This is just a video series I put together when we updated the WordPress install on this site and played with some different themes.  We wound up sticking with Magazine Basic but updated the version.   If any of this helps you out or makes you feel more confident about updating, great!  Our’s went off without a hitch!
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Hopefully all that was helpful for some folks!  Pretty painless right?

If you have some links to any other WordPress improvement material, please stick them in the comments!

www.StartupAvengers.com

http://angel.co/herefirst

Stage 84

Fat Cats

Miguel Morales
http://twitter.com/lateniterush

Thank you Gabe from Monster for running of Monster’s 2012 line of In Ear Headphones or as he likes to call them “in Ear Speakers”

For the Gamer here's a look at the T3 for gaming, Harajuku for the fashionistas and Gwen Stefani, Isport for athletes, Turbines Pro Pearl & Coppers

Here is some information on each headphone from Monster's website:

http://www.monstercable.com/headphones

Isport
Superb fit. Stays in.
Super-comfortable and easy-to-use, the Monster®-exclusive SportClip™ keeps your iSport earbuds in your ears no matter how hard you play. Use them with glasses, goggles, and helmets. And the noise-isolating ear tips block distractions so you can focus on achieving your workout.

Washable? No, really.
Water and sweat won't stop iSport. Just rinse them out when you're done to keep them fresh, and they'll still sound amazing.

Extraordinary sound delivers pure audio adrenaline
Exclusive OmniTip design rotates to provide ultimate comfort
Monster's® exclusive SportClip™ stays in your ear
A no-problem fit for goggles, glasses and helmets
Superior Noise Isolation so you can focus
Sweat-Proof and Washable
With ControlTalk

Gratitude
Reproduces the intimacy of a great live performance.
There are those of us who deeply experience the sound of natural music. The thrill of real horns. The excitement of real drums. The heart-stopping sound of a perfectly recorded human voice. It's what makes the sound of music like Earth, Wind & Fire special.

They, along with Head Monster, Noel Lee, sonically tuned Gratitude to recreate the dynamic range of a great, live performance. The driver dynamically reproduces transients and complex music harmonics with perfect clarity, so you actually experience the feeling of being there. It captures the soul of the music.

"These are really incredible! You hear a lot of detail with these headphones…amazing separation and articulation. I clearly hear details in the music that I don't with other earbuds. It's impressive."

- Philip Bailey, Earth, Wind & Fire

Gratitude is a great musical instrument.
The ability to recreate music is an art. Like a fine instrument, Gratitude is the ultimate expression of how great music can sound. And it fits in your pocket!

Monster SuperTips™ Sound Isolating Eartips
Multiple sizes provide the perfect fit to seal out unwanted noise.
Premium Rose Gold Finish
A beautiful look you can show off anywhere.
High Performance Monster® Cables
Superior sound quality in a tangle-resistant, flat-cable package.
Protective Carrying Case
Keeps your headphones in top condition.
Right Angle 1/8" Connector
Hugs the player to stay out of your way and reduce wear.
ControlTalk™ In-Line Mic and Controls
Patented design keeps volume, track, and call controls right at your fingertips.

Turbine Pro Copper
Designed For Serious Audiophiles and Audio Professionals
Turbine Pro Copper are studio quality monitors engineered for the most critical listening applications. They deliver the accuracy, transparency and detail required by musicians and audio professionals that absolutely must hear absolutely everything. Advanced driver technology, resonance-cancelling enclosures and superior isolation provide astonishing new benchmarks in resolution and clarity. The end result is true game changer in personal listening -- a high end audio experience that you can put in your pocket.

A New Paradigm In Personal Audio
Turbine Pro Copper faithfully reproduces all your audio sources with complete tonal and dynamic fidelity throughout the frequency spectrum. Its ultra-wideband driver system delivers deep, tight bass that sounds like an in-ear subwoofer, and crystal clear mids and trebles that rival full-sized high-end speakers. The sound is open, unveiled and remarkably vivid -- you'll hear exciting new subtleties even in your best-loved music. 

Reference Quality Playback For The Most Critical Listeners
Monster's name is legendary throughout the music world, from stage to studio, and our audio professionals are as passionate about music as the artists and engineers who create it. Our "instrument" is audio design, and we're constantly driven to ever-higher achievements in sonic performance. When we invited the Monster virtuosos to create an in-ear speaker system that they themselves would want to own, the stunning result was Turbine Pro Copper. 

A High End Audio System That Fits In Your Pocket
Turbine Pro Copper has been conceived as a true audiophile playback system that just happens to be extremely portable. Its superior fit and isolation duplicates the effect of full-sized speakers perfectly tuned to their room. The patented Magnetic FluxTube™ cabling is derived from the same technology found in the best Monster Speaker cables, as are the secure, 24k gold plated connectors. With Turbine Pro Copper, in-ear listening is no longer a compromise for the serious listener. 

ControlTalk: The Ultimate in iPhone® and iPod® Control and iPhone/Music Phone Hands-Free Calling
*
With the built-in ControlTalk remote, you get on-cable control of your music, as well as easy, high quality hands-free calling. You'll enjoy quick-access music playback control, like volume, play/pause and tracking, without having to dig for your iPhone or iPod. Plus, the high-grade mic and high-resolution, sound-isolating headphones all combine to let you hear and be heard much more clearly—and conveniently—than you ever could with your iPhone to your ear.

Secure, Comfortable Fit for Active Lifestyles
In-ear headphones give you total freedom to move for life on-the-go. But they don't always stay where they are or even in your ear, especially if you're working out. Monster's ear hooks keep your headphones firmly in place. They're lightweight, easy to wear and remove, and easily bend to fit your ear's shape, for a customized, comfortable fit. 

Turbine Pearl
Elegant pearl styling for the perfect accessory to any wardrobe
Precise, highly accurate sound from custom designed speaker with wide bandwidth driver
Durable, solid metal housing delivers the purest sound without audible vibrations that taint the experience
Adjustable SportHooks keep earphones in place comfortably even during the most intense physical activity
ControlTalk for on-cable iPhone® or iPod® playback control and iPhone/music phone hands-free calling

Harajuku Lovers Super Kawaii In-Ear
Super-stylin’ headphones with fine looks and fine tuned sound
Multiple eartip sizes so you get the perfect fit
Compact case keeps your headphones safe, shiny, and new
Harajuku Lovers Heart-Shaped Cable Manager.
Heart-shaped carabineers.
The Sound of Your Super Kawaii Style
Want to know what "super kawaii," or super cute sounds like? It's the fine tuned sound of Monster® - Harajuku Lovers Super Kawaii Headphones. It's high definition sound, fine tuned for your style, for everywhere you go in the world. No matter where you are. Whether you're on the streets of Harajuku or anywhere else. 

Custom Fit
You get different sizes of eartip sizes, so you can find perfect fit for your ears. This custom fit seals in your music and seals out unwanted noise. 

Compact Case
Protect your headphones, and keep them safe, shiny, and new -- just like the day you got them. 

One Year Limited Warranty

The beginning of the list, Please feel free to add / comment ideas!

-Affiliate marketing
-Directory Submission
-Adwords
-Squidoo
-Facebook
-Wikipedia
-Mini-Net
-Software Tools
-Info Product creation
-Article Marketing
-Blog Comments
-RSS Feeds
-Pinging
-Research
-Craigslist
-Video Marketing
-SEO
-Other PPC
-Copywriting
-Myspace.com
-Press Releases
-Blogging
-Testing
-Yahoo Answers
-Customer Support
-Filtering Email
-MSN SEO
-Linking
-Twitter
-Forum Posting
-Ebay
-Programming
-Graphic Design
-Video editing and production

I’m actively recruiting offshore web development in the Philippines.  John Jonas and Jeff Mills have been extremely helpful in finding the best work from home talent from the magical islands in the South Pacific.

Filipinos are extremely Americanized in speech, writing, style, humor, and culture in general which makes them ideal for article marketing, blogging, social media and all the new media marketing channels that require some personality and writing skills.

I’ll be posting a journal about how my experience has been.  If you’re interested in learning about how you might leverage some offshore outsrourcing, I would encourage you to at least watch John Jonas’s free webinar on outsourcing at:
Free Outsourcing Webinar, Click Here!
http://store.replacemyself.com/?aid=40535

The Facebook Webinar:
Click Here for a Free Facebook Webinar on Oursourcing!

http://store.replacemyself.com/?aid=40536

We are all starting to realize the crucial importance of Local Search for Local Businesses so, what are the best Local Search Companies?

Here are some search companies specializing in the Local Search Marketing space:

Local Splash

If you watch some of the videos posted on their website, Local Splash clearly knows their business.  Videos are here:
http://www.localsplash.com/industry-events

Having said that, they don’t post their prices on their website and they really don’t guarantee much outside of the fact that you have the right to get out of your contract with them after 6 months or something.  I found both those facts wonky but I did finally figure out their pricing and it’s not bad and they seam to know what they’re doing.  I’d say take me up on my offer for a Free 20 minute consulting call, and let’s chat about that for a few minutes and make sure you’re getting a fair shake over there.

HeyGoTo

HeyGoTo.com uses an action page or landing page approach.  It looks like all traffic goes to the action page they create first that’s SEO’d for your search terms and your call to action and links to website are right there.  Not necessarily a bad thing but I’d be concerned about the action page’s ownership rights at the end of your contract.

I’ll follow up this article with some better clarification once I’ve had time to get some final answers on all this from the owners of these company’s.  I do know one of the founders of HeyGoTo and he’s a quality man.  This article is just to sort of get some dialogue flowing on this crucial topic for today’s local business owner.

Anyway, the service is $497 down and $399 a month for their standard package with all of these services included:
http://heygoto.com/compare-package.php

• Professional Copywriting
• Create Action Page
• Video Ad Creation
• Local Search & Map Listings
• Organic Listings – No PPC
• Search-Engine Submissions
• Press Releases & Distribution
• Blog Creation & Strategies
• Social Marketing Strategies
• Ezine Article Submissions
• 1000+ Directory Listings
• Back-Linking Strategies
• Proprietary Strategies
• GPS Mapping Listings
• Campaign Analytics
• Phone-Call Tracking
• Monthly Monitoring

Right now and in the future, what can I do to get my business in front of local customers on the internet? Desktops, Ipads, Mobile.. all devices!

Basically you have 2 options:

Hire a local search engine optimization professional

You can either go with a  professional consultant or agency to help you with you overall web / media marketing efforts or a more specific local search marketing specific outfit.

As far as big picture internet marketing and multi-media advertising goes I’m sorry to be biased  but I recommend ME!
www.BrianFirthConsulting.com

I’ve been marketing online almost since the mid-90′s, offer extremely competitive rates, and  for a limited time I’m giving away a trial / initial consultation for Free!

That’s not to say I won’t recommend other agencies or services for you, most of the time successful campaigns require require a team of professionals.   Specialists in local search for example, a mobile specialist or two, web construction / SEO / SEM, a talented social media manager, video / imagery production, possibly a media buying guru, and then the person or agency to manage the whole enchilada for you, you know like that guy Brian Firth

Some of the Local Search specific services that I recommend are compared and reviewed over here.  If you want to have it a go on your own, here are

The fundamental steps to getting your business in front of local customers through web and mobile marketing

1. Claim your listing on the prevalent local business directories.  

Google Places is the 800 pound gorilla in the local directory business right now so start there.  Get your listing started immediately, don’t take too much time over-thinking the listing.  Fill in the basics and get them to mail you your confirmation code.  They are looking for the actual physical address for your business, PO boxes may not get listed.  I can provide you some direction in tricky situations.  

Make sure you’re using keywords that your clients would be typing in Google to find you in your listing as much as possible without disturbing the flow of your message.  Have some finesse but if you a pet groomer…. pet groomer, pet groomers, pet grooming, should show up 2-3 times in different parts of your listing and shoot for another phrase or two that would trigger some business for you,  Throw “dog bath” , “animal care” , “pet nail care” , you know phrases that you know describe what you do all around.  Keyword lace your image descriptions, video descriptions, coupons, specialties, basically wherever you can and try to use all the features available!

People love coupons!  Give them incentives to jump to action!  Limited time, internet only, coupons and discounts are a goldmine, use them!

Video is already massive and fast growing part of marketing these days.  So you definitely want to record some decent quality video explaining your services and plugging specials, upload them to Youtube making sure to doll up your title and descriptions over there with crafty keywords and stick them in your Google Places listing as well!

Go get a bunch of your happy customers to leave positive reviews and you’ll on your way to the top, get ready for lots of new business!  It would be nice if it was always that easy.  Sometimes it is, so I would encourage you to give it a shot if you’re inclined.

If you are definitely NOT inclined read the follow up to this article, choosing a local search marketing company!

Consumer electronics show 2012

CES 2012 – Only 2 more days to register for free for The Consumer Electronics Show 2012

Let’s go folks!  There’s only a couple days left to get yourself registered for the ultimate gadget and technology show on the planet!  Sept. 1st it goes up to $100.

Just go to the CES website and click on the blue banner at the top right corner!

We’ll be there covering the event that whole week.  Please drop me a line Brian [at] NewWebTalk.com or comment below if you are interested in scheduling an interview or if you’re interested in helping us cover the event!

Here’s some links that may help:

http://www.cesweb.org/news/releases.asp

http://www.cesweb.org/news/multimedia-gallery.asp

http://www.cesweb.org/followme.asp

And some photos from last year: