HarpzOn.com - That’s One Way To Get My Attention
I have received nearly 300 reviews of my blog since starting the Review My Blog for a linkback promotion. Most blogs are happy to do a review for the free linkback since it sends traffic and helps to increase search engine ranking. However, Mitchell “Harpz” Harper of HarpzOn.com took it one step further.
Like many other blogs, HarpzOn.com did a review of John Chow dot Com (it will be listed in the next batch). Harpz then did something I would have never expected - he ordered a ReviewMe (aff) review on his blog! So, he gave me a free review and now he’s paying to have me review him. I have to admit, that’s one way to get my attention.
Who Is HarpzOn.com
HarpzOn.com blogs about business, technology and online marketing for smart entrepreneurs. The blog is the work of Mitchell Harper, a 24-year-old programmer from Sydney Australia. In addition to writing for HarpzOn.com, Mitchell is the co-founder of Interspire, a software company that makes PHP software for web designers and web site owners. The company employs 12 people.
Mitch has done very well for himself and his blog is the place where he will share his knowledge and experience. The driving theme of HarpzOn.com can be summed up with Mitch’s three favorite quotes:
- The harder you work, the luckier you get
- Failure cannot withstand persistence
- Knowledge is pointless if you don’t act on it
HarpzOn.com is a brand new blog. How new? Try five days. Mitch started the blog on March 1 but has already filled it with ten posts. If he can keep this pace up, the blog will be a warehouse of good information soon. Here’s all the posts so far on HarpzOn.com
- Website Review: JohnChow.com
- Boost Your Metabolism With Lemon
- How I Find Topics to Blog About
- Webalyzer Is To Web, FeedBurner Is To Blogs
- 6 Ways to Get Free Traffic Using Social Networking
- The Future Of Shopping Center Car Parks
- My New Sony DSC-W70 Black Digital Camera
- View Your Web Site From Your Customer’s Perspective
- Persuade Visitors to Buy With Effective Copywriting
- A Good Deed A Day Keeps Your Karma Topped Up
Areas Of Improvement
HarpzOn.com has formatting problems with IE6 that it doesn’t have with IE7 or FireFox. In IE6, the left side navigation menu is pushed down below the posts. Depending on how Mitch feels about Internet Explorer, he may or may not want to fix the problem.
HarpzOn.com offers a full feed RSS. However, something is wrong with it. The feed is not showing any paragraph breaks on my Google Reader. Instead, it shows the posts as one huge paragraph. This makes reading HarpzOn.com from a feed very difficult because some of Mitch’s posts are very long.
Mitch has chosen to monetize his blog from the get-go. Normally, I would recommend waiting until you built some traffic before slapping on the ads. However, Mitch has done such a good job on the integration I don’t mind it at all - the ads looks like they belong there. The design of the site is very clean and extremely easy to read. All Mitch has to do is fix the RSS and IE6 errors and he’ll be set.
Adding To My Backlog
In his review of my blog, Mitch posted that I have been posting wayyyy too many ReviewMe reviews. He then adds to my backlog by ordering one. I think that make Mitchell Harper almost as evil as me. 
Swing HarpzOn.com and say hi to Mitch. I have a feeling you will be hearing a lot about him the future.
- Posted in Reviews, The Net
- 50 comments what's your take?
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Not sure if it’s a Freudian slip or not but you called his site “HardzOn.com” in your last statement. LOL Just an FYI.
Reply to this commentLOL! I was just about to say - dunno if this Mitchell guy will appreciate that…
Reply to this commentIt was a Freudian slip.
Reply to this commentLOL!
Reply to this commentNice one, John. There’s that whole evil thing coming out again.
Reply to this commentlol. P & D is pretty far away to make a typo. An intention!
Reply to this commentA very interesting way to get you attention - and he obviously got it, mine too - I’m surfing his site right now!
Reply to this commentNice review John. How long does it take you to put a review like this together? Checking all the browsers and his RSS feed.
Reply to this commentBy the day break in Australia, he would be surprised on how many hits he got simply by getting Master Chao’s attention.
Reply to this commentGreat Review John, I like how you make suggestions for the client to improve his blog. Perhaps when I start earning more money on my site I’ll get you to do a reviewMe of My Retirement Project dot com.
Reply to this commentThat’s a great pace to kick off a blog, but the toughest test of a blogger is longevity.
Reply to this commentWow, I’m amazed that he would order a review of a blog that’s only five days old.
Reply to this commentSeems like a good way to get things off the ground, I’ve already read his blog and it’s got some decent articles on it. As Marc said, provided he can hold his post calibre and frequency it’ll be a decent source of info.
Reply to this commentFor two hundred fifty greenbacks, I personally would not be to particular how old someone’s blog is.
Reply to this commentSmart guy.
I subscribed to his feed.
Reply to this commentThanks for the kind words Paula. I just wanted a place to share some of my experiences with other people. I know my blog’s only 5 years old but I’m an “old pro” at writing - DevArticles.com was mine originally until I sold it in 2003 so I’ve written hundreds of articles over the past few years. I also write articles on our Interspire site and for our newsletters - it’s just something I love doing and if I can help people along the way then that’s a double bonus.
Reply to this commentOops.. 5 “Days” old. My bad.
Reply to this commentMitch - very nice blog buddy!
I just wished I signed up for your autoresponding system a week ago, when I purchased one from another notable company.
Reply to this commentLOL thanks for the review John! That was bloody quick - I only requested it yesterday
I’ll look into those errors with IE6 and RSS when I get a chance. I do see the irony in saying you post a few too many ReviewMe reviews, and then going to order one, but hey - nothing wrong with being a *little* evil myself HAH.
Thanks for the review John, and keep the posts coming.
Reply to this commentAnother day, another new blog to add to my bookmarks. This one looks to be a pretty good one, but as was already mentioned, longevity will determine the true outcome…
Reply to this commentBlog looks interesting! Subscribed!
Reply to this commentHe has a nice blog with good articles and interspire is impressive too. Just a thought… he may want to add a link to comments (and show how many comments he has) from his main page as it doesn’t have any now. In blogs, I like the fact that I can click on a comments link to immediately leave a comment. Maybe that is done on purpose for now.
Reply to this commentHey Mark,
Reply to this commentRequest noted. I’ll implement it by the end of the day
I traded a couple of emails with Mitch. He’s definitely a smart guy. I love connecting with other like-minded entrepreneurs. He’ll definitely be somebody worth watching.
Reply to this commentThe “sidebar down by your ankles” problem is a simple fix. It often occurs because of an image that pushes the sidebar too far over and with a fixed width wrap div it gets shoved down.
When you write a new post be sure to check the post preview at the bottom to make sure it looks ok.
Reply to this commentJohn your blog is turning into a site full of ReviewMe posts
Reply to this commentHe had a ton of requests right at the end of the half-price promotion and he’s catching up. Just as John mentioned: the amount of content hasn’t changed, there are just going to be more the the usual amount of ReveiwMe post until he can clear all of the requests.
Reply to this commentThe site looks good, hopefully the content will keep flowing. Had a couple of interesting articles there. He sure is trying to get his blog out, I’m sure he got quite a few more viewers today
Reply to this commentHey, Mitch. Put another shrimp on the barbie. Sorry. I had to…for whatever reason I felt compelled. Go ahead. Make fun of my Texaness now.
Great site. I plan to check it out a little more when I get home this evening.
Reply to this commentHAHAHA those aussie jokes never get old
You’d me amazed how many we get from Interspire.com on our live chat system. Stuff like:
“Thanks for the help. By the way, do you own a kangaroo?”
That’s a SERIOUS question. I love how to media promote Australia to the rest of the world. It’s hilarious.
Reply to this commentI know how you feel. Everyone thinks the Alamo is in the middle of nowhere and that we ride around San Antonio in a horse and carriage. And the Cowboys only come out at night…kinda like vampires. Just so y’all know.
Reply to this commentThat is funny - especially since the Alamo is right in the heart of San Antonio!
Reply to this commentOn top of being evil, you are really funny John!
Reply to this commentSmall world, good to see another sydneysider.
Reply to this commentHey John,
Reply to this commentThanks heaps for being an inspiration to newbie bloggers trying to monetize their sites. Cheers.
Smart move, cause I also am subscribing to his blog.
I only think he needs to be a little more “tidy”. A lot of typos, saying that he’s going to list 10 ways to get free traffic, even thought the title of that post correctly says 6, etc.
Other than that, I like both the idea and the blog.
Reply to this commentHi Rehuel. Sorry that was a typo. Fixed now
Reply to this commentI’ll contact you through your site, cause I’ve seen a lot more typos ;o)
Reply to this commentNice of you to share that with everyone
Reply to this commentSorry dude, read the whole blog the first time, found a couple of typos, but I cant promis you that I will read it all over again.
Reply to this commentSmart guy. That’s a good way to get people to your blog. Like some of the other commenters, I checked it out, too. Good blog. I hope he keeps the quality high.
Reply to this comment@Mitchell Harper
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t your last tip concerning the use of adsense irrelevant to the title of the post which clearly states “6 ways to get free traffic using social networking.” Using adsense would mean the use of currency as compensation for traffic. So where is the “FREE” in that?
Reply to this commentHi Paul. It was a simple error - now rectified. It’s a blog not a professional marketing site so I’ll slip up every now and then. I’m only human
Reply to this commentOkay, this really caught my attention. Actually the first time that I went to one of the blogs reviewed by John Chow. 656 visitors in 5 days. Not bad. I’ve got my old blog back since February 19th and hardly have any visitors. Well, time to market my blog and add more content to it. I just wonder if a blog like mine with mainly personal things can attract the attention of a lot of people.
Reply to this commentThanks, you gave me the motivation to work harder.
This is a pretty hardcore way to promote your site.
Reply to this commentHey Mark - yeah I guess it is, but I love John’s blog and I thing my blog compliments his extremely well. It’s only a few hundred bucks and I’m not selling anything on my blog - I just wanna help people out, ya know?
Reply to this comment