WP Blogsites

Addicted to WordPress, WordPress Plugins, WishList Member, Google, Apple and healthy food. Author of "Does This Blogsite Make My Wallet Look Fat?" and creator of "Plugged in Playground" http://wpblogsites.com/playground/

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Solostream Launches a Bold new WordPress Theme

Solostream, a fantastic company who produces quality WordPress Themes just announced a new theme named WP-Bold. WP-Bold is an attractive, clean and modern WordPress theme. It offers multiple featured content sliders and home page layouts, it's well-suited for an online magazine, news site, community site or any other site that offers a lot posts with images. But don't just take our word for it, check out the WP-Bold Demo and see for yourself how fun and funky this WordPress Theme is.

My favourite piece of this WordPress Theme is the slider on the home page that features the "featured articles". When you hover your mouse over the article titles it highlights them and shifts them a bit. I haven't seen this clean but cool feature on a WordPress Theme before.

WP-Bold WordPress Theme also looks great on a mobile phone! You don't have to add another plugin to make it mobile friendly or tweak some theme files, it's ready to go! I LOVE that!

The home page has a few options for you in terms of layout, slider look and feel and the post layouts (see screenshots below).

The footer contains built in widgets. Yes, that is pretty common these days, but there's something about how the footer layout looks in this theme that makes it really stand out to me. Perhaps its the images in the "category post widget" and the "featured page widget" along the black background that makes it stand out and look sexy.

I'm a full supporter of the Solostream themes and use them on my own sites. I highly recommend their awesomeness!

[caption id="attachment_3145" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Home Page Layout Solostream WordPress Theme "WP-Bold"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3139" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Alternative home page Solostream WordPress Theme "WP-Bold"[/caption]

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WordPress 3.4 - What's new and exciting!

WordPress 3.4 has been released!

This new release offers you some cool features like tweaking your theme and being able to preview those changes before committing to them, changing your blogsites' header and a really simple way to add tweets to your posts.

First let's look at the new theme features.

Live Theme Previews

Now you can make changes to your theme, or try out a new theme, play around with it and then decide if you want to make these changes public. There are many options to "play" with. They will change based on the theme you are working on but here are a list of some of the options I have seen:

Site Title & Tagline

Colors ie. header text, background color (the far left and right hand sides - not where your content goes) & link text

Layout ie. sidebar on the left or right, or disable the sidebar from appearing on your default pages (this means it will disable it on your whole site. It won't disable it just on certain pages.)

Header Image - change your image or remove it completely.

Background Image

Navigation ie. which menu (from appearances -> menu) you want to use as your primary navigation/menubar

Static front page ie. choose from your latest blog posts appearing on your home page or a WordPress "Page" such as a "Welcome" page.

Once you are ready to make your changes "live" click "Save & Publish" or click "Cancel" if you aren't ready for any changes yet.

[caption id="attachment_3062" align="aligncenter" width="550"] WordPress 3.4 Live Theme Preview options.[/caption]

Custom Headers

Now you can change your header image on the spot and alter how tall or wide you want your image to be.

This feature only works for themes that have this functionality enabled. Your current theme probably doesn't have this enabled, but any theme to be released in the near future will most likely include this option!

Better Image Captions

Now you can add html to your image captions. Take a look at the screenshot I added above. It not only has a short description of what the image is but I added a link to download WordPress 3. 4 and I bolded "Live Theme Preview" using html. I did this by adding html code to the "caption" field. Check out the screenshot below for a better visual.

[caption id="attachment_3068" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Better Captions - Please html code in the caption for more interaction.[/caption]

Twitter Embeds

Now you can show off specific tweets and let your blogsite visitors follow, reply, retweet or favorite your tweet right from your blog. Oh and any links in the tweet work! How great is that? All you need to do is grab the url for your tweet ie: https://twitter.com/TechCoach/status/212998120257241088, and place it right in your post or page. That's it. See it below in action!

https://twitter.com/TechCoach/status/212998120257241088

Other Updates

There are other updates that are very techie in nature. I'll spare you the details. Just know that WordPress is faster and better than ever!

Original Article

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What's the difference between a Wordpress.com blog and a Wordpress.org website??

Dear Sandra,

What's the difference between a Wordpress.com blog and a Wordpress.org website?? Do I really NEED a .org website, along with hosting & all that other stuff? (I'm relatively new to all this techy business)

I want to have an online business where I sell creative stuff like info products & e-courses/books & all kinds of fun online things...can I do that with just a blogsite?

Signed, Leila Khani www.holisticgypsy.com

Dear Leila,

Excellent question.

WordPress.com is for free personal blogs. WordPress.org is where you can download WordPress and install it on your own .com

You do not want to put a business blog on wordpress.com as 1) it's illegal 2) they disable functions on wordpress.com like adding html code for forms ie. email marketing and registrations, in widgets and 3) if they find out you are creating a business and making money while they pay for your hosting they will shut you down.

So you will want: 1) a .com or other domain name - Godaddy sells them for about $10 a year

2) Hosting - think of this as a storage facility for your site. It's where all the files that make up your site will sit ie. images, files, coding etc. I suggest liquidweb's standard webhosting package or Bluehost's professional webs hosting

3) Have wordpress installed

Now you can sell any of the items you mentioned on a blogsite! You can use any shopping cart you'd like or even the WP eStore plugin which will securely deliver digital products for you.

Let me know if you have any other questions. My company does support entrepreneurs by setting up blogsites, ecommerce, formatting ebooks and a ton more! So let me know if you need any help.

Have a great day and enjoy your new blogsite,

Original Article

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How to backup/download your 1ShoppingCart mailing lists

So you want to backup or download all of your contacts stored on your 1shoppingcart account? You are in luck. In this article I will give you the step by step way to download a csv files containing your contacts' information such as the very important name and email address.

First I'll show you how to download all of your prospects and all of your customers, either separately or all together. I suggest you download them separately if it is important for you to know what list each name and email is associated with.

Then I'll show you how to download all contacts on a specific autoresponder list (or you can choose multiple autoresponder lists if you don't need to know what specific list they were on). For eample, I had an autoresponder set up for my affiliates that I downloaded and a few autoresponders for those who bought my book, that I downloaded all together.

Backup/download your Prospects and Customers

Log into 1sc

Go to Contacts -> Search, Edit, Add

Scroll down to Specific Search Options, change Contact Type to Prospects or Customers

You can leave it set to "All" if you don't need to have these lists separated.

Customers are contacts who have purchased something from you.

Prospects are contacts who have signed up for a mailing list but may also be customers.

Click search

Scroll down to "Hitlist Action" and choose "Export List to CSV"

Verify/change the email address

Change the job label to "Prospects" or "Customers". The label will be the "subject" of the email that is sent to you.

Click submit

A download link will be emailed to you. Be sure to download and save that file right away.

Backup/Download Autoresponder Lists

Log into 1sc

Go to Contacts -> Search, Edit, Add

Scroll down to "Autoresponder or Newsletter:" and select the autoresponder you need to save (do one at a time as the csv file does not distinguish which contacts go with which autoresponder).

Click search

Scroll down to "Hitlist Action" and choose "Export List to CSV"

Verify/change the email address

Change the job label to the name of the autoresponder or something that else that is more helpful to you. The label will be the "subject" of the email that is sent to you.

Click submit

A download link will be emailed to you. Be sure to download and save that file right away.

Now with these lists you have to be careful not to break CAN-SPAM laws. I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, so please don't ask me for any legal advice. :)  I will say this: if someone did not sign up for your newsletter, ie. they signed up as an affiliate only, do not add them to your new newsletter list. That's just not cool, nor is it legal.

You can import your contact lists into other newsletter systems like AWeber and MailChimp. Just let them know that the contacts gave you permission to email them from your original system, they might ask for proof and they might ask them to double opt-in no matter where you got the list.

Original Article

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1ShoppingCart Increased Their Rates!? Alternatives For You

Disclaimer: I will receive a small commission for the referrals I make in this blog post. They won't make me a millionaire but they will help pay for my dog's eating habits :)

If you are a 1shoppingcart customer currently paying $99 a month for the "Professional Monthly" service you will (or may have already) receive(d) an email from them 7 days before your next renewal stating:

Effective [immediately] your rate for the Professional Monthly service will be $129.

That's $30 USD more per month and for what? Here's what:

3 additional User Access seats (a $25 value) – Security and control. User Access allows you to provide access to contractors, staff and outside help with confidence.

Upsell Express; multi-step (a $49 value) – Create upsell and downsell channels and increase your average order value with single-click sales.

Well big deal! I didn't ask for these features and I don't want to pay another $30 a month for them either. Do you?

Here are some alternatives:

1. Stay with 1sc but downgrade your account from Professional to another level.

You will lose your list of affiliates, affiliate software, digital downloads and upsells. If that's not a big deal to you, then you can downgrade your account and not miss a thing. If you still need affiliate software and digital downloads see option #3 below. To downgrade your account you will have to call them. 1-888-792-1961, Mon-Fri, 8am to 8pm EST.

2. Stay with 1sc but upgrade to the annual account before the price goes up May 1st, 2012 and save $549.

You are currently paying the monthly rate of $99/month right? If you upgrade to an annual plan before May 1st, you'll pay $999 for the year. If you don't upgrade to the annual plan and stay with the monthly charge of $129, you will end up paying a total of $1548 this upcoming year!

To update your account log into 1sc, then go to My Account -> Renew/Upgrade and choose "Professional Annual $999.00"

[caption id="attachment_2973" align="aligncenter" width="519" caption="Upgrade to the Professional Annual plan and save $549"][/caption]

3. Downgrade your 1sc account (option #1 above) and use these WordPress plugins instead of 1sc's affiliate software and digital download service.

WordPress Affiliate Platform Plugin monitors clicks and conversions, add your product/company Ads, banners and links. It integrates with PayPal, eShop, Shopp plugin, WP Shopping Cart, GetShopped/Instinct's, PHPurchase/Cart66, WooCommerce and E-Junkie (it does not integrate with 1sc). It's quite a deal at the flat rate price of $49.95 and works fabulously with the WordPress eStore plugin.

WordPress eStore plugin will deliver your digital products to your customers via a "thank you" page and email sent to them immediately. All download links are secure, meaning the link will be encrypted so no one will know where your digital products are stored on your site and you can specify how many hours the generated download link is valid so that product download links are not shared around the web. It integrates with PayPal, 2Checkout and Authorize.net to gather payments and AWeber, MailChimp and GetResponse to gather email addresses. This plugin is available at the flat rate price of $49.95, or you can buy both the WordPress eStore plugin and the  WordPress Affiliate Platform Plugin for a flat rate of $79.95.

How do you feel about 1ShoppingCart's new Professional package?

Original Article

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Don't Miss a Meeting Next Week Due to Daylight Saving Time!

On Sunday March 11, 2012 most of Canada, Mexico and the United States will change their clocks for Daylight Saving Time. Whereas other parts of the world ie. Europe, don't change their clocks to observe Daylight Saving Time until March 25th.

Make sure you have the right time for your meetings next week by using one of my favourite tools: World Clock Meeting Planner: http://timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Once the time change is in place you can "Google" the word "time" and the name of the city you need to know the time for, ie: "time London". This will give you the current time in that city.

Original Article

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WordPress Themes - How, What and Where when researching new themes

As you can imagine my team is constantly looking for new WordPress themes for our clients. Whether our clients are creating a brand new site or looking for a fresh new look for their existing site, it is always time consuming to research a new theme.

Before researching new themes you might want to take some time and answer the following questions:

What's your style? Simple? Classy? Fresh? Funky? Cartoony :) ?

What are the needs of your target market?

Do they generally have poor eyesight? In this case stay away from dark backgrounds with light coloured fonts. Don't worry about the font size, this can be customized in any theme.

Do they get distracted easily? My ADD Coaching friends tell me that their target market requires simple and fresh sites with just a handful of clicking options and minimal images. In this case you want the opposite of what a typical television news station site has going on!

Will you need a site that neatly displays videos? Then look for a site that features videos.

Are you a photographer? You'll need a site that shows off your creative work. A clean simple theme would be ideal to show off your colourful and detailed images.

Are you a retailer, spa or salon? Then I suggest choosing a theme that will show off images of your store, spa or salon. Those researching spas tend to look for a spa that is clean and zen-like. So you'll want to convey that on your site by featuring photos of spa.

Below are my go to sites for new themes. (They are linked with my affiliate links. I will receive a $10-$30 commission if you buy one.)

When you begin researching themes be sure to click on "live preview" or "demo" to see the theme in action. It's so much better than looking at screenshots.

Solostream - I love their themes. At first look the themes might seem like "TOO MUCH" however you can remove pieces from the theme when you use it, such as advertisements, some of the widgets in the footer and sidebar. Their themes tend to have a nice clean white background which I think is easy on the eyes. I'm using the WP-Glide theme on www.WPBlogsites.com. I've removed some pieces and customized the colours.

iThemes - iThemes offers over 100 themes and in a variety of colours. You'll find everything from business themes to wedding themes to photographer themes to themes created for e-commerce.

ElegantThemes - I've recently fell in love with ElegantThemes as their themes are clean, simple and fresh. They are perfect if you are looking to remove the "fluff" and only put the "necessities" on your site. I call this "blog detoxing". :)

ThemeForest - Their themes are really cool too. You'll find a great variety there. Their themes average $35 each. Just be sure you are researching WordPress themes as they also offer templates for other platforms.

So there you have it! What to consider before researching a new WordPress theme, what to do when researching a theme and my favourite places to research new themes and why! Enjoy!

If you have any questions be sure to ask me in the comments below.

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Paid Leads, Higher Retention and Higher Conversions. Who is in?

What business owner doesn't want paid leads, high retention and high conversions? Of course you want it all! So here's what I've been researching my heart out on and I'm bringing the knowledge back to you. Nano continuity sites is where it is at! Enjoy!

A nano continuity site is a small membership site with low work on your side but great value to members.

Traditional membership sites offer a ton of content a month however this is overwhelming members and overwhelming the membership owners. Imagine trying to pump out new content each month?

With a nano continuity site you offer something of value every week or every other week. What you offer is on a smaller scale then what you would offer in a traditional membership site. Some examples are:

book reviews every other week

a list of available jobs for your target market

a list of businesses that are for sale

a mini lesson on how to build your dream business every week

Your creativity is the limit.

Nano continuity sites are priced low ($4.95-$9.95 a month). The low price becomes a "no-brainer" for buyers and therefor converts faster and better than traditional membership sites. Retention is also higher as no one wants to miss out on something just because they wanted to save $5 one month.

Your nano continuity site becomes a great way to gather paid leads and it's a great place to point new newsletter subscribers or promote when you speak at events, both online and offline.

I LOVE this type of membership site so much that I created my own: Plugged In Playground. My nano continuity site offers a full plugin review every other week. Members get:

A full review of a really awesome plugin (video).

The full step by step installation instructions (video).

The full list of benefits and features the plugin provides (video).

The direct link to download or review the plugin.

The opportunity to ask questions and get your answers underneath each of the videos.

Check out the Plugged In Playground at http://wpblogsites.com/playground/

If you want to create your own nano continuity site check out Ryan Lee's Nano Continuity Training Program. It's the program I used to help put together my nano site.

If you need help setting up your nano continuity site my team is here to help!

  Original Article

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Watch the best WordPress Plugins in Action Before you Install Them on Your Blogsite!

Are you wasting time researching and playing with WordPress plugins and getting no where fast?

Do you avoid adding new WordPress plugins to your site because you are not sure what it is they do exactly and you are afraid to add them to your live site?

Wouldn't it be great if you could watch a full plugin review of WordPress plugins hand picked by Plugin-Aholic Sandra De Freitas, including...

a demonstration of what the plugin does

what benefits it offers to your business and your users

how to install it

how to configure it

a place to ask your questions about the plugins

What if you could view the plugin videos on your computer but also on your mobile devices such as your iPhone and iPad?

Sound good? Is it the answer to your  dreams?

For only $4.95 a month, it can be yours! ;)

Check it out at http://wpblogsites.com/playground/

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Episode #3: My Top 3 Favourite WordPress Plugins

In this episode I covered 3 of my favourite plugins. I demonstrate each plugin, tell you why I like them, how to install them and how to configure them.

Are you ready to stop wasting your time researching and playing with plugins? Do you want expert advice on the best WordPress plugins around? Check out Plugged In Playground where we review a new plugin every other week.

Watch live streaming video from wpblogsites at livestream.com

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Spice up Your Blogs with 6 Different Blogging Formats

Blogging offers so many great rewards. A chance to get your expertise out there and create your legacy. A chance to educate your market. A  great way to get Google to notice your blog and get you higher up in Google rankings. A way to give your market a taste of your style, knowledge, skills and personality so that they can get to know, like, trust you and ultimately buy from you.

Although the list of benefits can reach from here to the moon we sometimes slack on our commitment to blogging. Why is that? Are we too busy? Have we run out of ideas? Or have we just become bored of the blogging process?

For me, I know that writing is not my favourite way to create a blog post but for some odd reason it's been the ONLY way I have blogged for years! Bad me. I know that I can pump out blog posts faster and more often if I created video blog posts, which I will be a ton this year.

Let's look at a few more ways to spice up your blog posts and pump out more blog posts more often. See which one resonates with you and get going.

Video- Like I just mentioned video blog posts can be really easy to create if you have all the tools ready to go and you aren't shy.Start by getting comfortable with a web cam and creating a few test videos. Most laptops come with web cams that are sufficient for blogging. You don't need a pricey studio to get going.Host your videos on YouTube.com or Vimeo.com. YouTube is owned by Google therefor YouTube videos show up on Google's search results.

If you'd like to share a PowerPoint presentation or even your desktop in your video you can use ScreenFlow (for Mac) and Camtasia (for PC and Mac) to record your desktop.

Once  your video is uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo embed the video into a blog post.

Web TV - Create a channel on LiveStream.com and record a "TV" show in front of a live audience or with no audience. You can then take your LiveStream recording and embed the video into a blog post. I did just this for my last WPBlogsites TV show "Episode #2: What to do With Your Content and Course Material To Fatten Up Your Wallet".

Audio - Would you rather not appear on a video at all but don't mind your voice to be recorded? Create an audio recording and upload it to AudioAcrobat.com, or record the audio using one of Audio Acrobat's many recording options, then embed the player html code into a blog post. Use Audio Acrobat to publish your podcasts to many podcast directories.

Images - Adding images to your blog posts makes them visually pleasing for your reader. If you can grab a nice image from istockphoto.com or take a photograph from your smart phone and upload it to your blog with a WordPress App.

MindMaps - Use a mindmap to present your ideas, plan out an event, plan your year etc then export it as a jpg and add that to your blog post. There are a ton of mindmapping software options available. If you are just getting started try "Free Mind" for Mac and PCs.

Cartoons - If you are a great drawer, or know someone who is, using cartoons in your blog posts is very unique! Past "Fat Blogsite Profits" participant Sue Johnstonhas been doing this on her blog and it looks amazing. It gives her an edge over her competition and allows her to express her creative side.All you need to do is draw your cartoon on a piece of paper, scan it and add the scanned image to a new blog post.

So which of the above 6 different blogging formats do you like the most? Which ones have you already tried? Which ones excite you and which ones bore you? Leave your replies in the comment box for me. Thanks!

By the way, I know this blog post contained only text. My future blog posts will contain video and maybe even some drawings! I'll go dig out my crayola markers now!

Original Article

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I just took a break from setting up my VIP WordPress site for my clients. I decided to explore my now 1 hour old tumblr site, and this is the first blog post I saw. I am in the middle of setting my WishList membership for my clients. Too ironic ant timely. Great post.

Thank you Level3NYC for taking the time to post this. Irony and timing, indeed!

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Do your clients feel special, well taken care of and treated like a true VIP?

A number of my clients and coaching colleagues offer special VIP programs and VIP coaching packages. These offers are only available to a few ideal clients. They offer a high level of support and come with a high investment cost.

Are you offering a VIP service, or thinking about it? If so, I invite you to keep reading and see how you can easily add value to your VIP programs, at a small cost to you and make your VIP service stand out from all the others. Sound good?

I suggest you create a dedicated online area for each of your VIP clients. This can be as easy as setting up a WordPress "page" for each one of your VIP clients. On this page add one or more of the following:

A "How to get the most out of your VIP Program" report

Recordings of all of your coaching calls

Valuable resources like templates, checklists and special reports

Links to any resources you shared on your calls

Transcripts of your calls

Links to discounted products and services

A link reschedule calls with you (or instructions on how to reschedule your calls)

Information on how to contact your assistant

Your "Terms of Service" and policies

How do you give your clients access to these pages and how do you protect them from being viewed by Google and the public? Easy. You use the WishList Member WordPress Plugin to:

Create and protect the dedicated client pages. (Select "Yes, protect this content (members only)" at the bottom of the page).

Create a new membership level for each of your clients. ("Membership Levels")

The "After Login" page for each level should be set up to point to the dedicated client page. Example: (1) WordPress Page title = "Mary B - VIP Page" (2) Membership Level = "VIP - Mary B" (3) After Login = "Mary B - VIP Page" page

Create a login for each member (Members -> add new member) and select the corresponding "Membership Level"

Be sure to update the pages with new VIP content (like your coaching call recordings).

If I was your client and you offered me this I would feel special, well taken care of and a true VIP.

By the way, if you purchase WishList before midnight October 31st you will receive a free copy of their new book "Membership Site Masters"!

  Original Article

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Customizing your WordPress sidebar

Excerpted from "Does This Blogsite Make My Wallet Look Fat?"

Widgets are sidebar and footer elements that you can add, remove, organize and customize. Some plugins include their own widgets in order to make it easier for you to display them in your sidebar and footer. You can use these widgets (and the pre-installed widgets) to customize the look and functionality of your sidebar and footer.

Here's how to do it:

Log into your WordPress account (www.OurWebsite.com/wp-login.php).

Click "Appearance" in the top menu bar.

Click "Widgets" in the sub-menu bar.

On the right hand side, click the sidebar/footer you want to modify. This will expand your view to see the widgets that are already there. NOTE: the footer is what appears at the bottom of your site near your copyright information.

From the left-hand side, choose the widget you want to add to this sidebar/footer and drag it to the widget area. You can "drop" it into any position you like, before or after any of the widgets that are there.

To reposition the widget, just drag it to any position in your list of sidebar items.

Click the dropdown arrow beside the widget name to view any required settings or options.

Set the title that will appear above the widget and modify any other widget-specific settings.

If you are viewing a "Text" widget, enter your text or html code into the empty box that appears. This is where you would add the code for your email subscription sign-up to a text widget.

Click "Save."

View your website to see the changes you made. You can play around with these widgets as much as you like, until you get the look and functionality that you’re after. And you can always change them again later.

To remove a widget from your list, click to expand the widget options and then click "Delete."

Did you like this tip? It came right from my book "Does This Blogsite Make My Wallet Look Fat?". Also available on Kindle!

Original Article

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Slug, a funny name for a useful tool

Excerpted from "Does This Blogsite Make My Wallet Look Fat?"

Slug is a funny name isn’t it? It always makes me smile. A slug is another neat WordPress tool for controlling the permalink (website address) of your blog posts. Here’s how it works in our example: http://wpblogsites.com/wordpress- blogsite/dont-forget-that-blog-post-idea/

The section in bold is what’s called the slug, and you can change it to anything you like. If you don’t like the website address that WordPress came up with automatically, but you don’t want to change your overall permalink settings again, you can simply change the name of the slug for this one specific post.

Save or publish the post that you’re working on.

Under the post title you will see the permalink of your post, along with an "Edit" button on the right.

Click "Edit."

Type in the permalink you want.

Click "Update."

Did you like this tip? It came right from my book "Does This Blogsite Make My Wallet Look Fat?". Also available on Kindle!

Original Article

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Google +1, Add it To Your Blogsite

Recently Google released their own twist of Facebook's "like", that is "+1". You may have noticed the "+1" logo on blog posts and in Google searches, it looks like this

What is a "+1"? Clicking the "+1" button on a blog post or search result means that you recommend it, you think it rocks and that you think your friends should check it out. You are basically giving it your approval much like you do when you click the Facebook "like" or retweet someone's tweet.

When your friends, contacts and others see that you have "+1'd" something they see that it has been recommended and approved by others. Knowing that other's "+1'd" something tells them that it's popular, worth a read and valuable. Social proof is a big thing lately eh? :)

Why you should pay attention to +1's When you see +1's in search results you may find yourself gravitating to the results with the most "+1s" as those have been read and recommended by others in your network (be sure to be logged into your Google account to see all the "+1's"

Add it to your blogsite! Use the "Google +1 Button" WordPress Plugin (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-1/) to add a "+1" button to your blog posts, pages and on your home page so that others can "+1" your site.

If you want more control over where the "+1" appears on your site use the "Google +1 Button Advanced" plugin (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-plus1-button/)

What do you think of the "+1"? Let us know by adding a comment.

Original Article

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Take Your Appointment Scheduling Online and Save Your Inbox

There is never enough time in the day to do what you want to do. Your inbox just gets bigger and bigger. Your "to do" list gets longer and longer. Your brain feels like it's about to explode. Grrr!

When this happens the best thing to do is spot the one thing that is taking up most of your time, or better yet, what is taking up most of your inbox? In some cases you will want to delegate that to a virtual assistant in other cases you may find that a great online tool can automate a process for you.

When I found that a good chunk of my emails were requests for coaching, meetings and discovery sessions (where the potential client and I (or my OBM) speak to see if there is a connection and how we can help them), I knew I had to automate this process. My clients and potential clients live all around the world and so time zones become a factor when lining up appointments. Instead of analyzing my calendar, writing out the days and times I am available, then calculating the time in their particular time zone, sending that off in an email to the client, then they have to analyze their calendar and get back to me. Unfortunately there have been times when the client replies with a time and date that works for them, but by that time another client has claimed that appointment time, so we have to start all over again! Has this happened to you? It's kind of embarrassing!

So in comes my superhero www.timetrade.com! Just create an account with TimeTrade, set up an appointment type, tell TimeTrade what days and times you will accept appointments, then send your clients the link to your TimeTrade calendar for that specific appointment type.

I suggest you connect your Google or Outlook calendar to your TimeTrade account. TimeTrade will add any new appointments to your calendar and if your calendar states you are "busy" during any of the times you claimed you were available for appointments it doesn't allow clients to book appointments at that time. This prevents overbooking!

Once an appointment is made an email is sent to you and your client confirming the appointment. It's pretty sweet!

So instead of asking your clients to book a time with you "manually" over an email exchange, send them a link to your TimeTrade account and decrease the number of emails swelling up your inbox.

You can also use this tool to allow potential program participants connect with you by providing a link within your sales copy. I am currently using TimeTrade to book discovery calls with those interested in my "Fat Blogsite Profits" program starting June 1st. Interested but wonder if this program is for you? Schedule a 15 minute discovery call with Sandra to ask questions and get clarity: Book your discovery call here.

Original Article