We are looking for 2-3 part time bloggers that can deliver great content on pretty much everything related to social networks (tricks, tools, how-tos), blogging and web apps in general.

Several readers approached me about whether a great deal of experience is needed to apply.

Well, the answer is that although working knowledge with WordPress  is definitely a plus, we are looking to work with people who are not only knowledgeable in the above mentioned topics, but more important – motivated, team players and energetic.

Interested? Here are all details. Feel free to ask in case of questions.

I have just finished to set up my WordPress self hosted blog, and i am not exactly sure about how can i change my WordPress password to increase security. Can you help?

Modifying a WordPress password is typically done from the Admin panel. You will need to hit users, then hit your user name. Close to the page bottom you will see the new password field. You’ll need to type your new password twice. Make sure that you type a strong password (WordPress will alert you in case the password is not strong enough), and save your changes.

It might be advisable to log your new passwords in a secured password keeping utility. In any case, if you forget your password in the future, WordPress has an easy to use password reminder feature that you should be able to use if you are stuck with the wrong password.

Enjoy blogging

Here’s a question from Noel: I run a DIY and gardening web site, and thinking about expanding my business. For that reason i am looking for a free project management software i can use in order to organize my tasks and schedule them throughout the project.

Answer:

Thanks for the question, Noel. Unfortunately, project management software is typically a bit bloated and often expensive. A free alternative you might certainly want to consider is Open Workbench. This free piece of software provides its users with powerful project scheduling capabilities.

Installation is not trivial but it’s well documented. Be aware of the fact that to my best understanding, development of Open Workbench has been ceased by its sponsors, however, i am pretty sure that its current set of features provide a solid (and free) response for your (and other small businesses’) project management and scheduling needs.

Good Luck.

Ok let’s recap: you already have a shortlist of web sites that meet your budget and you have gathered enough information on them (traffic stats, revenue stats, technical prerequisites etc’). Now it’s the time to pick the web site you’ll going to buy.

1. Check PR is valid: If the web site that you are buying has a PR, make sure that the PR is valid. A good tool to check that is DigpageRank. By no means buy a web site with a fake PR.
2. Validate stats: Carefully check the traffic and revenue stats. Check if the traffic is consistent. Search Engine generated traffic and direct traffic are best. Social bookmarking generated traffic is inconsistent and doesn’t convert well. Bot generated traffic is really irrelevant. If the web site owner claim tha the site has revenue, check the revenue sources. Make sure that all revenue schemes are applicable to your plans.
3. Understand why the web site is sold: If you are satisfied with the revenue and traffic stats, you can ask the owner why he is selling. This is key in order to make sure that you are not being scammed.
4. Review the seller’s iTrader: Webmaster forums feature the iTrader, which is a ranking system for webmasters trading goods in the forum. The iTrader is important as it allows you to know what fellow webmasters that had business with the potential seller think about his way of conducting business. I recommend that you make sure that the seller’s iTrader is impeccable (with no negative feedback). If negative feedback is found in the iTrader history, try to understand what went wrong.
5. Negotiate the right price: After executing the mini due diligence (steps outlined above) now is time for you to negotiate the price. My rule of thumb is to bid a sum which is equivalent to 6-8 times last month revenue. So for example if last month the web site made $50, my bid will be $300-$400. This is just a rule of thumb, and not a common business practice.

Once negotiation ends, it’s time for transferring the domain and content to your possession. This will be covered in the next installment of the how to buy a site from someone tutorial.

1. Find the right niche: I recommend that before you start buying existing websites, you will make some research and locate the niches you would like to concentrate. The typical webmaster will focus on high paying niches for Adsense ads, however i believe that your main foucs should be on sites which deal with topics you master or are interested in. It’s hard to believe that you will bother to maintain your brand new Forex web site, if you don’t understand or don’t like the stock market.
2. Determine your budget: This is a key point. Before you start searching for potential sellers, you might clearly understand your constrains. Are you looking for new websites which are making marginal profit (and thus you’ll need to invest substantial time an energy in marketing, SEO etc’) , or would like to buy an establish web site?
3. Create a websites shortlist : After focusing on a niche, you’ll need to research the market to find sites which are on sale. The best place to do that are the Webmaster forums (my favorite is Digital Point). If you don’t find anything interesting, you can create a new thread to attract potential sellers. Make sure you ask for the following info from website ownsers: Domain name, traffic screen shots , revenues screen shots, traffic sources screen shots, age of domain, Google pageRank, domain registrar, technical requirements (PHP, MySQL, Apache etc’). Your target is to locate 4-5 potential websites which fits your budget requirements.

That is for today, in the next parts of our guide i will provide a few tips on how to pick the right website from your shortlist as well as how to deal with the domain and content transfer.