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How I Added A Chat Forum To
KitCarConnection.com By James Martell As many know, I've been fortunate since 1999 to have had tremendous success publishing websites that earned revenue through advertising revenue; affiliate revenue in the early days and nowadays a mix of Google AdSense and affiliate links. Initially I chose topics based on two things; 1) abundant keyword searches, 2) available merchants. This worked for many years and generated great income, but after while it got "old" publishing on topics that had no personal appeal. For instance, credit cards. Yes, it made a lot of money. But, no, it wasn't interesting writing articles on the topic. With students, too, I felt many were having trouble choosing a topic because of this "boredom" factor. Ultimately, I started stressing to students the importance of building a site on a topic that has an emotional connection. Not that there's anything wrong with choosing a money-maker with which you have no personal connection. I've done it many times and prospered. So have many students. But, I've got to tell you, if you want to have fun and make money, please give some thought to developing a site that has meaning for you, like Arlene did when choosing the topic of Epilepsy due to my son Adams's condition and ultimate triumph. For me to choose a fun topic was a no-brainer. I own a Shelby Cobra. Some have called it my "hobby car". And because it truly was my hobby -- a way to relax my mind when NOT wanting to think about my Internet publishing business -- I'd often find myself surfing the Net late at night for sites about Cobras. Then it dawned on me that I could probably do better than many of the sites I was visiting and make money at the same time. So, that's how the idea came for KitCarConnection.com, as site with a larger appeal than just Cobras though because I learned through the course of my research that "kit cars" is HUGE! Most editions of our newsletter will probably include updates on how I'm doing with this site. Not so much as a teaching aid, but mainly to give readers a sense of what is involved in running a website. To those not on the Internet yet, some of the terminology might seem unfamiliar. But try to stay with me in each issue. I think you'll eventually see this is not rocket science once you get accustomed to the language. How I Added a User Forum (Part 1) Actually, as of this edition, the user forum is not finished. But it's only a matter of days before it's complete. Check back in the second edition for part two where you'll be able to click through to the site and see it in action. You can even join if you're interested in Kit Cars. First thing I did was search Google for "free chat forum software". I'll bet you didn't know you could get this for free, did you? Well, my search led me to the PHPBB chat forum software It looked good to me so I outsourced to a technician at RentaCoder.com. And for $75 he'll handle the installation to my server. All I do is provide him with login info to the admin panel where KitCarConnection.com is hosted and he does the rest.
If I wasn't fussy about "the look" I could have left it generic. But I wanted it to match the colors of my site so I've outsourced to my one of my best graphics guys, Vaughan Davidson from KillerCovers.com, a fellow I've been using for years out of New Zealand who designs my covers and some of my sites. While I wait for Vaughan to finish I'll continue to work on organizing the categories. When he changes the colors and adds a graphical flair I'll be done. And from that point forward my visitors will be able to chat about their favorite subject -- Kit Cars! Now how cool is that? Check it out next edition to see how it looks.
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