When was the last time you saw a Web hosting company that hired a blogger to spread the word about their company? The fact is blogs are making and breaking people and companies Online. Now I am not talking about what I do on my own blog. I no longer work for any Web hosting companies. I am talking about people from the company letting other folks know about updates, news, conversations going on in the background.

Information wants to be free. Sure, many Web hosting companies have message boards where folks can talk back and forth. There is something missing though. Say a Web hosting company tells an employee to start a blog about the company. He or she can start telling clients about how a situation, good or bad, was handled from their perspective. It allows that person to be a fly on the wall during positive happenings in the proverbial office.

The more personal somebody can feel around their Web host, the more likely they are going to want to do more business with them. When working Web hosting support, I always tried to get to know the people, talk with them and see how they were doing. I loved to converse with folks not only about their problem, but about themselves and how they were using the Web hosting we were providing them with. If you could do that on a much bigger scale, and reach twenty people instead of just that one, I don’t see where there is a bad side.

It is the fastest way to spread the word. That is the reason many Web hosting companies are scared of it. All it takes is one negative experience to start up a thirty page rant that makes a Web hosting company look bad. There might be some bad that filters into the blog, but hopefully if you are a good company, you will be able to answer that with ten good notes, fixes or other things that can get you on the public’s good side again. Syndication is key into all of this too. People do not even have to go to your Web site to find out what is going on. All they would have to do is start up their RSS feed reader of choice, and there you go. They could add it to their My Yahoo! page as well. The possibilities are endless.

People do not want to do business with a faceless company that cares more about looking good than looking human. I believe people want a Web host that they feel they could go have a cup of coffee with. In a business where personality is overlooked, a human face on your product could carve you out a big enough niche to really make a mark on the Web hosting world.

It makes me happy to see that discussion of my new Web hosting book has been pretty popular on some Web hosting forums. Here are just a few links to see what other folks are saying about my first book.

Web Hosting Chat Book Discussion

BrowseHosts Forum Book Discussion

As far as my progress goes, the book is done. Right now it is in it’s final set of hands. Once I have some more news, I’ll be sure to post it here first!

Also, if you haven’t noticed I changed the layout on my blog and Web site. A few more affiliates have been added as well. I have around thirty Web sites that have decided to pick up my set of articles now. Maybe I should write a book more often?

Stay away from Web hosting deals that sound too good to be true. Why? Well if it sounds too good to be true, chances are it is. There are too many good Web hosting companies out there trying their best to run a good company. Too many out there to be ruined by one snot nosed brat who thinks he can make a few bucks by telling folks false promises. One of the main reasons I got into Web hosting writing was so that I could warn people about these sort of shifty characters on the Internet.

That is right, not even Web hosting is free of low life scammers who want nothing more than to make a few bucks off of you. Thankfully though for every one low life there are ten good companies that know what it takes to really run a Web hosting business. I was reading around on digg.com the other day and saw that somebody had posted a link in the deals section for an unlimited Web hosting plan. This was nothing new to me since I have seen the word “Unlimited” used over and over in Web hosting marketing. There were a few other things that bothered me though.

Number one was that none of the Web pages on the site seemed to work. Now that should be sign number one that you do not want to do business with this company. If they are having a problem getting their own Web pages working, do you really think they are going to be concerned with yours? Well maybe I caught them on an off day. So far I have gone back three days in a row, and on all three days none of the pages seemed to work. Well, let me correct that. The Paypal link for you to pay for Web hosting seemed to work. Funny that this would be the only working link hu?

It is always great to see that a Web hosting company will take PayPal. This is often a quick and easy way of paying for your Web hosting. However, if the only thing they accept is PayPal, and you see a link on their front page to pay for your account right there, run. Most good Web hosting companies will push your sale through a secure server using their own billing software. This way they can keep a record of you in their database, and you can be sure your payments are up to date through that software. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with using PayPal, just be careful when you see these “Buy Now” buttons. Do your research first.

The next thing that got under my skin is that they were offering a “lifetime” membership for the low price of fifty dollars. Pay this, and you would never have to worry about paying for Web hosting ever again! Remember what I said about things that sound too good to be true? This falls into that category, face first. There is no way a Web hosting company can keep a server up and running this way. You have to rule in costs for running the server, support, and other business expenses. Now true, they could be aiming for bulk orders. That way they’d have enough money coming in to cover their backside.

The problem with this is, you are “never paying for hosting again!” so there is no future income for the Web host. This is a bad business model, unless you are a big enough company to where you could eat the costs it would take for such a promotional gimmick. That is right, it is a gimmick and nothing else. Do not fall for places that say you can pay an up front price then having hosting forever. In a best case scenario it would be for the life of the Web host, not the life of your Web site.

So remember, it is best to watch out for the fly by night operations when shopping for Web hosting. There are folks out there that only want your money, and not your business. Thankfully though there are a lot more honest and hard working folks that hate these practices as much as me. Even if it takes a little longer, or costs a little more, take the time to find an all around good Web host. Do your homework, and you will be happy for many Web hosting years to come.

As a devoted Windows user for so many years, it almost hurts me to say this. I might have run out of excuses for not getting myself a Mac now! I’ve just started to read all the buzz about the new Mac mini, and I do have to say it does look pretty darn sleek!

Also it doesn’t hurt that it is only $500. Windows users are going to have to come up with a new excuse because now I would say price is no longer an option. Here are a few off the top of my head:

• It is too small, You’re afraid you would loose it.
• You don’t like products that start or end with “Mac”.
• Things that are cubed scare you.
• The G4 processor reminds you too much of the hurt G4techTV has caused you.

If you know of any more, please feel free to share! Is mine in the mail just yet? Not for a while. You’d be amazed how small my budget really is. Let’s just say I didn’t become a writer to make millions of dollars.

I have been wanting a thumb drive for a while now. Something I could just plug in quickly to the USB port on the front of my machine to move a few things here and there between computers. After seeing this article over at Everything USB, I think I might want to wait a while.

We never expected this, but two of our favorite technologies – P2P and Wireless USB are about to rolled into one device thanks to Memsen’s Click n’ Share keychains. While providing the essential function of storing files as a USB flash drive, when two of these come within range of each other, wireless file sharing can take place between the two drives without any computer intervention. The keychains are also capable of interacting and downloading files such as product brochures from what Memsen calls the DataVendor, a Wireless USB enabled advertising display.

Tickle me interested and call me Sally, I want one! You can check out Memsen’s Web site for more information on this new toy.. I mean innovation.

Nobody ever said that writing a book was going to be an easy task. Now I am going through the task of going over each letter, word and sentence making sure that it is as good as gold. So far I have been able to knock off a chapter or two a day, but this is much harder for me.

I can write and write till I turn blue in the face, but stopping and becoming my own editor is a little hard. It is the way I want to do it though, because so far only my eyes have seen what has been done so far. I want to keep it that way. Next week doesn’t seem so busy, so maybe I’ll be able to get at least half way through the book by the end of next week. Wish me luck!

I like to find the occasional good deal as it comes to E-mail tools and tricks of the trade. Looking outside the conventional box, you can find many tools that have been created to solve some of the simplest problems we have. Here are a few free E-mail tools I think you will be able to get some use out of.

isnoop.net Gmail Invite Spooler

Yes, this is another way of getting Gmail invites. I think I have around six Gmail E-mail addresses, none I really use that much. I keep getting requests from people who want more invites though. isnoop.net’s tool is very simple. You are free to take an invite to Gmail. Then if you receive any invites yourself, all they ask is for you to add them back to their database so that somebody else may have a turn.

Dropload

Dropload is a place for you to drop your files off and have them picked up by someone else at a later time. At least that is the way it is explained on it’s front page. Think of it as a storage garage. You drop some large files there, and then they can be picked up later by somebody else. This is a good way of getting around sending large E-mail attachments. Many free E-mail services have a limit of the size you can send. You can also upload any type of file. The limits though are that 100MB is as large as you can get, and they will only store it for seven days.

Dodgeit

Dodgeit works as a perfect way of getting around places that require you give them your E-mail address so they can send you twenty newsletters you never asked for. You make up a “@dodgeit.com” E-mail address to give to the person wanting your information, then you go to the Dodgeit Web site to check for that “activate account” link.

YouSendIt

YouSendIt is another tool like Dropload. Here though, you can send a file as large as 1GB to somebody via their E-mail address. It also has the same time limitation though. You must get your buddy to get the file within seven days, or they will delete it from the server.

Have any other tools I didn’t mention on here? Be sure to let me know! I am always interested in looking at more new and exciting ways of getting around the occasional E-mail annoyance.

Chris Pirillo’s new technology radio show is set to debut at the Consumer Electronics Show this year! I have touched on this subject before, but since the first show is on it’s way I thought I would talk about it again. There is a lack of technology entertainment out there today. The Chris Pirillo Show is now there to fill that void.

Sure there is a lot of technology news and jargon, but not many folks who can make technology fun. Chris is one of the few folks who can make learning about technology or troubleshooting your way through a problem a breeze, rather than a nightmare.

You can start submitting your questions into Chris already, and in the future there should be more live calls added to the show. With the growing distaste for channels like g4techTV, Chris is providing a white light at the end of the tunnel.

Who is Chris Pirillo? He is the man behind Lockergnome, one of the world’s greatest technology and information resources. He is an author, having several of his works published over the years. He’s one of the folks that put the wind under the wings of the now current RSS movement. He is also the former host of the old TechTV show, Call for Help. You’ve heard of a jack of all trades? Chris is a geek of all trades.

I have high hopes for The Chris Pirillo Show which I am sure will be met and surpassed as time goes by. If you are lucky enough you can catch it being streamed live or listen to the recording of the previous episode by going to the Web site or subscribing to the RSS feeds.

Personally, I have been a fan of Chris Pirillo since his debut on the old TechTV. Remembering how resourceful and fun he made learning about computers is one of the things that made me want to become a technology writer myself. These days being able to work as a contributor to Lockergnome, I can only wish him the best of luck.

With the growing interest in podcasting by folks all around the world, I think that this new show will become the standard model for what a technology radio show should be about.

Steve Rubel has struck gold again with his latest find. I agree with him that this is one of the best resources on learning how to use RSS to monitor media Online. Hopefully the more people who learn how to use RSS, the bigger it will grow in popularity.

[Read "A Guide To Media Monitoring With RSS"]

Sorry I haven’t been around for a few days, I guess the end of the holidays and the beginning of the new year has gotten to me. Today I have been playing catch up with a few things, and by the time the day is over I should be back to normal. That is at least till something else comes up to slow down my daily progress.

The most popular thing written on this blog for last year was my post about finding Good Deals via RSS. Apparently I’m not the only cheapskate on the Internet who has a fixation with Really Simple Syndication.

Updated Lockergnome with two new stories today, feel free to check them out:

Most Reliable Host of 2004

Are Forums for You?

Hopefully I’ll be able to get some editing done on the Web hosting book today. I have wanted to clear my mind of it a little so that I can come back to it refreshed and ready to look at what I have written in a new light. The only problem though is anticipation of getting it done is starting to win me over.

I want to edit up my Web site and blog layouts today. I have already done some work over at MitchKeeler.com but there is more to be done. I just happened to look at my Google PageRank the other day and noticed that MitchKeeler.com has raised up from a PageRank of 5 to a PageRank of 6. This blog has raised up from a PageRank of 0 to a PageRank of 4.

I have added a new photo gallery, if you haven’t noticed already, on my blog. This is where I’ll post my best pictures I have taken with my new Nikon Coolpix 3200. I used to be a pretty good photographer, let’s just hope I haven’t lost any of my skill.

Well I had better get back to playing catch up!