Category Archives: WordPress Tips

Why Bloggers Need Reliable Email

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Professional Bloggers Require Business Class Email

Business professionals including bloggers solely depend on Internet communications. If you’re online presence is your main source of income, then it is imperative that you invest in highly reliable hosting and email hosting. Did you know that a highly reliable hosting provider provides a SLA (service level agreement)?

An SLA is a guarantee that provides a dedicated level of service. For instances, a web hosting provider that provides a Service Level Agreement of 99.99% guarantees that your website, blog or Hosted Exchange mailbox is available 99.99% of the time generally on a monthly cycle. Many bloggers make the mistake of purchasing the cheapest web hosting packages available with slow site speeds and unreliable connectivity. To be successful with your online presence and communications always go for a product that has high availability and is backed up by a comprehensive SLA.

What is Hosted Exchange and why use it?

Hosted Exchange is a cloud based email solution – that’s available anywhere in the world and from a variety of smartphone devices. Hosted Exchange is stored and located in a highly secure data centre and usually stored on multiple servers, this is known as high availability. In the event of a server fail over, you’re safe in the knowledge that your emails are accessible. High availability is crucial for business professionals and bloggers that use a variety of email communications. If your business is mission critical and works within time sensitive deadlines then high availability is for you.

Bloggers are tied to their email communications and commentators around the clock, therefore, it is important to have a reliable solution in place. If you’re providing customer service, it’s also crucial to deliver professional customer service in record time.

Are you a blogger or business professional that requires high availability? If so, it’s important to choose business class email. Did you know that a majority of Hosted Exchange solutions are preinstalled with Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus solutions? Saving you even more time and money. In a ever changing world, time is money. Customer service is an important factor of any business.

How to really stand out from the crowd

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To stand out from the crowd use multimedia

Who said that blogging was just about using text? As far I know nobody has. The blogging platform WordPress offers so much versatility that we can add another dimension to our online presence. Have you ever considered how much impact that a video or audio recording would have on your target audience?

Multimedia is another alterative that makes your blog compelling, engaging and interactive. Many bloggers write the same content over and over again. I could visit 30 blogs and they all sound the same.

I love multimedia. In fact, I have a degree in the subject. By using multimedia I could tell the same story that the over 30 blogs have done, but in more depth. If I create a video, you can see my emotions, you can learn about me and you’ll be likely to be more engaged than reading a 500 word article.

Focus on the emotions of the visitor

I am not trying to be harsh, but if you really want to stand out from the hundreds of other bloggers preaching the same story, try using a more powerful method of communication. Try using video or an audio recording. It’s not lazy using multimedia. It’s enriching and more engaging for the audience. In addition, you’re adding more value than a vast majority of the other bloggers out there.

I invite you to listen to my audio recording and be inspired to use multimedia.

[audio=http://www.atmmultimedia.net/audio-posts/use-multimedia.mp3]

Mid Week Mention Week 2

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Sharing The Best Posts From Other Bloggers

The Mid Week Mention is an opportunity to showcase other great posts written by other bloggers. I have 4 great posts to share with you this week.

  1. How to Start a Blog in a Crowded Niche – A guest blog post by Tia Peterson on FamousBloggers.net
    It is ironic because I am creating this blog which your reading (betterstartblogging.com) and thinking how will I stand out from the crowd? This post has given me some faith that I still well in this niche and so can others too.
  2. Increase Traffic and Authority by Listing Your Blog – Written By Kristi Hines on Kikolani.com
    Kristi has developed a great blog post on submitting your blog to many resources for increasing your visiblity online. This is a good resource if your starting a blog.
  3. The Road to Success – By Julius Kuhn-Regnier at AndBreak.com
    I’ve been freelancing for a short while and I agree here it is very difficult to motivate yourself even if your a blogger. This post reminds us that motivation is very important.
  4. 14 Tips to Turn Bloggers Into Friends – guest post by Tess Marshall at VirginBloggerNotes.com
    Blogging is about networking. Successful networking is very important to build relationships. This is a lovely post which reminds us about the importance of friends in a niche.

I hope you enjoy the post and I will you some more great posts next week.

How To Become A Better Person From Blogging

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Blogging provides many benefits for your hard work. Over time, you will develop new skills and become more educated person regarding your niche. Here are just a few experiences that I will share with you to become a more fulfilled, stronger and better person from your blog.

By blogging you will be helping others
We live in the information age and people use Google for answers all the time. By having a blog believe or not your creating content for an audience. Your audience will appreciate great content. A blogger is like a teacher you will educating your readers on your desired niche. You must focus on giving rather than taking.

A blog will make you a more educated person
When you start writing content for your blog there are number of skills that you develop. A blogger is consistently reading, researching and writing in order to feed the needs of their readers. Blogging covers constant personal and professional development.

If your blog is in a rapidly evolving niche such as: blogging, social media, WordPress related or web design it is vital to continue learning to stay ahead. A course on improving your writing skills wouldn’t go a miss neither. Learning to improve your writing skills is an additional must for a blogger.

Productivity
A good blogger will have commitments to keep to their readers and being productive is the key. A productive and pro-active person will do well as a blogger. If you plan ahead this will help you to succeed in all areas of your life.

Don’t take negative feed back personally
You’ll find your readers may provide negative feedback. It happens. I’ve had more positive comments and one or two negative comments. I love it when people give me negative comments, because it is a change from the norm and I learn something from my mistakes. I am not always right or nobody is.

Be Humble
You’ll find that I don’t call myself an “expert”, a “guru” or an “extraordinaire”. There are many reasons for that. The best reason is I had previous experience with a  “so-called Internet business extraordinaire”, their advice was related to hosting and they given the worst advice possible. More importantly, from this story, it proves that nobody knows everything.  Nobody is perfect. I am a freelance web designer and blogger. Not a” web design extraordinaire” or a “web design guru”. It is impossible to be.

These terms make people sound big-headed or a know-it-all. There is always going to be someone better at what you do than you. Never forget that fact.

Blogging is about networking rather than making millions
Anything that is related to making lots of money is often glamourised. However, blogging offers a huge opportunity to network and the more people you know the better. You never know where it may lead.

Blogging from your iPhone

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Blogging from a hand held device

A majority of bloggers are “white collar workers”, where they are based in an office for 8 hours a day working hard in front of a computer.

I am a web designer and blogger. Just like other people I get bored of sitting in front a laptop. Blogging  can be a good vehicle to develop a long term business.

It is very hard to work 8 hours a day then go home and work on a blog. I’ve been there it is not easy and fun.

If you’re passionate about blogging you will always find a way to develop great content. For me personally, I am a web designer and I spend most of my life in front of a computer.

I need a break from a laptop. I do get bored being in front of a laptop. You can be passionate about blogging or developing websites but it is very important to have a balanced lifestyle.

Since I was kid (I still am at 24), I’ve loved handheld technology such as the Nintendo GameBoy, the Sega GameGear and those little LCD handheld games. I loved them because you were able to play them anywhere.

It is important for me to have freedom and flexibility. Coding WordPress templates or developing web pages is a demanding process. I see blogging on the iPhone as a form of escapism from blogging on my laptop.

Inspiration is much easier in an open environment. Blogging away from an office is one of the best ways to generate new ideas, because you’re in different surroundings.

Blogging is an important aspect of what I do. It is vital for me to blog so that I can educate my target audience and create potential customers.

Mobile Blogging

The iPhone is a very powerful mobile device. It cost me over £365 and I want to maximise this mobile technology. It is much more than just a phone, the iPhone can be considered as a great tool for bloggers. I am not saying rush out and buy one cause they are pricey.

This gadget is excellent for blogging. I am using the “WordPress App”, it is free and I love it. It is not perfect, but it is great for writing drafts and when I use my laptop I can optimise these posts with title tags, back links, videos and photos.

I having so much fun with this platform that it is like writing a long text.

To summarise this post. If you spend most of your life in front of a computer if you’ve the technology look at other methods of developing your content. If you got an iPhone or Blackberry try and use it. Go and write blog posts somewhere different such as: in the garden, in the park, near the beach, in a pub, in a coffee shop or even in your bed.

It doesn’t matter where you blog as long as you have fun with your time and your blog.

Blogging while on holiday

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Blogging Tips: Blogging while on holiday

Content is the most important factor for any blog. The content is the “bloodline” of your blogging system. As you’re reading this blog post I am on a beach in the Mediterranean with my wonderful girlfriend and celebrating my “25th birthday” in a different country. I am not on holiday writing blog posts in an Internet cafe. I’ve written my blog posts in advance.

3 Reasons why you must blog posts in advance

  1. Building momentum is very difficult when your blogging. It may take a few good months to build a decent amount of traffic and visitors. Once you’ve built momentum it is easier to continue using that momentum to take your blog to the next level.
  2. When you stop blogging you start losing traffic. It is important to keep your traffic steady and constantly growing.
  3. You must notify to your readers if you are not going to be blogging for a certain period. Whether you become ill or take an opportunity or even go on holiday. Please tell your audience what you are doing. Otherwise your blog and reputation will suffer.

Stuck for ideas for blog posts before your holiday

There are so many things to think about before you go on holiday. There is packing your suitcase, getting your currency, getting your travel documents and many other things. Here are some simple blog post ideas you can apply before you go on holiday:

  1. Publish some guest blog posts – The beauty of guest blog posts is the guest blogger will also be interested in the comments so you let the guest blogger to control the comments.
  2. Create a list post – You can create list posts quickly and easily. I love “101″ lists, because they generate a lot of interest and traffic.
  3. Create a useful resource post. Link to other blogs throughout this post. An example could be: “20 must read tutorials for WordPress users”.  Over a period of time you should create a number of link posts. Bloggers that don’t link out are not doing themselves any justice.  Over the years, the most important lesson I’ve learn from blogging is: you must give to your audience in order to receive. This is the law of the universe. If you disobey this rule you’re blogging success is in question.

Finally, if you are going on holiday shortly. Have a great time and relax. Don’t think about blogging much, because a fresh mind of thought will help you develop greater blog posts.

Choosing A Decent Premium WordPress Theme

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How to choose a decent premium WordPress theme

In this post, I am going to cover my experience with finding  premium WordPress themes. This has been a painful experience as a designer, but my wealth of experience provides future bloggers with an excellent resource.

A vast majority of bloggers are not web developers. Therefore, they’re not going to notice these areas. WordPress is open source which means it is free, however, the disadvantage with free products is you lack the support. In other words, if you have a problem you can’t fix you either ask someone else or you’re on your own.

Look into purchasing a premium WordPress Theme

There are a majority of good WordPress developers online including:

The websites above provide excellent customer service. This is a very important part of purchasing a blog theme. Plus these WordPress theme sites provide regular updates on their WordPress themes.

I’d be very careful on purchasing WordPress themes from some WordPress theme sites. Reason being, because poor customer service provides anger and frustration and for a poor companies’ product. The websites mentioned above provide that support which is needed.

A majority of WordPress themes are done as projects and can be created for “easy money”. However, as a web developer, a WordPress theme must be thoroughly tested  in all web browsers. If a WordPress theme that you’ve paid for and the business doesn’t answer your emails they are not worth doing business with.

To summarise, a successful blogger needs a professional theme, visit the sites mentioned. I strongly recommend Theme Forest.

Reasons why the unemployed should blog

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Blogging Tips – Why the unemployed should create a blog

The current world of employment is very unstable. This economic downturn is the worst in history. I am not going to dwell on the recession too much, because there is enough of that without my input. I was made redundant not so long ago and keeping myself busy whilst looking for work is how I survive. Luckily I still live with my family, but I am looking for work and opportunities to create an income. You cannot leave any stone unturned.

Being unemployed has it’s ups and downs. In this post, I am going to focus on how to develop an idea or an opportunity. The main point I want to express in this post, that nothing is secure. Being an employee, an self-employed or a business owner it affects everyone. The best piece of advice that I can give anyone is “not to have all your eggs in one basket”.You need to diversify.

Networking

In this world: “It is more about who you know, rather than what you know”. Networking is a vital component. Have you heard the “6 degrees of separation?”. If not, it’s simple everyone on the planet is within 6 steps of knowing someone else. Here’s an example: Within 6 steps you may know someone famous like: “Sir Richard Branston”. Through 6 people you know you will know: Sir Richard Branson.

Learn a new skill

Blogging is like any business. You are required to wear many hats. For a blog to be successful you need to treat it like a business. A successful blog is a full time job. You need to start from the ground up.  If you write about something you are passionate about you can easily develop a useful resource and this could be profitable.

If you are unemployed for some time, creating a useful blog would be a good project to place on your CV. Whether you are in a job or not, it would a wise move to develop multiple incomes for the long-term. We all have dreams and goals. I am not going to lie to you like a lot of Internet marketers do. Creating a successful online business takes time and a lot of effort. If you’re unemployed this would be a good time to focus your efforts on a dream, well in the process of looking for alternative means of income.

Blogging can lead to opportunities

Blogging can lead to many opportunities. From my own personal experiences other bloggers have recommended my design services which is nice. The more people know what you are capable of doing the better. Over time one of your goals should be is to develop a good reputation with your target audience.

What you can do now

Regardless if your employed or unemployed you can apply all these techniques. However, if you have more time you can develop your blog further. In recent times, I lost my job, so I had to bite the bullet and go freelance until I find something else. My point is this, you make your own luck in this world. So go out and make it.

Blogging Tips: Ways to improve your blogging productivity

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Blogging Tips – How to improve your productivity whilst blogging

No matter what stage you are in your blogging life you will encounter distractions. In this post I am going to cover some of my own personal experiences to improve productivity on your blog.

  1. Focus at one thing at a time.  The late “Earl Nightingale”, stated in his audio book: “Lead The Field”, that focusing on one task before moving on to another is the most productive way of succeeding. I find that blogging has a multiple of tasks in order to be successful. Breaking down these tasks in more manageable pieces is the answer.
  2. Focus on what is the most important task for today. As a blogger, your main focus should be to provide valuable content that you’re audience is interested in. Focus on developing the content for your audience. They will thank you for it. The law of the universe works on “giving and receiving”. When we exhale we are giving and when we inhale we are receiving.  There are also two categories of people in this world: “the givers” and “the takers”, who are the ones that succeed more often? Of course it is the givers.
  3. Avoid spending time on modifying your layout and searching for the greatest new plug-ins. Okay, having a great layout is important, but you need to know when to stop making changes to your layout. Otherwise, your blog posts will suffer. I am a web designer and naturally curious about WordPress, in general I love WordPress, but being a perfectionist, doesn’t get you anywhere, it costs time and  money. Invest on one good WordPress theme and keep to it. I’ve used a lot of WordPress themes and the best premiums theme providers are: WooThemes and Theme Forest. If you buy a template always look for a theme that provides excellent customer service. I’ve bought a premium theme from a website and it doesn’t work and the web owner doesn’t return emails. Just to let you know, I despise WordPress developers that don’t provide support if you’ve paid for a premium theme. Stick with: Theme Forest or WooThemes.
  4. Carry a notepad around with you and write down all your ideas. Ideas provide inspiration and creativity write these ideas down where ever you go they could pay off.
  5. Finally, when you start writing make sure you finish. In my draft posts, I have several posts that I’ve started and these posts could be very informative or just need a but more thought.

Here are five tips that I’ve applied more my own blog. What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you. By the way – if anyone links to my blog or posts. I will create a post and give people a much appreciated mention.

Blogging Tips – How to find inspiration and improve your blog

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Blogging Tips – To find inspiration for your blog

Blogging is a great method of expressing your thoughts and feelings. However, there are times when all bloggers suffer from “writer’s block”. In this post, I wanted to discuss methods of finding creativity for your blog. Since 2007 when I started blogging, I found some days ideas were stronger than others. You will find that blogging is about being creative and finding creativity.

Forget about blogging

One of the easiest methods of finding inspiration is to do something else. Take a break from the task at hand. This is by far the best method of finding inspiration. In the creative field and technical field, when things don’t go to plan you must take a break. The worst thing you can do is continue. I’ve made more foolish mistakes in web design because of being stressed. A stressful mind is an unproductive mind.

You may be addicted to blogging. You must realise that there’s more to life than a blog. Little and often is the best way for your blog.

The great outdoors

I must admit it I spent most of life in front of a laptop (sad I know). Some days I hate it. Some days there’s nothing better than cycling 20 miles to clear my mind. When I go cycling I forget everything and sometimes I won’t see anyone for miles. Have your chill out time away from a computer there is so much more to life than a computer. Believe me when my laptop crashed and out of action for two weeks I didn’t know what to do.

Read other blogs

Inspiration provides creation. Reading other blogs will definitely help you to write new content. Read as many blogs in your niche. This will help you to learn more about your chosen field and help other bloggers. Blogging is about communities and learning from others. Remember nobody knows everything but you can learn so much from other blogs.

Read old posts and rewrite old content

When I struggle for ideas I will read my old posts and see how I can improve upon older content. Here’s an example: you might have written a post on “how to write great blog posts” 9 months ago, but your experience has grown dramatically over a period of time, so you can revisit that post and write a newer better post on that subject.

Inspiration is an important key for a blogger, web designer, developer or anyone in a creative field. Those are a few of my suggestions I am sure there are others. I’d love to hear how others find their inspiration.