Taking Your Wordpress for an Easy Ride!

A Wordpress blog site should be nothing more than a source of information. It is more about giving than receiving. I wouldn't say, "Don't use any Adsense or no product marketing". What I am saying is that the main idea is to share the genuine helpful tips with others". Once others see the value, the site WOULD receive a share of the pie.

Sometimes simpler is better. People in their busy lives need to get the answer soon. Smart phones like iPhone , Samsung Galaxy, or any other brands with Android Operating System are becoming one of man's best friends (Dogs are still ranked #1).

I make my points in two phrases:

1. Pick up a Simple Domain when your online business wears a mobile hat!
2. Wordpress Mobile Plugin.

Name to Remember:

Say I have a website named www.yourquickgiftdeliverystore.com. It generates lots of traffic, and it is working just the way I want it to. Here is what I recommend to do. Register another domain name that is simple and easy to remember. For example qgft.com (Quick Gift). Use your own imagination. Shorter domain names are taken very quickly, so act now. Go to godaddy.com or any other domain name registrar company you know and register a simple domain name for the purpose of mobile smart phones. Using the domain administration interface, forward that newly registered domain to your original website of www.yourquickgiftdeliverystore.com.

This and That & Plug It In:

First thing to keep in practice is thumbnail images. They are faster to load, and more appropriate for the ride. I would limit the number of posts to be displayed below 3 (Login to your wp-admin part of your site, on the left column click on Settings heading, and click on Reading underneath the Settings. At the right side of the window, enter 3 for the option of "blog pages show at the most") . Search on the internet to find out what plugins are available to make your Wordpress site Smart Phone Friendly. Plugin is a program that can be added to a WP site to enhance its functionality. Some of them are free, some you have to pay for it. I personally tried a paid one called WPtouch by Brave New Code, and it did what I expected it to do. It is very easy to install and doesn't need complicated procedure to set up.

Just one word of advice: To protect yourself from receiving junk emails, go to menu + icons general settings of the plugin and clear the option of "include a link to admin Email in the menu".  This will hide your admin email address from the mobile users. Internet browsers can still contact you via the contact pages as usual.

Follow the above steps and you are one step closer to the heart of mobility!

Got to get ready for the Christmas shopping.

Jay

 A Candidate Application for iPhone & Smart Phones

Even though the idea is to get familiar with online marketing techniques, but there is something that I learned recently and like to share it with you.

If you are like me, you probably want to stay away from paper work as much as life permits! Specially, when we are talking about the chore of bookkeeping and accounting.

I am going to be more specific. I go to Staples to purchase office supply for my business. I submit my debit card to the cashier, she processes the transaction and I get a piece of paper which as soon as I get to my car, I quickly place it in my filing folder I keep for this purpose.

At the end of the week when I want to do my bookkeeping, I have to go through the receipts and enter the data into my accounting software. Let's wait a moment right here and replay it in slow motion. By looking at a receipt you have to find out who is the vendor, the dollar spent, taxes, and the most dynamically represented piece of information called date.

Back in the store, the clerk digitally processed the transaction. It makes sense that the transaction automatically gets inputted to my accounting software, before I leave the store. I am sure one of these days the smart programmers, bank officials, and store owners will come up with an automated system like that. 

I can see that the technology is almost ready to shine some lights on this issue. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has been in retail market for the past decade or more. Some of the scanners come with the OCR software. However I just realized that Microsoft Office OneNote version 2007 has that built in feature.

Just drag and drop a scanned image of a receipt into OneNote. Right click on the image and select "Copy Text from Picture". Now open your word processing program, and paste the data. 

I am personally interested to see an iPhone application for this task. I think I have seen one but it wasn't compatible with known accounting packages, and you had to enter the data manually.

The idea is to take a picture of the receipt with the iPhone and select the application and let it do the rest automatically. Another way would be: having an application on your smart phone that gets triggered by your bank transaction. And right at the cashier gives you a chance to categorize the purchase that you just did.

Till next time,

Jay

How Often Google Crawls My Site?

As you know websites get visited by Google Robots once every while. There are 2 type of crawling Google performs. One is a soft one which only monitors the main pages, and the other type of crawling is deeper and takes note of every little change you've made to your site since previous visit.

Website operators usually enhance the content of their site to offer better user experience. The only time the user can benefit from this improvement is when Google crawls your site. Naturally, the webmaster is very interested to find out when the site was crawled by Google, Yahoo or other Search Engines.

One way to find out is issue cache:www.mysite.com within Google search. The respond is (to my experience) about 10 days out of date! Another way is to look through your sites web logs.  The utility that allow you to explore this statistic is called Awstat.

Analyzing both Google Analytics and Awstat allow you to get a better understanding on how your online business is performing.

Knowledge is power; is power also knowledge? Till next time,

Jay 

It is all about socializing these days, and that is a fine fact. I can see the benefits both in business and personal life. Facebook and other Social Medias allow friends to be in touch with each other. I am always hypnotized by effect of motion pictures. Action, sound, visual effects, and story line are characteristic of a video clip. Knowing all that, makes me wonder; would we still be interested in pictures? I can hear you and I agree as well. Pictures being so simple with no sound, no story line, no live action; what is it, that makes it still a pleasure to look at. Well, I can come up with some reasoning, but the point is that we all acknowledge the special aroma of a simple static picture. Facebook utilizing pictures is pretty much satisfying that desire.

For those who like Facebook, but also like to have their own version of it for whatever reason, I suggest to register your domain. Setup a Wordpress or Joomla Blog site. Load up some pictures and comments. And there you are with your own mini social media perhaps geared towards your family and close friends. Two or three years later, you have a family history, the same way as a picture album. A memorable source to share without any advertisement blinking on the sides.

Would a simple Wordpress blog be used as a BUSINESS oriented social media? Of course, imagine a media where your employees can communicate, your suppliers can update your order status, and as a bulletin board for latest company news. Busy managers can use this excellent tool to get in touch with employees. Keeping a professional relationship with company team members increases the productivity and creates a healthy work environment.

So what are you waiting for; register a domain, setup a blog site, explore the possibilities. Forget about how to do it, just go ahead and do it!

Jay Kajavi

Reconsidering the Basics

We all have heard about the basics of website development and how to make it Search Engine Friendly. Yes, I can hear everyone is saying: 1- Use the important keywords in headers. 2- The first paragraph should include your main keywords. 3- Name your image files wisely.

As you can see these are very simple concepts and easy to understand. The questions are: Do we really follow them, and when was the last time we checked our website against these basic rules? 

As our company grows, we put aside time to improve our online marketing in parallel. I am sure we keep track of number of visitors and where they have come from. Once I know what keywords bring clients to my website, it only makes sense to concentrate more on those phrases. That is where the basic rules have to be revisited.

As we adjust our online marketing strategy, we need to reflect the idea into our website. And the minimum we can do is to incorporate the changes by following the 3 basic rules. The same holds true for offsite online marketing. If you are actively participating in blogging, you need to take the revised marketing scheme and adapt it to your blog comments.

Let me point out one last interesting; but indirect benefit of our internet marketing development: I know it is summer time and you need to head towards the beach, so I make it short. It does help you to improve your products / services. Say, my Google Analytics shows that most people end up in my website because they were searching for "blue packaged chocolate box". I think it is a golden hint that I should start considering a new line of chocolates in blue packaging.

All we need to see is only a couple of feet ahead of us, when we get there we see more. The trick is simple: start walking!

Time to play,

Jay

Accessing Application Software Remotely

How online applications evolved:

For me, it all started with DOS. Most of you probably have heard about it; Disk Operating System. Most softwares; or as they call it today applications; were running under the control of DOS. It was simple, fast, easy to troubleshoot, but lacked multi processing and limited to memory size handling. Then Windows started to appear. If my memory serves me right, it was Windows 3.0. Years later Windows 95 and the grand children were born. Of course I am coming from Microsoft generation; Apple has had its own share of success and anticipation. It is all good, we are good friends; sharing the exciting world of computation.

Programs / softwares / applications used to be specific to the operating system; for example word-processing for Windows, or for Mac, or for Linux (OpenOffice).  Online applications did not have any meanings for consumers at all. There were applications that you installed on servers, and connected workstations could make use of it. I guess, you can call those online applications as well, but not in the same concept we use it today.

Programs like Excel spread sheet run on a Windows Machine. Applications like Open Office can run on a Linux Operating System as well as on Microsoft OS. All these application softwares run locally and are designed for that particular operating system and hardware. (online applications are starting to shape). 

I have seen people who have a desktop at home, another one at office, and a laptop when they are on the go, and an IPhone to get connected to both humans and machines. Never mind the family members whom they have their own high tech gadgets. It seems that most people have to deal with at least 2 or 3 computers during each day. One can easily see how application and data management can become tremendous task. You need three word processing softwares, three spread sheet programs, and 3 sets of data to copy back and forth or sync. I mean talk about free time for play ...!

Google has realized this demand, and is offering online applications idea to rescue people trapped in juggling software/data syndrome. Online application is born now. There are also many other companies who are offering similar online applications. There are Google Apps for Business and for Education. You can learn more by visiting their website at: http://www.google.com/apps/

There are discussions regarding security of those online applications. More info at: http://jobfunctions.bnet.com/abstract.aspx?docid=1869405&promo=856&trial=25327172&tag=nl.rSINGLE&cval=bnet-alert&ctype=default

Humans are still evolving, so are the software industry. The question is where we would be in a year from now; how about in 5 years from now! I don't know the answer, but I believe future is bright.

Jay Kajavi

Blogging Manner - Respect Goes Both Ways

If you own a blog site, you probably receive comments from different peoples each day. It is quite exciting to find out that you started a topic that makes others interested in.  You feel a connection, and that definitely has its own rewards.

For example a Wordpress blog site is very alive, people interact with it, and you are the expert in helping others. The discussion that goes back and forth is an excellent source of information, you are defining the history. In a normal face to face discussion, a group of people might benefit from the conversation, but that is the end of it. Once the discussion is over, it is gone with no trace. In a blog type of conversation, the discussion stays alive for years and years. Even our future grandchildren can benefit from it.

In this article, I want to encourage you to participate in other people's blog sites. Do a search on the topics of your interest via http://blogsearch.google.com/. Once you find an appropriate one, try to engage yourself in a topic of your expertise. I would switch my mind from getting to giving mode. I mean, my comment has no effect if my intension is getting results. To get result, I have to be able to give. Of course include your website address, if you are allowed.

A very important point to consider is "Adding useful contents to the blog". Blogging manner should be followed in order to be accepted. I have seen a lot of people leave comments like: "I liked your comments, very nice, keep posting".  These sort of comments do not add to the value of the blog site, and the chances are they won't get approved. The other point is to be respectful to other opinions. The third rule is to follow up on your comments. If someone asked you a question based on your previous comment, respond to him/her in a timely manner.

In some blog sites, you are allowed to use HTML tags. For instance if you are commenting on "Ethics of Blogging", start your comment with a H1 header tag (<H1> Ethics of Blogging</H1>). Header Tags define keywords that are important in your webpage. They make the text appear to be bolder and larger in size. Also consider bolding important words using b html tag.

Following these simple steps, not only helps others, but also makes you known in the field of your interest.

Good luck, keep blogging!

Niche Market - Further Research; Micro Niche (MN)

So far we have defined our market, then we picked up a segment of that market. At this stage we are at a niche market. For the online marketing to be successful, I suggest to go one step further. I mean, "try to make it more focused". Once we dig further into our niche market, we discover our Micro Niche.

Let say we have a light bulb store and we want to come up with a micro niche. It could be for example "an energy saving light bulb for medical labs". Micro Niche could also be centered on an ordinary general purpose product like "light bulb", but marketed through the phrase of "light bulb delivered to your door".  A micro niche idea could also be seasonal, like: "bright Christmas light bulbs". As you can see there are various ways to define a micro niche market.

Once, I determine my MN, I am on my way to a successful online business. I know, you are saying that is too good to be true. I think you are right, I need to take a deep breath and evaluate my MN. OK, my MN sounds quite interesting and unique, but the question is "What do other people think about it?"

There are two ways to evaluate your MN, and I suggest to exercise both steps:

1. Get your friends and families opinions. Design a survey and collect data.
2. Go to www.google.com/sktool. Underneath Find keywords button, there is a hyperlink called: Or see top keywords across all categories. Click on that hyperlink. At the left side, select the category of interest. At the right side, you see keywords with the monthly searches. This should give you an idea about how your micro niche is going to perform. It also gives you an insight into how competitive it is.

Once you are happy with your MN, go for a walk. Yes, just put it aside for now. Every day look at your notes and research more. Perhaps ebay.com can lead you a brainstorm of ideas. As a very rough estimate, you need to spend at least 8 days to come up with your micro niche. The more confident you are on this topic, the better chance of success in future. (Good seeds, better harvest!)

Getting closer, one step at a time,

Jay Kajavi

Target Market; Niche Market

Previously we talked about contents and how to get inspired to write up.  Knowledge of your niche market answers the question of: "What Am I Supposed to Write up About". The answer gets crystal clear when the phrase "Target Market" starts to shape in our vision!

The trick is to define the target market first, before start sharpening our pencil to write. Say, I have an online Pizza store (my favorite topic). It is obvious that my target market are hungry people. You agree that is a very broad market. I need to change my angle of view to harvest its potential. I can narrow my market by targeting certain age groups, or perhaps by focusing on particular family size customers. My pizza store specialty might be vegetarian varieties; that also defines my target market.

Most business owners are aware of their target market and that is not the point of this article. My point is how to approach that target market. I am an example type of guy, so let me think of one. Imagine my online pizza store is targeting vegetarian pizza lovers. Now let's change our angle of view on that sector. Let me see, ok, how about "vegetarian Italian" or "whole wheat vegetarian pizza". It is still the same target market but viewed via a different lens.

This idea sometimes refers to as defining a niche market. Of course niche markets have their own strength in online marketing campaigns. Choosing the right niche market will payback with huge rewards. So to wrap up today's talk:

1. Define your niche market.
2. Write up the contents based on that.
3. Remember, your efforts will payback. That is the nature; energies won't get wasted!

Jay Kajavi

Yesterday, we talked about the Contents. Ok, it does make sense, I mean to make your business known to others you have to talk about it. You need to make people aware of the services you offer. This is an obvious practice, but how I am going to elaborate on it. For example, I know exactly what I know and what I can do. In my own mind, I am well aware of my strength and capabilities. However when I want to write them down, I don't know where to start and how to write about it! Here is the secret; simple but very powerful. I want you to find out where your husband/wife/child/friend is. That is right, just find your friend and talk to him/her. If you feel comfortable, discus what you want to do. It doesn't have to be strictly business; in fact; I encourage you to think of it as a pure spontaneous friendly socializing event.

When you get all excited and feel good about yourself, excuse yourself by ending your conversation in a friendly manner. Head up to your office and start your web browser. Load up www.amazon.com. At the left column, click on Books and select Magazines from the menu. At the top of the webpage you see the "search in" box reflecting your selection of Magazine Subscription. Beside that box (Search For Box), type in the topic you want to write up about. Click on Go button, and you see a list of magazines related to your topic. Take a look at each magazine name, and headlines. Soon you will find out a headline that triggers your interest and passion. Don't doubt yourself, here it is, you got it. Now it is time to write up about the inspiration you received. Work on it to the best of your knowledge, and maybe get your partners opinion.

Good luck with your effort, you will see the rewards. Just do what you can, and the benefits will eventually satisfy you.