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Posts Tagged ‘tools’

I am excited about my new logo.  It reflects striving to become the master one of both WordPress and Mobile marketing.  These two areas are exciting and growing.  They can help your business update, improve and ultimately reach more customers while giving you greater control over your resources.   I really enjoy working on these tools for our clients.

I am constantly studying new ways to revise and improve web sites using WordPress.  Every day I spend some time researching new WP plugins, logos and designs.   I also spend time studying the latest marketing.  Mobile marketing is really in the infant stages as far as cost and reach but will grow exponentially in near future.  Internet marketers are starting to see the benefits so they will start integrating their customers into the market.

Businesses will need to integrate and learn website and mobile phone skills to stay competitive on the internet.   Users will keep moving to the web and cell phones to learn, search and buy products and services.   Businesses will  use savvy marketers to reach their customers where they are at, which is on the web or on their cell phone.

My intent is to help business and individuals use tools like websites and and cell phones to reach their customers.   My hands on experience has shown WordPress is the easiest way to implement the sophisticated tools web site owners want.   It allows you to integrate SEO, social marketing and incredible backend tools to control your site.   The second huge tool to reach customers is cell phones.   You can probably count on one hand the number of people who don’t have a cell phone now.   There are twice the number of cell phone users as there are internet users.  Any real marketer can not ignore this means of reaching more customers.

Many biz owners and individuals don’t have time to keep up with all this and that’s where me and some really cool friends can help.   We live this stuff and want to help others get on the right track as soon as possible.   My team is growing fast with some really sharp people.   We believe we have solutions to revamp your old web site or add a mobile campaign to your marketing mix.    My ideas are free so call or email and I’ll give my best to your solution.

Thanks for coming back. If you have read everything, let me know how I can help you.

Working on mobile marketing after listening to a webinar by Howie Swartz.  Look at the numbers -1.7 billion internet users to 5 billion cell phones.  There are about 6.8 billion people in the world.   Almost all phones can text message now.   Amazingly, the U.S. lags behind in the development of this technology but is starting to catch up.  Mobile marketing is in the infant stage.   Even the world bank now recognizes the economic benefit of this technology.

I am currently setting up my first mobile web page and working on setting up a business with a mobile marketing plan.   We are real excited about the potential results.   I am testing integration into our WordPress sites.

Mobile marketing has advantages over email.  Users are likely to give out their number with small incentive.  More than 90% read their messages.  Response rates far exceed email marketing.    Coupons are becoming the favorite incentive for mobile marketing.

If you would like more information email me.  My phone is over used at this moment and it’s hard to catch all the calls.  Thanks.

We get this question a lot from clients and potential clients.

Why use WordPress over any other platform?

The 3 part answer is quite simple:
1) You can customize fast.
2) You can optimize quickly.
3) It’s the easiest platform to use for someone new to managing a website.

The WordPress Installer allows you to have a site up in less than an hour, and ready to post content.

Standard HTML and Joomla are the basic ways to create a site.  HTML means you have to learn the basics of code, including CSS; and Joomla is awesome, but very difficult to get a handle on.  In other words you really need some advanced programming and software skills.  Most site owners don’t have the time or inclination to learn Dreamweaver or X-Site Pro.   They have jobs and families and are trying to make money.

We originally started out building HTML sites and quickly added a WordPress blog to go with it for social media marketing.  Then later we decided what to do with the HTML site, either keep it the same, switch it over to Joomla or an Ecommerce platform.   But WordPress has improved.  You can now do almost anything that the other platforms can do only easier, faster and with more tools.

How would you like to ensure you get a financial boost that will absolutely help you grow your income, build a giant email list and boost your marketing skills in 2010 and beyond to sustain you with multiple streams of RESIDUAL INCOME!

So the big question becomes – How do you get that BOOST that you’ve so desperately been searching for?

Well, here’s the Solution:

There are the usual ways of getting a Business BOOST: Google Buzz, Twitter, forums, Skype, etc. but all of those fail in comparison to talking to potential JV partners face to face and really getting to know them (having a beer while you talk is optional). Yes, we will cover these other Business BOOSTers while we’re here, but you’ve got to be where the action is.

The connection and trust that can be formed so quickly in person would take you months, if not years, to achieve in any online medium… Not to mention that online, most big names are busy people and have “gate keepers” to handle most of their email and phone calls. It’s practically impossible to send someone a friendly ‘hello’ anymore. Usually, they go unanswered.

But there is a way around this dilemma. It gets you past the gate keepers and gets yourself noticed and that how big deals and friendships are started.

(You do want to show them you’re the genuine article and someone worth doing business with, right?)

So what’s the secret? What do other successful people do?

Conferences!

Call them conferences, call them seminars, call them whatever you want… But they are, hands down, the best way to connect with anyone in this game and make them friendly to your cause.

You’ll have big name players, that you have been dying to meet, sitting right next you with no one to “forget” to mention you called.

It can be the chance of a lifetime and is the real “secret” behind internet marketing deal making.

To get yourself started, I recommend a conference that is right around the corner. It’s called the Boost Seminar and this year it’s running March 19th – 21st, 2010.

It’s the premier event in the USA and is going to be jam packed with incredible speakers, VIPs and potential JV partners for you to make lucrative connections with.

To find out more click on the link below:

David J Sprague

Podcasting process from burnt CD with xxx.cda track files.

1. Using MS media player 11 Rip audio to named folder in WAV format.  Essentially you copy files from CD in xxx.cda format to xxx.wav format into folder on hard drive inside your computer.
2. Open Audacity audio file editor.  Audacity is free software (can be downloaded) for audio editing.  They also have a wiki for instructions.
3. In Audacity use file tab Input audio by holding shift key down and checking all files in previously ripped folder.  Usually about five files.  It helps to both view them and input them in order.
4. Decrease file view so you can see all five. The files will input where so they would all run at the same time so you need to place them into a string or correct timeline.  Using time line movement connect all five files into the correct time string.  This involves moving or sliding files back and forth so you have correct time line of audio.
5. Export correct timeline file to folder in MP3 format.  Give saved file correct meta data titles and authors.
6. Upload  file to Amazon S3 bucket using an ftp server or firefox’s S3 organizer.  You will need correct security credentials from Amazon to do this.
7. Turn on permissions to Amazon bucket (folder) file for public access.  Copy link location onto clipboard.
8. Log into website back door and place sermon title on website and Link to S3 bucket address.
9. Test file by going to website and clicking on the link.

Notes:  You will need to use the wav to mp3 process as described to prevent additional data loss when changing to mp3 and so windows media and audacity can deal with the most familiar file types.   mp3 is probably the best for most users to access, including ipods.  Amazon S3 is the lowest  priced cloud hosting server we have found.  You don’t want to bog down your server and any podcast of any length of approximately over 15 minutes will be too large to upload with WordPress media.  Plus, should you get many simultaneous listeners to this link the server load will be on Amazon.  Enjoy.

I found this great practical information on landing pages.  Clear, simple, concise information.  If you make these mistakes you’re dead on the web.  It is long 1 hour 15 minutes, he breaks his own rule on this, but golden information from a pro.

1. Unclear Call-to-action
2. Too Many Choices
3. Asking For Too Much Information
4. Too Much Text
5. Not Keeping Your Promises
6. Visual Distractions
7. Lack of Credibility & Trust

Read the rest of this entry »

• 52% of all web traffic is video (according to industry watchdog, eMarketer)
• More than 70% of all web visitors watch online video (according to NY Times)
• The average YouTube visitor spends 27 minutes watching video per day
• The search engines visit video sites every few minutes—so your videos appear in Google, Yahoo and MSN just MINUTES after you submit, not days or weeks
• Because video is so popular, video links and clips often show up before other content

Just a quick note to emphasis that video will help your site faster than any other tool.   Learn to shoot short 2 minute segments to inform people about what you are doing.

Hi all!

I’ve been repairing fire damage and remodeling plus trying to build some sites for others. One of the most important things is verifying your WP site with the three major search engines. If they don’t know you are on the web, they’re not going to find you. After some research and head banging, I discovered the best plugin for this.

Word Press has a information link here. but it doesn’t seem to work all the time. Where in the tools page? What? What is line #6 all about?

Anyway, on to the awesome link. This is for WP installed on your own host like mine. These guys have a great tool for your content/plugins folder. This will have to be uploaded to your server folder. After that you simply activate and then access in “Plugins” drop down in your admin panel.

You must have a webmaster tools account and META code with google, yahoo and bing. Don’t worry they are free. You only use the later code in quotations and not the whole meta tag since that part is already written. That’s my banging part.  Enjoy and get yourself indexed.

If you install wordpress, you may realize there are many powerful tools to help people find your site. You will also want google, yahoo and other search engines to be aware you are out there. I have assembled a powerful list of tools I will install included in your basic site setup. There is not extra charge for installing.  These are also recommended by prominent internet guru’s.

Here is the list:

AdSense Manager
Adsense places ads on your site that you get paid for if someone clicks onto it.
Akismet
Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not. You need a WordPress.com API key to use it. You can review the spam it catches under “Comments.” To show off your Akismet stats just put in your template. See also: WP Stats plugin.
All in One Adsense and YPN
Inserts Adsense or YPN code in to your blog posts. Ad position can be random or pre-defined.
All in One SEO Pack
Out-of-the-box SEO for your WordPress blog.
Dagon Design Sitemap Generator
Generates a fully customizable sitemap. This is nice to have for search engine friendliness.
Dean’s Permalinks Migration
With this plugin, you can safely change your permalink structure without breaking the old links to your website and doesn’t hurt your google pagerank.
Do Follow
Removes the evil nofollow attribute that WordPress adds in comments.
Exec-PHP
Executes code in your posts, pages and text widgets. Only turn this on if you’re more advanced with WordPress.
FeedBurner FeedSmith
Originally authored by Steve Smith, this plugin detects all ways to access your original WordPress feeds and redirects them to your FeedBurner feed so you can track every possible subscriber.
Google XML Sitemaps
This plugin will generate a sitemaps.org compatible sitemap of your WordPress blog which is supported by Ask.com, Google, MSN Search and YAHOO.
MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer
Saves your wordpress blog from getting tagged as ping spammer by installing this plugin.
No Disposable Email
This plugin prevent people from registering with a disposable email addresses like the one provided by mailinator.
ShareThis
Let your visitors share a post/page with others. Supports e-mail and posting to social bookmarking sites. Configuration options are here.
Smart RSS
Manages and imports rss feeds from different sources sorting them by category.
Sociable
Automatically add links on your posts, pages and RSS feed to your favorite social bookmarking sites.
Subscribe Me
Adds widgets that let you display feed subscription buttons.
Subscribe Me comments
Allows readers to receive notifications of new comments that are posted to an entry.
What Would Seth Godin Do
Displays a custom welcome message to new visitors and another to return visitors.
WordPress Navigation List Plugin NAVT
Create, organize and manage your web site navigation by logically grouping your pages, categories and user’s via a drag’n drop interface. Manage your navigation lists from the NAVT Lists menu tab in the Manage menu.
WP Blog Vitals
Simple WordPress Stats Plugin to show Google Page Rank, Alexa rank, Technorati rank, Number of Posts, Comments etc anywhere on your blog to show off to your visitors.
WP Super Cache
Very fast caching plugin for WordPress.
Yet Another PhotoBlog
Convert your WordPress Blog into a full featured photoblog in virtually no time.

Now unless you are Kevin Grady (programmer guru), you probably will not understand how all these work.  Don’t wory about it.  You can activate or unactivate these plugins (wordpress calls them this) at will.    I can also install any theme or additional plugin you may request.  Again, I will not charge anything extra for this.  I just want to help you get up and running ASAP. To see how to get your site up quick go to the basic website page.