Social media is the Internet’s version of viral messaging and marketing. Social media can be used to disseminate news or information, as well as to attract attention. There are a wide variety of social media channels and networks available.

Social networks and social media websites are community-driven websites that allow visitors to submit items of interest. Visitors also decide what items appeal to them by voting or tagging; the more popular an item is determined to be by the visitors, the more exposure the item is given.

However, in some networks not all visitors are created equal — the vote of some members may carry more weight than others, and the votes of a well-established visitor may be given more value. Likewise, the vote of a member who has historically selected or submitted stories that were repeatedly determined popular may be given more value than the vote of someone new to the website. These established visitors may also be given some sort of “power-user” status that allows them to have a stronger influence over which items are determined to be popular.

Some social websites are topical or themed, while others have a broader and more general appeal. In many social networks, the popularity of the item is determined through a democratic process, and the more popular the collective voice deems an item to be, the more prominence that item will receive in the listings on the social website.

In order to effectively use social networks, you must establish an identity and a reputation. As a social networker, it is important that you understand the dynamics of the social website before you begin participating. Take the time to observe the network before you begin posting. Once you have a basic understanding of the website’s culture, it is safe to begin participating. Regular participation will give you insight into how a social network functions and what kinds of things the collective voice desires… or equally important, what it dislikes.

Here are some final tips for social media success…

1. Learn who the more influential people are on the social website.

2. Becoming an influential member of the network can be time-consuming and difficult, but it will make it much easier to gain attention for important items once established.

3. Try not to spread yourself too thin by attempting to be everything to everyone on all social networks. Find a niche and a network which you have knowledge and experience, and then focus on becoming established within that network.

4. Develop a network of individuals that share a common theme or interest.

5. When posting new items, pay particular attention to the Title you use. The title is like a headline, and it should “grab” attention without misleading anyone or being too vague.

6. It is often helpful to evangelize and promote the social network itself.

Use the above information to become more successful in your social networking activities.

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Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com/ software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com/ audio recording and editing software.

by Sharon Housley

Podcasting content comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Businesses are finding many different and creative ways of incorporating podcasts into their business strategies and marketing plans.

Here are just some of the various types of content that businesses are turning into podcasts…

1. Audio Books

Books that are “read” aloud are no longer embraced only by the visually impaired. For example, commuters who want to make the most of their travel time have long embraced books-on-tape. The podcast medium is far more compact and portable, so audio books and similar content are now being made available as podcasts.

2. Audio Tours

Interested in a guided tour of a historic site, or a detailed explanation of a museum display? Audio tour podcasts with detailed explanations are becoming quite common.

3. Sermons

The word of God, Allah, or a bible study discussion are now all popular content for podcast material. It does not really matter the what the religious material might be — what is important is that by turning those conversations and dialogs into podcasts, their reach is being extended and new audiences are being touched .

4. Indie Artists Demos

Independent musical artists, looking to build a community and develop a fan base, are no longer restricted by their geographical region. With podcasts, Indie artists can expand their audience and increase their reach. Indie’s can use iTunes to get reactions to new material or songs.

What better way to learn a language than to hear it? Podcasts are a perfect medium for foreign language instruction. Listeners can hear accents and phrasing, and listen to a specific lecture until they have fully mastered the content. 6. Recipes Interested in gourmet cooking, but do not have the time to watch cooking show hosts such as Rachel Ray or Martha Stewart? Download the podcasts to learn new recipes, at a time and place of your choosing and convenience.

7. Showing Homes For Realtors

What better way to market property or homes for sale than with a video podcast? Home tours help sell available listings, and with economic conditions currently unfavorable to sellers, they need all the help they can get. Video podcasts or slideshows of the homes help entice interested buyers to learn more about properties. Using podcasting as a communication medium will help expand the homes appeal.

8. Sporting Event Commentaries

Sportscasters are always ready and willing to offer opinions and commentary on sporting events. Pre-event festivities and post-event analysis are often enjoyed by fans, and if the commentaries are made available at any time as podcasts, the listeners have much more flexibility.

9. Medical Instruction

As just one example, medical schools have recorded a variety of heart murmurs as podcasts. Medical students studying cardiology can listen to the various heart defects until they understand the different sounds and the impact those anomalies have on the circulatory system. Recognizing the sound patterns of a heart murmur can greatly aid medical students when they run across similar anomalies in a real patient.

10. Class Lectures

Universities have embraced podcasting, providing supplemental class material as podcasts. Students often listen to the material while commuting from one class to another, exercising, or relaxing between classes.

11. Corporate – Internal Sales Force Updates

Podcasting is a perfect way for a business to communicate with remote sales staff, regarding things such as addressing corporate policy changes, new product descriptions, and marketing points. Educating a wide-spread sales force about a new product or service has always been a challenge. Corporations have tackled this problem by providing audio and video podcasts that detail a product’s use. Sales team members are often able to learn about new products without needing to travel to the corporate headquarters for formal instruction or sales seminars.

12. Political Debates

Are political debates a hobby, or do you just like to stay informed on the issues and candidates? Many political debates are now available via podcasts.

Potential podcasting content covers the gamut. With more than millions of podcasts now available, there are few topics that are not covered by this popular communication channel.

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Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll www.feedforall.com/ software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll www.recordforall.com/ audio recording and editing software.

by Sharon Housley

The term “podcast” was initially used to reference an RSS feed that contained audio files in the item’s enclosure field. The meaning of podcasting has since expanded, and now refers to RSS feeds that contain all types of media, including audio and video, in the item’s enclosure field. For the non-technical folks, podcasting is simply a means of syndicating and distributing rich-media files via the Internet. The content contained in a podcast can vary significantly, from a song, to a educational lecture, to a political debate, to just about anything else. One great thing about podcasting is the wide variety of content formats it can contain. And unlike radio or television broadcasts, the recipient can listen or view at their leisure, choosing for themselves when and where they wish to listen or view a podcast.

How To Create A Podcast

While it may sound complex, the software and technology available today can make the process of creating a podcast quite simple…

1. Record The Content

The easiest way to create an podcast/RSS feed is to use software designed specifically for that purpose. There are a variety of audio and video applications available that make recording and editing rich-media files quite simple.

2. Create The Podcast Feed

Again, the easiest way to do this is to use dedicated software. There are applications available, such as FeedForAll (www.feedforall.com/), that will walk you through the process of creating a podcast feed. Or if you prefer, you can manually create the RSS feed following the steps at “Make RSS Feeds” (www.make-rss-feeds.com/). There is also a tutorial at www.feedforall.com/podcasting-tutorial.htm.

3. Publish The Feed

After the RSS feed is created, put it on your website, using an FTP client that is built into your podcast software or another FTP transfer tool, making it available for others to receive.

Podcast Promotion

Once you have the podcast created and uploaded to a website host, the next step is to let your website visitors know that it’s available. In order to signal to website visitors that an RSS feed containing content related to the website is available, you should include a colorful graphic on the website. It has become a standard that nearly all websites having RSS feeds available will use colorful graphics such as flags as indicators that RSS feeds are available for specific content. The flags were initially bright orange rectangles, but as the popularity has grown, some webmasters have bent the rules a bit. Use an icon that works well within your website design, and link the graphic to the podcast feed.

Another way of letting your visitors know that your podcast feed is available is to take advantage of the RSS “aggregators” in use by your visitors. Aggregators are used by people who subscribe to various RSS feeds, providing them with a consolidated view of the content from multiple RSS feeds in a single browser display. They will automatically detect an RSS feed on a website if you add a small bit of code in the header field of an HTML page:

[link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href=http://www.yourdomain.com/rss.xml]

In the above example code, be sure to replace “http://www.yourdomain.com/rss.xml” with the actual URL to your specific RSS feed, and also replace the “[" and "]” square brackets with “<” less-than and “>” greater-than symbols.

In order to increase exposure of your podcast, it should be submitted to the various Podcast search engines and directories. This can be done manually. Just as you would submit the URL of a website or web page to a search engine, you will need to submit the link of the actual feed located on your website to the Podcast directories. There is a large list of Podcast directories at www.podcasting-tools.com/submit-podcasts.htm.

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Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll www.feedforall.com/ software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll www.recordforall.com/ audio recording and editing software.

by Sharon Housley

You should not have to look far to find content or new ideas for your podcast show. Look to your daily sources to find fodder and ideas for new podcasting segments.

1. News
Both online and offline sources, from the Associated Press to CNN, contain a deluge of news item each day. Scan headlines on a regular basis to see what catches your eye. In addition, explore your niche market to find any industry-specific news portals that may warrant monitoring.

2. Blogs
Blogs are a fabulous source of ideas and inspiration. Monitor blogs for developing industry news. Comment on breaking news or editorials that you strongly agree or disagree with. Be sure to credit the source of any blog posts that you comment on or quote within your show.

3. Friends & Colleagues
Casual conversation with friends and colleagues often results in ideas for podcast segments. Day-to-day interaction generates ideas worth discussing.

4. Emails
Review emails from customers, colleagues or potential customers. Perhaps a subject or question asked may result in good material for your show.

5. Forum Posts
Forums can be another source of ideas for a podcasting segment. Review forums on a regular basis and keep a list of possible show ideas. You can also editorialize and summarize the forum posts. Or you can tackle difficult questions and those requiring complex answers better articulated in a podcast than typed in a forum.

6. Web Logs
Look at your website’s web logs to determine what shows were very popular or unpopular. Consider doing related segments as a follow up on popular shows. Or focus future shows on the material that generated the most listener interest.

7. Feedback
Encourage a dialogue with your listeners. Ask listeners what they like and what they do not like. Use the feedback to develop future shows. Don’t be afraid to try something new. The more receptive you are to listener ideas, the more they will share. Shape your show for your audience.

8. Advice
Dear Abby and Anne Landers were pioneers in the advice columns, but traditional columnists have failed to take hold online. Consider an advice segment related to your industry inviting listeners to engage you with questions.

9. Conferences
Often products are announced at conferences and trade shows. Candid reviews of new products that might be of particular interest to your audience may appeal to listeners.

Day after day, week after week, or month after month developing content for a podcast need not be a chore. It can be exciting to explore a variety of channels for podcast show ideas and segment topics.

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Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll www.feedforall.com/ software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll www.recordforall.com/ audio recording and editing software.

by Sharon Housley

Search engine optimization is a process, one that must always be revisited and adapted as search algorithms are changed by the search engines. Because SEO is a constant process, it is often pushed to the bottom of the “to do list” of marketers. Be that as it may, resolve not to ignore search engine optimization as it cycles its way through your task list. Give search engine optimization the attention that it deserves.

There are few things that you can do that will result in virtually “free” traffic, and therefore SEO deserves both time and attention.

1. Unique Titles

Every page should have a unique title that relates to what is included on that specific webpage. Do not make the mistake of using the same title on every page on a website.

2. Unique Descriptions

Each and every webpage within a website should contain a unique meta tag description. Audit web pages and develop summary descriptions of the page’s contents; including critical keywords and phrases.

3. Robots.txt

Check the webpage’s robots.txt files. An incorrectly formed robots.txt may prevent search engines from properly spidering web pages within a website.

4. Link Building

Participate in link building opportunities. Building links will increase a website’s popularity and search engines use this as a factor when they weigh search rankings.

5. Integrated Keywords

Integrate the appropriate keywords into the websites header tags. There is no point in optimizing a website for keywords that will not convert. Evaluate keywords and phrases that are most effective, and then integrate them into the website.

6. Participate

The online conversation is no longer a quiet hum. Find related forums and blogs and become part of the community. Participate in the discussion and post thoughtful comments that relate to your industry.

7. Log Analysis

Evaluate your logs to determine the habits of website visitors. If there are pages that a high percentage of potential customers leave your website, be sure to make changes. Evaluate the keyword that attract the website traffic and improve on them.

8. Get Social

Social media is a burgeoning market. Develop a comprehensive plant to integrate social media into your 2009 marketing and promotional campaign. Leverage social media websites to increase your websites popularity and exposure.

9. Usability

Add alt tags to images on your website. This will increase the searchability of your website. Additionally, these types of tactics will make your website easier for the visually impaired to navigate.

10. Go Web 2.0

Add tutorials, podcasts, RSS feeds, and videos to your website as a part of your marketing strategy. All of these interactive elements and mediums can attract new traffic to a website. Additionally, many web 2.0 elements can be promoted in alternative channels, increasing your website’s incoming links.

For the coming year be sure to develop a comprehensive strategy to improve your search engine exposure in 2009.

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Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll www.feedforall.com/ software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll www.recordforall.com/ audio recording and editing software.

Why do some sites succeed where others flop? The answers are more obvious than you think. There is never just one reason why a site does not succeed. A combination of the right elements is what determines your success.

So what are the right elements? Well, here are a few of them:

1.  Speed – People are in a perpetual hurry, so don’t make them wait around for your site to load. The more technology advances, the faster people expect your website to be. So remember to compress your images and don’t clutter up your site with unnecessary elements. Minimize your load time by keeping graphics small and don’t overuse javascript, streaming audio/video, and animation.

2.  Targeting – Know your target market and be sure your site caters to their needs. If your target market is teenagers, don’t design your site to look boring and corporate. If you’re targeting business professionals, use a clean, simple design and keep it easy to navigate.

3.  Payment Methods – Payment should be easy, no matter what method your customers choose to use. Offer a variety of payment methods. Also, you must accept credit cards. This is the cardinal rule of Internet payments. These days that can be as simple as signing up for a free PayPal merchant account.

4.  Content – This is by far the most critical element of a good site. Good content sells products. Does your copy convey the message you wish to send? Does it make people want to buy? If not, have a professional review your copy to ensure it is doing its job.

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See Kevin’s affordable promotion packages and business writing deals at DrNunley.com/. From ezine advertising, to a press release, to web copy that sells, get what you need fast.

If marketing tools were classified into a system of royalty, the autoresponder would be king. This widely used marketing tool responds automatically to any email message sent to it, providing an automatic response.

Autoresponders are also used to take a lot of the extra work out of the day to day routine of running a business. In fact, many people are able to run their online businesses almost entirely with autoresponders: they automate replying to requests for information, provide instant gratification for recipients, enable you to track your ad responses, and allow you to gather the email addresses of potential customers.

Here are some of the ways you can utilize the power of autoresponders in your business:

*Distribute articles for publication *Offer e-courses and reports on various subjects and use your signature file to promote your site or business *Provide free information about your site, product, or business *Immediately send information about your business opportunity to interested individuals *Distribute product listings and price lists *Welcome people to your business opportunity or online organization *Send thank you’s to customers and people who refer customers to you *Send order confirmations *Offer discounts and gift certificates to past customers

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Kevin writes YOUR one page sales letter, article, press release, or web site copy. See DrNunley.com/.

Podcasting content comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Businesses are finding many different and creative ways of incorporating podcasts into their business strategies and marketing plans.

Here are just some of the various types of content that businesses are turning into podcasts…

1. Audio Books

Books that are “read” aloud are no longer embraced only by the visually impaired. For example, commuters who want to make the most of their travel time have long embraced books-on-tape. The podcast medium is far more compact and portable, so audio books and similar content are now being made available as podcasts.

2. Audio Tours

Interested in a guided tour of a historic site, or a detailed explanation of a museum display? Audio tour podcasts with detailed explanations are becoming quite common.

3. Sermons

The word of God, Allah, or a bible study discussion are now all popular content for podcast material. It does not really matter the what the religious material might be — what is important is that by turning those conversations and dialogs into podcasts, their reach is being extended and new audiences are being touched.

4. Indie Artists Demos

Independent musical artists, looking to build a community and develop a fan base, are no longer restricted by their geographical region. With podcasts, Indie artists can expand their audience and increase their reach. Indie’s can use iTunes to get reactions to new material or songs.

5. Language Learning

What better way to learn a language than to hear it? Podcasts are a perfect medium for foreign language instruction. Listeners can hear accents and phrasing, and listen to a specific lecture until they have fully mastered the content.

6. Recipes

Interested in gourmet cooking, but do not have the time to watch cooking show hosts such as Rachel Ray or Martha Stewart? Download the podcasts to learn new recipes, at a time and place of your choosing and convenience.

7. Showing Homes For Realtors

What better way to market property or homes for sale than with a video podcast? Home tours help sell available listings, and with economic conditions currently unfavorable to sellers, they need all the help they can get. Video podcasts or slideshows of the homes help entice interested buyers to learn more about properties. Using podcasting as a communication medium will help expand the homes appeal.

8. Sporting Event Commentaries

Sportscasters are always ready and willing to offer opinions and commentary on sporting events. Pre-event festivities and post-event analysis are often enjoyed by fans, and if the commentaries are made available at any time as podcasts, the listeners have much more flexibility.

9. Medical Instruction

As just one example, medical schools have recorded a variety of heart murmurs as podcasts. Medical students studying cardiology can listen to the various heart defects until they understand the different sounds and the impact those anomalies have on the circulatory system. Recognizing the sound patterns of a heart murmur can greatly aid medical students when they run across similar anomalies in a real patient.

10. Class Lectures

Universities have embraced podcasting, providing supplemental class material as podcasts. Students often listen to the material while commuting from one class to another, exercising, or relaxing between classes.

11. Corporate – Internal Sales Force Updates

Podcasting is a perfect way for a business to communicate with remote sales staff, regarding things such as addressing corporate policy changes, new product descriptions, and marketing points. Educating a wide-spread sales force about a new product or service has always been a challenge. Corporations have tackled this problem by providing audio and video podcasts that detail a product’s use. Sales team members are often able to learn about new products without needing to travel to the corporate headquarters for formal instruction or sales seminars.

12. Political Debates

Are political debates a hobby, or do you just like to stay informed on the issues and candidates? Many political debates are now available via podcasts.

Potential podcasting content covers the gamut. With more than millions of podcasts now available, there are few topics that are not covered by this popular communication channel.

**********
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll www.feedforall.com/ software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll www.recordforall.com/ audio recording and editing software.

Internet marketing has become so successful that many web marketers neglect other marketing opportunities. Offline channels can boost your online traffic and business. Used effectively, traditional advertising vehicles remind customers to visit your site. Even better, promoting your website offline can drive new clientele to your web business. Below are ideas every marketer should consider:

URL Return Address
Include your domain address on the bottom line of your return address on all company mailings.

URL on Packaging
Retails should include their URL on packaging. Existing customers who purchase through retail may not realize that your business has an online presence. If you ship products, invest in labeling that will include the company URL.

Business Cards
Insert a business card that details the web address in all product shipments. A coupon or discount code toward web-based purchases further increases the likelihood customers will visit the site. Nothing drives customers online better than discount!

Presentations/Handouts
Include the web address on each page of a presentation or conference handout. As the presentation is passed on, the company brand and web address will be reinforced.

Promotional Materials
Promotional materials and giveaways are still an effective method of advertising. Promotional items have a long shelf life and may bring in traffic over time. In addition to your logo and company name, and be sure to brand your promotional item with your web address.

Vehicles
Display the address of your web site prominently on all company vehicles. The text should be readable from a distance, so be sure to use a font that is easy to read and well-proportioned.

Help Wanted
Include your URL in any employment ads.

Uniforms
Include the company’s web address on any branded clothing or uniforms worn by staff or employees. This reinforces your online presence.

Internet marketing is becoming more competitive. It is not enough anymore to simply advertise online, you must be creative to attract traffic to your website.

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Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll www.feedforall.com/ software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll www.recordforall.com/ audio recording and editing software.

Here is a collection of what we consider “must have” tools for webmasters. These tools will benefit any webmaster, both novices and experts alike. Arm yourself with these tools in order to achieve a more professional online presence.

1. Custom 404 Page

Use a custom 404 page, so that if a user incorrectly types a webpage URL, they will still retain navigational options within your site and be provided alternative solutions. When a domain is correctly entered, but a specific webpage’s URL is entered incorrectly, it is possible to display your own custom error page to the visitor. By providing users with a navigational bar and further assistance, rather than leaving them with a generic “page not found” error screen, you can often keep prospective customers on your site by providing them with navigation alternatives.

2. UrlTrends

UrlTrends is a service that shows historical trends, so that webmasters can see how their SEO efforts are affecting websites in the search engines. UrlTrends should be used in conjunction with web-logging software.

UrlTrends – www.urltrends.com/

3. Favicon

Polish your website by adding a Favorite Icon. When a “favicon” is available on your site, and the site URL is entered in the user’s web browser URL box, the favicon will be displayed beside the URL. This gives the website a more professional and polished look.

Favicon HTMLKit – www.htmlkit.com/

4. Color Matching

Match the primary web colors with those used in your logo. Simply choose a preferred color using the ColorBlender service below, and a 6-color matching palette and blend will be automatically calculated for you.

ColorBlender – www.colorblender.com/

5. Online WYSIWYG Editing

Online webpage editing allows for collaboration, so that different users can log in and edit web pages.

Edit – www.edit.com

6. RSS Feeds

No longer considered to be just a nice addition, RSS feeds are now a “must have” for popular websites! Create RSS feeds for newsletters, press releases, educational articles, product tutorials, new product promotions, or just about any other sort of web content.

FeedForAll – www.feedforall.com/

7. MaxEmail

MaxEmail’s very affordable Internet fax and voicemail service allows a fax message to be delivered to an email address as a PDF formatted attachment. This allows fax messages to follow you regardless of your location. And, it also eliminates the need for a costly extra telephone line and a dedicated fax machine.

MaxEmail – maxemail.com/

8. Royalty-Free Images

Locate stock photos to incorporate into your web design. Use royalty-free stock photography to add professional, high-quality images to your website.

Photo Wizard – www.photo-wizard.net/

9. Submit Corner Web Assessment Tools

These web assessment tools help you use search engines to effectively monitor who links to your website, how many links, and who your competitors are. The tools include search indexing, link tracking, and competitor identification.

Submit Corner – www.SubmitCorner.com/Tools/Assessment/

10. Ranks.nl

This service assesses keyword density and prominence of a domain. The tool parses keywords and assesses the number of times a keyword occurs, and then discerns the density of the keywords.

Ranks.nl – ranks.nl/tools/spider.html

11. Webmaster Toolkit

The Webmaster Toolkit is a collection of webmaster tools developed to help webmasters with daily webmaster chores. The suite of free tools and resources included continues to grow, and contains something useful for the beginner to the advanced webmaster alike.

Webmaster Toolkit – www.webmaster-toolkit.com/

12. HTML Web Templates

Make it clean and professional. Use easy-to-edit HTML web templates for web design.

Web Design – www.webmaster-templates.net/ or www.webdesign-elements.com/

13. TrafficZap

This website includes script, page rank checker, link popularity checker, and more.

TrafficZap – www.trafficzap.com/

14. Compete.com

Web Analytics Stay on top of rivals with site metrics and audience profiles for the top 1,000,000 web domains. Identify rival search marketing strategies to take your SEM and SEO efforts to the next level.

SiteAnalytics – siteanalytics.compete.com/

15. Thumbshots

Easily add thumbshot images to your webpages. Integrate website thumbnails by simply copying and pasting HTML code. Additional software is not needed.

Thumbshots – www.thumbshots.org/

Use top-notch tools to make web maintenance and management a little easier.

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Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll www.feedforall.com/ software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll www.recordforall.com/ audio recording and editing software.