1. To Establish A Presence
2. To Network
3. To Make Business Information Available
4. To Serve Your Customers
5. To Heighten Public Interest
6. To Release Time Sensitive Materials
7. To Sell Things
8. To make pictures, sound and film files available
9. To reach a highly desirable demographic market
10. To Answer Frequently Asked questions
11. To Stay In Contact With Salespeople
12. To Open International Markets
13. To Create a 24 Hour Service
14. To Make Changing Information Available Quickly
15. To Allow Feedback From Customers
16. To Test Market New Services and Products
17. To Reach The Media
18. To Reach The Education and Youth Market
19. To Reach The Specialized Market
20. To Serve Your Local Market

Bonus: DevHub has a free website builder! :)

Welcome to another edition of your personalized DevHub Weekly Times, news about the Online Empire you are building on DevHub.com. This week, I want to talk about free promotion of the sites you are building, much of which we already have incorporated within DevHub. If you want to build up a readership of your blog or visitors to your online store, then make sure you take advantage of the following:

Promote your site/posts on FaceBook and Twitter. Your immediate social circle is your best way to get the visitor cycle going. Think about the virality... Each post you make can be shared by your own FB friends or Twitter followers and they can share it with their contacts. DevHub makes this easy by offering to post your blog posts directly to FaceBook and Twitter.

Increase your chances of Getting Ranked for Keywords in Google, Yahoo!, Bing. Once your site is further along, make sure to do the task in the DevHub Stream regarding metatags and metadescription for each of your pages. Use keywords for the terms you want to rank for. This is rich information the Search Engines use to figure out what your site is about.

There's one more regarding Google, but you're gonna have to find it in the DevHub Stream!

Game on...
Geoffrey Nuval
CEO/GameMaster

UPDATE: As of 5:27:37pm PST, all game elements on DevHub are back up and running (except for Leaderboards, which should be back up shortly).  Thank you all for your patience during this process.  We will be working with our game backend partner to make sure downtime like this doesn't happen again (see BigDoor's explanation as to what happened here).

As for the == DevHub Prediction Contest ==, congrats to our Winners!!!

4:45:54pm PT -- predicted by David Marriott, Jr (davidmarriottjr.devhub.com)

4:20:00pm PT -- predicted by Curtis Kolbrenner (jumbocat.com)

6:15:00pm PT -- predicted by MJ Bedford (mjbedford.devhub.com)

Winners will receive their prizes in their accounts within the next 24 hours.  Lucky!!!

Thanks to all who participated.  We will be doing more random contests like this, communicated to our user base via this blog, our twitter account, or our FaceBook account -- so get connected and stay in the loop!

As we prepare to bring the Game elements back up (xp, levels, DevHub coins, DevHub cash, Devatars), we are giving away PRIZES to the three DevHeads out there who come closest to predicting when exactly today we flip the switch on!!

== PRIZES ==

Limited Edition DevGuru Devatar in your trophy case (for being able to predict the future).

1,000 DevHub Coins and $100 in DevHub Dollars to buy exclusive upgrades for your websites, special modules, and more in the DevHub marketplace.

      Two ways to Enter your predictions:

• On Twitter, send a tweet stating the exact time down to the second (Pacific Time) you predict the game elements get switched back on DevHub. So we can find you, end your message with a #devhub. 

             Ex. 3:45:55 pm PT #devhub

• Or, at the bottom of this blog post in the comments, state your prediction (Pacific Time).  Use your real email so we know to give you credit.

             Ex.  I predict devhub game elements will be back up at 3:45:55 PT

Hi DevHeads, since about 7 PM yesterday, our database partner who handles DevHub's tallies for xp, coins, and Devatars has been having problems with their servers.

Initially, this brought DevHub.com down, but our team reacted quickly to decouple game features (for now) from site building features.  Shortly after our partner's reported problem, DevHub's editing and usual features were back up with no problems. 

You will see once you go into your DevHub editor that your xp, coins, and Devatars are at 0.  Don't worry, you have not lost your coins and points (or been robbed, as one DevHead thought).  Once our partner is back up, you will see everything restored to normal.  (It is encouraging to see how much our users value their XP and coins.)

Remember, to get up to date information straight from the DevHub team, follow us on twitter:  http://twitter.com/devhub.

UPDATE (8/17):  We have received an update from our game database partners, and their best estimate to get the game elements (xp, coins, Devatars) back to normal will be 7:30 PM PT today (8/17).  Remember, you can still build on DevHub.com despite xp and coins not being tallied!!

UPDATE  (8/18 9:40am): As you may have noticed, the coins and xp are still not live. Our partner is working relentlessly to get things back up. They tell they are closer, but can't guarantee a specific time yet :( Don't let that stop you from building, the editor still works just as good as usual!

UPDATE  (8/18 11:20pm): So finally got additional word from our partners who handle our game database that they should finally be back up in the next few hours.  Once this is back, it will take us about half an hour to revert everything to normal.  Thanks for your patience!

UPDATE  (8/19 11:10am): It didn't happen last night (read: wee hours of the morning) but they just told us it will be back by the end of the business day. You might notice some things missing, but our partner tell us they will being rolling that out over the next few days so don't worry, be HAPPY! Again, thanks for being patient.

Here's a quote from an email we received this morning regarding this: "...the new system is
just too much fun, starting to get withdrawals..."- C.K.

Domain Registration - You were already able to do this, but now you can do it right from the market, anytime you want a domain. Simple.

WebStore Theme - If you thought your sites didn't look "web-store-y" enough to sell your goods, this is theme you need!

Any Other Ideas? - We have a lot of ideas suggested to us, but we're always hungry for more. Go here and stay tuned for next weeks additions.

Happy Weekend!

A lot of exciting things happening over here at DevHub central, from new themes to the ability to import your microblogs from popular platforms like Tumblr and Posterous. Remember, as long as you keep building, we will continue to provide you with more tools and upgrades to create your Online Empire!

One of the more exciting themes to come out lately is our new WebStore Theme for the Promote Products track. Using this theme in along with the new Amazon Products Module we created last week, you can easily create your own online store in minutes!

Even if you don't currently have a site on the Promote Products track, creating a new companion site using this combo makes a lot of sense. For instance, if you currently have a Blog on DevHub, whenever you write about a specific product you can easily place that product on your WebStore site and link to it. Creating and cleverly connecting sites like the example above is key to growing your empire.

Don't forget to check out other new upgrades in the DevHub Marketplace. We've recently expanded ways in which you can get DevHub Dollars to buy all these great things. You'll see in the 'Add Funds' panel, in addition to major credit cards, we now accept PayPal or you can complete offers provided by our Partners to get free DevHub Dollars.

Game on...
Geoffrey Nuval
CEO/GameMaster

With everything going social today, why hasn't site building or blogging?  Unless you're a large operation like the TechCrunch's and HuffingtonPost's of the world, creating a blog or website is still largely constrained to a solitary endeavor due to the limitations of current blog/site platforms today.  DevHub.com is aiming to finally change the game for the smaller bloggers out there by offering them social blogging and website building tools.

With DevHub's "Build a Site with a Friend"' option, multiple DevHub users can easily collaborate to build a blog, a small business site, or an affiliate product store.  So why create a site with a friend? Say that two friends want to start a fashion blog focused around designer purses. After signing up for a free blog on DevHub.com, they can choose the “Build a Site with a Friend” option and both share equal editing power in each of their accounts. With two site contributors on one concentrated effort, that site has more of a chance of being built up, maintained, and successful (it's like having a gym partner).  In addition to the ability to collaborate on site building efforts, DevHub takes care of the revenue split for money made on the site, so money is never a sore subject.

The result:
-Friends share common in a common goal
-Double the creative input is provided
-Automatic revenue distribution via action tracking

In addition to DevHub being a social site building platform, it also has fun elements and game mechanics integrated (see 'gamification') to keep users motivated.  Users who build a site actually see it grow as a building in their online empire.  Points and coins are attached to site building actions, with coins redeemable for site upgrades in DevHub's marketplace.  Users are updated once a week via the DevHub Weekly Times, which is personalized news about how their sites are doing.  

All in all, DevHub gives its users a fun, fulfilling experience while users build their sites and their friendships.

Amazon Upgrade: Almost every DevHub site has some Amazon products on it, so we upgraded the Amazon module so you can get less random, more specific products. Drill down to the EXACT products you want, then drag them into a list, and your ready to sell!

Go Brand Free: Ever wanted to get rid of the DevHub button in the top right corner of your site, or in the site footer? Well now you can! It only costs $1.95 a YEAR! This is a great option for those local business sites who want promote themselves over DevHub.

New Market Items: We're adding new items to the marketplace every week, and this week we have some great ones. A new theme and the aforementioned brand free option. Scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter to learn more about them.

Hello DevHeads!

Glad you could join us for another issue of the DevHub Weekly Times, personalized news about your online DevHub properties! Firstly, I want to welcome the thousands of new DevHeads who joined the DevHub community this week. Secondly, I want to give a congratulations to our DevHeads atop the DevHub leaderboards, which we launched last week.

Now onto the Topic of the Week: Affiliate Product Revenue. In conjunction with the launch of our vastly upgraded Amazon Products Module, I wanted to talk to you all about making money from placing affiliate products on your site. For those with a site on the 'Promote Products' track, you are probably familiar with this topic.

As a refresher, when a visitor clicks on an Amazon Product from your site, he/she is then sent to Amazon.com with a tracking code. For all purchases made by that visitor on Amazon, even if it isn't the initial product they clicked on, you earn 5% of all sales. The usual affiliate commission from Amazon is 4%, but since we are able to offer Amazon distribution across hundreds of thousands of sites, DevHub is able to offer the DevHead community a much better deal.

Also, remember that the Amazon Product Module can be used for any site track, be it your WebHub, Local Business or blog. With DevHub, its as simple as a drag and a drop. ;)

Game on...
Geoffrey Nuval
CEO/GameMaster

Join DevHub.com Free Website Builder

Our CEO, Geoffrey Nuval, recently jotted his own thoughts down on the gamification of DevHub.  It goes over the thought process behind much of the game elements you see in DevHub today.

If you're looking for some quick weekend reading, check out the post on his own WebHub entitled, "Why Gamify DevHub?"

Of course we've been working hard! Was it even a question? For those of you wondering what we've been putting our time into since we launched the "gamified" version of DevHub, here's a quick update.

Remember, for most of you this will be an overview since this info has come out in our weekly newsletter, DevHub Times. But for those of you have skipped over this weekly treat your inbox (shame on you!), we're offering another chance.

-Multi-Authoring: This gives you, our users, the ability to invite trusted friends to a specific site for collaboration, guest-blogging, etc.

-Leaderboards: What's a game without a leaderboard? Now you can see where you rank overall in XP and coins. Are you in the top 20?

-Referral Dashboard: Ever wonder who is signing up from your referral link? Well, wonder no more! Now you can see all of your sign-ups and the sites they've made on DevHub.

-Twitter/ Facebook Posts: Now you don't have to leave DevHub to post to your Facebook or Twiiter accounts.

-New Themes: Since launch, we've added 4 great new themes to the Marketplace. They can be bought with coins or DevHub dollars.

-New and Upgraded Modules:  Along with the new themes, we've also been working on our modules. We've added the Paypal Donate button and upgraded the Amazon module so you can drill down to specific products and more. Check it out.

-Invite Facebook Friends: We added the ability to invite your friends to join your DevHub empire directly from Facebook.

-Brand Free: For those people who don't want any trace of DevHub involvement on their website, they can pay a small yearly fee per site.

Long story short, we've been busy adding new features continually to make the experience better for you. We don't have any plans of stopping either, so make sure you drop us a lone if you have any suggestions.

Until next time,

Braden

Hello DevHeads!

Coming right at ya with another issue of the DevHub Times, breaking news about your own Online Empire! Proud to report that total DevHeads has broken through 35,000 and we're closing in on 36k! The community is growing and with every single new user, DevHub's ability to strike partnership deals on behalf of the community grows stronger!!!

Now onto the BIG TOPIC of the week: Collaborative Website Building! That's right, starting today you can now build a website on DevHub with a friend or colleague. This is great for Small Business sites to allow business partners and other employees to quickly update your site. It also works really well with the Blog track, so you can have multiple writers contribute articles to your site. Now you can become your own next Huffington Post or TechCrunch!

You'll find the Collab Button in your site dashboard, so you can pick and choose which sites to give people access to. For now, people you choose to have access to your site will have full editing capabilities, but soon you'll be able to select which parts of the editor they will have access to. Also, for all new users to DevHub you bring in to collaborate with, you get referral credit and revenue for all the sites they build on DevHub!
What are you waiting for? Go forth and collaborate!

Game on...
Geoffrey Nuval
CEO/GameMaster

Leaderboards: Ever wonder who's kicking some serious DevHub butt? Well wonder no more! The DevHub Leaderboards have just launched, showing you the most experienced DevHub users (via XP) and the richest (via Coins). Work your way up to the top of all DevHeads!

Build With Friends: Now you can invite your friends to work on a site with you! Guest blogging will help you get more original content, and cross promote each others sites!

New Market Items: We're always adding new items to the marketplace, and this week we have some great ones. Scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter to check them out.