Eleven tips to starting an online business - Fallbrook Bonsal Village News

Some financial analysts have declared that we no longer live in a bad economy and instead, that we are witnessing the emergence of a new economy, one that caters to online transactions. As a result, entrepreneurs are establishing more online businesses now than any other time in history. Here?s why.

Consumers have grown accustomed to utilizing websites

The Internet revolution, armed with computers, hand-held devices, and eventually our televisions have taken away the old method of business and the way we live our lives. Something once considered to be the playground of the younger generation has evolved into a powerful business medium for all generations.

Little monetary risk involved

Creating an online business requires little start-up capital. If one business does not work, it?s easy to pick up and start again. In fact, it?s not unusual for many entrepreneurs to operate multiple websites at once, thus creating multiple streams of income.

The resale value

The resale value of a website is not based on revenue, but by the size of the database of names and emails it contains.

Facebook generated revenues of $1.5 billion in 2010. With nearly 600 million users, Facebook?s net worth is estimated at $50 billion. Google?s revenue topped out at $6 billion. The company?s estimated net worth is about $153 billion.

Tips to starting a new Internet-based business this year

Create a business plan

Some things never change. Like any business, it all starts with a plan. Set goals and make a plan of how to achieve them. Use the services of the Small Business Administration (SBA) for guidance or go to www.sba.gov.

Use a flow chart

A flow chart is essentially a blueprint of a website (see illustration below). It is an illustration of connecting boxes and lines to define navigation and functionality.

Hire a good webmaster

The webmaster is the most important investment for an online business. Find a webmaster who has worked with start ups and understands the mission of the business.

Keep it simple

Do not overwhelm consumers with too many features, functions, and content. That?s like serving the appetizer, the main course, and dessert all at once. Add new content over time. It keeps the consumer interested and returning to the website.

Collect names and email

The key to a successful web-based business is not just search engine placement or social media. Advertisement

[ Wards Jewelers ] Communication achieves success. When new articles are published or products and services are added, inform consumers with a mass email campaign.

That?s not to say that search engines and social networking websites are to be ignored. However, without communication, the consumers will lose interest and move on to another website.

Optimize for the search engines

Ask the webmaster to code the site for the best search results. This takes some time, however, unless pay-per-click is utilized. It?s recommended to first exhaust all free forms of advertising on search engines ranking prior to taking out the credit card.

Use domain names with keywords

Search engines favor domain names with embedded keywords. If a guy named Jackie owns a donut shop in Cincinnati, instead of using www.Jackiesdonuts.com, he should consider www.Cincinnatidonuts.com. More people search for ?Cincinnati? and ?Donuts? before they search for ?Jackie.?

Use videos more then text

GoogleTV is already a big hit and is expected to grow. Eventually Internet content is going to the TV. That means less reading and more watching. Use videos for special instructions and to communicate important facts about your online businesses.

Blogs and Social Network

Blogging is a powerful method of generating visits and top rankings from search engines. Viral videos can achieve the same results. Publish an article on a popular blog site such as Blogger or WordPress. If a video has been developed, then upload it to You Tube. Then inform fellow members of Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo and any other social networking site with over a million registered users.

Use banner ads on popular websites

While a price maybe involved, advertise on a website with high volume traffic. This attracts a new audience independent of search engines and the social networking sites.

Regular networking

Owning and operating an online business does not dismiss the notion of having a one-on-one interaction with a prospective consumer. Create business cards, brochures, and go out and network. After shaking hands with prospective consumers, collect their business cards and add the information on your database.

Rare is a website that achieves overnight success. However, with patience, perseverance and a good marketing plan, the return on investment will prove worth it.

Jim Hague is a contributing writer and owner/CEO of Crystal Digital Images. Visit www.crystaldi.com for more information.

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Tips for Making a Good Blog - Associated Content

Blogging is a very popular phenomenon of modern days. Internet was never more easier to use or understand. You want to share your thoughts and views, you want to share some information or you want to raise fund please  start blogging. Because when you blog you give message to the whole world not just some community. One way or another people will see your article and understand your motive. But through blogspot, wordpress, typepad things have been much more easier than before. So it is good on one side and bad for another side. why? cause there have been numerous number of blogs registering everyday. That makes your chance down even for a little bit. Don't be disappointed because all of their level is not even near you. But if you want your blog to be famous and want to make its PR higher then you need to follow these tips:

1. before starting a blog think what subject interests you most. Because this blog is going to be yours forever and you'll have to write regularly so if the subject doesn't interests you then you won't be able to write regularly and that will result to a complete failure.

2. your blog's niche should be resourceful and popular yet there are not so much blog about that topic that is if you want to be famous in no days. The more unique niche you choose the more your chances rise.

3. Look at your friends and family, look at their interests also. That will help you a lot.

4. Use your social networking regularly yet wisely. Promote your blog through them but not in official way but in a informal way so that your friends will take it as a entertainment because they don't like official things that much.

5. manage yourself some authors for your blog alongside you. That will help your blog to grow bigger. Remember if you're alone then you can reach the top of a cliff but when you're a team you can reach the top of a mountain.

6. try to make your blog's design simple yet gorgeous. There are many sites that offer you free web template, you can try them.

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Affiliate Marketing Tips For Beginners - PRLog (free press release)

PRLog (Press Release) – Feb 01, 2011 – Affiliate marketing tips for beginners is first to "Start". If you are looking to join affiliate marketing business, following tips are just like a mile stone in this journey.

You control your actions and only have an effect on those people and things connected to you through relations and activities. The rest of the world and life you cannot control, so take some advice from one of my favorite Philosophers Bill Murray - "It Really Doesn't Matter".

You need to start each day with an empty glass and fill it the best you can, do it, start, become all you can be. Sounds like a commercial for the army. In real world business, it will add good value to your efforts.
So here are some tips for beginners in Affiliate Marketing

   1.   Find a product or company you believe in to promote.
2.   Acquire an affiliate link through their affiliate marketing program.
3.   Get a domain name and hosting from a company like Go Daddy.
4.   Outsource a web/blog site that is controlled by WordPress.
5.   Sign up with You Tube.
6.   Learn how to do keyword research.
7.   Now blast your videos out using You Tube And Traffic Geyser
8.   Use Traffic geyser to blast out your blog posts to article sites.

Now before you jump in and spend your money on things you may not need, get some help, mentoring. You need a plan of action, and realistic goals. There are some affiliate networks which offer free video training and seminars. These training videos and seminars are very useful for learning the basic and advance skills in affiliate marketing.

Millionaire Society is a private society of millionaires who's only goal is to teach you every single thing you must know to build your own 6 or 7 figure online business

If you want to make money online, join the society before it's too late.

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A team of experts providing some usefull and effective info products and software. Our main expert area is the internet marketing, affiliate marketing and SEO http://www.arabian-affiliate.com

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Wordpress Beginners Training Evaluation - Gather.com

WordPress can be a really popular blogging and internet design platform employed by many internet marketers to increase their online earnings potential. Numerous individuals from all over the world use WordPress to publish interesting and readable blog posts that market their companies, goods, and solutions and a huge percentage with the population are readers of blogs of all types.

With such a huge audience, the only way to have the ability to get a jumpstart on your career with WordPress would be to know how you can use it. This is the first step to succeeding as being a WordPress blogger, however the large dilemma right here is the fact that there are no step-by-step tutorials that provide simple and straightforward directions on blogging for revenue with WordPress. You have the power to look at a WordPress video clip tutorial online but you will not get much from it because the makers with the video clip are as well technical and as well "geeky" with their terms and descriptions.

What you, also as numerous other WordPress beginners, need is an simple guidebook on how to WordPress. This guide ought to be an organized compilation of actions and directions that are straightforward to understand and easy to comply with. What's the stage of paying a hundred dollars or much more studying tips on how to set up a weblog when you're not even confident if you are doing it properly within the first location? It's a waste of time and a waste of funds, so to steer clear of all of this trouble, you just need to study and look for the ideal WordPress tutorial program that caters to beginners without expertise.

Like any other useful house study course, a common WordPress training tutorial will teach you the basics of starting a weblog. It need to educate you the different basic functions with regards to posting entries and posting pictures and hyperlinks. The course need to guidebook you on tips on how to maintain track of all your readers and moderate the comments obtained from these readers. It should also educate you how you can boost readership for a lot more revenue. Lastly, your WordPress tutorial course ought to guide you step-by-step on how you can actually generate earnings together with your WordPress blog. You are able to do that by appealing to your readers with eye-catching WordPress themes and templates or by writing fascinating content material in your selected niche.

Inside the end, what will matter probably the most is how well you realize the suggestions and info given for you from the system and how you put into action what you've discovered into your blog. If you aren't earning any profit and also have attempted all kinds of techniques and suggestions to produce it generate earnings, there should be something incorrect with your strategy. In the event you comprehend completely tips on how to use WordPress and are creating huge quantities of revenue currently, you are undoubtedly on the correct track.

So if you are prepared to get began, start by looking via Google or Yahoo for the best WordPress tutorial for you and online goods for beginners and WordPress enthusiasts. You will definitely find all types of products which will let you know they are the very best of the very best, so make sure that you simply know just how much you're prepared to spend for this online course.

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WPZOOM Tribune WordPress Theme Review & 50% Discount Code - PRLog (free press release)

PRLog (Press Release) – Feb 11, 2011 – WPZOOM Tribune wordpress Theme review, and download Tribune theme with WPZOOM Discount Code to buy and download WPZOOM Tribune wordpress theme save money. Use the Tribune wordpress theme build a business magazine news site. Though maganzine news to get large traffic and make money use google adsense. It is a great way i used before and now! Do you agaree me?

What i do When i starting set this tpye of wordpress site, First. So I buy a WordPress hosting specialized webhost with the WPWebHost Coupon, Setup a WordPress blog. 2rd. purcase and downloadWPZOOM Tribune wordpress Theme, find and use the WPZOOM Discount Code. Fanliy i Use WPZOOM Discount Code Buy WPZOOM Tribune Theme.
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A short review of WPZOOM Tribune premium wordpress theme. Tribune is a revolutionary WPZOOM theme, offering users a professional and elegant display of articles and full control over theme features. Combined quality design and professional structure will offer a splendid presentation of your best articles, which will shock every reader.

http://premiumthemesdirectory.com/r/wpzoom

More info about the WPZOOM Tribune wordpress Theme :

Custom Menus
This theme allows you to place 4 different menus, which you can create from Dashboard using WordPress 3.0 feature – Custom Menus.

Video Widget
A built-in widget which allows you to embed quickly video from popular websites. You can simply insert the URL of the video, and it will be auto embedded by this widget.

5 More Custom Widgets
We developed even more custom widgets for this theme, like: Flickr Photos, Social Networks, Recent Articles (with thumbnail), Recent Comments (with gravatar), Popular Posts Tab.

Custom Templates
Nicely designed templates for Archive Page and Archives listing.

Flexible Layout, that can be easily changed from a Magazine Style to a Standard Blog, or even to a Business Website.
Sidebar position can be changed from Right to Left
SEO Options
Social Profile Integration
Social Bookmarking

3th: After all steps ready on build a wordpress sites. The end is to find articles from magazine news topics site. Them made you site Rank hight, Get more trafffic, more money coming!
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http://PremiumThemesDirectory.com Who is a web designer and web markter. Directory of premium themes and discount code, wordpress tips for you.

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Tips on choosing a web design firm - Gather.com

Tips on selecting a website design provider

Another great advantage of Web Design Service is that the businesses do not have to look out for a great developer in their area; they have an chance to get services associated with designers from all more than the world, this enhances the high quality of work. An inexpensive web design service is being sought after by small business owners because it doesn't just save them period but also effort and cash. You want to be your own boss and wish to use your web creating abilities, but you?lso are not sure what it really requires.

Web design is really a complicated and essential occupation. Nowadays, there is really a manipulated, perverse perception of web design. Numerous businesses, particularly little ones, equate a pretty website to a practical and effective website. The ignorance is contagious, particularly rampant amongst businesses and amateur designers. This presumption is sadly false; There's more to web sites than meets the eye.

If you are by chance is looking for affordable web design services in the web, then today you are in luck because I just gave you the right link, go ahead and check it out!

Web design is split up into design and style. Each has an extremely various purpose, yet they are both interwoven inside a website. Sometimes, the collection between design and style will end up blurred, however it it is still there

Design chases functionality, accessibility, as well as findability. A website's layout should be designed to quietly elicit certain feelings and actions through visitors via the positioning, alignment, order, and contrast of elements. Great design is actually achieved if a web site can guide visitors from point A to B with ease and luxury.

Style seeks to explain a brand. Style conveys the brand to visitors via visual details like patterns and textures.

These are only brief, vague insights in to web design, yet numerous web design business neglect design and focus upon style. Therefore, you have to be able to discern the great companies from the bad.

It ought to be noted which businesses and firms aren't the sole capable providers of good website design. You may believe that getting more individuals working on an web site is more effective, but that's not entirely true. Website design is not formulaic. Web design can't be mass produced on an assembly line. It can't wind up being stamped and imprinted for 50 dollars. Although web design is actually precise, fixed, as well as planned, design is also flexible, fluid, and creative. There is no correlation between a design team's dimension and the high quality of its produced design. So, please, don't alienate freelance web designers.

Oh yea, there are so many offers with regard to web design on the internet nowadays. The unknowledgeable and silly simply enter "web site design" into Google and then click whatever sounds good. But you are not 1 of these, well, no longer a minimum of. To discover great web-site designers, it would make sense to proceed to where good web-site designers go.

Professional design culture e-magazine A List Aside is 1. Within the web site design circle, ALA is one of the esteemed and esteemed professional "publications". Many of the world's top web designers have possibly contributed to or been noted in the journal. Its editor-in-chief is Jeffrey Zeldman. Have not heard of him? He is the founder and executive creative

director of Pleased Cog Studios, a little however major web design company. His firm has done designs for Book.com, Ma.gnolia, Doodlekit, WordPress 2.Six.3's dashboard, Warner Bros Film, UNIFEM, also as Amnesty International. Fairly an impressive portfolio, do you concur? Khoi Vinh, a designer rarely mentioned in ALA, is actually the design director for the New York Times. A List Apart magazine's web site is actually www.alistapart.com. Happy Cog Studios' web site is www.happycog.com.

Another recommendation for company owners is to visit the AIGA - the American Institute of Image Artists. They have helpful resources for businesses. You can travel to their web site at www.aiga.org.

Authentic Work is really a web jobs website set up by leading web designer Cameron Moll. It costs $75 to post a freelance contract and $250 to post a full-time job. You believe, why not go to Craig's list instead? The distinction along with Authentic Jobs is that the web designers and developers who use it are very well in melody with great web design practices. Craigslist is used by a wide range of designers, largely novices and amateurs. The web site with regard to Authentic Jobs is www.authenticjobs.com.

Exactly how else can you discover and identify good web designers? The greatest web-site designers (superlative well deserved) have contributed to design guides and organizations that advance web design methods and culture.

Whenever you browse around on their websites, you see there is no downright price table posted. This is because these companies notice that good web design isn't mass produced and offered. They aim to create distinctive solutions. However, note that by not showing costs doesn't make a web design organization good, but a great web design business does not show a cost tag downright.

Engaging a great web design service is extremely essential. An affordable web design support is what every company looks for to attract potential prospects. Engaging a good web design service is extremely crucial.
A relatively inexpensive web design service is being sought after by many entrepreneurs simply because it doesn't only save them time but also effort and cash. An inexpensive web design service is being sought after through numerous entrepreneurs because it does not only save them time but also effort and cash. An inexpensive web site design service is being desired by numerous entrepreneurs since it doesn't only conserve them time but also effort and cash.

This article is rather brief. It's up to you to end up being an intelligent and educated web site owner. It's wise to know that web design can significantly affect web site visitors and just how long visitors stay. At the same period, design by no means makes up for substance. A web site with poor content will suffer no matter exactly how well created it's.

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Write again soon: Tips for amateur bloggers - Monsters and Critics

Berlin - Many amateur bloggers probably made a New Year's resolution to get back to the keyboard more frequently. Blogger portal WordPress.com has posted some tips to help them on their way.

The site's own internal blog, entitled 'The Daily Post,' gives a new tip each day about suitable themes, how to find ideas, and what is better left off the Net.

'Share something that makes you smile,' reads one suggestion. The blog experts recommended writing about a person who should have received more attention. For those who prefer to blog about their private life, recount the biggest personal success of recent times - or the biggest success in their industry.

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Google's Thoughts On Link Building Through Comment Spamming - Search Engine Roundtable

If the nofollow attribute was built for anything, it was built for comment spam. Yes, if you do not remember, Google and the search engines worked closely with MovableType, WordPress and other blog and forum systems to help them build in the nofollow attributes to help save their search index and to help reduce comment spam. That was one, if not the single most important, reason behind introducing the nofollow attribute. It has thus been expanded for other things, such as any paid link or PageRank sculpting (it gets more complicated).

Anyway, I found an interesting thread at Google Webmaster Help which talks about the nofollow and link building through comment spamming. One thing you do not want to do is ask Google if it is okay to drop comments on blogs with the sole intent of building links. But people do crazy and wild things in official Google forums.

I was initially going to name this post, Google's final word on what the nofollow attribute blocks, but then I saw JohnMu at Google somewhat mocking the use of comment spam for link building. Hence the new focus. Let me pull out the reply from John.

Going back to the original question, commenting only with the goal of getting links is a bit lame, in my opinion. Do you honestly think that any site owner appreciates comments like "I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenter here! It's always nice when you can be informed In such way,I'm sure you had fun reading and watching this post. san diego wrongful death attorney" or "It would also be useful have the plugins categorized a little better on the website. Browsing them is a pain the backside, since you have to go thru about 10 million social plugins that are a waste of time when you specifically need web dev tools. Domain Names Australia" (both taken from our blog's spam queue this morning)? That's just pure spam, and if you're contributing to it by posting more comments like that, then I know a few people who would like to talk to you out back...

He gives two examples of poor comment spam. You and I see it every day, it is nothing new. If they get passed my spam filters, I try to manually block them - some always slip by.

But then John ends with the line that I love, "if you're contributing to it by posting more comments like that, then I know a few people who would like to talk to you out back..."

Sometimes I love the honesty here.

And what is Google's official word on how the nofollow works?

Let's be absolutely clear about this: Links that use the rel="nofollow" microformat do not pass PageRank and are not used in our ranking algorithms.

This does not mean that the target URL will never be crawled. By adding a rel="nofollow" to a link, you're essentially removing a sign pointing to the restroom. Just because that sign is gone does not mean that Googlebot will never find the restroom. Using rel="nofollow" is not a way to block crawling altogether -- if you need to do that, then use the robots.txt file.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

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Friendfeed is Cool - a Little SEO Tip - Associated Content

Friendfeed is a tidy and easy to use site and its best aspect from my point of view is that when you post something via Friendfeed it is likely to appear on the first page if not at the top of the first page of Google listings for your title.

Generally I promote via Ping.fm because there you can do everything with a single click.
I reach Twitter, Facebook, Posterous, Wordpress and Blogger using Ping fm. If you want you can also set up Hootsuite to post to Ping.fm and schedule posts in that way. Ping also handles RSS feeds.
Friendfeed is among the places I direct my Ping.fm microblog posts to.
I do not think I am telling any secrets by suggesting that life for those of us who play the waters independently can be frustrating when Google is persistent in failing to list titles where they are supposed to go.
When that happens, I use Friendfeed solo as I did recently with this title:
Free No Cost Diet Image and Advice
As I write, my Friendfeed post is at the top of the page if you search the title. It may be gone by the time you do, but that merely argues for continual vigilance. Like the Parable of the Lost Sheep.
Friendfeed Is Cool - A Little SEO Tip
Published by Stephen C. Rose
Founder Editor Renewal Magazine, Chicago. World Council of Churches, Geneva Editor RISK. Albert Schweitzer Center, MA. UNICEF DOC NY, UNDP NY. Editor CHOICES. Reach me with subject line AC at steverose at gm...   View profile
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Virtual Homes Real Estate Launches Praxius Technology Wordpress Blogging Platform - Online PR News

New Hampshire real estate marketing technology company Praxius Technology successfully launched its new mortgage leads engine at New England Mortgage Expo, and is offering a fully configured Wordpress blogging platform to lenders with an extensive video training library and weekly support and training webinars.

Online PR News – 02-February-2011 –Amherst, NH - New Hampshire real estate marketing technology company Praxius Technology successfully launched its new mortgage leads engine at New England Mortgage Expo, and is offering a fully configured WordPress site to lenders with an extensive video training library and weekly support and training webinars.

The WordPress site serves as a powerful Website as a well as a blogging platform. It allows any single individual or company to be competitive in Internet marketing, which is now more critical than ever if you want to generate homebuyer leads.

Recognizing that the essential factors in the success of mortgage professionals includes a combination of both superior tools and training, Praxius is packaging both into its new Lender-Agent Collaborative group blogging product.

Fred Doleac, President of Praxius, says that WordPress is the most powerful content management system available for building search engine optimized real estate sites.

"The websites we are providing to lenders are far more advanced than your standard blog. We are setting it up with an array of social networking tools and SEO enhanced configurations so individual lenders, with the help of our included training resources, can actually learn to compete with the big national sites like Zillow, Trulia, and Homes.com."

“We cover everything from how to add a custom signature to your Outlook emails to how to get your site to rank well on Google and bring in the kinds of leads you need to be successful in real estate. Blogging, backlinking, lead generation, best followup practices...we cover all of those topics and more.”He says the system will include a video blog and a property search tool for consumers utilizing the site. The training, though, is where he says Praxius helps lenders really leap ahead of their competition.

"What really makes us unique is our wealth of in-house knowledge about real estate marketing, search engine optimization, and lead capture. Since Praxius is a division of an established real estate sales office, our sales training resources are based on the real world. They aren't marketing hype--they actually work."

"We cover everything from how to integrate social media to how to get your site to rank well on Google and bring in the kinds of leads you need to be successful in real estate. Blogging, backlinking, lead generation, best followup practices...we cover all of those topics and more. "

To add even more value to the video training library and WordPress site, he says Praxius is also conducting weekly marketing support webinars to give clients a greater edge over their competitors.

"This level of quality in tools and training is really unprecedented in the real estate marketing arena. We want our clients to stay with us for life, and we know we have to help them make money for that to happen."

About Praxius

Praxius is a division of Virtual Homes, an Amherst, New Hampshire real estate company that has pioneered virtual back office technology, lead capture, and lead conversion processes.

Schedule a Webinar
http://praxiustechnology.com/contact-us

Contact Praxius

Fred Doleac
President
Praxius Technology
55 Ponemah Road
Amherst, NH 03031
603-732-1800 or 800-856-2479
603-732-1817 Direct
Fax toll free - 888-884-0543
http://praxiustechnology.com/

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Premium WordPress Themes Now Driven by Powerful Design Toolset - PRWeb

Portland, OR (PRWEB) February 1, 2011

Website designers, developers and do-it-yourselfers have faced a set of common problems when building and designing WordPress themes. Good designers can create visual master pieces, but without knowledge of PHP, cannot output those masterpieces as WordPress themes. The do-it-yourself group that comprises the bulk of WordPress users have long needed a way to customize themes without needing to know PHP or CSS style rules. Auspiciously, on Groundhog Day 2011, a Portland development team will release wpMosaic a new theme engine along with a set of premium themes that solves these problems.

With wpMosaic, a developer can build a theme in half the time. At the same time wpMosaic allows designers to take their sliced theme upload their images, set their colors, adjust fonts and all elements of their design to output it as a WordPress theme without ever needing to know PHP, or even CSS. The do-it-yourself crowd, will love the premium themes available to be used as is or to customize with the wpMosaic design wizard.

Premium themes in the WordPress community are typically thought of as those which are professionally designed and are supported by their developers and or a community support system. The problem with past premium themes is that they allow only a small number of customizations without a solid grounding in CSS.

According to Kelly Hodsdon “When we started developing wpMosaic it was out of a frustration that there weren’t any good theme systems out there. There were certainly good themes, but if you wanted a system that would allow you to customize a series of great themes, it just didn’t exist.” He went on to say, “As an SEO expert one of my biggest frustration was with themes that pretended to be search engine optimized, but in reality were badly coded and often did more harm than good.”

The wpMosaic core team members are Kelly Hodsdon co-owner of Big Dog Media, LLC., Michael Niles of “Blind Mikey” fame, Zack Tollman, and David Westbrook co-owner of Big Dog Media, LLC.

To learn more about wpMosaic and the current premium themes, visit http://wpmosaic.com

###

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10 Items to Consider for Business Based Wordpress Blogs - Associated Content

The current business climate has some challenges. Fortunately, this presents the perfect time to start a business. The Internet allows the creation of home based ventures. The tools available and the ability to reach  potential clients 24/7 provide a great opportunity for success. Before taking this step, it helps to understand how blogs work. Here are 10 items to consider when creating a Wordpress blog for a small business.

1. Name

First, consider a name for the blog. A unique name that will not only stand out but describes the business venture. Maintain simplicity so customers easily remember the URL but distinct enough to position itself within the marketplace.

2. Hosting

Create an account on www.wordpress.com. Then purchase an outside web host. This is the method to create a unique URL that follows standard web page naming. Advanced features such as custom programming and database support are available on web hosts. Www.godaddy.com is a good place to purchase a domain.

3. Theme

A reason why Wordpress has become so popular is the flexibility it allows. A professional design is easy to create. Custom logos, messages and artistic elements can enhance the look of the site. Custom tools and applications added to the blog provide more functionality for the user.

4. Maintenance

Never make changes to a live blog site. Sudden changes can be distracting to users. Instead, create a working copy on a local computer. This can be used to tweak and test different features. Transfer the working files to the live site with a ftp application. Www.cuteftp.com is an easy to use program

5. Settings

Determining how much user interaction will be allowed. Customer opinions can add value to the site. Be aware that some users may post inappropriate content. A policy should be communicated to the users regarding the type of content allowed. These rules will allow banning malicious users.

6. Privacy Policy

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4 Reasons to Spring A Few Bucks For That Premium Wordpress Theme - ReadWriteWeb

div#atffc { position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; } 4 Reasons to Spring A Few Bucks For That Premium Wordpress Theme ReadWriteBizReadWriteWebChannelsReadWriteStartReadWriteBizReadWriteEnterpriseReadWriteCloudReadWriteHack ReadWriteMobileInternationalReadWriteBrazil ReadWriteChina ReadWriteFrance ReadWriteSpain ReadWriteBiz All PostsArchivesFeatured Yola.com RSSTwitterFacebook 4 Reasons to Spring A Few Bucks For That Premium Wordpress Theme By John Paul Titlow / January 29, 2011 3:00 PM / 8 CommentsTweetHacker News
Our Channel ReadWriteBiz, sponsored by Yola.com, is a resource and guide for small businesses. Yola.com is an award winning website builder that makes it easy for small businesses to create a website. With Yola's professional templates and easy-to-use tools, you can make a website that helps you stand out from the competition.

When it comes to launching blogs and Websites, small businesses often go with Wordpress, and for great reasons: it's customizable, widely-used and - best of all - free. In addition to the core product, there are tons of free plugins and themes available that make building out the ultimate site a cinch.

Sure, we all love free stuff. But just because there are hundreds of free options within reach doesn't mean you shouldn't be willing to spend a few dollars.

Enhanced Security

As we wrote a few weeks ago, free Wordpress themes can come with security exploits. An analysis done by Siobhan Ambrose on the WPMU.org blog showed that most Google results for the query "free Wordpress themes" led to themes containing security exploits that enabled the inclusion of malicious code hidden in one or more of the themes PHP files. In other cases, themes can come with SEO spam baked right in, which can in turn hurt your own site's search rankings.

To be fair, most free Wordpress themes do not contain vulnerabilities of this sort. As Ambrose recommends, you can safely download legitimate, free themes from Wordpress.org, Smashing Magazine and Woo Themes, among others. But in general, premium themes are probably less likely to come with security issues than free ones. If problems do arise, many premium themes come with technical support to help troubleshoot them.

Better Design

Let's face it: In many cases, when a site is sporting a free Wordpress theme, you can tell. A surprising number of business sites even go with the default theme or another very popular option. For personal blogs, this can be forgiven. For businesses, it can look unprofessional.

Even though there are quite a few free themes that look premium, on the whole, the ones that cost a few bucks are more professionally-designed. It's worth investing a little bit to help your site stand out in the cookie-cutter crowd.

We rounded up six especially attractive Wordpress themes for small businesses, but that's only a small sampling of what's available.

We can't overstate the importance of design when it comes to business sites, especially if your site is used to sell products or capture leads. When a crummy-looking site or bad user experience can mean the difference between a completed transaction and a disgruntled would-be customer, investing in a good design is worth it.

While It's Not Free, It's Also Not Expensive

Small businesses are justifiably a budget-concious lot. That's what makes open source products like Wordpress so appealing. Yet while premium Wordpress themes are not free, they're still pretty cheap. Consider it could cost thousands of dollars to get a professional design firm to give your site a facelift, paying $20 or $50 is a drop in the bucket.

A membership to the high-quality theme directory Elegant Themes only costs $39 per year. A subscription gives you access to over fifty premium themes, with new ones being released all the time. Other examples include WooThemes, Premium Wordpress and Theme Forest.

Customization and Documentation

Anyone who knows their way around HTML, CSS and basic PHP can customize pretty much any Wordpress theme, but many premium theme developers make it easier by providing detailed documentation and, in many cases, the original Photoshop PSD files for easy graphics manipulation.

Another perk of premium themes is that many of them offer more options for customizing your site's appearance from the Wordpress admin. For example, Elegant Themes come with their own settings area called ePanels, from which you can control graphics, color schemes, SEO settings, advertisting, the site's navigation and some aspects of its layout. Many of these things are typically only editable at the theme level, which obviously requires some coding ability.

See Also The Hidden Dangers of Free WordPress Themes 5 Essential Wordpress Plugins for Small Businesses 6 Gorgeous Wordpress Themes for Small Business Sites How to Create a Web Content Strategy For Your Company Designing an Effective Contact Us Page For Your Company's Site Tweet
« Prior Post Next Post » Posted in Software Guides and tagged with design, themes, wordpress Comment Subscribe E-mail ThisPrint This Digg Share AresWhat about actually paying someone else to develop your own site, to your own needs and requirements? Yes, it may be more expensive, but then if you get the right company you will get great support and do exactly what you want, how you want it.Phil LauterjungI've tried free themes and premium themes for both personal and business sites. After trying different premium themes I have found StudioPress has the best themes and support. They have strengthened their position by merging with CopyBlogger Media; and the related products, like ScribeSEO, really enhance their already great themes. In my case, since I'm not a designer (I can barely draw 'stick people'), it was worth a few hundred dollars to have someone customize the design.Henry NgTotally agree. One should not be "Penny Wise and Pound Foolish". A great design goes a long way.Steve HilliarThe problem with paid WP themes is whether or not there is any support. I have bought three expensive themes from three different outfits and there is pitiful support. Make certain before you buy there is a real accountable person behind the theme.Jeffrey DavisI've used several child themes on StudioPress's Genesis framework and absolutely love Genesis. I don't think anyone could go wrong there.Pete SchusterI really enjoy WooThemes design as well, and I can't help but agree with the power of WordPress and the quality of some inexpensive themes. I've recently consulted several clients who are in the real estate business, and the solutions out their are incredible. For a site that should take a team of designers and develops to make can be built out and live in a few days thanks to some premium theme. Although its not ultimately the best solution, for a small business who is just starting up and has no presence on the net, it can't be beat.Tech LooserPremium themes are the way to .. unfortunately most people do not go that way

techlooser.comDJBI spent £30 on my theme and it was the best thing i ever didBostonDaveSince good themes typically range from $20 - 200, just work out your hourly rate (even if you are working inside a company) and you will see that value of starting with a premium theme and then customizing the simple items.

@Amir Agreed on the plugins as well. For example, you can spend your time working with Contact Form 7 but Gravity Forms ($39+) will get you more and without the hassle. The same logic applies here as my statement above.Roie SExcellent topic, since most free themes (even ones by the likes of Smashing mag) are made with SEO in mind for spreading well crafted footer links, while exploiting a basic human trait...Amir HelzerThe same trend is going in WordPress plugins. There are excellent free plugins, but many authors are moving to some sort of commercial model, so that they can build a sustainable business around their work.Donny GambleAny blog that I start, I always purchase a custom theme and the have a designer customize that themeblog comments powered by Disqus Sponsored byHelping your business thrive

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WordPress 3.1 RC3 Is Here, Loses AJAX List Tables - Softpedia

The third release candidate for the upcoming WordPress 3.1 is now available. Despite being very late in the development process, there are some rather big changes in WordPress 3.1 RC3 from the previous build. AJAX-based list tables have now been removed after the feature was deemed too buggy to go into production. Changes related to this have been reverted to the way they were in WordPress 3.0. "There are some significant differences from previous versions of 3.1, so please review the changes if you have been developing against a beta or RC version," WordPress.org announced.

"The biggest change is the removal of AJAX list tables, which had been an effort to move all of our list-style screens to full AJAX for pagination, searches, and column sorts, and to consolidate the list-style screens into a single API that plugins could leverage," the blog post announcement explained.

"Unfortunately, with more testing came realizations that there were too many major bugs and usability issues with how the functionality was implemented, so we’ve spent the last week rolling back the most important portions of the feature," it added.

For the users, the changes mean that all AJAX-based functionality for list tables has been removed. Everything except column sorting is now the same as it was in the previous stable releases.

The list table API has been set to private, meaning that there are no guarantees that there won't be changes that break functionality. In fact, it's likely that anything built on top of the API now will not work in future updates, so WordPress encourages developers to not use this API unless they have a very good reason.

There are good news as well, the latest RC comes with a number of fixes. The author is now properly displayed in the Quick Edit dropdown. Some fixes for theme deletion have been implemented as well as some for pages used for posts.

WordPress 3.1 RC3 is available for download here.

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Why Small Business Owners Need a Blog - BusinessWeek

If you’re a small business owner, you may have taken the plunge and put up a website. Unless you’re selling direct from the site, the chances are good that nothing much has changed on the site since it first went up.

That’s not good because search engines like Google reward dynamic websites—that is, when they see fresh content on a consistent basis they will send more potential customers to you. Static websites just don’t cut it. The problem with a regular website is you probably need to pay a webmaster to make changes. It takes too much time and money, so you don’t bother.

Here is some good news: You can make changes and consistently add fresh content to your site simply by adding a blog. Every small business should have a blog as the centerpiece of its social media program. A blog is a content management system that gives you tremendous flexibility. You might consider using WordPress, which provides you a free blog template, or, for under $100, you can buy a more flexible blog template from a company like iThemes. You can insert and delete copy, add videos, images, and podcasts that promote your company and your products and services. You yourself can do this without hiring outside help.

A blog can contain all the information you had on your old website, but you can easily make changes with updates about your company. From your blog, you can feed important information directly to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and many other social media sites where your customers are forming communities. Post an article, and it is immediately "pinged" to sites of your choice with a link back to your blog.

Jeannette Paladino
Writer-in-Chief
Write Speak Sell
New York City

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Click-Finders.com Launches New SEO Blog - Newport News, Virginia - Online PR News

click-finders.com launches a new SEO Blog using the popular WordPress platform.

Online PR News – 02-February-2011 –NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia - click-finders.com, an affordable Organic Search Engine Optimization and SEO Services / internet marketing solutions provider in Newport News Virginia, announces that they have shifted all blogging operations to a WordPress platform.

“We are very excited about this new blogging platform. The usability and interactive nature of the platform is unmatched in the blogging world.”Click-finders.com recently moved its blogging operation from an off-site blogging domain (Blogger.com) to an integrated WordPress platform on the click-finders.com domain. As a company who practices what it preaches, click-finders felt the need to implement and launch this new SEO Blog so that their readers, users and customers could more easily interact with and participate online with click-finders.com. Furthermore, operating a blog on your own domain is a known SEO technique to produce and create fresh and unique content for your web site. The fresh and unique content is a known SEO technique to ensure the search engines continue to crawl and index your site on a regular basis. The new blog is SEO optimized and has several plug-ins enabled that provide usability, functionality and a positive user experience. Furthermore, it provides and venue for click-finders to share news, information and industry related events with our clients, friends and fellow SEO colleagues.

"WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time. The core software is built by hundreds of community volunteers, and when you?re ready for more there are thousands of plugins and themes available to transform your site into almost anything you can imagine. Over 25 million people have chosen WordPress to power the place on the web they call home ? we?d love you to join the family." ? says WordPress.org.

"We are very excited about this new blogging platform. The usability and interactive nature of the platform is unmatched in the blogging world. We have already seen a tremendous difference in reader interaction and commenting and direct [Link Backs] have more than doubled." said Mike Glover, President and Director of Technical Services for click-finders.com.

click-finders.com is a small minority owned company that helps other companies increase visibility for their web site and on line presence. The company formed from industry and business veterans who are focused on enabling unprecedented insight and results through service and support.

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WP Twin 2.7 for Cloning WordPress Blog and Websites Now Available - PRLog (free press release)

PRLog (Press Release) – Jan 22, 2011 – WP Twin 2.7 - an upgrade - is now available.  WP Twin is a script that allows you to clone WP blogs in a matter of seconds.

There were a few hosting providers that were not compatible with previous versions of WP Twin.  WP Twin 2.7 contains fixes for hosting providers such as GoDaddy that did not work with the original script.

WP Twin is great for blog owners and Internet marketers who may want to create multiple blogs with a similar structure as it eliminates the process of having to install and set up your chosen WordPress theme and configuring the plugins that will optimize the performance of your blog.  Even experienced webmasters can spend hours configuring a web site.  With WP Twin, should you ever wish to create a similar web site, you can simply deploy a clone of the original.

WP Twin can also be used to create back-ups of your WordPress blog or website.  Having your website hacked into is something that website owners dread.  With WP Twin, if you regularly back up your website you never have to fear someone hacking into your website again.  If your site should become a victim to hackers you can have your website up and running again in a matter of minutes.

While it's quick and easy to manually back up your WordPress blogs and websites using WP Twin, there's an add-on that automates this process.  With the automated backup you'll never have to worry about forgetting to backup your website.  This add-on is also ideal for webmasters who manage lots of websites.

For more information about WP Twin and to watch demonstration videos on how to clone a WordPress blog and deploy a clone please visit the URL below:

http://www.WP-Twin.com

Proven Online Solutions provides tools and resources to help you to build a successful online business.

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Animetoons Premium Adult WordPress Theme

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Building a Website The Easy Way With WordPress

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Building a Website The Easy Way With WordPress

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How to install a WordPress plugins?

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Proven WordPress search engine optimization Plugin UNLIMITED

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Winona County boy building his own online empire

FREMONT TOWNSHIP, Minn. – Bailey Bestul is not your typical technology blogger. Nor your typical country boy. For the past couple of years, the Winona County sixth-grader has been writing for his own website, building an international following with his thoughts on everything from the latest Apple product to his summer vacation. He makes videos and even sells clothing, though he says he’s not interested in profit – just marketing.
He talks about page views and search engine optimization – tricks for getting his website to show up in Google searches. Send him an e-mail and you’ll get an auto-response thanking you for contacting Bailey Bestul at BNet Productions and informing you that a personal response will be forthcoming within 48 hours. He might also end an e-mail request with “please reply if it’s either a yes or a no” – just in case you forgot, this mogul is barely out of elementary school.
Recently, while analyzing his site’s traffic, he noticed hits from all over the world, but not many from Minnesota. So he decided to contact local media to generate some publicity. “When he wants to do something, he just goes ahead and does it,” said his mother, Shari Bestul. “He’s very bold. He’ll just write.”
According to his blog bio, Bailey Bestul is “a website and a webshow host in the middle of nowhere!”
The middle of nowhere is his parents’ house about halfway between Lewiston and Rushford. There’s woods to roam in, and the neighbors up the road have a swimming pool, though Bailey spends most of his free time online. “I try to drag him out more, but he’d rather be on his computer,” Shari said. Bailey, 11, started playing on the family computer when he was in first grade after he got a Build-A-Bear stuffed animal and went to Build-A-Bearville, a site where kids can play games and interact. One day he saw a message about another kid’s blog. His first thought: “I have to get one.” He learned about WordPress.com, a blog hosting site, and set up his own under his online persona, Jared Adventure. Initially he wrote about Build-A-Bearville and events in his life, like summer
vacation. In fifth grade, he and a classmate started another blog about a popular playground game at Rushford-Peterson Elementary. His teacher, Pat Hatlevig, even had Bailey give a presentation about his blog to a group of teachers from districts across the state studying uses of technology in the classroom. “He’s a pretty sharp cookie,” Hatlevig said. Bailey even helped his father, Scott, a writer for Field Stream, start blogging and has been pushing him to launch his own website.
“He’s kind of our technical adviser,” Scott said.Though his primary interest is technology, Bailey’s focus wanders. Lately he’s begun dabbling in product reviews, writing to various companies and requesting sample merchandise to review. Sure, it’s a
way to get free stuff, like the soft-serve ice cream maker that arrived this week, but he’s serious about the reviews, figuring out evaluation criteria.
Since discovering YouTube, he and his twin sister, Brooke, have begun a web show featuring their skits, which Bailey scripts, films and edits. Brooke said she enjoys making the videos, but it’s not her life’s calling. “I think that this is just a little thing to do now,” she said. “I want to be a doctor.” As for Bailey, his sights are set on a career in entertainment. “I might do some directing,” he said. “But I like being in front of the camera.”

Article source: http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/article_5e03c312-2062-11e0-bd68-001cc4c03286.html

Small Business News: Social Media/Blogging Edition

Social media and blogging have become such an important part of small businesses, particularly those operated online. So we’ve put together another edition just to share some of the latest tips, tricks and tools for this incredibly important new approach to small business marketing sales and even management. Hope you enjoy.

How to

Making your WordPress blog more social. WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms available and making your blog more social with posts more easily shared on social networks is a great way to begin creating your own community around your brand. It’s a great example of how blogging and social media work together. Here are some simple plug-ins to get you started. Simple But Creative

Success Stories

Does social media really work? Need proof that use of social media is a truly effective marketing tool? This article looks at some real and measurable success from best selling author Timothy Ferriss. Ferriss has demonstrated the effectiveness of social media marketing on its most basic level in both the promotion of his first book The 4-Hour Workweek and more recently in promoting The 4-Hour Body, his latest book. Watch as even traditional media takes notice. Financial Times

Trends

Why Facebook might not be your best bet for social media marketing. A surprise contender seems to have surpassed Facebook for sheer volume of social referrals. Data suggests StumbleUpon has become a viable player along with other social media front runners and if you need further evidence of the increased impact this site is having you need only check the stats. Forbes
Tips for local social media marketing. Examples of local businesses using social media marketing are everywhere. If your business is not yet using them, well, you may be missing out. Check out this post from Phyllis Zimbler Miller with both examples of local social media marketing and ideas for what you could do to put your best social media foot forward. Miller Mosaic Social Media Marketing.
Three ways to boost your brand with social media. No matter what platform you use on social media, one of the key missions you must undertake is brand building. In simple terms, this means creating not only an awareness of your business product or service, but also a sense of what you stand for with a community who you hope will either become customers or create referrals for you. But how do you create this brand and what is the best way to start? BizSugar

Blogging

Why every small business owner needs one. Of course, blogs can certainly be small businesses in themselves, Jeannette Paladino, Writer-in-Chief of Write Speak Sell, argues these days your business really shouldn’t be without one. Jeannette helps businesses market themselves with social media and build brands online. Here’s why she thinks your business could benefit from blogging. Bloomberg BusinessWeek
So now you’ve got a business blog. But are you really getting the results that your want? If not, what steps could you take to improve your results? If you are already getting great results, what steps could you take to make those results even better. (Hey, there’s nothing wrong with improvement, no matter how well you’re doing.) Sometimes the simplest changes, say, the three steps suggested in this post, are all you need. webbed ink

Branding

Working on your online personality. When your social media account or blog becomes the main manifestation of your company, it can save a lot of huge marketing decisions and missteps (like spending money for TV ads or billboards that don’t adequately represent who your company is and what you represent) and replace them with lots of smaller mistakes that happen every time you sit down to create a post. Here are some keys to establishing an online personality that reflects your business in a better light every day. Technorati
10 tips to rock your blogging/social media world. Blogging is the original social media, before Facebook, Twitter or any of the rest. So, it’s not too surprising that some of the tips for improving your business blog have to do with making it interactive. Always keep your readers in mind and think about what they need…and what will make them want to come back for that next post. SearchEngineWatch
10 things wrong with your business blog. Conversely, there are a few things that will definitely hurt your blog, so don’t think just because your business has one everything is fine. It’s true that creating a blog is the first step to success in social media marketing and branding online. But remember that a bad blog will create a poor impression of your brand in the same way a good blog will create a good one. Make sure you don’t commit these deadly errors, or you will undo any positive impact your business blog might have.  Daily Dose

Article source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/01/small-business-news-social-mediablogging-edition.html

How To Add The Facebook Like Button To WordPress In One Step Without Plugins

I have been working with WordPress for around 5 years now and I have built several different websites using it. I have always loved WordPress for its simplicity to install and manage but its flexibility to be able to be molded into just about any site that you want to create. As I was launching our latest site, ZoKnows, I was going through all the steps that are now routine to me and then it occured to me that there are tons of folks out there that this stuff isn’t routine for. From their I decided I would start sharing tips and tricks for WordPress that I know with others in an attempt to not only share the info, but open up discussions because there is almost always more than one way to something with WordPress... Read more here