I've been noticing the idea of under promising and over delivering for a while, and it has definitely got my interest. My first concept of it was that when you're obligated to to something, promise to do a bare minimum job, well within expectations, but nothing exceptional. Or, if a favor is being asked, you don't need to make any promises. Then, in both cases, over deliver by going above and beyond the basic expectation you've created. Sounds fine. But there's another take on it.

I was searching for more information, and I came across an article at ezinearticles.com called, "We Got It Wrong: Never Under Promise and Over Deliver." This article goes into detail about how the trick can actually work against you. Essentially, when you continually sell yourself short to a repeat client, that client will begin to doubt you no matter what you say. He will learn that it pays to expect more than you say is possible, and will continually demand more of you to the point where you're no longer under promising. You tell him the truth, that you can honestly do only so much in a certain amount of time, but he'll still expect more — a better job, done faster. At a certain point he'll begin to expect the impossible, and you'll suffer the consequences.

But that article deals with a completely different take on under promising and over delivering. In my concept of it, you promise the basics. In the article, you take that basic expectation of yourself, and then give yourself an unnecessary buffer. So instead of saying, "The job can be done in 3-5 days," you'd basically lie and say, "5-7 days." This version of the trick is to always convince people that things will be more difficult than they actually are, and it's no wonder it can so easily backfire.

Here's an image I made comparing my concept of "under promise, over deliver" to the article's.

It's very interesting to see what happens with the exceptional job. If you under promise, you can work on over delivering an exceptional job all the while filled with glee at how surprised and impressed your boss, client, or friend will be. You can also feel good because you're doing a great job just for the sake of it. But when you are forced to do a great job each and every time, even when it seems unnecessary, it can become a difficult thing to enjoy. Once over delivering becomes a steady obligation, work can start to seem tough. You're never sure of where you stand, because no matter how impossibly good a job you do, you might be asked to do an even better one next time. That can be stressful.

However, I think that we shouldn't give up on under promising and over delivering just yet. The article ends up recommending over promising and then delivering on those promises, all the time. But I think the reason "under promise, over deliver" became so popular is that to over promise is to risk your credibility.

So here's how I see it. When a task is assigned to you at your job with a deadline, accept it, complete it on time, but on the day of delivery, have something extra to show for. Don't over deliver time wise, over deliver task wise.

If someone asks you for a favor, then you can under promise to your heart's content. "I might be able to, but don't get your hopes up." That frees you in case of sudden obligations, and if nothing else comes up, you can do them the favor, and over deliver by simply fulfilling their basic request. If you want, you could go overboard on the task and surprise them even more. And since there was no real obligation, they won't be justified in expecting you to honor every future request they make.

That's my take on it. I could be wrong. Do you have any suggestions or insight on this matter?

Since there are thousands of systems out there telling people how to make money online, there must be many thousands of people interested in doing it. I know I am! And as appealing as it sounds to earn a living online, losing momentum will occur from time to time. You hit a snag, a setback, a problem that just won't go away, and suddenly things seem bleak. How can you get back your mojo?

One thing I've found that helps me build enthusiasm is to think of the idea of success. What does success mean to you? What I usually imagine is a scenario in which I've got money coming in on autopilot from the net. And not just a trickle of cents from somewhere. I mean substantial income, enough that I don't really have to worry about financial security.

Money on autopilot!! Don't we all wish. But that wish can keep dreams alive.

Can you see how great achieving that would be? Imagine you've finally done it, you've finally set a system in place or built a website that is extremely easy to maintain, and is a guaranteed generator of revenue. You're making money while you eat breakfast, while you visit with friends, while you watch TV. You make money while you're sleeping! Awesome!!

Ideas like that keep me motivated. I believe there's actually a motivational concept behind that relating to "experiencing results in advance." You get to live your dream in your mind, which keeps you motivated to make that dream come true.

Part of what also appeals to me and motivates me about making money on the internet is the comparison with winning the lottery. The differences and similarities are really interesting. Both ideas pretty much entail financial freedom. If you can successfully make money online, you're pretty much set. If you win the lottery, you're golden! But the lottery is a finite prize. And in the end, the most you can do to ensure success in that area is to buy tickets and hope for the best. But the internet is different. You've got the power. Success is up to you. And if and when you do make it, the possibilities are limitless. You're not tied to a predetermined amount of winnings. If lighting strikes you online, you could potentially make billions. That may be remote, but only slightly more remote than winning the lottery, and a jackpot online is a thousand times greater.

So how do you stay motivated, even when things aren't working out? Think of all the potential wonders and benefits that will come of your success. Just the idea of financial freedom can be a huge motivation to keep working toward your goals.

Today I read a post John Chow wrote last month called, "There Is No Secret Formula." In it he writes how sometimes he get complaints from readers wanting him to stick to the subject of how to make money online. They feel that any diversion is pointless, and just want to know the secret to online success.

His response, as you can probably tell from the his post's title, is that there is no secret. There are programs, products, web sites, and tips and tricks galore all designed to fool people into thinking that if they just read, if they just watch, if they just buy, they'll learn the secret. But just like with achieving a breathtaking physique, making money online has no secrets. There's just common knowledge that most people seem to dislike.

However, I think there is another factor at work here. I think there really are secrets to getting fit, just like there are for making money online. What makes them so secret is that they're hiding in plain site. The knowledge is so apparently commonplace and straightforward that it is easily dismissed. People think, "It can't be that simple, can it?" and refuse to consider the true secrets to success. But now that we're no longer blind to the power of plain truths, we can benefit from them! So what did John Chow reveal?

Hiding in Plain Site Secret To Getting Fit:

"Eat less, workout more."

Hiding in Plain Site Secret To Making Money Online:

"Get traffic, optimize ads."

AHA!!! The Quickening empowers me! I know everything!! I am everything!!!

But wait… What are the secrets to getting traffic? What are the secrets to optimizing ads?

Well at least we've narrowed our focus. Traffic and ads, traffic and ads.

Not always, but sometimes. Especially when the story is already popular, and you're trying to pull off a blogger's "Dumb and Dumberer."

This idea recently became clear to me. A couple of weeks ago I began noticing headlines on the front page of the paper that seemed oddly familiar. A closer look revealed that the publication was reporting on stories I had already read about online, the day before.

Of course, perspective gained from a passage of time is helpful for interpreting events. But because I had already read about those stories previously, the paper couldn't hold my interest.

For different reasons, bloggers can also fall into the trap of reporting old news. It's deceptively easy, because technically the news isn't old at all. But there's a lag between the time the story breaks, and the time someone reads about it on the average blog.

Sometimes it can seem like a good idea to repeat what the big names are saying. After all, they're successful because they make good choices, and their choice of what to blog about must be brilliant right? So you post your take on things. But if you don't have a unique perspective, and you can't offer much more than what's already been said, you can sabotage your efforts to appeal to readers.

Say a surfer reads the story you read on the big name blog. Later he visits your blog. Same story! Boring. Exit, link right.

Certainly, if you're the first with a brand new update on a matter that has already been covered, then by all means get Dugg! But most of the time doling out a rehash of the same old ideas isn't the most compelling way to post.

So the lesson here is to be as unique as possible, in subject, in perspective, and in timing.

The key to a successful web site, many would say, is traffic. One important and often overlooked way to attracting visitors is to showcase remarkable ideas.

Today I read about Seth Godin's 2003 book Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable. At the purple cow area of his site, he allows people to read a couple chapters for free. The first chapter details how he went about marketing the book. Early on, his strategy heavily relied on getting the people interested in the book to share their interest with others. And he wanted to be remarkable. So he sold 12-packs of his book and shipped them in milk cartons.

There was a big risk in that method, as you'd think not many people would be willing to pay $60 to spread an idea. But the gamble worked, and the reward was huge. The Purple Cow took off.

That got me thinking about how it can be easy to forget the need to be remarkable. In fact, I think it's ingrained in many of us not to be remarkable! In school, you're taught to run with the pack, to fit in at all costs. But to succeed in business, you must be unique. You must be special. It's very interesting that traditional conformity must often be unlearned in order to make a name in business.

The idea of a purple cow got me thinking about the need to differentiate. The internet is saturated with copycats, both intentional and accidental. In order to get the amount of visitors that can make a site successful, that site must be worth visiting. It must be remarkable.

On my browser's toolbar, I've bookmarked all of these sites in one folder, seeing as how they tend to come in handy fairly often. Some much more so than others. I had assumed that most other web surfers were similarly aware of these great sites, since they're so useful in finding practically whatever you have in mind. But today the thought occurred to me that there are probably a few people who aren't familiar with one or two (or more) of these helpful resources. So, without further ado, I present THE LIST:

1. Google – The mother of all Search Engines. My favorite part is that most pages are cached, so if the site is currently down or has undergone a major change, you can still see what came up in the results, with all your search terms highlighted.
2. Wikipedia – The user-generated online encyclopedia of everything. Some say that the "truth" found here is only what everybody agrees upon. And that's probably correct. But for most subjects, Wikipedia is a simple, dependable resource that can inform and educate in a hurry.
3. YouTube – Now owned by Google, YouTube is where to search for video clips from shows, movies, the news, and everywhere else. Eyewitness reports are often quickly uploaded to YouTube, so if a news story didn't provide the live footage you wanted, YouTube just might have it. It's also a decent place to find the occasional song, as some users upload whole tracks with album covers as the visual.
4. Dictionary.com – Much easier than using a conventional dictionary, as it's not heavy and you don't have to flip through page after page! Just type in your word or phrase, and even if you don't get the spelling right, you'll usually find just what you're looking for.
5. Thesaurus.com – Sister site of Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com comes in major handy when you need to find another word for something. You'll never have to use, apply, or expend the same word twice.
6. IMDb – The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has detailed files on all movies, past, present, and even future! Who's that actor? Were there any goofs? When's the sequel? Just go to IMDb. There's even a forum and special features for registered users.
7. Internet Archive – Featuring the WayBack Machine, which keeps a record of every incarnation of a web page since that page's creation. You can go back in time and see the earliest form of pretty much any site. It can be extremely helpful when a page isn't currently available or no longer exists. Check out an early archive of Google. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
8. Acronym Finder – The next time you see a strange abbreviation, you can quickly and easily find out what it means. Pretty much every conceivable meaning of each acronym is listed, so all you need to do is find the one that fits the context.
9. Amazon.com – You can buy almost anything online, and Amazon.com is a great place to do it. They used to be mostly focused on books, but in recent times have broadened their horizons tremendously. Now they sell pretty much everything! Not only are the prices low, but free shipping is offered in many cases. One of the best features is the Customer Reviews section for each product. The next time you hear about a hot new item and need to find out the pros and cons from real users, just go to Amazon.com.
10. eBay – Here you can brave rapidly-growing world of consumer-to-consumer sales. Shopping eBay is riskier than Amazon, but there's definite potential to find some really great deals. What's more, some products that aren't listed at Amazon can be found at eBay. It's a great resource when you need to learn about a hard-to-find item or a mystery object.
11. Dogpile – A search engine that compiles results from Google, Yahoo, Live Search, and Ask. I used to use it until I found that it didn't offer the same caching of pages that Google provides. But Dogpile does have an "Audio Search" option that is supremely helpful. Whether you're searching for a clip of a radio interview, a song, or a sound effect, Dogpile's Audio Search is usually pretty helpful. It may take some time to find an audio link that works, but once you do, it's usually well worth it. And if you run out of options, you might try plugging the bogus links into the Internet Archive. The audio file may just be saved there.
12. Urban Dictionary – Dictionary.com is fine for "normal" speech, but what about all those new slang terms? Urban Dictionary is basically a WikiDictionary, where users add and define new words and phrases. The next time you hear a strange word that sounds like it was born yesterday, you can look it up at the Urban Dictionary.
13. OldVersion.com – This site features downloads of previously-released versions of popular software, including instant messengers, file-sharing platforms, web browsers, file unzippers, and graphics programs. When the new version isn't as good as the old one, or is too expensive, you can usually get the old one for free at OldVersion.com.
14. Alta Vista Babel Fish Translation – This is a killer resource that allows you to translate a block of text or an entire web page from one major language to another. The results aren't always word-perfect, but they'll usually provide you with enough information to understand what was written. The whole-page translation feature is amazing. If you're ever searching for something and it looks like you've found it, but it's written in a foreign language, you can clarify things with Alta Vista Babel Fish.
15. Google Blog Search – I just learned about this today. You can search for blogs that are written about or contain information on specific topics. Instead of just using Google to find out what websites are saying, you can use Google Blog Search to find out what people are saying on their blogs. So if you want a more down-to-earth take on something, this could be the site for you.

That's it! These are what I believe to be the top 15 online search resources. The internet has incredible informative power, if you know where to look. I hope I mentioned at least a couple of sites that you weren't fully aware of. Happy digital trails!

This tutorial assumes 2 things:

• You own or have access to your own domain

• You are familiar with using an FTP program or other means of transferring files to and from your web site

Ok, so to start, you know what a favorite icon is, right? It's that little icon that appears to the left of a URL in a browser's address bar, and to the left of the page title in a browser tab. For Google, it's a blue "G" in a box. Pretty cool, huh? It adds a little something, a professional touch. It's all right if your site doesn't have one, but it would be neat if it did. Let's find out how to make it happen.

One simple method is to use a free piece of software called Paint.NET. It's like Windows Paint, but far more powerful. And it's free. You can get it at getpaint.net.

Now, once you've got that, you're going to need the Icon/Cursor Paint.NET Plug-in. Unzip that, go to the directory in which you installed Paint.NET, and place the IcoCur.dll file in the "File Types" folder.

Great! Now you've got a graphics program that can save icon files. So all you need is a picture. Find a site with public domain images. Wikipedia is sometimes useful, because when you click on an image, there's a box that tells you whether that picture is free for external use. Or, you can search Google for public domain images.

Find an image you like, but be aware that it is going to get very small. It must look good in a 16 by 16 pixel format. Open your chosen image in Paint.NET. At this point, you've got a few options. You can crop it and shrink it to 16×16, and then save it and pick the .ico file type. Or, you can crop it to make it square, but still big, and then save it without shrinking it. Or, you could just save it the way it is, without adjusting it at all. Whichever outcome looks best will probably be right for you. And be sure to name the file "favicon.ico." It may not really be necessary, since you can tell web pages where to look for it, but it's the standard. In fact, even if you don't specify whether you even have a favorite icon, the file favicon.ico will be used if it exists. So it's a pretty good idea to use that name.

What's great about Paint.NET is that you can save transparencies within an image. This is helpful when white isn't the background color, as happens when icons are displayed in tabs, or when the address bar changes colors. If you have a white area that is supposed to be the background to your icon image, you can delete that, and what will remain in Paint.NET is a transparent area that will carry over every time the image is displayed.

The icon extension is so powerful, it can save multiple icons in a single file. Sometimes a normal 16×16 icon isn't needed, and a 32×32 is. I've never run into that situation, but the icon plugin allows you to save the following formats: 16×16, 24×24, 32×32, 48×48, 64×64, 128×128, and 256×256. If your image is an odd format, like 256×193, you can also save that as a .ico, as long as it's not bigger than 256×256. And, each format can be saved as either 8-bit (low quality) or 32-bit (high quality). I usually just leave it on the default setting, which saves 4 different versions: 16×16 8-bit, 16×16 32-bit, 32×32 8-bit, and 32×32 32-bit.

What I've noticed is that it seems like IE will display 16×16 32-bit (high quality) in the address bar, but 16×16 8-bit (low quality) in tabs. Firefox seems to use the high quality version on both the address bar and tabs. Opera appears to prefer the low quality 16×16's on both address bar and tabs. So if you can, try to make your icon look great even when in 8-bit format, which uses fewer colors. That's probably why Google uses such a simple icon, a "G," since it will look good even at the lowest quality.

After you've adjusted your chosen image, resized it, and saved it in whichever .ico formats you chose, you can then upload it to the top level of your web site. It should occupy the same area as your index file (index.htm, or index.html, or index.php, etc.) assuming you don't have that in a folder. Once you do that, the "favicon.ico" file will be used by whatever browser looks for it. But just to be safe, you can also specify in the header portion of each of your pages where it is.

In the source of your web page, between <head> and </head>, add this:

<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico">

That tells the browsers that don't automatically look for a favorite icon that they should, and where to find it. You should add that instruction to every page you want the icon to accompany.

Now, to test it out. IE isn't really helpful in this area, since for some reason it takes a while to update in the favorite icon area. Some say you need to clear the cache, or page refresh, or click the icon and drag it, and then release it to reveal the new one. A much easier method is to just use Firefox. I believe Firefox will look for a new favorite icon each time it loads a page.

If you've already saved your page as a favorite on your Bookmark Toolbar in Firefox, the old icon there may not change. So what you can do is bookmark the page again to the toolbar, and click the new bookmark to load the page. This tells Firefox to check and update the bookmark icon, and the old bookmark will do the same. Then you can delete the extra bookmark, and save one with the right icon.

If at this point your icon doesn't look quite right, you can go back and adjust it in Paint.NET. The beauty of the program is that once that you know how to make an icon image, you can update and change it as often as you please.

This blog used to be located at nuclearnoir.com. I've since decided to use that domain for another project, and move to a new site where the main focus can be my blog. I figured it wouldn't be too difficult, and it really didn't seem that way, at first. I was able to copy everything, but when I finally went to click on a post's permalink, I got a 404 error.

I searched the web, and tried a few solutions. My old permalink structure had been the "year, month, day, post title" kind, so I wanted to keep it that way here. After a short while of trial and error, I found a solution. Now my permalinks work just fine. Here's how I did it.

First, I had to move my blog. I logged into my dashboard at nuclearnoir.com, and clicked on the Manage tab.

In the subset of tabs, I clicked Export.

I clicked the "Download Export File" to save all my old posts to my computer.

Then I installed a fresh version of WordPress at Misinterpreted.org, using the Famous 5 Minute Install method.

Then I FTP'd to NuclearNoir and copied the entire wp-content folder to my hard drive.

I FTP'd to Misinterpreted.org and copied the wp-content directory in its entirety over the "blank slate" version the fresh install had created.

I logged into my new dashboard at Misinterpreted.org and clicked the Options tab.

On the subset of tabs, I clicked Permalinks.

I changed the setting from Default to "Date and name based," which is how I had it at NuclearNoir.

Then I clicked the main tab Manage, and the sub tab Import.

On the Import page, I found WordPress at the bottom of the list of links, and clicked it.

I uploaded the saved export file from NuclearNoir, which added all my old posts to the new site.

Hello World was still showing as my first post here at Misinterpreted.org, since I had just installed WordPress, so I tested it's permalink. 404 error.

After various other attempts, I FTP'd to Misinterpreted.org and changed the .htaccess file.

This is what it contained before I altered it:

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

Then I added a little bit, to make it look like this:

<Directory />
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
</Directory>

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

I tested the permalink, and got a 500 Internal Server Error.

I tried to load my homepage, but got the same error.

I changed the .htaccess back to the way it was.

My site came back, and permalinks now work!

If I hadn't found a solution, I could have left permalinks on Default, since that was the only setting that worked to begin with. But I figured the date and title would be more helpful.

I hope this helps some of you trying to resolve the same problem. If anyone can tell me why changing the .htaccess file and then changing it back worked, I'd love to know.