Karen polled a number of her Twitter followers to help her compile the list, and to get a different perspective on things. This is in itself a good tip – akin to interviewing people to make good digital audio products! So those of you considering that in future, remember this : )

Enjoy the ebook!

Tracey

PS A tip from a Twitterer I follow: “Be careful: don’t send personal or private information in the Twitter Direct Message system.” As with many public sites, no part of it is encrypted, so private or personal details are hackable, even in a 1-2-1 message with a follower!

And remember : “baby steps” … one little step at a time gets you to your goal…

Creating Positive Change
by Laurie Cameron

It’s that time again …have you made your New Year’s Resolutions? Or are you like many well-intentioned people who have decided it’s a losing battle and not worth the aggravation?

New Year’s Resolutions are always filled with good intentions and hope for a better life this year than we had last year. But what happens when February rolls around and our good intentions have become a source of frustration and self-recrimination? There are many reasons why resolutions don’t stick. See if any of these feel familiar:

• Too big or too unrealistic; they create a sense of “Overwhelm-Induced Inertia.”
• Floating Resolutions; they’re not attached to your vision.
• Externally motivated; they’re what someone else thinks you should do or want.
• There’s no detailed plan or strategy to reach them, they’re all talk and no action; or your plan is too broad and not specific enough. Lack of motivation or follow-through.
• Too rigid or absolute.

If you want to create positive change in your life, here are some strategies to help you increase your chances for success:

1. Choose a resolution that feels manageable, yet still challenges you.
2. Be sure your resolution or goal is clearly attached to your vision; achieving it will take you toward your vision rather than away from it.
3. Be clear that your resolution is something YOU want.
4. Have a plan that not only defines the major steps over time, but also the small, individual action steps you can take on a daily basis.
5. Create some system of accountability; enlist the help of a Buddy who is as motivated as you are.
6. As you work your plan, allow the process to evolve and be refined.

Step up and resolve to make it a powerful and fulfilling 2009!

Wishing you well!

Here’s how it works:

1. Visit the website www.awesomehighlighter.com
2. Enter the blogsite or website address that you wish to highlight in the appropriate field
3. Click “Highlight Page” to begin highlighting important sections
4. The blogsite/website will appear with the “Awesome Highlighter” tool bar across the top
5. Highlight the content of the website that you wish to share. You can change the highlight colour by using the colour chooser on the top right corner of the toolbar
6. You can add a note as well.  It looks just like a post-it note and it allows you to add even more detail, explaining what you want to get across
7. Press “Done” in the toolbar at the top of the screen
8. You get to a page that contains the content you highlighted, and a customized URL which is the URL you send out to your team, friends, family etc to show them the important parts of a website

1. Go to http://yourdomain.com/webmail
2. Enter your email address and password
3. choose “Squirrelmail” to view your emails – the 3 choices are pretty similar; Squirrelmail is the least visually horrible : )
4. read/reply to emails in the usual way

NOTE: if you receive daily/weekly emails from “???@box???.bluehost.com” – these are your WordPress backups, so don’t delete them unless they are older than 3 months!

If you use Microsoft Outlook, The Simple Web Company can provide you with the code to configure it to get these emails, but if you use different computers for all your email, Webmail is probably the simplest way to go to always have access to your emails, even though the emails you send look a bit unrefined!

Important: The Simple Web Company does not do any email client configuration; we can provide you with the information for you to configure your own email client (e.g. Outlook) yourself, but no further assistance is undertaken.

WE RECOMMEND…

Many website and blog users may have heard of the term “SEO”, but how many of us really know what it is and how to do something about it? I’ve been gathering snippets of information to pass on to my readers & clients; I’ll keep updating this blog post as I come across more useful things.

Tip #1 – “Slugs” and “Permalinks”

“Slugs” or “permalinks” allow you to insert a topic or keyword phrase into your URL (or web address) that is used to access a page or a blog post (blog entry). This helps the search engines to find more relevant results when users search for something.

For example: the URL or website address for this particular post is http://thesimplewebcompany.com/useful-seo-techniques (it’s in the top line of your web browser) which, as you can see, has been made up from the words I used as this blog post’s title.

But if I had a particularly long or meaningless title (as sometimes happens!) it will serve me better to change the “slug” or “permalink” to something more readable and more relevant to search engines.

* Bad example: http://thesimplewebcompany.com/what-not-to-do-in-seo
* Better example: http://thesimplewebcompany.com/wordpress-seo-techniques – as this gives the search engines more useful information to work with.

By default the title you use for a blog post or page name becomes your “slug” or “permalink” name, but you can alter that very simply.

* In older versions of WordPress, you can edit the post slug in the right hand column of the post writing/editing page.
* In versions 2.5 and above, there is a link to edit the Permalink, near the top of the editing page between the page or post header, and the main body of text.

Changing these descriptions to better keyword-rich titles helps improving the SEO of your website.

Tip #2 will be posted soon…

Please feel free to send in comments, queries and suggestions using the “comment” form below, or email from the “Contact Us” page.

Good luck!
Tracey

For some people shopping online can be a daunting task.

They are extremely cautious of giving out credit card details due to fears of fraud or purchasing low quality products.To make any sales you need to provide your visitors with your credibility to reduce objections and make them feel safe in purchasing from you.

A ‘Contact Us‘ page is an effective way to show that you are real and have nothing to hide thus eliminating any fear in buying from you.

The most common information that website online use on their ‘Contact Us’ page is:
- Company Name
- Phone Number
- Fax Number
- Postal Address
- Opening Hours
- Information on the company
- Email Address
- Office Address

The more information you put on your page the more people will be reassured that you are legit.

By being contactable, it can even lead to business ventures or other great opportunities.I remember receiving a phone call from a marketer who wasn’t interested in my product, but just wanted to know about our marketing strategies.I found out he was part of one of Australia’s top wealth coaches.This would never have happened if I did not have a ‘Contact Us’ page.

We receive so many phone calls each day of people just wanting to check that we are real. They don’t have any questions they are just interested in finding out where we are and that we are a real business that they can trust.People will always appreciate honesty and need to have proof of your true identity before they will even consider purchasing from you or your company so make sure you give it to them!

Here is a blog post called “Shady Link Building Methods You Should Avoid” that explains what to avoid with back links. Remember, your online reputation is as important as your offline reputation, and similarly, if it gets tarnished it’s very hard to get back on a good footing.

Contact us if you have a question about backlinks.

You also need to be aware of not making the opposite mistake, particularly if you really want to promote your business through these sites. Many people enjoy the fun of a new site or user login, but after an initial flurry of activity, they to start to drift away from these communities. An interesting discussion on this topic has been written by management consultant Andrew Wee – he also has an interest in internet marketing. He presents a balanced approach to managing social marketing activities. I found it very helpful. Here it is: http://thesimplewebcompany.com/thislooksinteresting/AndrewWee

Enjoy your social marketing activities, and connecting with many wonderful people!

Tracey (Owner, The Simple Web Company)