It covers initial configuration and some good plugins, too. If you’re a beginner, this post could really help you DIY.

Some of these books were suggested by Website magazine.

Note: Some of these sites offer paid services, as well. The chart below makes note of that.

Have any of these sites changed their “free” policy to a a paid service? Please let me know. I’ll update this list as soon as I can.

There are two basic ways images are handled by WordPress:

1. Through the theme’s CSS file
2. Individually in each post or page

Since I tend to use images quite frequently and put them in different places, I usually remove most the the formatting from the CSS style sheet and place images by hand in the posts and pages. But if you’re using the Visual Mode rather than the HTML Mode, you might find that your images are not doing what you want them to do. Here is how to fix it.

First, you will need to use HTML Mode for some of this, so you’re going to have to get comfortable with HTML. But don’t be afraid, you’ll only need to look for specific code that I’m going to show you.

Step One: Upload/Insert your image by clicking on this image:

Step Two: Select the image file you want to upload and up load it.

Step Three: Set your preferences for that image.

Most of the time, you won’t touch the Title, Caption and Description areas, so I won’t talk about them here. But I will go over the rest.

Link URL:

This lets you make the image a link or not.

• If you want the image to be a live link to the image file, click on the “File URL” button and it will automatically fill in that field.
• If you want the image to be a life link to the post, click on the “Post URL” button.
• If you don’t want the image to be a link at all, click on the “None” button.
• If you want the image to link to some other URL you have in mind, you can either delete the URL that is there or click the “None” button, then type in your chosen URL.

Most of the time, I just click the None button. WordPress remembers the last preferences you set, so you won’t have to do that again.

Alignment:

This aligns the image in relation to the spot you are inserting it.

• None = no alignment. The image will be level with where you placed it.
• Left = aligns the image to the left. Words will wrap around on the right.
• Center = aligns the image in the center with words wrapping to the left and right.
• Right = aligns the image to the right. Words will wrap around on the left.

Size:
When WordPress uploads an image, it automatically creates two or more versions at different sizes. You can define the parameters for Thumbnail, Medium and Large under Settings/Media. The Thumbnail you can see in the upper left of the window next to the date. The full size is the actual size of the file you uploaded.

Step Four: Insert the image.

Click on the “Insert into Post” button.

Step Five: Fix the word wrapping

Once you’ve inserted an image, it might look something like this in Visual Mode:

But look like this when you preview the post:

Why is that?

For some reason, WordPress is using a “class” to wrap the image and the browser just doesn’t recognize it. So you have to go into the code and fix it.

When you look at the code for an image you’ll see something like this:

You want to replace the “offending” code, highlighted below,

with code that browsers will understand, as illustrated here:

In this example, I aligned the image to the right. To align it to the left, just change “right” to “left.”

To center an image, the best way is to put the image code in between center alignment div tags like so:

WARNING: When you go back into Visual Mode, it may erase some of the work you did in HTML Mode. So I recommend HTML Mode being your last stop. Save your post from there, otherwise, you’ll have to go back and fix everything again.

It’s shocking how many leads and clients you can get with a special report. A simple 10 to 20 page document powers more punch for your marketing strategy than any other tool. Every day you can have people pounding at your door hungry to hire you when you use a special report (also called a white paper).

And writing a special report doesn’t have to be complicated. Even if you hate writing this is easy to do…well, as long as you use my proven 7 point outline to guide you. Simply answer the following questions and voila — you have your special report ready to be your client magnate.

1. “What’s the big problem?”

Start your special report by waking up your reader. Show them that you understand the core problem they’re facing. Don’t just tell them their problem – empathize with them. Show that you care and you understand how frustrating having this problem really is.

2. “What’s this problem costing you?”

Rub the pain of the problem in their face. I know it sounds tough but remember, you have the solution and unless you slap them across the face to wake them up fully then they’ll continue suffering unnecessarily. Is this problem costing them the money they could be spending on a new car? Are they wasting time without a solution? Does the opposite sex look at them like moldy bread?

3. “What’s the general solution?”

You have two options herein your special report. First, before giving your specific solution give the big picture solution. Show what’s possible. Second, you can show how people have tried other solutions but failed and why. This sets you up as THE solution.

4. “What’s your specific solution?”

Lay out your method or system at this point in your special report. This is the bulk of the special report. Maybe you have a 5 step method to stop divorce…briefly spell it out. You want to show your reader what to do, not how to do it. (For that they have to work with you one-on-one). Give the reader tips and strategies they can use today to start solving their problem. They’ll like and trust you more, the more you share.

5. “What’s the proof that your solution works?”

Share case studies of people and clients you’ve worked with. Don’t just give testimonials. This isn’t a sales letter. Think of it as a magazine article — the writer will tell stories and to show proof. A great formula for telling a case study story is the P.A.R method – Problem, Action, Result. First, state the Problem a client of yours had before they worked with you. Second, show the Action your client took (this should involve how you came in to save the day). Third, tell the Results the client made because they used your method or system.

6. “Why listen to you?”

State your credibility. This can be a single bio page with your credentials or you can share your success story. Tell how you discovered your unique method or system. In doing so, you establish your authority and expertise on the subject.

7. “What’s next?”

This is the most important part of your special report. By this point the reader should be frothing at the mouth hungry to take the next step. All you need to do is clearly spell out a specific call to action. Give them an irresistible offer they can’t refuse and a time limit for them to take advantage of the offer.

And that’s it! Just make sure your special report isn’t too formal. Make it conversational. Think of what you would say to a friend who is a part of your target market if you were both sitting in a coffee shop. You wouldn’t use “sales” language! You’d have a heart-to-heart talk with them – simply sharing your experience and showing them a way to solve their problem.

Remember, the purpose of your special report is to build the relationship between you and your lead so you can move them closer to getting to know, like and trust you, which leads to more sales for you.

About the Author:
Small business marketing consultant, James Roche, shows you how to attract more clients and make passive revenue with information products. Discover his proven and practical marketing strategies with his free special report, “The Shift: Quit Struggling, Make a Difference and Join the New Rich” http://www.marketingmadeeasyblueprint.com/free

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – How to Write a Lead Generating Special Report

Copyright (c) 2009 James Roche

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Editor’s Note: I found this article today and really felt I needed to share it with you. I think the points that James makes are as relevant to marketing your book, as they are for building a thriving web presence.

The key to success of your book lies with marketing. In marketing, you must understand that “perception is reality.” The image you create through the perception of the public and media determine the success of your publicity. Here are few guidelines to help create a positive, marketing image for any book:

1. Belief: To create a positive perception and convince the media to publicize your book you need to believe that your idea will become successful, even if others don’t. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, authors of Chicken Soup for the Soul, were turned down by many publishers who didn’t believe in their idea. But they believed in it and built it into a #1 New York Times Bestseller.

2. Enthusiasm: “Enthusiasm is contagious!” To gain public awareness and publicity you must be enthusiastic and energetic about what you promote. Tony Robbins is a great example of someone so enthusiastic about his ideas and products that millions believe in him. Thus, he receives worldwide media coverage.

3. Develop a “Hook:” To stick out in the media’s mind you need a good “hook.” Develop a creative, unique title or marketing campaign. For example, Dottie and Lilly Walters’ fabulous book title, Speak and Grow Rich, serves as a unique “hook” that separates their book from others on the topic of public speaking.

4. Network: In our society, who you know gets you ahead faster than anything. You never know who is influential or who knows who. In the case of the media, many reporters, radio hosts, and TV producers know others in the same field. Be kind and courteous and remember to send thank you notes to anyone who helps you. This demeanor will create a positive marketing image for you and your book.

5. Persist: If you truly have the belief in your book then don’t stop marketing, promoting and selling your idea until you reach the level of success you desire. Don’t allow rejection and obstacles to convince you to quit. Obstacles are what we see when we take our eyes off of our goals.

About the Author

Speaker James Malinchak, ‘The Big Money Speaker^TM,’ is the creator of the two top-selling speaker courses, ‘How to Make BIG Money As a Speaker,’ and the ‘College Speaking Success Home Study Course.’ To learn more about his step-by-step systems and to sign up for his FREE ‘Speaker Tips’ E-zine, visit: www.MillionaireSpeakerBootCamp.com.

Post to Your Blog Regularly

This has two effects:

1) a regularly updated blog is much more likely to get ranked well in the search engines, and

2) when you build a library of articles on your website, you demonstrate that you know your stuff.

Integrate Your Blogging with Your Social Networks

Are you on both Facebook and Twitter? Here’s a great way to leverage your Wordpress blog and both of these social networks to build your visibility.

First, get your blog posting updates to your Facebook account. You can do this using the Notes application.

Second, install a Twitter plugin that posts your blog updates to your Twitter account.

Third, connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts so that whenever you post something to Twitter, it shows up in your Facebook status. There is a Facebook application that does this.

Now, whenever you post to your blog a chain reaction occurs: A note is posted to your Twitter account, which also shows up on your Facebook status. A little later, your post shows up on your Facebook account and is noted on your wall. This creates more ways for people to start noticing you and your expertise, and can drive traffic to your website.

Block Spam with Akismet

This plugin is so important that its actually part of the WordPress program you download form WordPress.org! Once activated, it will monitor all comments posted on your blog and hold those it thinks are spam. This has been a God send for me because of my blogs attracts blog spammers like moths to a street light.

Block Email Harvesters with Email Immunizer

It can be really annoying to do all the crazy things you have to do to protect your email from email harvesters. This handy little plugin saves you time by protecting your email without you having to do anything special.

Managed Syndication Better with FeedBurner FeedSmith

Integrating your RSS feed with FeedBurner just makes sense. This free service lets you monitor your RSS feed stats, give people the option to subscribe to your feed via email (a boon to those whose audience just don’t use RSS readers), and more.

Increase Traffic with MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer

This handy plugin not only empowers you to ping a plethora of directories and other blog listing services, but makes sure you don’t ping to often and get marked as a spammer! Very handy!

Streamline Your SEO with Headspace 2

There are several SEO related plugins for WordPress but this remains my favorite because it not only helps streamline your SEO activities, but can also take the place of several other plugins and gives you the power to make different pages on your blog look very different!

Connect Your Blog with Twitter

Twitter Tools
Developed by Alex King, Twitter tools allows you to have your tweets posted on your blog and your blog posts posted to Twitter. It even makes sure you can do both while not causing an endless repetition of cross posts.

Twitter for WordPress
Developed by Ricardo Gonzalez, this plugin will display your latest tweets on your website. It can be added to your theme code or as a sidebar widget.

Tweet My Blog
This plugin is similar to Twitter for WordPress with a few more perks, including an affiliate program on a one-time offer.

Connect Your Blog to Facebook

Facebook Photos plugin for WordPress
Got photos on your Facebook account that you’d like to use on your blog? This plugin does that! After you have linked the plugin to your Facebook account, photos you upload to Facebook will automatically show up in a convenient “Photos” tab in your WordPress powered blog.

Wordbook
This plugin, developed by Robert Tsai, allows you to cross-post your blog posts to your Facebook Wall. Yes, you can do this using the “Notes” feature on Facebook. But what if you have two blogs? You can put one in Notes and use this plugin with the other!

Facebook Comments
Do you get more comments on your blog posts at Facebook than you do your blog? This plugin, developed by James Low, takes care of that little issue for you! It imports comments from your Facebook notes back into your wordpress blog.

Connect Your Blog to MySpace

MySpace Crossposter
The WordPress to MySpace Auto Crossposter publishes all of your WordPress blog entries to your MySpace blog at the time of publication. Each time that a new WordPress post goes live it will automatically be sent to MySpace for publication. And, you have the option of just posting a notification, thus driving traffic to your blog from MySpace!