We are told that video is the way to go, and I have to say that I struggle to find the time to listen to all the available or required videos.
Now there is another excellent video (Frank Kern, John Reese and Anthony Robbins) which has just appeared (38 mins) and I really want to listen to it. Must find some time!
As with most people I can read faster than I can listen so it does tend to get frustrating at times and I find that my mind starts to wander even if I am listening to something very interesting.
Don’t get me wrong video is perfect for showing how-to subjects and amply prove that a picture is worth a thousand words. Video has made learning a lot easier.
Not too long ago I came across this software which is very good and I have found it very useful so I thought I would mention this here so that it might help some other readers. The software allows you to speed up or slow down (to make notes) videos whenever you want.
This is not an affiliate link so feel free to check it out. You can also start with a 7-day free trial.
This is also interesting as just a few days ago I was listening to a webinar by Rich Schefren (Guru to the gurus,) and one of the things he mentioned as one of the requirements for building your business was learning speed reading/listening/watching.
There are major security issues with WordPress 2.8.0 to 2.8.3 which allow anyone, not just hackers, to change your admin password very easily.
WordPress 2.8.4 was created to solve this problem.
Many people will have ignored the upgrade link or put it off for another day (and I am as guilty of this as anyone) but in this particular instance, upgrade as soon as possible.
If you have a more recent version of WordPress you will be able to do this automatically, however don’t forget to back up first!
I am sure that most marketers are aware that it makes sense to backup your computer.
Anyone who has stared at the BSOD, otherwise known as the Blue Screen Of Death, will know all about that sinking feeling that you get when you realize you may well have lost everything on your computer.
If it is not lost then it could be if you have to reload your operating system.
I have had that sinking feeling twice on two different computers so you may well understand that I like to backup. Lesson hard learned!
Problems can occur for any number of reasons from system failures to hacking so it makes sense to backup your blog as well where you may have lots of content which has taken you a lot of hard work, a lot of time, some frustration and so on.
I have been researching the options available so I can start taking backups regularly and get some peace of mind.
There seems to be three main options and these are:
the built-in Export feature on WordPress
WordPress backup plugin
manual database backup
Option 1 is quick and easy and shouldn’t present any problems however there are limitations:
will only backup users, posts, comments and categories
will not backup links
is limited to 64MB upload limit
You can do this by going to your blog admin, then go to “Tools” and click on “Export”. You will then be taken to an “Export” page.
There all you have to do is click on “Download Export File”. You will then be taken to your normal pop-up where you can open or save file.
Save file to your Desktop or any other place that is convenient to you.
Option 2 is a downloadable plugin which will backup your entire site not just the database, can schedule backups and can also email the backup to you.
Limitations are:
you can only restore manually using something similiar to PHPMyAdmin as there is no restore function in WordPress
a greater learning curve
NB. at the time of writing this there are some compatibility issues with the latest WordPress update (2.8.1) which I am sure will be fixed soon.
Option 3 is a manual backup and would probably be more suitable to people who are comfortable with PHPMyAdmin via CPanel.
Not really for inexperienced people.
Having said that I came across an excellent video which may encourage you to have a look at manual backups. It is about upgrading your WordPress blog but has a lot of excellent advice about backing up your blog first.
Well, that is the results of my research into backing up a WordPress blog.
I hope it helps and I would welcome any comments which improve on this or otherwise.
Good luck!
It is often difficult sometimes to keep up with it all, whether it is forum posts or other blog posts.
With regard to other blog posts I have solved the problem by using the RSS Feeds on their blogs (see my previous post “What is RSS?”).
However there is a slight problem with that as a number of blogs (some very active) have not yet set up the RSS Feed for that blog.
For those that are not quite sure what to do I have created a small tutorial below which will show you how to set up your RSS feeds for WordPress, Blogger and Typepad blogs. Read the rest of this entry
One of the great time wasters in internet marketing is keeping track of sites that you like such as blogs, newspapers and so on.
It is generally assumed that everybody knows what an RSS feed is but when you click on the RSS logo on many sites nothing really happens, as it has not been “activated”.
So what is RSS?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (some say it is Rich Site Summary).
Originally it was necessary to bookmark sites on your browser and then come back and check them at intervals to see if anything had been added.
Obviously if you are tracking many sites, for example, the sites of a forum, it can be a lot of work and very time consuming.
RSS actually reverses that by telling you when there are any updates from your chosen sites by sending the updates to one specific place where you can read them at your convenience.
” This has made it really easy to not only publish regular updates to web-based content, but also keep track of a large number of your favorite websites or blogs, without having to remember to check each site manually or clutter your email inbox.
You can now streamline your online experience by subscribing to specific content feeds and aggregating this information in one place to be read when you’re ready.” Feedburner Read the rest of this entry
Last Thursday was the latest (4th) of the Alex Jeffreys modules which was about Social Media and how to drive traffic to your blog.
Start time for me is at midnight and to make things a little more interesting we were out in the forest having a weekend family gathering (compulsory!).
So, a bit behind at the moment but the boss said no computer business this last weekend (you know how it is).
However, with the help of my old laptop and the G3 “dongle”, I managed to make contact over the high trees and join the Live Coaching call.
And I am very glad I did as the content of this call from Alex was first class.
This call was all about getting traffic using Social Media.
As we all know no traffic means no list and no list means no business, so this was definitely worth listening to.
First point made was that blogs do attract Traffic.
Suggested ways to build traffic are :-
Show an interest in people
tell them what you are doing
tell people how to do it
provide good content
leave comments on other blogs
provide value on other peoples’ blogs and get some of their traffi
JVs
get involved with Twitter
use Youtube
review other blogs.
Alex used the analogy of oil rigs and fish. Man made structures(oil rigs) attract small fish, which in turn attract bigger fish, which also attract…………….and so o
This was used to explain that traffic building starts small and builds up over time.
This is started by taking a look at other blogs in your niche and making VALUE comments. By adding your signature to your comments, which should include a link to your blog, you will also receive traffic in return, if your comments are VALUE COMMENTS.
You can also add comments to the “big blogs” as well but you must, yes you’ve got it, add VALUE otherwise your comment will just be deleted.
I (an Englishman) live in Sweden with my Swedish wife, and we rent an apartment in the middle of quite a large town in the middle of Sweden.
When the summer finally arrives we do not want to be in the flat/apartment in town, so with the help of a friendly local bank, we managed to buy a very small torp out in the countryside.
A torp is very much like a Scottish croft and basically is a small, red timber house with a large red barn, usually in a large clearing in the forest where, in the past, the people living there were self-sufficient, growing food and keeping livestock .
The house is well over 100 years old and not a lot has changed as far as normal facilities are concerned so it is a case of water from the well – and so on.
Back to basics indeed.
Needless to say, our Norwegian Forest Cat loves to be here as well and soon reverts back to nature, unfortunately for the local small animal population.
I was rudely woken up by my wife’s screams the other night.
The cat had brought her a present in bed – a small, live furry animal.
