Reinventing The Carlton Zone Blog?

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CARLTONZONE CONTEMPLATES BIG MOVE & NEW DIRECTION

Ladies and gents, I've been contemplating making some big changes on the blog site, both in content and where it is being hosted. It's gonna be a rocky road for the next couple of weeks, but I think I will prevail.

Look out for a new homepage coming your way, and a "new look" blog site. The company I am currently hosting my website with is not able to deliver some of the things that I would like to do with my blog, namely Amazon product integration.

Something that people don't consider much is the cost of running a blog site. You have to pay for a domain, someone to host your site, and also someone to host the actual blog "engine" if you don't want to do it all on your own. We won't even consider the cost in hours of research and writing to keep the site going.

I started partnering with Amazon.com last year around this time, and I have really delved deep into promoting different products and services in various ways in order to produce a revenue stream that would cover the costs associated with keeping the blog site running.

I've had some great months, and I've had some seriously slow months where I have only made pocket change. But I have to focus on the most efficient ways of monetizing my site in order to justify the time in keeping it fresh and building my page rank.

This post is being written using my potential new host and provider, SquareSpace.com. They offer a lot of service for the money, and at about a third of the cost of what I am paying with my current blog engine provider. Plus, they have a lot more creative ways that I can integrate Amazon products into the site.

I'm very proud to promote Amazon on my site, because it allows me to pass on great deals to my friends and family members. When they save money, they are happy, and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback for passing on good deals from Amazon, so I'm going to go forward with using them as my main monetization partner.

Right now, I am hitting a brick wall on how to convert everything from my current host to my new provider. It's looking like I will not be able to automatically export my blog's content and place it on the new server site. Therefore, it presents an awesome opportunity to just clean up my site and start from scratch.

I haven't been tremendously focused on one particular topic, and I still haven't decided what that overall focus should be. I'm an avid writer, keynote speaker, seminar trainer, business marketing consultant, business owner, and complete gadget geek. Somehow, I need to whittle this down to a more focused list for the site.

One thing that I have been given a lot of feedback from is the fact that most people have no clue regarding all of the details and specifications on smartphones, tablets, computers, laptops, and other gadgets. They come to me for the most basic of information and advice, and would like me to focus on writing blog posts to the "everyday person" that is not so technically inclined.

Honestly, there are plenty of specification-quoting techno-babbling writers out there. But there aren't many who can boil it down to something that the average person can understand. And what most people want is just enough information that they can make an informed buying decision. No more, no less.

In the coming days, I'll be thinking about where I will take the blog site, and what my focus will be. Hopefully it won't be as disorganized and running all over creation like this blog post has been. Got a suggestion for me? Let me know!

Do you think I should focus on writing about gadgets? Making money? Marketing for a current business? Or how about audio podcasts? Perhaps more video content? You make the call... I'm all ears.

Carlton Flowers
ADD/HD Blogger Supreme

 

Amazon Penny Sale

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SPRINT SMARTPHONE ONE CENT SALE THRU APRIL 30TH

Sprint SmartphonesHowdy there guys and gals, I thought I'd pass on a good deal for you. Though I am not a huge fan of Sprint, I thought it would be worth letting those of you know who might be stuck with them that they are doing a one cent sale on all smartphones until the end of the month.

I used to be a longtime Sprint customer, but I bailed for AT&T after my employer moved to a new building that was right in the middle of a huge dead spot for Sprint. But there are still many people in the Jefferson City area that have good Sprint coverage who plan on sticking with their carrier, so this is for you.

If you are undecided on which phone to get, I'll make a few suggestions for you. Then, all you need to do is hit the link and you will be taken to Amazon Wireless where you will be able to upgrade your Sprint account and order one of these nice smartphones for a penny. Of course all new Sprint accounts will get the deal too, if you were wondering.

Here are a few phones that I would recommend to you that are on sale:

SAMSUNG GALAXY S II EPIC TOUCH 4G

This is the flagship smartphone coming from Samsung. I own the AT&T version of this phone, and I have absolutely no complaints. You can get the Sprint version in black and white, and it packs a lot of features including a gorgeous 4.5" Super AMOLED PLUS display, 1GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory, Sprint's WiMax 4G connectivity, dual cameras, Android Gingerbread operating system, and a whole lot more. This is a great phone to use for surfing the net, reading, watching video content, and running any number of the gazillion apps available from Google's Play Store. You're not going to be disappointed with this phone, and I give it my top recommendation.

SAMSUNG NEXUS S SMARTPHONE

The Nexus S has a really interesting design. The 4" screen is curved, and its contoured shape really fits your hand and your face. If you're into ergonomics, this would be your smartphone of choice. The Nexus S has a 1.2GHz cpu, dual cameras, and DVD-quality video recording. You'll get Sprint's WiMax 4G service for surfing the net at high speeds. It also has 1GB of ram and 16GB of internal memory for storing all of your apps, data, and music content. If you are looking for something a little different, give this one a try!

HTC EVO 3D 4G SMARTPHONE

This is a super fun phone with a large 4.3" qHD display that guarantees to amaze viewers with its real 3D capability. You've got dual cameras on this phone (front and rear facing), but the rear of the phone features dual 5 megapixel cameras for shooting video and taking pictures in 3D! You can view the content in full 3D quality without the aid of glasses. I had to see it to believe it, but it really works. The EVO 3D gives you all the standard hardware specs that you would expect to have in order to fully enjoy the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. If you are into 3D viewing, this is your phone!

HTC EVO DESIGN 4G SMARTPHONE

This is a cool little phone from HTC, one of my favorite Android smartphone manufacturers. It's a great follow-up to the original HTC EVO smartphone, and has a nice 4" qHD display that fits perfectly in your hand. It runs on the Sprint WiMax 4G network, has an 8GB SD card included, and the capability to upgrade to 32GB. This is a durable phone that has a high quality build, typical of HTC devices. If you want a little bit smaller of a device than the big 4.5" display that the other smartphones have, this would be a great pick. So there you have it. There are plenty more choices for you, but those are my favorites. Pop on over to the Amazon Wireless Sprint Store and grab your smartphone for a cent with your 2-year contract agreement before April 30th!

Carlton Flowers

Smartphone Gadgeteer

CLICK HERE TO JUMP TO THE SPRINT ONE-CENT SALE AT AMAZON WIRELESS!

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