There’re so many free applications available on the W3 – strong apps that rival the high-priced software that you don’t really need. Why bother spending few hundred bucks on an overrated app when you can get all of them without spending a dime? Here are five of my “must-have” favorites – all free, all useful and all just a click away.

1. Open Office

Open Office does most of what Microsoft’s Office Suite does, but it does it free. Open Office 3 is a robust bundle that includes a powerful word processor, a spreadsheet function, a presentations maker, a graphics controller and a fully-loaded d-base. Sound familiar?

If you want to pay $300 for Microsoft Office, be my guest. But why would you when Open Office delivers the same features at $0?

Open office docs are fully compatible with Microsoft formats. But Open Office is also cross-platform so it’ll configure on your Mac and frankly, I think Open Office has more to offer than Mac’s preinstalled suite (except the graphics tools, but that’s what makes Macs Macs – they’re ability to manipulate graphics.)

So unless you’re a graphic designer, Open Office delivers a full office suite, with a huge support network and even tech support. So, if you DON’T have an office suite, or you’re still running the original Microsoft Office from your collage days, a lot has changed, and you can upgrade free.

2. Snippy

Snippy is a cool little screen capture app. Let’s say you find an interesting article or picture or post. In the past, you might make a screen capture and attach the whole page to send to a friend for a read.

Snippy simplifies screen capture by allowing you to snip just the part of the page you want to save or send. In the age of SMS and mobi, this is one tool you want to keep on your desktop and your cell. Hey, there’s only so much bandwidth to go around so save some with Snippy.

3. Sticky Notes

I solved my time management problem with this little freebie app.

Sticky Notes let’s me create virtual sticky notes that I place on my computer screen to remind to do this or call her.

Sticky Notes also makes it easy to identify high-priority and low-priority tasks using different colored backgrounds. Notes can be updated, tasks crossed off. Totally flexible.

Even better, once I’ve reviewed my notes for the day (or the next two hours) I can hide the stickies with a click until I need to know what’s next.

A free fix for folks with a lot on their minds.

4. LogMeIn

LogMeIn delivers a bunch of features including remote access to your main system (a time save when you’re on the road a lot), home or small office networking (router required, but you can buy one for less than $30 that’ll cover your house or small office in the spare room), mobi connectivity to the home office and remote control of your system via cell, PDA or laptop.

Heck, you can log on from the client’s office to access his files for discussion – right on his computer. No more lugging a laptop around for tinny PowerPoint presentations. LogMeIn accesses files remotely so you always look good and sound good. This one’s a no-brainer for the sole proprietor who spends a lot of time in the studio or getting face time with local clients.

5. FileZilla

FileZilla is a free FTP (file transfer protocol) solution. So what’s it to you? Well, FTP services have a lot of uses for today’s techno-savvy user, and no, you don’t have to be a geek.

FTPs are most often used to transfer large files (graphics, video and audio, for example) quickly and safely. (Let’s face it, if you attach a 4 gig file to an AOL email the whole system will have a nervous breakdown.)

Using FTP systems, you can move multi-gig batches of data smoothly. But FTPs are useful for other reasons.

There great for offsite storage as long as they’re encrypted (sFTP) and FireZilla is hard-wired for security. It supports FTP, FTPSSL or TLS and SHH Transfer Protocol. In other words, all the safe and secure off-site storage free. Why are you paying Carbon Lock and these other cost-you-money sites for secure off-site storage when you can get it free. And secure.

Also, if you plan to use a free-standing blogging client like Bleezer or Flock, you’ll need web access. FTPs are ideal for hooking you in to the matrix without paying a web host.

I like FileZilla’s list of features, too: x-platform, drag and drop support, easy GUI, filename filters, a tonne of bookmarking options so you can find what you need fast.

Bottom line? If you make your living off your hard drive like a lot of us do, (me included) an FTP program like FileZilla is free insurance in case of catastrophic data loss, or the loss of your album of family pix. Using a free FTP client like FileZilla lets you sleep more soundly at night.

And you can send data by the tonne without a blip. Safely and securely.

I’m always on the lookout for free apps that make your web-based world a little simpler so stay tuned. I’m on the trail for free.

Image via Paladin 27

It’s a tough economy. Lay-offs, plant closings, higher taxes, higher costs for everything from food to fuel, and in most homes, two incomes are the norm. In fact, two incomes is almost a requirement these days.

However, not all couples have the time to work full-time jobs. Let’s face it, a lot of us want to stay home and raise our kids. NP. There’s plenty of web-based work if you’re willing to hustle for it and you’ve got some skills.

Typing, data entry, simple bookkeeping, concierge services, proof-reading – these are the kinds of things home-based business owners do in this outsourced world – and they can do it from anywhere for any company. And still keep an eye on the kids.

Here are some “must haves” for the budding, home-based business owner. Work at home, earn some cash and raise a family. In the age of outsourcing, you can build a profitable business in a matter of weeks without shelling out a lot for tools, or even job leads.

1. Skype

Skype is a popular VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) tool that hooks you up to anyone, anywhere via computer.

Calling another Skype user is free, and dialing a phone, even half-way around the world, is just pennies a minute. You can talk to your clients on the other side of the planet for 20 minutes. Total cost using Skype or some other VoIP system? A couple of bucks. Really.

Skype also has a messaging service, serves as an e-mail client and you can even hook up a video cam to show off the professional you. Today, your clients for outsourced virtual services can be anywhere. And staying in touch is part of your work-from-home job. And while there are other VoIP plans you can purchase through your cell phone provider or Skype owns the on-line VoIP market.

Cost: $5.00 to open an account.

That buys you $5.00 of Skype time so the service is a give-away. You can also set Skype on auto-pilot by giving your credit card number. Then, whenever you run short of Skype time, your card is charged automatically so you never get cut off mid-sentence.

This is a must-have app for the work-from-home start-up that doesn’t want to see profits gobbled up by phone charges. VoIP cuts costs down to nothing, or at least keeps communication expenses under control.

2. Zoho

Zoho delivers a strong menu of virtual office applications because, as a virtual business owner, you need a virtual office for everything from conferencing to customer support.

And while Zoho won’t handle every task smoothly, it’ll simplify the home-based business task list with everything from virtual web conferencing (very cool, very simple, very essential) to on-line collaborations with clients in some distant corner of the world.

I also like Zoho because it provides the tools that enable the start-up, work-at-home business owner to expand his/her list of service offerings from day one. Not a total fix, Zoho solves daily problems and cuts workload down to manageable levels. It also equips you to do more for your clients – and that’s how you build an ever-expanding client base. Deliver more services faster and more reliably and they’ll be knocking on you virtual door looking to sign on for your service offerings.

Cost: $0

3. Basecamp

Basecamp isn’t free but the basic package, which is all you need, won’t be a budget buster, and you can chalk it up to the cost of doing business.

Basecamp is an on-line, virtual office and project management suite that delivers the flexibility your clients expect.

Using Basecamp, you set up work rooms for each client. Examine your work postings for the day from clients, mark projects complete on delivery, upload super-sized files in any format, track project progress at a glance and control your business from an adaptive, intuitive graphical user interface, also called a GUI.

And because each client around the globe has his or her own “virtual” space to share with you, that client feels special, and that’s what keeps clients coming back with that next assignment.

Cost: $24 a month for the basic membership; handles up to 15 accounts simultaneously.

4. Meebo

Meebo is an instant messaging service that links into all of the most common web portals – at least the ones used by the biggest percentage of your client base.

With this one app, you can send and receive instant messages over AOL, Yahoo, My Space, MSN, Jabber, Facebook and other IM services – all from a single launch pad.

Meebo runs in the background, unobtrusively, and keeps you in touch with clients quickly and simply and, today, that’s what your clients want. Fast communications simplified.

Regardless of what IM service your new client uses, you always get the message with Meebo, all on a single page GUI that also serves as CRM – customer relations management – software, keeping a complete record of all communications with clients. This tool is designed to prevent misunderstandings.

Cost: $0

5. Kappix DRoster

Kappix DRoster is a robust scheduling tool that you use to schedule the activities of your clients. No matter what type of work you do from home – from virtual assistant to web designer – you can absolutely be certain that one client will screw up YOUR work schedule by failing to submit docs or other information required to get the job done quickly.

Kappix DRoster replaces a manual client scheduler, like MS Outlook, automating messaging and scheduling of client-side deliveries, approvals and other work-related activities. You control the actions of the clients with this app, not the other way around.

Working from home means organizing the activities of your clients, and this scheduling tool let’s clients know what THEY have to do (and when) to keep the work flow smooth and your work-at-home business sailing along.

One disorganized client can shred your whole schedule in seconds, but with this app, YOU notify each client of what’s due and when. Sure, you’re the service provider but if your clients don’t cooperate, your business suffers. It’s as simple as that. Kappix DRoster keeps clients up to date on what’s expected of them. tTat collaboration and pro-active approach to client scheduling is critical to work-at-home success.

Cost: $0

6. Elance

Elance is, perhaps, the best known site for finding work in a range of categories. Are you a work-at-home programmer? Sign up with Elance. Administrative Assistant? There are 323 jobs listed under this category today – from data entry gigs to concierge buying requests.

Copy writer, lawyer, architectural services – regardless of what services you offer from home, Elance has job listings.

This service will cost you, however. Elance does have an entry-level, FREE plan but it’s really limited. You can’t connect your Elance profile and you’re limited on the number of jobs you can bid. (Yes, you bid on jobs on Elance and each bid costs 50 cents.)

Also, Elance takes an 8.75% chunk of the cost of any gig you get. That percentage goes down as you earn Elance more cash, but they will get their money from you, that’s a fact.

Tiered packages are also available for a monthly fee. The basic membership will set you back $9.95 monthly and the professional-tier goes for $19.95 a month.

However, you’ll make that back on the first job you land through Elance. Keep your bids low (give it away) until you get feedback from happy clients. Then gradually, raise your bids and earn more. The competition is fierce on Elance, but some of the jobs pay well by web standards and it’s a great way to network your way to home-based business success.

Instead of sitting around watching soap operas, or playing solitaire on that shiny new computer you just bought, earn some money working in your slippers, keep an eye on the kids and be your own boss. Millions of people are earning money from home.

Are you the next one to join their ranks?

One key factor in building a brand (it doesn’t happen overnight) is to have an easily recognizable logo – a visual cue that immediately identifies your company with nothing but a picture.

Is there anyone on the planet who DOESN’T recognize this logo?

Business owners often pay thousands of dollars for a graphic design company to create the perfect image to represent a company. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t even have to be colorful. But it does have to be memorable. And that can set you back a lot of cash – and there’s no certainty that the design company gets it right.

The fact is, you know your business, your products or services and, most importantly, your target market, better than anyone. So doesn’t it make sense that YOU create your own logo. Not only do you save cash, you nail the right look and feel, the right motif, the right color – the right everything to hit the sweet spot of your market, even if you have zero experience in design.

Fortunately, the web is loaded with lots of free logo makers – all offering free tools that’ll help you create the right logo to brand your company and hit that demographic bulls’ eye.

Save yourself some money (critical if you’re just starting out) and design your own company brand with these free logo making tools.

1. AAA Logo Maker

AAA Logo Maker is a full-featured design suite with all the tools of high-priced image creation software (think Photoshop: price tag $799) but none of the stuff you don’t need. It’s a logo maker, short and sweet.

You don’t have to be a Picasso to create a professional looking logo. You just need the right tool.

I like AAA logo maker for a couple of reasons. First. it’s OSS, and I like anything that’s free. But I also want a tool that does what it says it’s going to do.

The designers of AAA have stripped out all of the features you don’t need and pumped up the features the novice logo designer needs:

* a strong collection of design templates
* easy template manipulation (so you don’t look like a template)
* 1000s of logo objects from which to choose
* multi-formatting options so you can upload a jpg to your blog or website or create a doc that you can take to the printer for your stationery
* complete customization of text, logo objects, templates and other built-ins to get you started
* unusual fonts you won’t find in Microsoft Paint
* intuitive editing and manipulation tools
* full, 256 true-color palette
* tons of SFX options

AAA Logo Maker is a powerful tool, whether you need to create a single logo for your own business or you’re adding logo creation to your service offerings. It’s not PS, but you don’t have to shell out $800 to look professional, and that’s a trade-off I’ll make any day.

2. Innovative Logos

Company Logo Designer won both the Editor’s Pick Award and User’s Choice Award at the FreeDownloads Center, a site worthy of bookmarking because they have a ton of OSS tools, apps and utilities to save you money. In fact, it’s one of my favorite sites because there’s always some new tool available so I usually stop by a couple of times a week to see what’s new on the offerings page.

Now, this logo maker is the simplest to master so your learning curve is cut down significantly. But you also sacrifice customization in exchange for that ease of use.

This OSS logo maker has fewer objects and fewer templates (only 25) to play around with, but that’s okay. The suite also provides enough image manipulation tools to adapt one of those templates to suit your design needs, and project that spot-on brand.

I do wish the software came with a larger image library, but with all of the free clip art and rip art available, you can import what you need and change it to make it your own, i.e. no trademark infringement.

If you want it fast and easy, go with this OSS logo maker. If you want more options (and don’t mind a longer learning curve), use one of the more powerful tools recommended above.

3. Logo Ease

It employs an intuitive GUI that simplifies the process of logo creation. One cool feature is that Logo Ease is one of only a handful of OSS tools that allows you to create vector source files – something your programmer will love. These files hold formatting whether in digital or hard-copy formats. That’s a real benefit.

LogoEase comes with 100s of images and is adding new imagery all the time. It’s tough to complain about free software tools, but I do have a quibble with this logo designer. Purely subjective.

The images provided by LogoEase definitely have the look of clip art, and to the trained eye, nothing says newbie faster than clip art. But, again, you can import your own objects and images easily with this simple tool so the art that comes with the package isn’t a critical consideration.

With a little imagination, LogoEase will do what you want it to do – create a professional-looking brand image in just a few minutes. I use it and, with a couple of simple work-arounds, I can produce logos that’ll blow your socks off, and I’m not a graphic designer.

So, don’t let my subjective view of the clip art put you off. You may like it. Or, as I said, the tool provides enough features to turn any image into your image. Fast. No learning curve, here. Download, install, create, and broadcast your company brand.

4. VidLogo 3.8.6

VidLogo 3.8.6 creates animated logos for webcasts and webinars. It’ll run on most Windows OS including Win 95 for those using older systems.

VidLogo makes it simple to change video files to display your company’s brand or video watermarks to protect your intellectual property. VidLogo 3.8.6. allows for the creation of animated or AVI logos for videos. The software also supports other graphics formats including bmp and jpg graphics and turns a still image into one that moves. It’s animated – ideal for banner animations and other images that require true Alpha video support.

The latest version (the software is updated regularly) has a number of new, time-saving features including MPEG encoding, a preview feature and totally customizable compression so you decide on download times for your next webcast.

VidLogo has had some problems in the past but with each new version, this software delivers improved functionality and features that simplify animated logo creation.

Now, this software isn’t for sissies. You’ll have to experiment (that’s why I like the newly-added preview feature) but if you’re serious about logo creation and Web 2.0 features like webcasts, this is one tool worth learning to use.

I’ve tested the logos produced by VidLogo on a number of browsers installed on a long list of computers – desktops, laptops and net books and the results were a pleasant surprise. While it’s reasonable to expect color shifts from browser to browser (even when using true colors), the animated banners I created with this tool looked most cool whether I viewed them on IE, Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

But again, this tool does require some time to get used to. If you’re a site designer, you probably use Photoshop for image manipulation, but if you want that image to dance, download VidLogo and expand your service offerings.

That’s a good way to build your design business in this tough economy when business owners are looking to cut back on marketing costs. With VidLogo 3.8.6., you can make your client’s logo move – and that’s always eye-catching – even to the experienced web surfer.

VidLogo’s simple GUI is somewhat deceiving. While ease of use is an important consideration for the newbie, it’s important to remember that an animated logo is more difficult to create than a still image, regardless of which software you use.

5. XLogo

XLogo is available at sourceforge.net, a site worth a bookmark because they offer a lot of freeware and shareware that’ll save search time and, of course, time in creating the perfect brand.

XLogo operates on Macs outfitted with OS X for all you Mac users.

Your browser may not support display of this image. The features of this tool aren’t extensive but, again, it’ll do what you want if what you want is an attractive logo that you can create quickly.

XLogo is, of course, OSS which means it’s free. It also allows you to create logos in different languages with non-English characters – logos in Japanese, Spanish, French, et al.

One of the coolest features is that XLogo is designed for use by young kids just starting to realize the power of web design. That means its GUI is way simple. If your seven-year-old can use XLogo (and she can) how easy will it be for you to create that ideal image to sell your company’s message.

The software is based on LISP scripting, first developed back in the 1970s as a teaching language. XLogo employs a subset of LISP to create great looking graphics.

Now, you might think, well, this software uses out-dated scripting but the fact is LISP has been upgraded over the years and delivers a stable platform for image creation.

The logo creators detailed in this list are not truncated versions of more powerful, “premium” tools available at a cost. All of these logo makers are full-service tools.

Better still, each one is downloadable, testable, delete-able and free. So try them out to discover which logo maker works best for your needs – whether it’s a one-time creation or a value-added service offering to build your client base.

Guaranteed, one of these logo makers is the solution you’re looking for. Have fun. Learn how to create and manipulate logos.

And finally, create your own brand – one that is truly memorable.

Image via Reinvented

Your site’s headline may be the most important text on your entire site. In marketing, there’s an old expression: The headline is half the job.

It may be a bit of an overstatement, but a good headline captures the attention of site visitors. In fact, improve your headline and, guaranteed, you’ll see your bounce rate drop.

So, here are 10 tips for crafting the perfect headline – what to do and what not to do.

1. “Who else wants to make $1 million before dinner tonight?”

This headline has become a marketing cliché and the introduction to just about every hype-filled, Glazier-Kennedy, long-form sales letter, complete with annoying type fonts and endless “testimonials”. This headline insults the intelligence of a chimp. Avoid the hackneyed clichés that litter websites above the fold. We aren’t idiots.

2. Create curiosity.

We’re a curious bunch so a headline like “Is Apple Gonna Introduce New Laptop Soon?” raises curiosity – especially among tech savvy users.

3. Make a good first impression.

The headline, whether on your home page or landing page, is often your first introduction to the visitor. So, be welcoming and helpful in your headlines and sub-heads on all landing pages.

Welcome to Eczema – Relief Once and For All

60% Off Everything – Hurry Up! (that makes a great first impression)

Discover the Secrets of Debt Management

All make a positive first impression through the use of words Welcome, a big sale and free information.

4. Solve a problem.

How Many Collection Letters Are Too Many?

Tax Problems Are No Problems for Acme Tax Services

0% Down on Any Car On The Lot (down payment problem solved)

5. Use action words.

Which site are you more likely to stay on?

LEARN ABOUT FREE RADICALS AND ANTI-OXIDENTS (ho-hum)

or

DISCOVER HOW ANTI-OXIDENTS WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE

“Learn” is boring. “Discover” has the sound of adventure to it. Also words like “Improve,” “Guaranteed,” “Succeed” and other positive action words add punch to a good headline.

6. Keep headlines short.

Site designers and copywriters recommend headlines of no more than seven words. I think even that’s too many. The fewer words the better. Which is punchier?

Philadelphia Wins Super Bowl

or

WE WIN!

That one’s a no-brainer. We all want to feel like winners.

7. Promise answers to questions.

“Can I Stop the Bank from Foreclosing on My Home?”

“Why am I depressed all the time?”

“ How much does it cost to get a divorce?”

These headlines most frequently attract needs-driven buyers – buyers who have an immediate need and are looking for immediate solutions.

8. What’s in it for me?

That’s what every site visitor wants to know. So tell them.

Solve PMS Problems The Natural Way

Make Your Money Work Harder for You

Discover Secret Dating Tips

Before you launch into your sell, answer that all-important question: What’s in it for me? This will pique curiosity and provide the foundation for the sales text that follows.

9. Use testimonials as your headline.

”Acme copy machines saved our company $40,000 in one year.” T. Smith, CIO at Rank, Inc.

That’s a grabber with authority. It comes with a name, title and company. On the other hand…

“I love Acme Shampoo products because they make my hair shine.” JR, Kansas

A real stink-a-roo. It’s a fake testimonial.

Credible, verifiable testimonials make excellent headlines. The fake variety make terrible headlines when you’re trying to build credibility and trust.

10. Use strong keywords in your headlines and sub-heads.

In HTML code, an h1 header is the largest while h6 text requires a magnifying glass for a human to read.

For search engine bots, an h1 header carries much more weight than smaller text. h2 sub-heads are stronger than the regular-sized text that makes up the rest of the site’s corpus.

So, by placing your strongest keywords in h1 and h2 headers, they get more bot respect. Of course, if all your text is elephantine (h1 and h2), the bot will slam your site for hype and for trying to fool the machine by making every word of site text equally important. Choose your opportunities with care.

You’ve got less than 10 seconds to convince a site visitor to stay on-site and dig deeper into what you’re all about. That’s not much time.

So, if writing isn’t a strong point, hire someone to create your headlines and sub-heads. It may cost a few bucks, but you’ll see a nice ROI as that grabber headline lowers your bounce rate to 20%.

And that’s VERY GOOD.

Image via bre pettis

Used to be that each of us had our own little digital real estate – or own little blogs – so content management wasn’t a problem. Put up a post or don’t. Simple.

Today, multi-contributor blogs are extremely popular in schools and universities, across corporate campuses, with special interest groups, news and gossip blogs – multi-user blogs have become an important segment in the segmented blogosphere.

So, if you’re the blogmaster, you could be managing hundreds of submissions a day, in a variety of categories, and find yourself overloaded with content. Too many words; not enough time.

Fortunately, there are a number of tools for today’s blogmaster to help in the planning and posting of content in a timely and appropriate manner.

1. A Posting Schedule

Anthologyoi.com offers this as a plug-in and it’s a must-have. It’s a simple calendar tool that shows all future posts, due dates, who’s assigned to cover the story – everything in one place.

It gets even easier. This posting calendar mod enables you to simply click on a date to add or change the post timestamp to a different day, month or even next year. This makes updates way simple.

It also keeps your contributors up to date on assignments and deadlines.

2. Use a pre-publication reminder system.

Ericulous.com offers a pre-publication reminder system that’s like post-it notes on steroids. This tool is a simple checklist all posters follow before uploading to the world.

Most (there are others) come with style reminder lists so posts all look like they belong on that blog. There’s always an HTML editor and a preview of the post with one click so you know what’s being published before it hits your blogs’ top post position.

3. WordPress Author Plug-in

If you’re managing an active blog, or multiple blogs, check out the author plug-in at www.mikesmullin.com. This simple tool keeps out posters who haven’t been given access while allowing those contributors who do have access to enter the blog, post, make changes to older posts and even remove posts – a real time-saver and a lot fewer headaches.

As blogmaster, you can set permissions for different authors and even create a co-author option that allows for real time collaboration when two or more of your bloggers collaborate on a single piece.

4. Give Credit Where Credit is Due

WordPress’ Author List Widget and txfx.net’s Multiple Authors display the names of contributing posters, with links to author profiles and even an RSS chicklet so blog visitors can sign up for feeds from favorite authors.

The widget is totally customizable so special guest posters can get a mention, or if a poster didn’t make the cut that day, his or her name can easily be hidden from viewers, only to appear again the next day with a click.

5. Role Manager

This plug-in from im-web-gefunden.de (it’s in English) allows you to control access with even greater specificity, while assigning tasks and roles to various individuals involved in the publication of your blog.

The graphics department needs access, but they shouldn’t be able to alter text and keep your bloggers away from site graphics. This tool puts the blogmaster in control, assigning roles as needed.

Highly recommended to manage corporate and association blogs where niche posts show up throughout the day. Finally, if a poster doesn’t have an assigned role, role managers assume the post is spam so these tools are de facto spam filters – a real sweet bonus for the busy blogmaster.

6. Internal Communications

If you’re the blogmaster of the university blog or the global, corporate blog, it’s important to communicate with your posters, graphics and layout people, post responders and others associated with the blog.

I recommend either of two simple internal e-mail systems: catalinionescu.com’s Send Private Email or Email Users (from WordPress) – both popular plug-ins for active blogs. Stay in touch with your people through a simple plug-in and forget about external e-mail channels that may take hours to deliver an important message.

7. Feedback Notifications

A simple tool that enables you to notify authors of feedback left by blog readers from WordPress.

I like this tool because it puts me in complete control of which contributors receive notifications. In some cases, I want all posters to read a specific feedback. In other cases, I simply want the author to see the feedback.

A feedback notification mod simplifies my outgoing messaging, greatly simplifying my blogmaster chores.

And isn’t that what it’s all about?

Image via Mike Licht

There are dozens of desktop blogging clients from which to choose from, but which one does the best job for you? Cut down on your content creation and posting chores with the right desktop blogging apps, and get serious about your blogs with these 5 cool blogging applications.

1. Ecto

Ecto is deep in features. This desktop blog editor is designed for the Mac OSX operating system and enables you to publish to a broad range of blog systems including Blogger, Blojsom, TypePad, WordPress, Drupal and other popular blogging platforms. Its user-friendly interface makes quick work of managing multiple blogs.

Ecto offers both an RTF and HTML editor with a strong spell-checker, a very useful search and replace feature and syntax-color coding within the HTML editor – a real time saver when creating customized scripts.

Ecto also supports remote management options provided by MoveableType’s API, adapting to a variety of data structures, object classes and OS protocols, greatly simplifying application building.

Advanced features include broad-based documentation, easy thumbnail creation, customized post settings and publishing ease in a variety of languages so you can go global with your blog on launch day.

2. Bleezer

Bleezer continues to grow in popularity, in part, because it offers full functionality in Windows, OSX and Linux environments. I like it because it’s free, flexible and delivers plenty of options for pro bloggers.

Bleezer is a x-platform blog editor that works with the most popular blog platforms including the latest Blogger update. This desktop editing client delivers a WYSIWYG editor, simplifying content creation and posting. No more cut and paste required. Bleezer supports multiple categories, adds tags compatible with social bookmarking sites and makes custom mark ups in HTML simple.

Finally, to monetize any blog, Bleezer easily accommodates a host of ad placement services including Pingoat, ping-o-matic and Ping Technorati. Simply select the OS installed on your blog creation system and Bleezer makes ad management a snap.

3. Live Writer

Windows Live Writer is part of the Microsoft Essentials collection and works with the most popular blog services.

Some of the most useful features include:

# instant previews of all post uploads so you can change fonts, pictures, videos and other features before publishing
# simplified map creation features
# hyperlinks
# easy photo album creation
# simplified category tagging
# easy table, chart and graph creation.

While not as robust as some other desktop blog editors, Live Writer handles most tasks without a long learning curve.

4. Flock

Flock is built on Firefox, the open-source browser from Mozilla, and comes complete with downloadable buttons, menus and dependable security features to protect your piece of digital turf.

Flock calls itself a Social Web Browser because it integrates easily with popular social media like Twitter and FaceBook. Flock equips you to join all you social media contacts, monitor your media accounts and add extensions and toolbars that link your blogs to AIM, TMZ, Spinner and even the media player, Winamp.

If you’re looking for an easy way to best utilize on-line social media sites, take a look at Flock. With strong community support, Flock’s list of features continues to expand, adding to its popularity.

5. ThingamaBlog

ThingamaBlog doesn’t require a third party blog host, a cgi/php-equipped host or a MySQL database to deliver high-quality, professional blogger features.

This desktop blog editor employs a blog wizard that’ll have your new blog up and running in minutes, literally.

You can maintain multiple blogs from ThingamaBlog’s intuitive interface, create totally customized templates (so your blogs don’t look like everyone else’s blogs), enjoy one-click publishing, create posts from your favorite RSS feeds and create your own archival architecture so finding that one post you’re looking for is greatly simplified.

All you need is an FTP account or network access to a web server to bring your blog to life using this stand-alone, blog creation and management app.

Has anyone of you ever tried these desktop blogging apps before? What is your favorite tool? Feel free to post it down the comment box below and share it with fellow readers!

Image via A Guy With A Camera

This post is written upon request of BlogActionDay.org.

Natural disasters have been going wild recently; from the Taiwan’s mudslide incident to the deadly tsunami in Pacific, we have certainly done something wrong that makes the mother nature so angry till she decided to unleash her anger on those who were innocent. Notably this may be caused by climate change. While these natural disasters were unpredictable, it’s not inevitable. We can take action and prevent it from happening again.

1. Transportation. Choose to take a public transport or share the same vehicle that you colleague use to go for work. Reducing the carbon monoxide can help to make the air fresher and reducing the effect of global warming. If you don’t mind, you can even move to an apartment near to your workplace or take a bicycle. It’s healthy and you won’t have to find excuse for not being able to workout because of time constraint

2. Efficiency. If you can increase the productivity during your work, chances are lesser time will be needed to finish doing your job, and less electricity will be used in your office. Try to focus on your work, increase your knowledge and stop getting hooked on social networking site like Facebook during office hour.

3. Recycle. Do you have any old newspapers in your home? Instead of dumping it, why not try to recycle it? Chopping down acres of trees won’t help to make this earth cooler, so if you want your next generation to live in a world with cleaner air and better weather, recycle would be a good choice to choose from.

4. Limitation of agricultural burning. The haze surrounding South East Asia’s countries is one of the best example of the poorly enforced regulation regarding agricultural burning. Open fire smoke, especially from burning rubbish, contains 350-times more cancer-causing substances than cigarette smoke. So keep an eye on those who burns rubbish and advice them not to do so.

5. Plant More Trees. Help to make this world a greener place by telling this idea to your friends and relatives. The power of one person may not be sufficient to change the world, but by telling everyone else to follow your footsteps, together we can make a change to the earth by cultivating more plants and trees. Remember to tell the school teachers and discuss with them if it’s possible to create an activity which teaches the kids on climate change issue and growing plants in the house area.

There are a lot of actions we can take; It doesn’t have to be pricey or complicated, just a simple move can make a big difference to our mother earth. Forward this message to anyone else and start to make this world a better place!

Image via Kozinets

Whether you just launched your new web business or you’ve been around a couple of years ( a lifetime on the W3), if you aren’t using social media to market your site, well, you’re rowing with one oar out of the water.

What Is Social Media and Why Do I Want To Use It?

YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Brightkite, Naymz, LinkedIn – these and many others, are all web sites actively seeking your membership, and better known as social media web sites. These free services are useful to individuals and companies in a variety of ways critical to web success.

A basic tenet of guerilla marketing is first described 4,000 years ago in Chinese tactician, Sun Tzu’s, The Art of War (still required reading at all U.S. military academies). When you, or your real-world or on-line business, create a profile page on LinkedIn, you employ the resources of LinkedIn to promote your services, goods or message.

The same is true of all social media sites. They’re free and they’re viewed by millions of people each day. Free exposure is always good for any business when properly deployed. That’s why everyone – from huge corporations to small, spare-room start-ups – use these sites. I upgraded the RAM on one of my computers but before I did I visited YouTube, did a site search for my computer name and RAM and up pops a half-dozen vid-clips on how to properly install my new RAM chips.

It makes the manufacturer look good, it cuts down on customer service or client care calls and it keeps the company name right in the viewer’s face.

1. You might be tempted to Tweet on Twitter every time you post to your blog but pretty quickly, your posts become the white noise of the web.

We’re all so used to being bombarded by web advertising that your plaintive little Tweet won’t draw many visitors to your blog or web site.

Now, that doesn’t mean don’t flare a new blog post, Tweet it and post it to your Facebook wall. By all means. For one thing, these posts are usually picked up by search engines creating more SERPs for you and your business. But post informational content, useful content, funny content. If all you do is flog your blog 24/7 on social media sites, (1) a lot of your web links block you and (2) 99% of those who don’t block you also don’t visit your site.

2. Create your own inter-connected weblet.

Web apps developers are a smart bunch and these coders have made it easier and easier to inter-connect your presence on social media sites to create a larger target for prospects.

Tweetdeck and Seesmic, two Twitter management tools, enable you to post once to Twitter and have that same post (with tiny URL) appear on your Facebook wall simultaneously. Post once, the post appears in a couple of places.

Keep a company blog? It’s free, easy and employs the resources of Wordpress, Blogger, Typepad or other blogging platforms for your benefit. Well, Wordpress and Typepad enable you to display your blog posts automatically on your LinkedIn profile – updated regularly. Post to your blog and your LinkedIn profile page automatically displays the headline and a link to your blog, which links to your Facebook page or your web site or your Brightkite profile.

This trail of crumbs enables prospects to find you in a lot of different places and, with a click, learn more about you. With growing interest at each stop, these prospects eventually land on your site where the story of your business can be told.

Social media equips you to create your own, business weblet with lots of contact points for prospects to hit in search of the products or services you provide. Bigger target? More hits. Simple as that.

3. Network.

You never know who you’ll run in to on LinkedIn. There are hundreds of “groups” that you can join from college alumni groups to professional groups to social groups. Use these groups to expand your list of contacts and to mine for potential clients or buyers.

Also look for service providers on these sites – outsources that can fill an immediate or on-going need at the lowest price possible.

A big part of web success, both in terms of search engine recognition and conversion ratios, is linkage. Use social media for easy, made-to-order links swaps. Again, this is a no-cost opportunity to exploit the resources of social media sites to further your business success. Sun Tzu had it right four millennia ago.

4. Make me want to learn more.

There’s nothing more frustrating than discovering an interesting post on LinkedIn Answers, only to discover that the individual who provided the pithy, on-point response has a one line description of herself on her profile page. What a wasted opportunity.

Create profile pages on all social media sites that make me want to learn more about you and/or your business. Don’t make me fill in the blanks. Are you someone I want to connect to? Someone worth following around various social sites? Your profile page should be crafted with great care.

Avoid hype and any hard sell. Talk about yourself and, as an “afterthought,” add a paragraph or two, along with a subtle call to action, that directs readers to contact you for a chat, i.e. “Hey, drop me a line if you’d like to learn more about virtual assistants and how I can help your business grow. And FAST!”

5. Add site keywords to all profiles and posts.

An SEO benefit to go along with all of the business development benefits to social media. Bots index your various profiles from the different social media sites to which you belong, so using the same keywords in your profiles that you use to optimize your web site or blog will have you showing up on more SERPs faster.

Whether you’re a CPA or an SEO, the same keywords should appear in your social media profiles and on your web site or blog.

6. Become an authority and build creds using social media web sites.

LinkedIn Answers, Yahoo! Answers and other social media sites’ “Help Desks” are a great way to frame your expertise within the context of an authority – the owner, founder and head custodian of your one-person biz.

By providing answers, you build credibility among readers of these site features. You develop name recognition and are branded an “authority” by the social web site.

7. Take this opportunity to “Toot your own horn.” Just not too much.

Billionaire and authority on self-promotion, Donald Trump, once said, “Toot your own horn. No one else will.” Good advice from The Donald and a strategy that has clearly worked for him.

Use social media to instruct, educate, motivate and inspire through your insightful insights and unbridled generosity at giving advice and helping others. It’s a great way to toot your own horn without it looking like you’re hyping yourself or your business.

A word of caution: Avoid too much self-promotion. Social media sites are open to anyone and in many cases any anonymous jerk can flame you for posting business-related content. I’ve had people complain that Facebook is “supposed to be fun,” not a place to announce new blog posts.

One contact actually dropped me a line explaining why he was going to have to block me on Facebook because my daily announcements of blog posts, interesting sites, articles and other contributions made him miss some important messages.

So, I got the message and cut back on my postings. Oh, I still toot my own horn.

Just a little more softly and not quite as often.

There’s good news on that point: We’ve done some the homework for you. Just sit back and enjoy the list of top 16 best addictive online flash games:

1. Jelly Battle

Choose up to 4 players and get ready to squash the jelly! You will be playing as a jelly
that jumps all over the icons and destroy your opponents with the power you have just acquired. The icons will move down one space every time after one cycle has been completed. Remember not to jump on red icons as those are land mines, choose pink icons to attack your opponent, green icon to fill in your health bar or light blue icon to acquire special power.

2. Bubble Phobia

Bubble Phobia is another addictive reflex testing game with unlimited levels which will be more difficult as you progress. This game can be played with either beginner or professional level.

3. This is The Only Level

You will play as an elephant that jumps from one side of the map to another. As the title says, this is the only level, or is it? You will have to complete the same stage over and over again for a total of 30 times. This game seems to be easy, but there are few tricky parts where you have to pay attention or else you will see the death toll increasing like there’s no tomorrow.

4. Crush The Castle

Show those royalties how a real warrior rights by demolishing their castles using your catapult. Choose from rocks or bombs and blow them up into pieces! Once you finish the game, you can even build your own castle and see if you have what it takes to take it down.

5. The Last Stand 2

You are left alone in the city full with zombies. There’s no way out, the only thing you can do is to kill all of them to survive. Collect various types of weapons, rescue the survivors and collect supplies needed to stay alive for 40 days before the rescue team arrives. Prepare to kill some zombies!

6. Dad ‘n Me

How good it will be if you get to bully other kids legally on the street? Punch the nerds on the playground, blow them up with propane or just throw a lawnmower at them. The world is yours for the taking! Go across the street and meet your daddy, who, of course is another badass character.

7. Bejeweled

Bejeweled is one of the most simple but also one of the most thought-provoking games you can play online. Created by PopCap Games, this flash game has become one of the most popular of its type, and has been ported over to many other formats for different platforms.

The premise of Bejeweled is relatively simple. You’re given a board with different sorts of gems on it. You can switch the position of any two gems that are adjacent. The object of the game is to create a line of three or more of the same gem. Once you do, they will disappear and points will be awarded. The objective is to fill in the bar by earning more points. The game will continue until, eventually, you can’t move gems around to create any more lines.

8. Draw it Post it

The rules are simple; guess what your opponent is drawing and earn points if you are the first or second to guess it correctly, once it’s your turn draw a picture according to the topic that has been given to you and earn points if other players get it correct.

9. Sonny 2

This might be one of the best RPG strategy flash games that I have ever seen. Your objective is to defeat other enemies and reach the end of the zone. Similar to other RPG games, you can buy new equipments using the money you have earned by defeating the enemies, earn experience, learn new abilities and complete the achievements. Get ready to embark on the journey that you will never forget!

10. Robot Dinosaurs

Ever played Rockman before? How about changing Rockman into a flying dinosaur that shoot beams when they roar? Choose between Tyranosaurus X and Dinomite and destroy anything that’s in your eyesight! This game has awesome graphic and easy to play with, but remember to charge up your Dino-power or the Dino beam will looks more like hiccup.

11. The World’s Hardest Game

Yup, that’s the real name of the game, and there’s a reason why the creator of the game dared to name it that way. Your duty is to collect yellow circles while avoiding those blue circles. Once you have collected all of the yellow circles, move to the green beacon to complete the level. Some levels consist of more than one beacon with the intermediary beacons act as check points. Trust me; you are considered a TRUE gamer if you managed to get to the 10th level.

12. Boxhead

Imagine if you are left alone in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by zombies that run after you and demons that spread fire all over the map. Kill your way through all these creatures and try to survive as long as you can in this game. From the ordinary pistol to the powerful airborne, prepare to get on the endless adventure of John Bambo and make those creatures pay with their blood!

13. Dicewars

Roll your dice and get ready to conquer the world! Choose up to 7 players to play against. The objective is to conquer all territories and eliminate all your opponents. While this game depends mostly on luck (Which may be the reason why so many players get pissed off) It’s still a fun game to play and once you get a hang of it you will play it all night long (Trust me, it feels so good when you beat all the AI and watch the replay)

14. Nanaca Crash

One click will send that school boy flying up in the sky. Release the bar and fly as far as you can, click AERIAL to use special moves to fly even further! The game will not stop if she doesn’t cling on to a school girl. Oh wait, where is he putting his hands on?

15. Desktop Tower Defense

Desktop Tower Defense is the top of the heap when it comes to online flash games. These games were originally based on the concept of defensive towers in the World of Warcraft, but quickly took on a life of their own.

The objective of the game is to prevent creatures known as ‘Creeps’ in this game from reaching the other side of the map. Every tower has their own attribute, so make sure you look carefully before you build them. As noted by Techcrunch http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/16/desktop-tower-defense-should-be-banned/ , desktop tower defense should be banned because you will get hooked and who knows, your boss will fire you because you are not doing your job!

16. Submachine Series

This game test your survival skill inside a vessel by pointing and clicking on the items that you can see and try to escape from the room. This can be quite spooky especially if you are playing it at night. Make sure you are observant enough to pick up several key items or you may find yourself locked inside the room. There are 6 different chapters in this series, if you haven’t played it before it might be a good idea to start off with the 1st chapter.

If you want to play some insanely addictive online flash games, try Friv.com, a free and fun website to kill some time. Be warned, you may ignore your daily routine and sit in front of your computer for the whole day

Image via PPL 2A

E-books are very popular on the web. No running to Barnes and Noble. No waiting for a shipment from Amazon. You pay your money, click and that book is on your hard drive ready to be read for fun or profit (mostly profit, from what I can tell).

Anyway, e-books are also used as FREE give-aways. In these cases, the recipient has to provide an e-mail address, knowing that an endless barrage of auto-responders will follow once you’ve captured the e-mail address. Even so, they’ll put up with the back sell and take a chance that the e-book is worth the hassle.

Whether you sell an e-book or give it away as opt-in bait, all e-books are based on certain publishing principles. That’s right. When you offer a download, you’re a publisher in the Digital Age. So make that e-book make sense.

1. Value is NOT measured in poundage.

Some e-book sellers believe that a 250-page e-book is more valuable than a 50-page e-book based on buyer’s perception. That 250-page e-book delivers 500% more information than the puny 50-pager, right?

Wrong, wrong, wrong. I’d rather pay for (or sacrifice my e-mail privacy) for a 50-page book stuffed with tons of good, actionable advice than plow through some wind bag’s opinion on how to start a business.

Less is more in e-book publishing. Do you want to print out a 250 page book? I don’t. And I don’t want to read the darn thing on my computer screen (even though it’s a really cool 17-inch hi-def model). I’m stuck here reading your e-book.

My recommendation: if you can’t say everything that has to be said in 50 pages, you’re trying to say too much.

2. Start by creating the Table of Contents (TOC)

Most first-time e-book writers spend hours preparing outlines with circles and arrows and high-lights. Why?

Instead, put together the e-book’s TOC. What needs to be said in chapter one? And how do you build on that in chapter three, four and five? Each chapter should build on the chapters that came before. You don’t have to keep defining EMFs (electro-magnetic fields) in your “tell-all” on how “Cell Phones Are Killing Us.” Define EMF in Chapter one and build on that.

3. Take the TOC and list topics, in sequence, within each chapter.

Get it. You’re building the content architecture – the book’s outline – and it didn’t even hurt.

4. Start writing.

Let me give you a few separate tips related to the process of writing an e-book:

* set a goal for each day. Five good pages shouldn’t be too hard.
* stick to the content outline
* stay on point
* be clear. You may understand what financial derivatives are but your reader may not. Know your reader’s skill set.
* use clip art to add some visual appeal.
* Bullet lists, charts and graphs and other “visual aids” are extremely useful in conveying a lot of information in a short time. I could send you 63 pages on the company financials over the last year, or I could create a pie chart of that same data. Which is easier to absorb?
* No puff. No fluff. No marketing. No up sell. Solid informational content. That’s what buyers want. That’s what they paid for.

5. A book becomes great in editing.

Editing is boring. Even most editors find it strenuous, monotonous and fatiguing. But this is the stage where you turn your rough text into gleaming pearls of wisdom.

That means reading, re-reading, and re-reading again. Each time, you’ll find something to change. Better sentence construction or information flow. Chapter 7 may become Chapter 3, or cut altogether. It’s at this phase that the e-book takes its final form.

But you’re still not done yet.

6. Word edit.

Okay, the content is in place. It follows a logical order. It builds on what came before. You’re close, but you aren’t there just yet. Time to read the text with an eyeball on making it read better. Make it more precise, humorous, clearer, change sentence structure (btw, if you don’t know what parallel sentence construction is, get a book and get caught up on all that 8th grade English stuff you’ve long since forgotten).

Mark Twain, America’s first 100% American author once said, “The difference between the exact right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightening and a lightning bug.”

Each word should compel the reader to keep reading and keep discovering the secrets you reveal about the dry cleaning business – or whatever the topic of the e-book.

7. Proof your text.

I find it impossible to proof my own words. I wrote them that way in the first place so I, inherently, believe they’re perfect – even if there’s a typo here and there.

That’s why I ask others to proof my e-books. I pay them for their time, but if a couple of proofreaders find spelling mistakes or inconsistencies in formatting, it’s money well spent.

8. Get the biggest (Click)bank for your buck.

Sure, sell or give-away the e-book on your own web site, but open an account at clickbank.com and upload your masterpiece. Select strong keywords – the same ones used to optimize your site.

Writers love Clickbank. Once they’re up and running, web site owners and just plain folks download their e-books for a price. Authors get to set the price ( most tend to keep it low to see more volume) and the nice folks at Clickbank deposit their earnings directly into their bank accounts. Too cool. Totally passive income.

So, you have direct sales and sales through Clickbank. That’s more revenues in your pocket.

9. Choose topics with legs.

If you write an e-book on current events, it’s out of date in about an hour-and-a-half.

Stick with topics that will interest buyers today, tomorrow and 20 years from now so you keep earning from work you did last millennium.

10. The Three Topics All Readers Will Buy

Family, health and finance.

And, if you can combine two of these topics, you’ve got a winner. “Building Your Child’s College Fund” has finance and family appeal.

Also, target the needs-driven buyer – the one who needs good, solid, reliable information like NOW. A guy who’s facing foreclosure in 72 hours is a needs-driven buyer for your “How to Stop Foreclosure Even If The Sherriff Nailed The Auction Notice To Your Front Door.”Okay, a little long, but someone facing foreclosure in a few days or weeks will pay $59.95 for a download that can prevent immediate foreclosure.

But the e-book has a responsibility to deliver the goods – to solve the problems of that needs-driven buyer. “How to Find a Job In a Shrinking Economy,” Easing Into Retirement,” “Finding the Perfect Mate.”

Family, finance and health – the three topics about which any reader will read.

Using e-books as opt-in bait, or as a source of revenue is a common practice on the web. Unfortunately, much of this so-called information is stuffed with fluff. Scams.

Make your e-books deep in value, deep in practical, actionable information and buyers will be glad that you spent the time to write such an entertaining, informative e-book.

And you’ll generate revenues. Awesome.