<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" media="screen" href="/~d/styles/rss2full.xsl"?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~d/styles/itemcontent.css"?><rss xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" version="2.0">

<channel>
	<title>DazzlinDonna</title>
	
	<link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog</link>
	<description>Making A Living Online</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:46:08 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1</generator>
		<atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Dazzlindonna" /><feedburner:info xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0" uri="dazzlindonna" /><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/" /><image><link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/</link><url>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/images/feedburnerlogo.gif</url><title>DazzlinDonna</title></image><feedburner:emailServiceId xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0">Dazzlindonna</feedburner:emailServiceId><feedburner:feedburnerHostname xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0">http://feedburner.google.com</feedburner:feedburnerHostname><item>
		<title>Premium Business Cards Giveaway For Six Lucky People</title>
		<link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/good-deals/premium-business-cards-giveaway-for-six-lucky-people/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/good-deals/premium-business-cards-giveaway-for-six-lucky-people/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:46:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Donna</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Good Deals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[business cards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[giveaway]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/?p=2317</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I recently helped my partner start a new local business and in the process, I needed to order business cards. I wish I&#8217;d been lucky enough to enter a contest to win them, but that didn&#8217;t happen. It CAN HAPPEN FOR YOU however! Six people will be chosen randomly by me to receive 500 premium [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.uprinting.com/business-cards.html" class="liimagelink"><img src="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/images/businesscards.png" alt="business cards" /></a></p>
<p>I recently helped my partner start a new local business and in the process, I needed to order business cards. I wish I&#8217;d been lucky enough to enter a contest to win them, but that didn&#8217;t happen.  It CAN HAPPEN FOR YOU however!</p>
<p>Six people will be chosen randomly by me to receive <b>500 premium business cards from Uprinting</b>.  All you have to do to win is click a share button on the <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/online-product-ideas-infographic/" class="liinternal">Online Product Ideas</a> infographic post. Just under the title of that post (not this one), are two buttons. One says Tweet and the other says Like. Click either of those, and then comment below to let me know you&#8217;ve done so.  I&#8217;m not going to require proof of your tweet or your Facebook Like because I trust each of you to not cheat. I do need you to comment afterwards ON THIS POST, however, so that if you win, I can send your winning info to Uprinting so they can give you your prize.</p>
<h3>The Prize</h3>
<ul>
<li>500 Premium  Business Cards for Six (6) Winners</li>
<li>2 x 3.5”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.75 x 3.5” (slim card)   </li>
<li>Paper Type: 14 pt gloss cardstock, 14 pt matte cardstock or 13 pt recycled uncoated cardstock</li>
<li>Color: Full Color Both Sides</li>
</ul>
<p>Feel free to check out all of Uprinting&#8217;s <a href="http://www.uprinting.com/business-cards.html" class="liexternal">business card options</a>.</p>
<h3>How To Win</h3>
<p>1. Go to my <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/online-product-ideas-infographic/" class="liinternal">Online Product Ideas</a> infographic post and click on either the Tweet or Like social sharing buttons just below the title of that post.  After you tweet about the post, or FB Like it, then&#8230;</p>
<p>2. Come back to this post and comment here, letting me know that you&#8217;ve clicked either of the buttons on the infographic post.</p>
<p>3. Six winners will be chosen randomly from everyone who enters. I have a handy little random choosing script that I use, so I&#8217;ll just place everyone&#8217;s entry into the script, click the Go button, and pick the winners. </p>
<h3>When The Contest Ends</h3>
<p>This will be a quick one! I don&#8217;t like long, drawn out contests, so this one will only last 12 hours.  I&#8217;ll announce the winners here, in an update to the post, late tonight. Good luck!</p>
<h3>Special Rules</h3>
<p>Limited to US residents only, 18 years old and above (Sorry about the limitation to all you non-US people).</p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Donna for <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, 2010. |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/good-deals/premium-business-cards-giveaway-for-six-lucky-people/">Permalink</a> |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/good-deals/premium-business-cards-giveaway-for-six-lucky-people/#comments">No comment</a> |
Add to
<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/good-deals/premium-business-cards-giveaway-for-six-lucky-people/&title=Premium Business Cards Giveaway For Six Lucky People">del.icio.us</a>
<br/>
Post tags: <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/business-cards/" rel="tag">business cards</a>, <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/contest/" rel="tag">contest</a>, <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/giveaway/" rel="tag">giveaway</a><br/>
This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this in your news aggregator/reader or on <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, then the site you are looking at is probably infringing upon my copyright.<br/>
</small></p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AwYhKC64k0wmu9sgY1dGSHMbk04/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AwYhKC64k0wmu9sgY1dGSHMbk04/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AwYhKC64k0wmu9sgY1dGSHMbk04/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AwYhKC64k0wmu9sgY1dGSHMbk04/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=PLAz8g2Nqw4:yKP1DjcNVEY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=PLAz8g2Nqw4:yKP1DjcNVEY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=PLAz8g2Nqw4:yKP1DjcNVEY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=PLAz8g2Nqw4:yKP1DjcNVEY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=PLAz8g2Nqw4:yKP1DjcNVEY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=PLAz8g2Nqw4:yKP1DjcNVEY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=PLAz8g2Nqw4:yKP1DjcNVEY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=PLAz8g2Nqw4:yKP1DjcNVEY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Dazzlindonna/~4/PLAz8g2Nqw4" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/good-deals/premium-business-cards-giveaway-for-six-lucky-people/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Online Product Ideas – Infographic</title>
		<link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/online-product-ideas-infographic/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/online-product-ideas-infographic/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:49:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Donna</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Site Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ebusiness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[infographic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[make money online]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Product Ideas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/?p=2300</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Everyone wants to know how to make money online. The simple answer is to create a product that people want to pay for. Of course, the next question usually involves something along the lines of, &#8220;What kind of product should I create? Got any ideas?&#8221; Yes, I do have ideas for products that you can [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Everyone wants to know <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/featured/monetize-your-site-11-ways-to-make-money-online/" class="liinternal">how to make money online</a>. The simple answer is to create a product that people want to pay for.  Of course, the next question usually involves something along the lines of, &#8220;What kind of product should I create? Got any ideas?&#8221;</p>
<p>Yes, I do have ideas for products that you can create online. I&#8217;ve created the following infographic to help kickstart your idea phase.  Below the infographic is a more detailed explanation of each general idea.</p>
<p>(<i>Note: If you feel you don&#8217;t have the necessary skills to create the product, but have a great idea, then it&#8217;s time to look at <a href="http://dazzd.com/outsource" class="liexternal">outsourcing</a> the product development phase. You might be surprised at what you can hire people to do at a cost you can actually afford to pay</i>).</p>
<p><img src="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/images/dd-online-product-ideas.png" alt="online product ideas infographic" /></p>
<p><b>You can embed this infographic on your own site or blog by copy/pasting the following code.</b></p>

<div class="wp_syntax"><div class="code"><pre class="html4strict" style="font-family:monospace;"><span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">p</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span> <span style="color: #000066;">href</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/online-product-ideas-infographic/&quot;</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">img</span> <span style="color: #000066;">src</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://dazzlindonna.com/images/dd-online-product-ideas.png&quot;</span> <span style="color: #000066;">border</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;0&quot;</span> <span style="color: #000066;">alt</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;Online Product Ideas&quot;</span> <span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">p</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">p</span>&gt;</span>
Infographic by <span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span> <span style="color: #000066;">href</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://dazzlindonna.com/blog/&quot;</span>&gt;</span>DazzlinDonna - Making Money Online<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">p</span>&gt;</span></pre></div></div>

<h3>Online Product Ideas</h3>
<p>Start with your own knowledge base. What are your interests and passions? Narrow down to the one topic that you know the most about, have the most interest in, and have the most passion for.  Now think about creating a product (which may be a website, an online tool, a digital download, or a physical product) in that niche that fills one or more of the following broad areas.</p>
<h3>Solve A Problem</h3>
<p>The surest product &#8220;win&#8221; is usually the one that solves a problem. What&#8217;s your biggest pet peeve in the niche you&#8217;ve chosen? Can you solve it? Can you solve a physical problem people may have (get fit, grow strong nails, etc.)? Can you appeal to the group&#8217;s vanity by making them look better? Can you solve an emotional fear they may have? Can you solve a financial issue they have? Make some related chore easier? Make the normal products they use every day better? Remember that you even very small, seemingly simple problems can be huge if solved in the right way. You&#8217;re more likely to score a win by solving one very small, very specific problem than trying to tackle a huge tangled mess of problems.</p>
<h3>Enable Giving</h3>
<p>People love to give to others, especially if it is easy and unique. Think beyond the typical flowers, gift baskets, or e-cards. Can you create a product for your niche group that enables them to share congratulations, express sympathy, or show their love and friendship in a unique way?</p>
<h3>Design A Playground</h3>
<p>Everyone loves to have fun. Create a product designed for your target audience that is fun, allows them to enjoyably waste time, or enables them to share fun quizzes and memes with their network of friends.</p>
<h3>Let Them Manage</h3>
<p>Is your target group looking for a way to manage their niche data? Can you help them organize it? Can you design a product that will allow them to store and retrieve it? Search and find just what they need?</p>
<h3>Accessorize</h3>
<p>Create a product that plays off of someone else&#8217;s product that your target audience uses every day. Maybe you can create skins or themes for a virtual product, or cases and other accessories for a physical product.  If your niche uses a particular online application, can you create an add-on product that enhances the original?</p>
<h3>Facilitate Connections</h3>
<p>Are your niche users having a hard time finding each other? Could they use a product that helps them connect for group collaborations? Can mentors find people looking to be mentored? Do groups interested in similar hobbies have a way to meet and share? Does your target audience need a way to find like-minded people to date? Do they need a tool to help them find jobs in the niche or buy/sell/trade with each other?</p>
<h3>Data Virtualization, Visualization and Manipulation</h3>
<p>Can you enable your audience to create their own mashups, tools, and infographics based on public or private data sets? Can you make it easy for them to create graphs and charts, or share case studies with their audience? Can you provide a way to let them explore geographic areas, go on virtual vacations, or visually travel to outer space by letting them manipulate geodata?</p>
<h3>Make The Idea Unique To Your Niche</h3>
<p>Take any of these ideas and find a way to make it work for your niche; your topic; your knowledge; your interest; and your audience. There are probably similar products already available, but that doesn&#8217;t mean you can&#8217;t come up with your own unique product geared towards your niche audience with your own personal twist.  Keep it simple.  Don&#8217;t create a product with 100 features. Create a product with one or two crazy wonderful features, or one that solves one small but mighty problem.  Remember that this product may be an online application, a small online tool, an entire website, a downloadable, installable application, a digital e-book, a physical, manufactured product, or anything else that can be sold online.  Also remember that there are vast resources to pull from, and nearly anything can be outsourced when necessary.</p>
<h3>Data Resources</h3>
<p>Public Datasets can be found many places including:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.google.com/publicdata/directory" class="liexternal">Google Public Data Directory</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.data.gov/catalog/raw" class="liexternal">Data.gov Catalog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.nber.org/data/" class="liexternal">NBER</a></li>
<li><a href="http://phpartners.org/health_stats.html" class="liexternal">Public Health Data</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.kdnuggets.com/datasets/" class="liexternal">KDNuggets List</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gos2.geodata.gov/wps/portal/gos" class="liexternal">Geodata</a></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Remember, you can embed this infographic on your own site or blog by using the following code:</b></p>

<div class="wp_syntax"><div class="code"><pre class="html4strict" style="font-family:monospace;"><span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">p</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span> <span style="color: #000066;">href</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/online-product-ideas-infographic/&quot;</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">img</span> <span style="color: #000066;">src</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://dazzlindonna.com/images/dd-online-product-ideas.png&quot;</span> <span style="color: #000066;">border</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;0&quot;</span> <span style="color: #000066;">alt</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;Online Product Ideas&quot;</span> <span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">p</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">p</span>&gt;</span>
Infographic by <span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span> <span style="color: #000066;">href</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://dazzlindonna.com/blog/&quot;</span>&gt;</span>DazzlinDonna - Making Money Online<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span>&gt;</span>
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">p</span>&gt;</span></pre></div></div>

<hr />
<p><small>© Donna for <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, 2010. |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/online-product-ideas-infographic/">Permalink</a> |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/online-product-ideas-infographic/#comments">3 comments</a> |
Add to
<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/online-product-ideas-infographic/&title=Online Product Ideas &#8211; Infographic">del.icio.us</a>
<br/>
Post tags: <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/ebusiness/" rel="tag">ebusiness</a>, <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/infographic/" rel="tag">infographic</a>, <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/make-money-online/" rel="tag">make money online</a>, <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/online-product-ideas/" rel="tag">Online Product Ideas</a><br/>
This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this in your news aggregator/reader or on <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, then the site you are looking at is probably infringing upon my copyright.<br/>
</small></p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vl3pvO_X90-yG4hr5yBcmB9breQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vl3pvO_X90-yG4hr5yBcmB9breQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vl3pvO_X90-yG4hr5yBcmB9breQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vl3pvO_X90-yG4hr5yBcmB9breQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=JrN0OtTb7E4:5KabEWzxy1w:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=JrN0OtTb7E4:5KabEWzxy1w:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=JrN0OtTb7E4:5KabEWzxy1w:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=JrN0OtTb7E4:5KabEWzxy1w:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=JrN0OtTb7E4:5KabEWzxy1w:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=JrN0OtTb7E4:5KabEWzxy1w:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=JrN0OtTb7E4:5KabEWzxy1w:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=JrN0OtTb7E4:5KabEWzxy1w:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Dazzlindonna/~4/JrN0OtTb7E4" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/online-product-ideas-infographic/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>12 Important Things I Learned (or Re-learned) Recently</title>
		<link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/life/12-important-things-i-learned-or-re-learned-recently/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/life/12-important-things-i-learned-or-re-learned-recently/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:19:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Donna</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/?p=2297</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[1. Sometimes people will disappoint you; sometimes people will pleasantly surprise you. 2. Sometimes I&#8217;ll feel hurt because others are unfairly judged. 3. Sometimes people need to be reminded that the worth of a voice is not dependent upon the amount of money available to spend on that voice. 4. Sometimes I&#8217;m reminded that you [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>1. Sometimes people will disappoint you; sometimes people will pleasantly surprise you.</p>
<p>2. Sometimes I&#8217;ll feel hurt because others are unfairly judged.</p>
<p>3. Sometimes people need to be reminded that the worth of a voice is not dependent upon the amount of money available to spend on that voice.</p>
<p>4. Sometimes I&#8217;m reminded that you wouldn&#8217;t know me at all; you would never have heard my name; or read anything I&#8217;ve ever written, if I&#8217;d been required to pay $xxx in order to share my voice.</p>
<p>5. Sometimes people don&#8217;t realize how their good intentions might hurt others.</p>
<p>6. Sometimes people don&#8217;t care.</p>
<p>7. Sometimes the world isn&#8217;t fair.</p>
<p>8. Sometimes I need to speak out.</p>
<p>9. Sometimes we all need to realize that our words have power.</p>
<p>10. Sometimes we need to remember that our own self-worth is not dependent upon what some arbitrary government or some collective group of people decides we are worth.</p>
<p>11. Sometimes each and every one of us should share our thoughts even when others believe we should not.</p>
<p>12. Sometimes, that which we share, will touch others in ways that we may never realize. For that reason, we should continue to share our voices, even when we think no one is listening.</p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Donna for <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, 2010. |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/life/12-important-things-i-learned-or-re-learned-recently/">Permalink</a> |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/life/12-important-things-i-learned-or-re-learned-recently/#comments">12 comments</a> |
Add to
<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/life/12-important-things-i-learned-or-re-learned-recently/&title=12 Important Things I Learned (or Re-learned) Recently">del.icio.us</a>
<br/>
Post tags: <br/>
This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this in your news aggregator/reader or on <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, then the site you are looking at is probably infringing upon my copyright.<br/>
</small></p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4HTO3LDTrpuknD5G54lvNqpYdzQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4HTO3LDTrpuknD5G54lvNqpYdzQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4HTO3LDTrpuknD5G54lvNqpYdzQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4HTO3LDTrpuknD5G54lvNqpYdzQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=gPYiSuwGXDg:AfzkieRUi4U:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=gPYiSuwGXDg:AfzkieRUi4U:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=gPYiSuwGXDg:AfzkieRUi4U:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=gPYiSuwGXDg:AfzkieRUi4U:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=gPYiSuwGXDg:AfzkieRUi4U:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=gPYiSuwGXDg:AfzkieRUi4U:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=gPYiSuwGXDg:AfzkieRUi4U:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=gPYiSuwGXDg:AfzkieRUi4U:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Dazzlindonna/~4/gPYiSuwGXDg" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/life/12-important-things-i-learned-or-re-learned-recently/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>12</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hacked Blogs: Who Ya Gonna Call?</title>
		<link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/wordpress/hacked-blogs-who-ya-gonna-call/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/wordpress/hacked-blogs-who-ya-gonna-call/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:45:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Donna</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacked]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/?p=2278</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How many times have you seen the panicked tweets of people who&#8217;ve had their blogs hacked? Ever wondered what you should do if it happened to you? Today, I&#8217;m talking to an expert in dealing with hacked WordPress blogs, Michael VanDeMar. Listen, learn, and then be careful out there! How He Knows Donna: I know [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote><p>How many times have you seen the panicked tweets of people who&#8217;ve had their blogs hacked? Ever wondered what you should do if it happened to you? <strong>Today, I&#8217;m talking to an expert in dealing with hacked WordPress blogs, Michael VanDeMar.</strong> Listen, learn, and then be careful out there! <img src='http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
</blockquote>
<h3>How He Knows</h3>
<p><em><b>Donna:</b> I know you have a popular blog post that describes how to completely clean your <a href="http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2008/06/24/how-to-completely-clean-your-hacked-wordpress-installation/" class="liexternal">hacked WordPress</a> installation. In fact, it&#8217;s even been linked to as a <a href="http://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_My_site_was_hacked" class="liwp">resource by WordPress</a> themselves (<a href="http://wordpress.org/support/topic/hack-warning-upgrade-immediately" class="liwp">twice</a>) and by the well-known WordPress geek <a href="http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/old-wordpress-versions-under-attack/" class="liexternal">Lorelle VanFossen</a> as well. My question is, how did you become so familiar with hacked WordPress blogs? How do you know how to clean one?</em></p>
<p><b>Michael:</b> I went through a period a few years back where I was getting hacked every other month, and on multiple sites. Usually it was because I didn&#8217;t follow one of my bestest friend&#8217;s advice*, and would procrastinate on upgrading. As it is I learned by necessity how to quickly and effectively clean up a blog, and have used that knowledge to try and help others as well.</p>
<h3>Protect Yourself</h3>
<p><em><b>Donna:</b> So, everyone agrees that the best way to prevent getting hacked is to keep WordPress upgraded to the latest version. What else should we all do in addition to that?</em></p>
<p><b>Michael:</b> Up until the most recent versions of WordPress, every single version that was released wound up having relatively serious security holes in them. Now that WordPress itself seems to have plugged all of those, there are 2 main ways that a WordPress installation can get hacked:</p>
<p>1) Insecure hosting environment. Unfortunately this year some of the bigger names in hosting have had security issues, and almost always when they were discovered, it was WordPress that was attacked by the hackers, and in many cases <a href="http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2010/05/13/hosting-with-godaddy-might-want-to-rethink-that-decision" class="liexternal">unfairly blamed</a> for the security holes. You should always investigate your host before buying a package, make sure that not only are they safe, but check out how they responded to problems in the past. Those that owned up to them and addressed the issue, instead of repeatedly issuing denials that anything was wrong, are probably the ones who take security more seriously.</p>
<p>2) A virus on a computer belonging to someone who has ftp access to the web server. Although this is more rare, it does happen. Certain FTP programs store their passwords in plain text, which means anyone who can read the files on the computer can see what those passwords are. If a person is using one of those programs, and their computer gets a virus, there are viruses that will read those passwords and ftp up malicious files to the host. The solution to this, aside from using strong virus protection (or switching from Windows to Linux), is to not store your passwords in your ftp program.</p>
<p>There are some <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/login-lockdown/" class="liwp">plugins that can sometimes help catch certain types of hacks</a>, and you yourself wrote a <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/business-development/tech-advice/new-tool-to-help-fight-web-site-hackers/" class="liinternal">very handy script</a> designed to check the last modified dates on files located on the server and alert you of any change, but unfortunately there are ways that hackers have found to get around most of those (although of course they still help in many situations).</p>
<h3>What About DIY?</h3>
<p><em><b>Donna:</b> I know you often clean hacked WordPress blogs as a service. In what situations would someone need to hire you to clean their hacked blogs? Can&#8217;t they just do it themselves?</em></p>
<p><b>Michael:</b> Yes, many people can, and the guide I wrote was intended to be a DIY type of instruction manual for people to do just that. However, one of the main attractions of WordPress in the first place is that it allows people with almost no technical knowledge to be able to build and maintain their own websites. With one-click installation and built in upgrade functionality, you don&#8217;t even have to know how to FTP files to your server to be able to have a WordPress blog. Cleaning a blog (at least, cleaning one properly) involves actually going into the sql and looking inside the php files themselves. For many people that is unfamiliar territory that they would rather leave to a professional. Plus, getting hacked is scary. Some people who might even have some basic web development knowledge feel better having someone who is more familiar with the ins and outs of dehacking a website handle the job.</p>
<h3>Back Door Access</h3>
<p><em><b>Donna:</b> Ok, I&#8217;ve actually been asked this question a few times, so I thought I&#8217;d let you answer it here. If I do get hacked, can&#8217;t I just upgrade my blog and everything will be ok?</em></p>
<p><b>Michael:</b> Unfortunately in most cases that will not help the situation. When hackers get into a WordPress installation they usually modify more than just the core WordPress files, which is the only thing that gets overwritten when someone performs an upgrade. Theme files and plugins will get extra code injected into them, whole new pages that act as back doors to the site will get added, and the database will have malicious code inserted into it. The only sure fire way to make sure that everything is good is to start with a blank slate, and rebuild the files, retaining and carefully scanning only those files that cannot be gotten from fresh, clean sources.</p>
<h3>Do The Happy Dance</h3>
<p><em><b>Donna:</b> Do you do a little dance when satisfied clients <a href="http://twitter.com/neyne/status/20581538112" class="liexternal">tweet</a> how <a href="http://twitter.com/neyne/status/20582706750" class="liexternal">great</a> you are?</em></p>
<p><b>Michael:</b> Yes. <img src='http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<h3>It&#8217;s Not Your Momma&#8217;s Cleaning Service</h3>
<p><em><b>Donna:</b> Tell us about your hacked blog cleaning service and how someone should get in touch with you if they need to hire you.</em></p>
<p><b>Michael:</b> If someone does have issues with cleaning their blog, or has hired someone else to do it but still keeps getting hacked, I am available for hire to do cleanups. When I do perform cleanups myself, in most cases they are complete wipe and reinstalls, as I suggest doing in my guide, retaining only those elements that can&#8217;t be replaced with fresh downloads (the uploads folder, customizations to a theme, and the database). For all of the elements of a hacked site that I do retain, I carefully scan them by hand and then put the blog back together in it&#8217;s original condition. There are many, many places that hackers can hide malicious code in your installation, and none of the automated or scripted solutions out there will find them all. When I scan by hand, I don&#8217;t just look for specific lines of code, I look for broad matching patterns in all of the places where back doors and virus droppers can be hidden. I have written some tools to help me with this, so I can be both thorough and relatively quick at the same time, but I still need to visually examine the results to be able to determine what is malicious versus what is simply suspicious.</p>
<p>I actually finally added a <a href="http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/contact-michael-vandemar/" class="liexternal">contact form</a> on my blog.  If anyone is interested in my services, the contact form on my blog is the best way to get in touch with me.</p>
<h3>Care To Share?</h3>
<p><em><b>Donna:</b> Is there anything else you want to share with us? About WordPress hacked blogs or the meaning of life, even?</em></p>
<p><b>Michael:</b> I can&#8217;t think of anything for this one. <img src='http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<h3>Disclaimer</h3>
<p><b>Donna:</b> <i>Disclaimer: Michael is my best buddy, so yeah, that may make me favor him, but what it really means is that I know his work. I&#8217;ve seen firsthand, many times over, how he painstakingly makes sure he misses nothing. He spends much more time being careful to ensure that every single detail is handled than anyone I&#8217;ve ever met. So if I tend to favor his work, it&#8217;s not just because he&#8217;s my best buddy &#8211; it&#8217;s because I know my best buddy&#8217;s work so well. That, I believe, is the best kind of endorsement.</i></p>
<p><i>* &#8220;bestest friend&#8221; = me. Why does my advice go unheeded so often, and for so long? Don&#8217;t answer that!</i></p>
<p><a href="http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2008/06/24/how-to-completely-clean-your-hacked-wordpress-installation/" class="liimagelink"><img src="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/images/michael486ad.png"></a></p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Donna for <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, 2010. |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/wordpress/hacked-blogs-who-ya-gonna-call/">Permalink</a> |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/wordpress/hacked-blogs-who-ya-gonna-call/#comments">9 comments</a> |
Add to
<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/wordpress/hacked-blogs-who-ya-gonna-call/&title=Hacked Blogs: Who Ya Gonna Call?">del.icio.us</a>
<br/>
Post tags: <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/hacked/" rel="tag">hacked</a>, <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/wordpress/" rel="tag">WordPress</a><br/>
This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this in your news aggregator/reader or on <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, then the site you are looking at is probably infringing upon my copyright.<br/>
</small></p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nC3XJMNMMjqUUaNprZIczt__Y6Y/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nC3XJMNMMjqUUaNprZIczt__Y6Y/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nC3XJMNMMjqUUaNprZIczt__Y6Y/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nC3XJMNMMjqUUaNprZIczt__Y6Y/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=lukzOzQuNAc:HAbF0lfi2j0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=lukzOzQuNAc:HAbF0lfi2j0:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=lukzOzQuNAc:HAbF0lfi2j0:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=lukzOzQuNAc:HAbF0lfi2j0:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=lukzOzQuNAc:HAbF0lfi2j0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=lukzOzQuNAc:HAbF0lfi2j0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=lukzOzQuNAc:HAbF0lfi2j0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=lukzOzQuNAc:HAbF0lfi2j0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Dazzlindonna/~4/lukzOzQuNAc" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/wordpress/hacked-blogs-who-ya-gonna-call/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Four Ways To Become An Authority Blogger</title>
		<link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/four-ways-to-become-an-authority-blogger/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/four-ways-to-become-an-authority-blogger/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:52:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Donna</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Forming Connections]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online influencers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roko Nastic]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/?p=2258</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The following is a guest post by Roko Nastic. There is no shortage of conversation online. An internet that was once barren &#8211; completely devoid of conversation as little as five years ago &#8211; has become remarkably social, attracting people from different countries, social classes, and ethnicities to interact and share their opinions. With equal [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><i>The following is a guest post by Roko Nastic.</i></p>
<p>There is no shortage of conversation online. An internet that was once barren &ndash; completely devoid of conversation as little as five years ago &ndash; has become remarkably social, attracting people from different countries, social classes, and ethnicities to interact and share their opinions. With equal access to information, communications, and publicity for all, it seems as if the modern internet could be the greatest source of information available.</p>
<p>There is a problem, though. For all the praise heaped on the social internet for &#8216;connecting&#8217; us, very little real connections have happened. <strong>We have built thin relationships, largely for the purpose of extending our virtual networks, and have often left out the truly important factor in online networking, publishing, and blogging: authority.</strong></p>
<p>The most successful bloggers are not those with the highest reader counts or the most Facebook friends &ndash; they are the ones with the insightful audiences and influential guests. If you want to become a blogger that is not concerned solely with traffic graphs and other gimmicks, pay attention &ndash; these four tips, strategies, and tactics could help you transform your blog.</p>
<h3>Write less.</h3>
<p>For most bloggers, the idea of writing less feels like a step in the wrong direction. They spend months &ndash; occasionally even years &ndash; building their online reputation, only to be asked to limit the amount of output they produce instantly.</p>
<p>It is nothing to fear. Limited posts ensure that the little you do publish is polished and refined. Cut down your posting frequency by 50 percent and double the value of your work &ndash; your readership won&#8217;t regret it.</p>
<h3>In every post, write more.</h3>
<p>Two three-hundred word throwaway posts are often worth less than one detailed six-hundred word account. If your aims revolve around building a reputation &ndash; an authority aura, if you will &ndash; one of the best things you can do is improve the amount of content a single post contains. Cut out the idea that daily, weekly, or even bi-weekly updates are required, and focus on delivering lengthy, high-value posts when possible.</p>
<h3>Don&#8217;t comment or speculate; meditate on past events.</h3>
<p>The rise in blogging has given hundreds of undiscovered geniuses a voice. It is also given thousands of idiots an outlet for speculation. There is no shortage of unfounded accounts and inane predictions online &ndash; they litter most feeds like a sampling of low-quality entertainment. Rise above and over reflective content and you will see the favor returned in higher quality comments, coverage, and value.</p>
<h3>Attract high quality guest posters.</h3>
<p>There is an old saying &ndash; &ldquo;you are the sum of the five most influential people in your life.&rdquo; If your blog has a purpose &ndash; a goal you want to achieve from it &ndash; it is essential that you stock it with the right people. Spend time building relationships with online influencers, the type of people that almost everyone listens to, and you will be rewarded with a greater deal of respect and attention yourself. Most bloggers are not opposed to <a href="http://webmasterformat.com/blog/guest-blogging" class="liexternal">guest blogging</a> &ndash; they just have not found the right platform for it yet.</p>
<hr />
<p><i>This article is written by Roko Nastic, editor at <a href="http://webmasterformat.com/" class="liexternal">Webmaster Format</a>, website where you can learn how to create better, faster and more profitable websites. You can <a href="http://twitter.com/WebmasterFormat" class="liexternal">follow him on Twitter</a> to get the updates form the ever changing web.</i></p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Donna for <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, 2010. |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/four-ways-to-become-an-authority-blogger/">Permalink</a> |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/four-ways-to-become-an-authority-blogger/#comments">31 comments</a> |
Add to
<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/four-ways-to-become-an-authority-blogger/&title=Four Ways To Become An Authority Blogger">del.icio.us</a>
<br/>
Post tags: <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/online-influencers/" rel="tag">online influencers</a>, <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/roko-nastic/" rel="tag">Roko Nastic</a><br/>
This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this in your news aggregator/reader or on <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, then the site you are looking at is probably infringing upon my copyright.<br/>
</small></p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/K-SXnBe3ucr2UfTr1Zoz1P-hTao/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/K-SXnBe3ucr2UfTr1Zoz1P-hTao/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/K-SXnBe3ucr2UfTr1Zoz1P-hTao/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/K-SXnBe3ucr2UfTr1Zoz1P-hTao/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=tuWapLK8mCE:CJ2Tph4WxdQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=tuWapLK8mCE:CJ2Tph4WxdQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=tuWapLK8mCE:CJ2Tph4WxdQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=tuWapLK8mCE:CJ2Tph4WxdQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=tuWapLK8mCE:CJ2Tph4WxdQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=tuWapLK8mCE:CJ2Tph4WxdQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=tuWapLK8mCE:CJ2Tph4WxdQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=tuWapLK8mCE:CJ2Tph4WxdQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Dazzlindonna/~4/tuWapLK8mCE" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/four-ways-to-become-an-authority-blogger/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>31</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Social Media Marketing – A Book Review</title>
		<link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/social-media-marketing/social-media-marketing-a-book-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/social-media-marketing/social-media-marketing-a-book-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:31:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Donna</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Media Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Liana Evans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/?p=2247</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You know all those social media gurus you see everywhere? Round them all up and ask them to raise their hands if they&#8217;ve had a major publisher publish their 300+ page book on social media. I&#8217;d bet 99.99% of them don&#8217;t have a 2 page book published. Liana Evans does, though, and it&#8217;s a social [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You know all those social media gurus you see everywhere? Round them all up and ask them to raise their hands if they&#8217;ve had a major publisher publish their 300+ page book on social media. I&#8217;d bet 99.99% of them don&#8217;t have a 2 page book published. Liana Evans does, though, and it&#8217;s a <a href="http://www.smmarketingbook.com" class="liexternal">social media marketing book</a> I&#8217;ve just finished reading, so I&#8217;m going to share my thoughts on it here.  The name of the book is <a href="http://dazzd.com/smmbook" rel="nofollow" class="liexternal">Social Media Marketing : Strategies for Engaging in Facebook, Twitter &#038; Other Social Media</a>. If you just want to see the standard description, including a list of the topics it includes, as well as a peek inside the book, then just check out its <a href="http://dazzd.com/smmbook" rel="nofollow" class="liexternal">Amazon page</a>. For my own personal take on it, read on.</p>
<h3>The Bottom Line First</h3>
<p>Let&#8217;s cut right to the chase.  The best part about this book is that it is a VERY comprehensive look at social media marketing today. The worst part about this book is that it might be a little too comprehensive.  It&#8217;s a long read. Granted, it&#8217;s packed with information, but if I had to find fault with any part of it, it&#8217;s that it could probably be cut down just a bit. That aside, there&#8217;s plenty of social media marketing guidance here for any company in any industry. </p>
<p>The one thing I noticed is that Li doesn&#8217;t just share the *shoulds* &#8211; those things companies *should* do when working their social media strategies. She also shares many of the things that *shouldn&#8217;t* be done. There are so many misconceptions about what makes up a social marketing plan that businesses are very often tripping and making huge mis-steps instead of successfully implementing the plans. But until someone points out the things that shouldn&#8217;t be done, it&#8217;s very easy to do all the wrong things with all the best intentions.</p>
<h3>The Book&#8217;s Audience</h3>
<p>Who is this book really for? Although anyone with a business &#8211; online or offline &#8211; can benefit from the book, it seems to be aimed at companies rather than individual entrepreneurs. Li shares lots of information on handling employee buy-in to the strategies, as well as how to deal with all the matters of who does what, and who says what, out in the social realm. There are lots of issues that companies have to consider when they have employees who participate in social media every day &#8211; even if it&#8217;s only from a personal perspective.  Liana does a good job of covering all those issues.</p>
<p>Of course, one-person companies like myself don&#8217;t have those problems. Many of you may not either. In that way, this book covers a bit more than we need, but that doesn&#8217;t mean we can&#8217;t get tons of great information from the book. We just aren&#8217;t it&#8217;s ideal target market.  Everyone with a business would benefit from this book, certainly, but especially companies bigger than small mom and pop shops will get the most value from it.</p>
<h3>The Bottom Line, Revisited</h3>
<p>If you&#8217;re unsure how to implement a social media strategy for your business, you should probably read this comprehensive book.  On the other hand, even if you *think* you know how you should implement your social media plan, you should also read this book. You might be surprised at all the new insights you hadn&#8217;t thought of before.</p>
<h3>Want To Win A Copy Of The Book?</h3>
<p>I have a brand new copy of Li&#8217;s book to give away, so let&#8217;s have a little contest! I promise it will be very easy to enter.</p>
<h3>How To Enter &#8211; This Way</h3>
<p>In the comments below, tell us all about your favorite social site &#8211; other than Digg, Delicious, Facebook and Twitter. Digg, Delicious, Facebook and Twitter WON&#8217;T count. I&#8217;m hoping we can come up with some lesser known but still useful social sites that we should be aware of.  Social sites can include any of the following: Social News (like Digg), Social Networks (like Facebook), Social Bookmarking (like Delicious), or Social Streams (like Twitter).</p>
<h3>How To Enter &#8211; Or This Way</h3>
<p>Or, in the comments below, tell me which post on my site you like best (and why) and enter the URL of the post within the comment, so others can check it out too.</p>
<h3>The Content Ends On &#8230;</h3>
<p>On August 13th, 2010, (Friday the 13th in fact), sometime around noon CST, I&#8217;ll put all the entries into a virtual hat (my random php script), shake them around (run the script), and pick the winner.  I&#8217;ll notify the winner by email. The winner can give me a mailing address to ship the book to, and I&#8217;ll get it sent via USPS asap.</p>
<h3>UPDATE &#8211; THE WINNER IS&#8230;</h3>
<p>Ok, the contest has ended, and the winner was easy to choose because there was only one entry! Woot! Stephanie Suesan Smith, I&#8217;ll be getting in touch with you to find out where to send the book. CONGRATULATIONS!</p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Donna for <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, 2010. |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/social-media-marketing/social-media-marketing-a-book-review/">Permalink</a> |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/social-media-marketing/social-media-marketing-a-book-review/#comments">6 comments</a> |
Add to
<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/social-media-marketing/social-media-marketing-a-book-review/&title=Social Media Marketing &#8211; A Book Review">del.icio.us</a>
<br/>
Post tags: <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/liana-evans/" rel="tag">Liana Evans</a>, <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/social-media/" rel="tag">social media</a><br/>
This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this in your news aggregator/reader or on <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, then the site you are looking at is probably infringing upon my copyright.<br/>
</small></p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EOWPYjbme1wEuomva-YW5heub9E/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EOWPYjbme1wEuomva-YW5heub9E/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EOWPYjbme1wEuomva-YW5heub9E/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EOWPYjbme1wEuomva-YW5heub9E/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=_v34IIvC1xk:S9xYNG8hwA8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=_v34IIvC1xk:S9xYNG8hwA8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=_v34IIvC1xk:S9xYNG8hwA8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=_v34IIvC1xk:S9xYNG8hwA8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=_v34IIvC1xk:S9xYNG8hwA8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=_v34IIvC1xk:S9xYNG8hwA8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=_v34IIvC1xk:S9xYNG8hwA8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=_v34IIvC1xk:S9xYNG8hwA8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Dazzlindonna/~4/_v34IIvC1xk" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/social-media-marketing/social-media-marketing-a-book-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Transition From a Personal Blog To A Business Blog Without Losing All Your Regular Visitors</title>
		<link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/content/how-to-transition-from-a-personal-blog-to-a-business-blog-without-losing-all-your-regular-visitors/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/content/how-to-transition-from-a-personal-blog-to-a-business-blog-without-losing-all-your-regular-visitors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:08:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Donna</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/?p=2240</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This blog started out, over 4 years ago, as my personal blog. At the time, my business blog was SEO Scoop, and I needed someplace to talk about the weird things that happened in my regular life, so I created this blog to cover that. Deciding To Change Over time, my interests changed, and I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This blog started out, over 4 years ago, as my personal blog. At the time, my business blog was <a href="http://www.seo-scoop.com/" class="liexternal">SEO Scoop</a>, and I needed someplace to talk about the weird things that happened in my regular life, so I created this blog to cover that.</p>
<h3>Deciding To Change</h3>
<p>Over time, my interests changed, and I subsequently sold SEO Scoop. I&#8217;d decided that I wanted to center my work days around the more general topic of making a living online, and I came to the conclusion that this was the place to discuss that topic. The problem was, I wasn&#8217;t sure how to move from posting about <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/life/punks-3-me-0/" class="liinternal">punks who knock down mailboxes</a>, and <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/life/watch-out-for-pecking-parents/" class="liinternal">momma birds attacking me</a> when I got too close to her babies, to the conglomeration it has become &#8211; <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/featured/monetize-your-site-11-ways-to-make-money-online/" class="liinternal">how to make money online</a>.</p>
<p>I didn&#8217;t want to turn off all my regular visitors, but I knew that at least some of them came here because they enjoyed my take on everyday life. (Most of those were extended family members and I knew they wouldn&#8217;t really be interested in hearing what I have to say about ebusiness). On the other hand, I also knew that many of my regular visitors were people who had found this site because they had been regular visitors of SEO Scoop, or knew me from the SEO world somehow.  I assumed at least some of those visitors would be happy to hear my thoughts on ebusiness.</p>
<h3>Where To Engage Those Loyal Visitors</h3>
<p>Around this same time, social networks were starting to reach the point where even my not-so-technical family members were starting to participate. That&#8217;s when I realized that I could continue to share my daily oddities with the people who wanted to know those kinds of things by simply participating in the social networks where they hung out. (I&#8217;m also considering using something like <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/" class="liexternal">Tumblr</a> for a mini-personal blog but I haven&#8217;t done that yet).</p>
<p>So, knowing that it was inevitable to lose some of my visitors, but that I could still keep in touch with them elsewhere, I began the transition here from a personal blog about my life, to one that is focused on ebusiness. How did I actually make the transition?</p>
<h3>The Actual Process</h3>
<ul>
<li>I changed my template from a more laid back one to a more professional one.</li>
<li>I slowly started making more blog posts about ebusiness and less about my personal life</li>
<li>I began creating more and more ebusiness-related categories, and started consolidating the personal categories into a new parent category called Life.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you really believe you&#8217;ll lose most of your regular followers, and don&#8217;t want to engage with them elsewhere instead, then it&#8217;s time to have some one-on-one conversations with them. Ask them if they would stick around even if your posts became less personal. If they say yes, try to come up with a compromise solution.  Maybe you can have a private section of the blog devoted to the personal side of your life. Perhaps you can blog once a week in that private section, and only those visitors that you&#8217;ve made arrangements with ahead of time, are allowed into that private section. That would be what I would personally do in that situation. Your regular visitors would probably appreciate being a part of a private community like that.  I&#8217;m not sure what the best way would be to actually create a private section, but I assume there&#8217;s some kind of plugin out there to handle this.  </p>
<h3>My Ideas, Your Ideas</h3>
<p>So interacting with users on other social networks is one idea to keep that connection with regular visitors after such a major transition, and a private area of the blog just for those visitors is another idea. Of course, you could always just start a new blog, but that&#8217;s the obvious choice, and isn&#8217;t really the point of this post. I&#8217;ll bet there are other great solutions out there that I haven&#8217;t thought of. Do you have any ideas to share with those who are thinking of transitioning a personal blog to a business blog? If so, please share in the comments below.</p>
<hr />
<p><i>This post is part of the <a href="http://www.biggirlbranding.com/a-blog-carnival-virgin-and-why-you-should-be-my-first/" class="liexternal">Big Girl Branding</a> / <a href="http://blogswithwings.com/blog-carnival-convert-to-business-blog-without-turning-off-readers/" class="liexternal">Blogs With Wings</a> carnival created to find out &#8220;how to best go about taking a simple blog and turning it into a business blog without it being a turnoff to the readers. What would you do to turn a blog into a business platform without alienating the readers and maintaining your blog&#8217;s integrity?&#8221; Since others will be answering this same question, they&#8217;ll be adding to the ideas, so go get their solutions as well. Between all those participating, the right solution is probably out there.</i></p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Donna for <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, 2010. |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/content/how-to-transition-from-a-personal-blog-to-a-business-blog-without-losing-all-your-regular-visitors/">Permalink</a> |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/content/how-to-transition-from-a-personal-blog-to-a-business-blog-without-losing-all-your-regular-visitors/#comments">12 comments</a> |
Add to
<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/content/how-to-transition-from-a-personal-blog-to-a-business-blog-without-losing-all-your-regular-visitors/&title=How To Transition From a Personal Blog To A Business Blog Without Losing All Your Regular Visitors">del.icio.us</a>
<br/>
Post tags: <br/>
This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this in your news aggregator/reader or on <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, then the site you are looking at is probably infringing upon my copyright.<br/>
</small></p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/X6EiSCzphGLVWb4TeREtTJKkCm4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/X6EiSCzphGLVWb4TeREtTJKkCm4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/X6EiSCzphGLVWb4TeREtTJKkCm4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/X6EiSCzphGLVWb4TeREtTJKkCm4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=x4n1wwPmoY8:CZwow2-vvqc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=x4n1wwPmoY8:CZwow2-vvqc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=x4n1wwPmoY8:CZwow2-vvqc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=x4n1wwPmoY8:CZwow2-vvqc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=x4n1wwPmoY8:CZwow2-vvqc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=x4n1wwPmoY8:CZwow2-vvqc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=x4n1wwPmoY8:CZwow2-vvqc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=x4n1wwPmoY8:CZwow2-vvqc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Dazzlindonna/~4/x4n1wwPmoY8" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/content/how-to-transition-from-a-personal-blog-to-a-business-blog-without-losing-all-your-regular-visitors/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>12</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Quick Site Audit</title>
		<link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/site-design/a-quick-site-audit/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/site-design/a-quick-site-audit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:41:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Donna</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Site Design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/?p=2236</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Two things converged today for me today. First, I found out that there is finally a pizza place that will deliver food to my area. Hooray! That&#8217;s a big deal, since no restaurants of any sort has done that in my small town before now. Second, I was looking at the websites of some of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Two things converged today for me today. First, I found out that there is finally a pizza place that will deliver food to my area. Hooray! That&#8217;s a big deal, since no restaurants of any sort has done that in my small town before now.  Second, I was looking at the websites of some of the sponsors of the <a href="http://comluv.com/news/official-cash-contest/" class="liexternal">FamousBloggers Comluv contest</a>, and noticed that one was a <a href="http://firedwok.co.uk/" class="liexternal">Chinese takeout</a> place that also delivers. It made me wish that our local Chinese restaurant delivered as well. Since I was on the site, I began to analyze it in my head (as I always do), and thought I&#8217;d point out a few things I like about it &#8211; as well as a few things I&#8217;d recommend they change (if they ever asked me, which they haven&#8217;t). LOL.  You can see a screenshot of the site at the end of this post, but I&#8217;d recommend actually going to the site to get a good look at it.</p>
<h3>Things I Like About The Site</h3>
<p>1. Giant phone number in the header. You can&#8217;t miss that call to action, now can you?</p>
<p>2. Map to the location to make it easy to find them &#8211; again right there above the fold, and in your face.</p>
<p>3. Menu that can be downloaded and printed out &#8211; again displayed prominently.</p>
<p>4. News feed, showing what&#8217;s going on, when they&#8217;re closed, what new items are available, etc. is great.</p>
<p>5. Reviews are great. That always makes a new potential customer feel more comfortable about ordering from you. Prominent position; good job.</p>
<h3>Things I&#8217;d Change</h3>
<p>1. Break up the paragraphs of text on the home page. Use headings for emphasis.  For example, I&#8217;d use a big heading such as <b>&#8220;Why People From  Lancaster, Calgate and Morecambe Love Us</b>, and then explain about their quality meat and fresh produce. A sharp photo of that high-quality food wouldn&#8217;t hurt either.</p>
<p>2. The ingredients list is a little weird. While I am a fan of tag clouds, it doesn&#8217;t make as much sense in this situation as it does in others. Clicking an ingredient takes you to a page showing the various meals offered that use that ingredient. It&#8217;s &#8220;kinda cool&#8221; but &#8220;kinda odd&#8221;, you know?</p>
<p>3. Hours of Service is preceded by a heading that says &#8220;Oriental Cuisine&#8221;. Huh? The heading should say &#8220;Hours of Service&#8221; or &#8220;When We&#8217;re Open&#8221; or something related. Sure, they do serve oriental cuisine, and that should be somewhere &#8211; but just not as the heading over the service hours.  I&#8217;d also expect those hours to be a little more noticeable.</p>
<p>4. Subscribe for Offers list signup is a good idea, but I&#8217;d like to see a little more explanation to really convince the visitor to sign up. What kind of offers? Sell me on the really great deals I&#8217;ll get right in my email inbox, if only I&#8217;ll let you have my email address.</p>
<h3>Summary</h3>
<p>All in all, I really like the way this site has presented nearly everything I&#8217;d want to know right on the home page. I don&#8217;t have to work hard to find the information I need. My only real beef is that they could do a slightly better job of making a few things stand out, and really sell me on how awesome they are. But I like the site, and if I didn&#8217;t live 4,422 miles away, I&#8217;d place my order right now.</p>
<p><img src="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/wok.png" alt="" title="fired wok chinese takeout" width="400" height="546" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2237" /></p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Donna for <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, 2010. |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/site-design/a-quick-site-audit/">Permalink</a> |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/site-design/a-quick-site-audit/#comments">10 comments</a> |
Add to
<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/site-design/a-quick-site-audit/&title=A Quick Site Audit">del.icio.us</a>
<br/>
Post tags: <br/>
This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this in your news aggregator/reader or on <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, then the site you are looking at is probably infringing upon my copyright.<br/>
</small></p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7sgIWHFUS4JBF5LtLp0VtpV_eEk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7sgIWHFUS4JBF5LtLp0VtpV_eEk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7sgIWHFUS4JBF5LtLp0VtpV_eEk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7sgIWHFUS4JBF5LtLp0VtpV_eEk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=YH0op7fX1C8:RzRlzihrJD8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=YH0op7fX1C8:RzRlzihrJD8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=YH0op7fX1C8:RzRlzihrJD8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=YH0op7fX1C8:RzRlzihrJD8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=YH0op7fX1C8:RzRlzihrJD8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=YH0op7fX1C8:RzRlzihrJD8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=YH0op7fX1C8:RzRlzihrJD8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=YH0op7fX1C8:RzRlzihrJD8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Dazzlindonna/~4/YH0op7fX1C8" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/site-design/a-quick-site-audit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>10</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Great Example: Using An Interesting Story To Lead Into Your Point</title>
		<link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/use-interesting-story-lead/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/use-interesting-story-lead/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:33:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Donna</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Forming Connections]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dries Buytaert]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[storytelling]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/?p=2232</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I occasionally like to point out the usefulness of telling a story to create interest, engage emotions, and make your point in a way that connects with your readers. I noticed a tweet today that led me to a blog post that does an excellent job of using a story to lead into the blogger&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I occasionally like to <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/business-development/conversions/storytelling-emotional-marketing/" class="liinternal">point out the usefulness of telling a story</a> to create interest, engage emotions, and make your point in a way that connects with your readers.  I noticed a tweet today that led me to a blog post that does an excellent job of using a story to lead into the blogger&#8217;s message.</p>
<p><a href="http://buytaert.net/drupal-7-the-cocoon-and-the-butterfly" class="liexternal">Drupal 7, the cocoon and the butterfly</a> by Dries Buytaert grabbed my attention immediately with the short tale of the man, the cocoon, and the butterfly. The little story was interesting. The &#8220;moral of the story&#8221; was educational. And the entire tale was the perfect lead-in to a topic that is technical in nature, and not generally one that would be all that engaging.  </p>
<p>Sure, web geeks like to hear about upcoming versions of their favorite apps, but a quick scan is usually sufficient, and the blogger may not really connect with the reader in any significant way. Dries, however, does a great job of connecting with his readers by using the tale as a lead-in. The little story&#8217;s lesson was a great way to introduce the main topic Dries wanted to discuss. </p>
<p>If you&#8217;ve ever wanted to be better at engaging your blog readers, I recommend reading Dries&#8217; post, whether you care about Drupal or not. Just as the story of the man and the cocoon had a lesson to be learned, Dries&#8217; post also imparts a lesson in effective use of storytelling when blogging.</p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Donna for <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, 2010. |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/use-interesting-story-lead/">Permalink</a> |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/use-interesting-story-lead/#comments">10 comments</a> |
Add to
<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/use-interesting-story-lead/&title=Great Example: Using An Interesting Story To Lead Into Your Point">del.icio.us</a>
<br/>
Post tags: <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/dries-buytaert/" rel="tag">Dries Buytaert</a>, <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/storytelling/" rel="tag">storytelling</a><br/>
This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this in your news aggregator/reader or on <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, then the site you are looking at is probably infringing upon my copyright.<br/>
</small></p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KDnbfx2slO6bJ2KQ56iHISus1oQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KDnbfx2slO6bJ2KQ56iHISus1oQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KDnbfx2slO6bJ2KQ56iHISus1oQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KDnbfx2slO6bJ2KQ56iHISus1oQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=TLwiGm2XgkU:C4A9iukttnk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=TLwiGm2XgkU:C4A9iukttnk:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=TLwiGm2XgkU:C4A9iukttnk:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=TLwiGm2XgkU:C4A9iukttnk:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=TLwiGm2XgkU:C4A9iukttnk:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=TLwiGm2XgkU:C4A9iukttnk:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=TLwiGm2XgkU:C4A9iukttnk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=TLwiGm2XgkU:C4A9iukttnk:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Dazzlindonna/~4/TLwiGm2XgkU" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-promotion/forming-connections/use-interesting-story-lead/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>10</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Totally Rockin Make Your Own Newspaper Thing</title>
		<link>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/just-awesome/totally-rockin-make-your-own-newspaper-thing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/just-awesome/totally-rockin-make-your-own-newspaper-thing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:13:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Donna</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Just Awesome]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[personalized newspaper]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter stream]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/?p=2228</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sure, that title isn&#8217;t the greatest, but it&#8217;s how I describe a site I just discovered because Gabriella (@seocopy) mentioned it on Twitter. Paper.li a site in which you simply give it a twitter name (yours is a good start) or a twitter list or a #tag, and it will create a newspaper page that&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Sure, that title isn&#8217;t the greatest, but it&#8217;s how I describe a site I just discovered because Gabriella (<a href="http://twitter.com/seocopy" class="liexternal">@seocopy</a>) mentioned it on Twitter. <a href="http://paper.li/" class="liexternal">Paper.li</a> a site in which you simply give it a twitter name (yours is a good start) or a twitter list or a #tag, and it will create a newspaper page that&#8217;s updated every 24 hours based on whatever you entered.  For example, I entered my own Twitter name <a href="http://twitter.com/DonnaFontenot" class="liexternal">@DonnaFontenot</a>, and it created an awesome &#8211; let me repeat that &#8211; AWESOME newspaper for me that included highlights of all the LINKS that people pointed to from my own Twitter stream.  </p>
<p><a href="http://paper.li/DonnaFontenot" class="liexternal">Donna Fontenot&#8217;s Personalized Newspaper</a></p>
<p>Below is a screenshot of the upper part of the newspaper, but there&#8217;s TONS more awesome stuff in it.<br />
<img src="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/mynewspaper.png" alt="" title="mynewspaper" width="575" height="406" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2229" /></p>
<p>This enables me to see interesting things from the people I&#8217;ve chosen to follow. Sure, Twitter allows me to see that, right? But Twitter streams flash by and I miss much of what floats down that stream. My personalized newspaper allows me to see what I missed, which is very cool. Even cooler is that it&#8217;s all organized in an incredibly smart way, and it includes thumbnails to help visualize what&#8217;s there.</p>
<p><strong>This perfectly fits ME. It uses my own curated list to create the perfect personalized information for me. I&#8217;m blown away.</strong></p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Donna for <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, 2010. |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/just-awesome/totally-rockin-make-your-own-newspaper-thing/">Permalink</a> |
<a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/just-awesome/totally-rockin-make-your-own-newspaper-thing/#comments">8 comments</a> |
Add to
<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/just-awesome/totally-rockin-make-your-own-newspaper-thing/&title=Totally Rockin Make Your Own Newspaper Thing">del.icio.us</a>
<br/>
Post tags: <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/personalized-newspaper/" rel="tag">personalized newspaper</a>, <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/tag/twitter-stream/" rel="tag">Twitter stream</a><br/>
This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this in your news aggregator/reader or on <a href="http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog">DazzlinDonna</a>, then the site you are looking at is probably infringing upon my copyright.<br/>
</small></p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/gluew-MwhmNQJig3rPR4gMhTVz4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/gluew-MwhmNQJig3rPR4gMhTVz4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/gluew-MwhmNQJig3rPR4gMhTVz4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/gluew-MwhmNQJig3rPR4gMhTVz4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=qMGdiR8Mik0:8zzaa0q1E08:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=qMGdiR8Mik0:8zzaa0q1E08:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=qMGdiR8Mik0:8zzaa0q1E08:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=qMGdiR8Mik0:8zzaa0q1E08:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=qMGdiR8Mik0:8zzaa0q1E08:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=qMGdiR8Mik0:8zzaa0q1E08:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?a=qMGdiR8Mik0:8zzaa0q1E08:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Dazzlindonna?i=qMGdiR8Mik0:8zzaa0q1E08:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Dazzlindonna/~4/qMGdiR8Mik0" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/general/just-awesome/totally-rockin-make-your-own-newspaper-thing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
