Cool WordPress Plugins for Comments

Last week on Twitter I asked everyone about their favorite WordPress Plugins, specifically for the Comments section.

There were some great responses, so I thought I would share those here for you to check out as well…

PPCmom (Jen) asked How do you “nest” comments on your blog, Lynn? I like how comments and replies are threaded.

My reply: Good question – I outsourced that, but I’ll ask

@PaulShort: threaded comments are built in to WordPress, but your theme or design has to be set to display it that way. There are options in WP that allow you to do that. (Paul actually customized my CSS to create the threaded/nested comments you see here on ClickNewz.com)

What Are Your Favorite WordPress Plugins for Comments?

@BobtheTeacher comment relish is awesome; sends an email to someone first time they comment.

Comment relish is a Wordpress plugin developed to send an e-mail message to users who comment on your website who have never commented before. It allows you to send out a genuine thank-you style / relishing message that informs your readers of what else is going on. Details

@CreativeAgentVA Take a look at @Disqus http://disqus.com/comments/
@Marcglon I’m testing Disqus right now for the social integration – all good so far. It’s pretty sexy

Disqus Comments is a comment system and moderation tool for your site. This service lets you add next-gen community management and social web integrations to any site on any platform. Details

@ShannonCole CommentLuv is pretty good. http://bit.ly/14fx4l
@BigGirlBlue I like “comment luv”.
@JanetBarclay Another #wordpress comment plugin suggestion: Comment Luv

CommentLuv will visit the site of the comment author while they type their comment and retrieve a selection of their last blog posts, tweets or digg submissions which they can choose one from to include at the bottom of their comment when they click submit. Details

@kiwichamp latest comment luv has clean RSS so even better – also my vote is “tweet this”

TweetThis Adds a “Tweet This Post” link to every post and page. Shortens URLs. Can automatically tweet new and scheduled blog posts. Customizable. Details

@bradmarolf I’ve found the Action Comments plugin useful for helping build my list- http://bit.ly/1gfzrj

Action Comments ($17) “SNATCHES your visitors’ information from your blog comment forms… and adds them to your mailing list.” Details

@sweatyshop I also use keyword luv

KeywordLuv is a WordPress plugin, which rewards your commentators by separating their name from their keywords in the link to their website in the comments. (Cool) Details

@AndyBeard Lucia’s Linky Love, Ajax Edit Comments

Lucia’s Linky Love: Are you tired of human comment spammers leaving insipid, irrelevant comments just to get link-juice? Lucia’s Linky Love is the dofollow plugin for you! Details

@BradStCroix Here’s one Lynn http://bit.ly/pcv4N – great for product review blogs. Users rate – conversions skyrocket

GD Star Rating plugin allows you to set up rating and review system for posts, pages and comments in your blog. You can set many options for displaying the rating stars, and also add widgets into the sidebars for displaying top ratings and other statistics. Details

Best,

Staying Focused When You Work Online

People often ask me “how do you manage your work day?”

It’s a good question actually. It can be incredibly distracting to work online, not to mention that most of us are also working from a home office with all the usual distractions: television, family, unexpected company, etc, etc, etc.

Over the years I have come up with a system that works for me. This is my 13th year working online, and working from home, so of course I’ve made adjustments along the way as things changed and the kids got older. But there are some very simple core principles that have worked well for me all along…

Creating Balance

I start my day early – usually around sunrise, though in the summer months I might sleep in until 6 or 7am. I find that I am most productive in the morning hours, particularly if I wake before the children and have a good spot of quiet time to get focused.

The key is to figure out when you are most productive, and also when things are relatively calm in your home. During certain phases, especially when the children were younger, I found my best times were late at night after their bedtime. Of course, now that they are both teens their bedtime is not so early (ha!) and so I’ve just had to adjust along the way.

This is especially important for creating balance in your home and schedule. When you work from home you need your time with the family, and also your time to work online. I find that I can get most of my work done before lunch, and then spend time with my children in the afternoon. It’s important to identify those times that will work best for you, depending on your personal circumstances.

This balance is critical for efficiency and productivity. Otherwise you’ll be frustrated, stressed out, running in circles and feel like you aren’t giving any of your priorities 100% of your attention. I say that from personal experience, of course

Once you do strike that balance, you’ll find that you can give things your full attention and accomplish much more in much less time – and with much less stress.

Look at your task list and identify the things that require your full attention. You want to do these tasks when you are most focused, and least distracted. Other tasks, like social networking and cleaning out your inbox, can be done in small bits – so you want to save these to do when you only have shorter spots of time to work with.

Typical Work Day

I start my day by checking in online and ‘making my rounds’. I check email, text messages, Twitter messages, Facebook, MySpace, etc. This takes me less than half an hour, replies & updates included, and I usually do this while I sip on my first cup of coffee.

Next, I work on my daily must-do’s, which are the tasks you must do on a regular basis to maintain your online business. Some things need to be done daily, some weekly, some monthly, so you’ll need to make up a schedule for management or maintenance for your own business model.

By then I’m feeling perked up and motivated, have my space cleared, and am ready to work on the project at hand. This is my focus-time for creative work, whether that be writing or developing a product or a new marketing campaign.

I have a master task list that includes everything I need to do, or think of, or want to do – its huge. But every day I have a mini-tasklist in front of me of things that have to be done TODAY. I usually break it down into easily doable tasks and its about 3-5 things on my MUST DO list every day. I do those first – nothing short of an emergency gets to skip line.

This is how I manage the monster that is my neverending task list – by attacking it 3 tasks at a time

This usually puts me working until 10am, or maybe noon at the latest if I am working on a larger project. My focus tends to dwindle after 5 or 6 hours, so I find it’s a good time to break for lunch and a nap. During the summer months, I usually take this time to enjoy lunch and a movie with the kids.

Anything I manage to get done after the lunch hour is just a bonus. My day becomes more distracting, my focus time is much shorter, and so I take any time in the last half of the day to do less time-intensive tasks. Things that require less focus.

Staying Focused

If you’re not careful, you could spend all of your focus time completely unfocused. Have you ever looked up at the clock and realized you just spent the last 4 hours reading other people’s blogs… and have yet to make your own post for the day? And all of a sudden other things or other people are expecting your time & attention – so yet another day goes by without a new blog post.

Everyone has their own methods of staying focused, that match their style. No one way is right or wrong – it’s only right or wrong for you. The key is in identifying your focus time, working with the balance of your home, and creating a schedule that allows a comfortable flow in your unique environment.

If you are feeling scattered, unfocused and unproductive then try this exercise: Put a notepad on your desk, right next to your mouse or laptop. At the top, label it with the current day of the week: “Monday”. This is your TIME LOG. Keep a Time Log consistently for 3 days, noting the time and what you are doing – and how long it takes.

At the end of the 3 days, analyze your Time Log and take notice of “habits”. You’ll be able to see at a glance what it is that’s distracting you, how much you’ve accomplished in 3 short days, or how much time you’ve wasted on certain things. The practice of keeping a Time Log creates a sense of accountability – and tends to make you more productive on it’s own.

Try it – you’ll be amazed at how you spend your time!

Best,

New Internet Sales Tax Laws Causing Major Issues for US Merchants & Affiliates

There is a lot of upset over the new internet sales tax laws that apply directly to online sales, and are already hitting some affiliates hard.

These laws require online merchants to collect state sales tax if they have local affiliates in those states. The states currently affected include California, Hawaii, North Carolina and Rhode Island – but many other states are in the process of following suit…

Merchants have always been responsible for sales & use tax on sales made within their own state whether that be online, offline, or mail order sales. The new laws propose that online merchants should also pay state sales tax in certain states where they have affiliates. The argument being that their affiliates represent a “physical presence” in that state.

A handful of cash-strapped states have weighed laws that would use the presence of affiliate marketers to force e-commerce companies into collecting sales tax. source

The New York State legislature has included a provision in their $122 billion budget. About $50 million of this is meant to come from a tax on some online retailers. source

How will the new internet sales tax laws affect you, as an affiliate marketer or as an online merchant? Good question.

So far the damage appears to be fairly contained, directly affecting affiliate marketers in the 4 states mentioned and larger online retailers that ship physical products.

You have probably already heard the news of Amazon.com dropping affiliates in certain states, but here is a list of merchants that dropped affiliates in New York: Merchants that Dropped New York Affiliates.

Merchants are fighting back

Dropping their affiliates in the affected states is a direct message to that state regarding their disagreement with the new internet sales tax laws. Basically, they are refusing to pay the additional state sales tax by pulling their affiliate program in those states.

“It’s painful to have to terminate these relationships with affiliates, simply because they live in states where counterproductive (and likely unconstitutional) laws are being passed,” said Patrick Byrne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Overstock.com. source

The states that are looking at passing this provision to their sales tax law obviously want to increase their tax revenue. Unfortunately, given the widespread response by major online merchants, the new laws will create hardship on their local citizens – ultimately damaging their local economy even further.

Imagine for a moment that you live in New York, and earn a healthy 6-figure income from your affiliate sites. You pay income tax, and contribute to your local community. You are one person. In steps this law, your primary merchants drop you as an affiliate, your income drops to below poverty level practically overnight. (Overstock.com dropped 3,400 New York Affiliates)

Amazon.com and Overstock.com, two of the internets largest retailers, have both filed lawsuits against the state of New York. Overstock dropped the NY affiliates, while Amazon decided to pay the sales tax on sales made by NY affiliates pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

The outcome of those lawsuits, and each states response to their lack of participation in sales, will ultimately influence the future of online sales and affiliate marketing.

Personally, I applaud the merchants for taking a stand, and the affiliates who have written to their state representatives regarding the new internet sales tax laws. Affiliates in the affected states are currently taking the hardest hit, but this is something we should ALL be paying close attention to.

Will the Internet Sales Tax Laws affect you directly?

If you are an affiliate in California, Hawaii, North Carolina or Rhode Island then you have probably already experienced immediate termination by certain online merchants. What about the rest of us? You need to keep an eye on your state, because you may just be next.

The question has been raised by independent merchants, regarding their sales tax obligation in these states where they may have active affiliates. To date, the laws are obviously targeting the larger online retailers.

New York, for example, has a $10,000 threshold:

If an online retailer did not make at least $10,000 in gross sales to New York residents, they are not obligated to collect sales tax. source

It seems obvious that they are also targeting the sale of physical products. But don’t get too relieved just yet if you only deal in ebooks and virtual products. New York also wants to impose a 4 percent sales tax on online downloads of music, ring tones, games, movies and other media from online retailers. source

Are smaller retailers and info-products next on the list? Obviously that depends on each state, the outcome of current lawsuits, and the response from buyers and sellers alike. As I said, this is definitely something we all want to keep an eye on.

In the meantime, I suggest “business as usual”. Do not let this deter you from setting up affiliate sites or starting your own affiliate program. I live in Tennessee which is so far unaffected, so I plan to continue managing my affiliate sites and setting up new ones.

If you live in the affected states, and worked directly with merchants who are declining affiliates in those states, look for independent merchants to work with. Worst case scenario, you can sell profitable affiliate sites to someone in another state. Partner with someone in another state. Remove affiliate links and monetize with Adsense and advertisers temporarily until things (hopefully) resolve. Create your own info products, etc.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on these new Internet Sales Tax Laws that seem to be spreading through the states like wildfire. And affiliates from California, Hawaii, North Carolina and Rhode Island – We’d love to hear from you! What are you experiencing on your end, and what is your recovery plan?

Best,