Personal Update.
Earlier in the week I did an interview for John Bardos from YouCanTeachEnglish.com about my experiences teaching English in China. You can check it out here.
China update.
I get a week off because it’s the People’s Republic of China’s 60th anniversary. I hope to use the time to write more on my blog, read, and relax a bit. Now, you may ask, “Teddy bear, why don’t you go traveling during the national holiday instead of just staying at home?” Well, pumpkins, the reason I don’t go traveling during China’s public holidays is because hundreds of millions of Chinese use the time to go traveling.
It can be nightmarish trying to get plane, train and bus tickets in China during national holidays. Traffic is worse than normal on the highways, and in general all the tourist spots are a sea of black hair. Hence, I wait until non-peak times to go, such as at the beginning of my summer vacation while students are finishing their exams.
On Monday evening, Tianjin Medical University held a concert to celebrate China’s 60th anniversary. I recorded bits of it for you to see in the video below. It was great because many Sri Lankan students studying at the medical university here also got involved and performed some dances. The Chinese students and teachers loved it.
Notice.
Last Saturday I posted a video of Chinese university students doing their military training at my university here in Tianjin. Some of you emailed me or commented that you weren’t able to watch it due to it being on a Chinese video site. As a result, I have moved the video across to Viddler.com. You should have no problem now watching last week’s military training video.
Attempting to monetize my blog.
I’ve crossed over to the dark side and started using Adsense to try to bring in a bit more income. I noticed one of my affiliate ads had over 800 clicks, but I didn’t get a cent from that. Will let you know how it goes.
Shout Out.
I need to give a big thanks to two special guys, Seth, from Blogussion.com and Antti from Zemalf.com. They gave me some great advice this week on how to improve my blog’s SEO. Within forty eight hours of taking their advice my blog came from nowhere to make it to page three of the Google search engine for the key words “lifestyle design”.
Since I’ve switched to the Thesis theme, my blog had all but disappeared from the Google search engine for my keywords. Seth told me to dump Word Press’s “All in one SEO” plugin and use Thesis’ customizable SEO forms for each post. So, I spent two days going through all my old posts and doing the SEO individually for each post.
Antti told me to put my keyword into my H1 which meant I changed my slogan from “Get more from life!” back to the original “Lifestyle Design For You!” He also gave me some other pointers on how to write good post titles for SEO. It seems to have worked so far. I’m now getting Google traffic again for my keywords again after more than a month of nothing.
Blog posts I’ve enjoyed this week.
1. Crosstrain Your Life.
Lori Franklin tells shows us through all of her ordeals and setbacks that one can keep improving and have a passion for life.
2. Your Comfort is Not Important.
Jonathan from IlluminatedMind.net shows you how it can be dangerous to be too comfortable.
3. Zen and the Awakened Soul.
Dayne from TheHappySelf.com warns you not to miss those moments when your soul awakens.
4. The Ebb and Flow of Life.
Jen from ReachOurDreams.com teaches us how to create more flow in our lives.
5. 10 Stupid Twitter Mistakes To Avoid.
Robert Bravery from IntegralWebSolutions.com shows us ten mistakes that we should avoid while using Twitter.
Free Ebook.
Don’t forget to grab your copy of one of the best value Ebooks ever written here. Once you’ve subscribed and verified your subscription, you’ll be sent a link to your email where you can download it for free. It’s called, “Breaking Free” and teaches you how to start your own business. Check your spam folder as verification emails sometimes get filtered into spam folders.
Have a great weekend!
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G'day! I'm Gordie, founder and editor-in-chief of Lifestyle Design For You. I want to welcome you to the center of the universe when it comes to lifestyle design and personal development blogs. We're a team of ten writers providing you with articles to help nourish your mind and improve your life. Lifestyle design is about designing your life so you can do what you want when you want. 
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Gordie. I love your China updates and videos. I think they are fascinating. Also there were a lot of great resources on this page. Thanks!
I’m really happy you enjoy the Chinese updates. I wasn’t sure about putting them on this blog or not for a long time. But now that I’ve done it, I feel it was the right move.
Looking forward to seeing you on here again, Stephen.
Good work on the SEO. I use the all in one SEO plugin, but to be honest I’ve been less than ambitious when it comes to SEO for my blog. After watching @sugarrae at IZEAfest, I think I need to change that.
Thanks Nathan,
I’m no SEO expert, but I’m willing to take free advice from people much better at it than me.
Congratulations on completing another triathlon too.
A whole week off…lucky You. Nice performance too.
Good to hear about your SEO improvements.
I would need your recommendation and tips for my pages too.
They are almost non-existent on Google. Where do I start?
Hey John,
If you have Skype, you can add me: gordierogers (China). I can have a look at your blog and talk to you about your SEO.
Thanks Gordie, I would really appreciate your help on this. Yes, I am on Skype and will add you on. Catch up soon.
Good to have that down time, Gordie. Enjoy!
Those China updates and videos are nice, sort of an instant getaway.
Hey Jimi,
Glad you’re enjoying them. Be cool for you to see China in person one day.
Hey Gordie. Thanks for showing us these videos. I wasn’t able to watch the one you put on last week, but now I can.
It’s not a usual site where you see an entire army march across a track field, but it was interesting. When you said at the end you would see female college students say, “Ha! Ha! Ha!” I thought you meant the girls would be laughing! But that was actually from the girls shouting upon command, which was kind of scary.
Anyway, I think the dancing video you put up today was a little lighter… I think that made me feel more relaxed, haha.
Hi Tristan,
I’m glad you were able to eventually watch last weeks video after I put it up on a different site. I teach some of those female students, so I’ll have to watch my step. Lol!
Hi Gordie!
I’ve been enjoying your presence here in cyberspace! Thank you for being you.
I enjoy hearing about your experiences in China; great stuff!
Also, thanks for your words about SEO. Since I’ve kept business at arm’s length (when it comes to my blog, anyway) I’ve been resistant to anything SEO. But, I must say, you’ve changed my mind. (Thank you.)
Finally, I very much appreciate your shout out here of my post over at World’s Strongest Liberian. It is people like you (and Josh at WSL) that give me the rocket fuel to keep on keepin’ on.
~xo
P.S. “Teddy bear…pumpkins…” hilarious! Love it!
Hi Lori,
Welcome! As I said on WSL, I think your guest post has been the best on Josh’s blog to date.
I think it’s great that you enjoy me being myself. Sometimes, in the lifestyle design field, bloggers can come off as a bit dry or even anal retentive. I don’t like being too serious for the sake of seeming professional. The world needs more laughter.
Thanks, pumpkin!
Hey Gordie,
Don’t you know. In the bloggers universe there is no such thing as a week off. Your week off might just prove to be your busiest.
Oh, well done on the SEO. Thing to remember, is that SEO is not a one time once off thing. It’s a continual effort and maintenance.
BTW, Thanks for the Mention to my blog post. Much Appreciated.
Cheers, Robert. You’re right about being just as busy writing for my blog as usual.
Yeah, every new post that goes up will have it’s tailorized SEO Thesis sheet done.
Hey Gordie,
Very cool post about your experience in China. I found you via the interview you did with http://blog.youcanteachenglish.com/teach-english-in-china-interview-with-gordie-rogers/.
I am thinking about heading over to China to teach. Your interview seems to have convinced me that this is something I need to do.
I have been to China twice both times in the mid 90′s so I am sure things have changed significantly. Regardless I loved the country, the people, and the food. I have a degree and lots of business experience. Do you have any suggestions for companies or universities that I might contact about a position?
Keep posting videos!
Sincerely,
Roger
Hi Roger.
If you want I can put in a word for you here at Tianjin Medical University. They will need need English teachers next semester. So many choices of cities to teach in. I’m happy here in Tianjin. Only 30 minutes from Beijing by bullet train but much cheaper to live here while still being Tianjin’s third largest city.
China has changed so much since the mid-nineties. You’ll be really surprised.
Thanks for the shout out Gordie! I’ve been really busy lately but I’m happy the quick tips I gave you have worked for you
Really appreciated, Antti!
Cool! See ya soon.