: 30% [?]

SBI & Success FAQ

February 2nd, 2008 by thrandur

I frequently get a number of questions about SBI and success. Here is an example and my response.

First Name: Jamie
Last Name: G.
Subject: SBI and success
Message: Hi, I believe that I contacted you before but never got a response. I have been trying to find out more about others that use SBI. I want to create my own site but am not sure if I have the right mix to do so.Were you the first in your niche?Do you advertise with Adwords?

Do you have a good income with Adsense?

I am curious about how people get started and make it be profitable.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Jamie

Were you the first in your niche?

If you mean I was the first using SBI in the 4×4 niche, the answer is no. And there certainly where a lot of other off roading sites.

Do you advertise with Adwords?

Yes - of course. AdWords is a great way to get traffic.

Do you have a good income with Adsense?

My AdSense income has been pretty good through the years. It needs good traffic though.

Popularity: 24% [?]

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