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!

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