Google Blackle - Is it Worth It?

Now you can save energy and remain on the computer for hours. I saw a post a few days back that discussed "Google Black". I thought it would be a pretty cool idea to view Google's screen all blacked out. It was a dramatic difference.

Blackle was created by Heap Media to remind us all of the need to take small steps in our everyday lives to save energy. Blackle searches are powered by Google Custom Search.

Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. Of course, there are people out there claiming the savings is so small it really doesn't matter. My theory is.....even if the savings is minuscule....IT'S STILL SAVING ENERGY.  Try it out and see what you think. You can also read more about it here.

Google also has it's own blogspot URL that takes you directly to Google search instead of Blackle which is a different search engine powered by Google.  Click here to check it out! Either way...if nothing more than saving some eyestrain when peering at that bright white screen late at night when all the lights are out...I'm giving it a try. That's my small contribution to the whole. I'm saving energy!!!!

Sunday Selects #3

Spanning cyberspace to bring you a constant variety of great blog posts. The thrill of new ideas without the agony of having to do it yourself....(my Jim McKay impersonation courtesy of that exciting ABC Saturday sports intro from years ago...you guys remember that one?). Well anyway, here's another installment of Sunday Selects. Make sure to check out a few of these great posts!

• 100 ways to find ideas for your blog posts - great resource list
• Make your posts more readable - neat ideas to capture your readers' attention
• If you want to get someone's attention with your blog, don't just whisper - try a few of these tips
• Interested in having your Gravatar on the sites you visit, read how
• 10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Blog - From a member of the Entrecard family!
• Great ways to advertise your blog offline - After all, there's more to blogging than just the blogosphere!

11 Ways To Build Backlinks Easily

Backlinks are one of the most important factors in the search engine rankings and a high percentage of search engine optimization (SEO) techniques focus on this in an effort to improve a site's ranking. Without pulling teeth and selling your first born backlinks can often be achieved through implementing a few common sense and relatively easy, fun practices.

Here are some of the techniques used to build backlinks -


1. Do follow blogs – There are lot of blogs which have the policy of Do-follow in the comments section. Do follow links are those which pass the link juice (actual backlink) and one should make use of them by leaving relevant comments. Here is the directory of blogs which have Do follow in comments.

Matt Cutts is the Coolest Boss Ever

Matt Cutts, a Google software engineer, lost a bet with a group of employees in his department. He was definitely a man of his word. So when it came time to pay up...check out what they DID to him....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing all of you a blessed, safe and Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your day and remember...give thanks, eat,... eat,... eat,... rest....watch a little football and....eat again. That about sums it up!

Reality Can Bite

Courtesy of Center for American Progress

Keeping Your Best Blog Posts Readily Accessible

Every once in a while one of your blog posts will capture more attention than the hundreds you've done before. Visitors and search engines will shower you with increased traffic and recognition for the fruits of your labor. But alas, as each day passes your stellar literary masterpiece slips farther and farther down the page.

So far, in fact, you'd probably need a grave digger to bring it back to the surface.

Here are a  few tips for keeping your best blog posts in the spotlight...

Featured article section - Some blogging platforms offer templates with a built-in "featured article" section. The article that you know has been a hit for you is the first item visitors to your site see.

Feature large number of articles on your home page - Great idea but bad for business. Pages with more than 10 posts generally tend to slow down your site's loading speed. A "Read More" post summary can help with (now available in Blogger) this problem.

Poll: How Many Blogs Do You Have?

I love polls. They're a great way of feeling the "pulse" of the blogosphere...so to speak. In the past I've included a few polls on my sidebar. However, because I've changed this poor blog's template so many times I haven't been able to transfer polls (already in progress) to the newer templates.

So, I've included a poll in this post. Just out of curiosity how many blogs are you currently running or own. The only stipulation is the blogs you include in your count must be active blogs (with at least 1 or 2 posts a month).

Sunday Selects #2

The week's end (or beginning, depending on how you choose to read the calendar) has finally rolled around at last ~ sigh. In keeping with the new Couch Potato Sunday Selects theme, here's a round up of some of the best blog posts I stumbled upon this past week. Stop by and check out a few of them to see if great minds really do think alike!

• Is your laptop tethered to you like a baby baboon around his mom's neck then try these 10 tips to stop blogging from keeping you up all night
• The Happiness Project: Fun, quick exercises to boost your creativity
• For women only! Men, read this at your own risk!
• What would it actually be like if Jesus stopped by your house for dinner? Maybe something just like this!
• Time saving tips for busy bloggers
• Are you like most bloggers with a bucket load of old posts that weren't seen by anyone except for maybe your mom, the cat and your spouse? Check out these 5 ways to bring old posts back to life
• The Domestik Goddess - just a really neat site!
• Hope for Anissa - The Bloggess is asking for our help
• 10 reasons why bloggers hate blogging ~ I most certainly DO NOT!

Alright, that does it for this week's Sunday Selects. Have a wonderful day and a super great week!

Simple Ways to Build Your Blog's Following

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. I know you've all heard that one before. And as simple as it might sound, it's a very powerful statement. The way we approach certain issues is what makes them far more difficult than they should be.

Take building your blog's following for example.

True enough SEO techniques, attractive templates and themes, countless hours spent reading and commenting on other blogs, joining forums, getting listed in as many blog directories as we can find are all great ways to get your blog out there - to really get it noticed. But none of these ways offer that one thing that all humans need and require - a personal touch.

Can we all agree that the art of blogging is the act of creating a conversation. Bloggers communicate information and hope readers contribute through commenting. Just reading blogs isn't nearly as much fun as reading comments left by other visitors or commenting ourselves.

The more readers the better the conversation. Thus, the need, the desire to reach as many followers as possible begins.

Swine Flu

QWERTY Loves Me

No wonder I love my Blackberry so much. According to statistics the QWERTY keyboard is found to be more user friendly and easier to navigate for us lefties. Aside from all the lame left handed jokes I've endured over the years, the uniqueness of being left handed is something I've learned to enjoy.

"Wow...look how she writes"...."Your handwriting is so neat for a lefty"....."Oh Lord...no wonder. She's left handed". I've heard them all. The only negatives I can think of about being left handed are the memories of the nagging pain I suffered in school on a daily basis thanks to those dreadful spiral notebooks and the wretched invention of erasable ink!

My hand would drag along the edge of those notebooks leaving the imprint of the spiral wires used to hold them together. Then there was the erasable ink. Remember those Papermate erasable ink pens? There was just one problem. By the time I finished writing, my hand dragging behind....every single word I wrote was "already erased". No wonder Da Vinci wrote backwards!

But I'm no worse for wear. As a matter of fact, I'm better because of it.

Never Give Up on Your Dreams

Ask a classroom full of first graders what they want to be when they grow up and you’ll hear everything from president to rocket scientist ( performing these duties at the same time, of course!).

This isn’t just the innocence of childhood talking. It’s the fact that as children we still believe in the power of our dreams. And then one day we grow up and allow life, negative people and bad situations to stop us from dreaming.

Our Dreams Are Valid

Our dreams are valid and we do have the right to succeed. Playing small to make others look big serves no purpose. So often we give others permission to steal our dreams. Being told all the reasons you can't succeed, all the reasons your way won't work, all the reasons your line of thinking is irrational gives people who don't matter too much power over our lives.

By the time the world finishes knocking you down, your new miniature sized dream begins to seem just as much of an impossibility as the bigger ones you originally discarded. At this point, the fear factor is like the proverbial albatross around your neck.

Joint Commission Linebacker - Hilarious

I couldn't pass this video up. We were entertained by it a few days ago at work. If you want to make a hospital's administrative staff piss their pants, tell them an unscheduled visit from JCAHO is only hours away.

JCAHO is the organization that accredits hospitals and other health care facilities in a number of areas. Although accreditation is voluntary, most state governments recognize Joint Commission accreditation as a condition of licensure and receiving Medicaid reimbursement.

Their main focus is patient safety and quality health care. If you've ever worked in a hospital, you know how crazy everybody gets when it's Joint Commission survey time... If the guy in this video actually worked at our hospital, things would be a whole lot different!

I Got A Happy - Best Blog Award

Earlier today I was presented with a wonderful award. My fellow blogger Denesa from Parent Times presented me with the Best Blog Award.

I started reading Denesa's blog after coming across it thanks to Entrecard. If I had to use one sentence to describe Denesa it would be "A beautiful human being who loves life, family and learning".

Denesa is a working mom with two beautiful boys. She lives in Singapore and loves blogging about her journey down the road so many of us have traveled and are traveling called parenthood. Stop by and visit Denesa's blog when you have the time.

In keeping with the rules of this award, I must bestow this honor on other deserving blogs. So many come to mind but I'll list a few. Stop by and say hello to these awesome bloggers! Daisy the Curly Cat, Too Many Mornings, Kikolani.com, Top Jokes: Now That's Humor, and Man Over Board.

Why Aren't You Guest Blogging?

Everyone seems to agree (and rightly so) that guest blogging is a good strategy to get traffic, and more than that, name recognition for you and your blog. Just about every blog about blogging has either a current post or something buried deep in the archives about the benefits.

Guest blogging drives traffic back to your website and establishes the author's presence in their particular niche or blogging community. Quite often it's as simple as emailing a blog author asking for an opportunity to submit an article to his or her site for consideration or submitting your article through a link on the actual blog.

It's a win-win situation. The guest blogger opens a portal ushering in an entire new readership. The host blogger wins by capitalizing on an opportunity for a much needed break and the reader wins by having an opportunity to read content from a different perspective about subjects they're interested in.

Just make sure you have a few things ironed out before you decide to submit a guest post.

The Everything Blogging Book Contest Giveaway

The one thing I hate about blogging is the fact that I've met so many beautiful people....weird, right? I'm sure most of you are saying that's not something to be miffed about. It's actually a good thing. And you're absolutely right.

The part that isn't so good is knowing I'll probably never actually meet any of them. Maybe we can all get together and plan a big Blogger Meet and Greet. Definitely something to think about. But anyway on to the topic of today's post.

People who know me in the real world smile when they see me heading their way. The know that I've either got a stale joke, a zany story, or just an off color comment that will put them in stitches if they don't control their laughter. Long story short.....I love having fun. So, I decided to incorporate some of my real life antics into today's blog post. But this time I want to hear from you. Its my very first contest and you might be the lucky winner.

Update - Ann over at Ann's Snap Edit & Scrap is the lucky winner. For being such a faithful commenter and a fellow Entrecard member I'm awarding Ann an extra happy - 875ec's. Until the next contest....Happy Blogging!!!!!!!

Top 20 Reasons Most Blogs Fail

Normally I visit any where from 75 to 100 blogs a day. Some I find through the many social media outlets I utilize. Others I find while googling a particular topic. The blogosphere is gi-normous. There are approximately 112 million blogs in cyperspace. According to Technorati, there are over 175,000 new blogs (that’s just blogs) created every day. Staggering numbers, huh?

I wonder what the stats are on the number of blogs that have been deserted by their webmasters. So many of the really great blogs I visit haven't been updated in years. Yes, years. It's only because of the popularity of some of these particular blog's posts that their pages are still indexed by Google.

What made these seemingly successful bloggers just quit? Maybe time, motivation, frustration - all  these seem like plausible reasons.  I was just curious. I know everyone's experiences and reasons are different.

According to most bloggers, these are the main reasons blogs fail.

Tools to Check Google Page Rank

Google recently went through one of their long awaited page rank updates. Congratulations to all who noticed an increase in their green google power! I was pleasantly pleased with my "impressive" climb up the Google ladder. I went from not being recognized by Google at all to a page rank of "0"!

Now many of you might think it's ridiculous to celebrate a "0" but in the world of SEO, a zero as opposed to nothing at all is extremely meaningful. I'm sure my increase would have been more significant had I not changed my domain name mid-stream. Perhaps when Google updates again I'll have a bit of green juice of my own.

A couple of the tools I use to check my page rank status from time to time are...

Sunday Selects

Ah....it's Sunday again. A day for reflection, rest, renewal and my favorite....impersonating a couch potato. So, in keeping with my slothfulness, I've decided to use Sundays as a day to share some of the most interesting posts I've encountered throughout the week.

• Have a favorite dish at Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesday or Outback Steakhouse. Find the exact recipe and be the envy of all your friends.
• If content isn't king, find out what is. You might be surprised.
• Spice up your Sunday with this fun sex survey. See what other people are thinking.
• Ninja squirrel warrior. Too cute. A must see!
• USA Life Expectancy - Where you live can determine how "long you live"
• Really cool Blogger templates! Don't worry...I'm not changing mine...yet ;)
• Bad search engine ranking in 7 easy steps!
• A must have resource list for anyone that takes blogging seriously...
• The short but powerful guide to finding your passion. What motivates you?
  
• 169 ways to build blog traffic like a Ninja - MY FAVORITE
  

Have a beautiful Sunday and as always Happy Blogging!

Blog like a 15 year old - Meet Carl Ocab

...And I thought "Are you smarter than a 5th grader was an eye opener! How about a blogging tips and money making opportunities lecture from a 15 year old? Carl Ocab is one of the most successful (teenage) bloggers on the net. Carl was just 13 years old when he rose to fame with his hugely popular website Make Money Online With a 13 Year Old. Carl is from the Philippines and has achieved mega success in the blogosphere. Stop by and visit his site. He's one impressive little dude!

If Content is King Then SEO is Heir to the Throne

Think back for a moment to the day you decided to start a blog. Remember how exciting the concept was. Finally, an avenue to share your views on everything from raising children to cooking gourmet meals that would put Betty Crocker to shame.

Whether your blog is a hobby, an extension of your business, an outlet for venting (always good), a showcase of your writing expertise or a compilation of your favorite photographs the reason we blog boils down to one thing. We want people to READ IT. Doesn't matter how much you claim you love blogging because of this or that. The harsh reality is if you don't have readers then who are you writing for?

There is no rocket science required to know what makes a blog stand out from the crowd. It's the content. Good quality content is one of the best things you can provide your readers. So, I don't dispute the saying that we've read a million times - Content Is King. But without a kingdom what does it matter. And that my friends is where knowing just a bit of SEO (search engine optimization) comes in. Consider it the heir to the throne!

My Mama Visited Me Today

As long as I live, I will consider myself fortunate for so many different things. I've been blessed with two beautiful sons, a loving family, a rewarding professional career, good friends and good health. These are factors I can measure without the help of any outside influence. Other blessings aren't realized until you've compared your life with others.

When I was born my mother was 23 years old. I was her second child. She lived at home with her mother who was 46 at the time. Being a single parent is difficult to say the least. A strong support system is so helpful in venturing down that road known as parenting. So, I had the nurturing love of a mother and the watchful supervisory eye of a grandmother to keep me on the straight and narrow.

These two matriarchs of the family would have been enough but God was kind enough to grant me a third blessing, a great grandmother. She was 70 years old when I was born and remained a steadfast part of my life for the next 27 years and for me that was priceless.

Blogger Not Loading in Internet Explorer

A few weeks back I was visiting a friend and decided to show her my blog. She wasn't familiar with Firefox and was utilizing Internet Explorer to browse the web. No big deal, right? I used IE for years before I found out how absolutely super terrific Firefox is.

The big deal occurred when this message popped up as my site began to load:

To All Who Have and Are Serving - Thank You

  Take A Moment To Thank A Veteran When you see someone in a uniform
Someone who serves us all,
Doing military duty,
Answering their country’s call,Take a moment to thank them
For protecting what you hold dear;
Tell them you are proud of them;
Make it very clear.Just tap them on the shoulder,
Give a smile, and say,
"Thanks for what you’re doing;
To keep us safe in the USA!"

Fun Night with PhotoFunia

Guys...you gotta check this site out - PhotoFunia!!!

Mail Order Bride! Pssst....Don't tell him but after I received his pic in the mail I couldn't leave the Congo! Umbula, the great warrior with the husky feet, 6 teeth and 24 wives is looking better and better....

Missing from Hogwarts! I'm a rogue wizard looking to work some black magic on a couple of muggles I've been having a few issues with....where's my darn broom??

God....if you just spare my teeth I promise I'll never fall asleep in church, park in the handicap spot, steal napkins from the diner, pour extra dishwashing liquid in the bottle I'm planning to buy, silently fart in the meat section at the grocery store, or spray expensive parfum on the clothes I just purchased before I leave the store...Oh God...by the way...I've never done any of those things...and if you have mercy on my teeth, I NEVER WILL!

Groovy!!! How much did they say they were gonna pay me? If I don't sit down soon, I'll need another hip replacement! Damn! I think it just cracked! Screw YOU Osteoporosis!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks PerfectMomentProject for the tip about this site!!

Hair -N- Stuff

Blogging buddies I need your help. I've been in a constant struggle with friends, family members, actual and potential suitors, wine-os, bag ladies, and neighborhood feral cats....SUBJECT - My hair! I like it short. The shorter the better. One of my Bible toting aunts swears.....a woman's hair is her glory.....or so, she claims the Bible says. I don't argue that but I don't think your glory is any less magnificent with short hair as opposed to having it longer.

Here's where you guys come in. I've compiled a few pics of my hair at different stages. Long, short and shorter. (I prefer shorter). Tell me what you guys think. Pic #1, #2, or #3.

The Chihuahua Crisis

According to recent reports there's a Chihuahua crisis in California. And you can thank Paris, Britney and other Chihuahua toting divas for the poor pint size pup's woes.

People imitating other people! With the dogs being the most popular it stands to reason that they're also the most deserted. Think you want a cute little furry friend to carry around one day...then realize these sweet little balls of energy have to be fed, house trained and cared for by a vet on a regular basis.

30% of shelter dogs in the Los Angeles area are Chihuahuas. The problem has gotten so out of hand local animal control officials are shipping the animals to other states...which is getting a bit expensive.

The problem is so bad that shelters all over California that were built for big dogs had to remodel to accommodate the little guys.

Happy Birthday Sesame Street

In case you've been wondering about all the cute and well loved Sesame Street characters that have invaded Google's homepage, it's a birthday tribute to the show many of us grew up on as children. I know Sesame Street was a regular part of my life along with other shows like Zoom (always wanted to make some of those neat sticky arts-n-crafts-thingys and went berserk the first time I got an official "Zoom" shirt!) and The Electric Company. Sesame Street turns the big 4-0 today! Happy Birthday Sesame Street. You deserve all the honor!!!

100 Pediatric Health Blogs every Mom should read

One of the most fearful days of my life was the morning the time had come to bring my 5 day old newborn home from the hospital. Yep, you heard right! I was in the hospital for five (5) long days.

Back in the early 90s before DRGs and ICD-9 codes turned individuals into "standardized groups" with a time line placed on when everyone should get well...hospital stays were just a bit longer. I had C-sections with both my boys so, of course my stay was a bit more extended than that of someone having gone through normal child birth.

Discharge day was filled with mixed emotions for me. I was ready to get the heck out of that place and scared to death thinking about the fact that I was going to be left with the task of caring for a BABY....OMG! I was 21 years old and had never hardly even held a newborn!

Mommy's Not Available

It's Monday and Mama's been taking this National Drunken Blogging Month pretty seriously. Believe me I know. She accidentally left one of her wine glasses beside the bed....YUCK!!! So, my big brother, Seymour and I have decided to give her the day off. His nickname is "The Enforcer" and what he says goes!







Do I look like I'm kidding? Now scram!!! I assure you she'll be back tomorrow with more how to's, have you ever's, and 10 ways to do this or that!

Earn Revenue Through Sponsored Tweets

Whether you understand the concept of Twitter or not...if you have a Twitter account, why miss an opportunity to earn some spare change through Sponsored Tweets?

The Sponsored Tweets platform works by giving advertisers the ability to create campaigns and select, invite, and approve Twitterers of their choosing to participate in their sponsored campaigns. On the flip side, Twitterers can set their pay rate and find opportunities to tweet on behalf of advertisers and get paid per tweet and/or click.

Distraction and Blogging Don't Mix

Image by _4cryingoutloud via Flickr

Let me preface this piece by saying "There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying to establish a few revenue streams from your blog". With so many people in the blogosphere claiming they've made tons of money and want to show you how (which they never really do) it's understandable that the masses want to cash in on this blogging gold mine. But at what cost? Some of the practices you may be using to earn a few extra bucks might be sending your readers scampering for the nearest exit.

Widgets, banners, text ads, and affiliate links are great. These are resourceful ways to provide value to your blog. They provide the reader with an opportunity to make purchases or sign up to join programs.

Then there are those advertisements that irk me to no end.

Google Never Ceases to Amaze: The New Google Dashboard

The New Google Dashboard summarizes data for each product that you use (when signed in to your account) and provides you direct links to control your personal settings. Today, the Dashboard covers more than 20 products and services, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Web History, Orkut, YouTube, Picasa, Talk, Reader, Alerts, Latitude and many more. The new product was announced in a blog post earlier today.

I reviewed my Dashboard and found all sorts of information including: my Google contacts, documents I've created, sites I follow through Google Friend Connect, Gmail, IGoogle gadgets, Picasa Web albums, my profile, my Google reader, my Google search engine history and lots of other stuff.





It seems that the more information we hand over to Google....the more information is being stored. Now we can see exactly what Google's tracking about us....or can we?

Twitter Peek Mobile - You Have Got to be Kidding!!

You heard me - Twitter + Amazon.com = TwitterPeek Mobile Tweeting Device with Lifetime Service Included! It's almost comical but even more tragic is the fact that it's not that bad of an idea for those who love to tweet!

Features include -

Enemies Foreign and Domestic

I was napping and received a frantic call from an aunt asking me which military installation my son had been assigned to after his Basic Training graduation this past weekend. I told her Fort Sam Houston.

She sounded a bit relieved so I asked her what was going on. Apparently, a shooting spree has occurred at Fort Hood, Texas. As of right now, one shooter has been detained and another is cornered off somewhere on the post.

I tried to access the Fort Hood website and only got a big SERVICE UNAVAILABLE message. God, I hope this isn't some sort of maniacal plan that's targeting this and other military installations in the country.

You expect your sons, daughters, husbands, wives and other family members to be in a dangerous environment during deployment but not at home.  Please pray for these guys. Whether you're religious, spiritual or indifferent....recite these words if only out of respect for our military men and women.

What is Organic Traffic

Organic Traffic by definition is – the generation of free web traffic sent to your blog from targeted keywords when searching for content on the internet when using a search engine. Remember this traffic is unpaid, unsolicited and keyword based.

The best thing about organic traffic is it’s free and doesn’t take much work to get it flowing. With the proper keywords and SEO you should see organic traffic flowing into your website or blog in no time. One of the coolest things is when you’re cached it takes a lot of work to get a better ranking than you for those keywords! So, your site can hold that spot for a long time.

Blog Writing Made Easy

Have a great idea that you're dying to blog about. But thanks to "Big Brother" you're unable to blog at work. Fear not! There may be a way around your place of employments lock-out. Write To My Blog. WriteToMyBlog is a free web based word processor for your Blog. Create post entries for your blog, completely free, no membership required, can post to multiple blogs simultaneously, manage your posts - works with all major Blog programs, and is easy-peasy!

10 Tips on Becoming a Better Commenter

If you've been visiting this blog for any length of time you know exactly how I feel about the importance of comments. Now I know opinions come a dime a dozen but it is my strong opinion that a blog without comments is nothing more than your average run of the mill website.

That's what makes blogs and blogging so special.

Blogs are like those funny looking what-nots you've kept over the years. They're different - unique. But most importantly they're great "conversation" pieces. People who visit you tend to go on and on about that funny looking little thing-a-ma-jiggy! And why not that's why you've kept them.

Even with that being said commenting can be both a joy and a pain. Moderating and policing your site for spammers, link dropping trolls and sour pusses can consume valuable time. Taking the time to respond to the many great comments you receive can be just as time consuming.

Keep a few ideas in mind when you bite the bullet and decide to leave comments on your favorite blog.

My Nature Watch

During my trip to Lawton, Oklahoma this past weekend I took tons of pictures. Most were of my sons, my son's military friends, the graduation ceremony and a few photos of the scenery around town.

While waiting on our departing flight back home my youngest son and I walked outside for a bit of fresh air. I was fortunate enough to capture the photo I've included in this post. I thought about my friend over at The Everyday Adventurer and tried to get as close as possible but my 8 year old started making those weird noises every 8 year old I know loves to make....FOR NO FREAKIN' REASON! And the birdy flew away. Still don't think I did too bad.

Does anyone know what type bird this is (click image to enlarge)?

How To Get Better Visibility on Google

Considering the fact that Google just recently updated page rank (congrats to all who received a piece of the green rock) I thought it would be a great idea to find a video to help you learn how to get better visibility on Google. Matt Cutts is a Google associate who offers insight into the company, search engine index updates and SEO issues. Visit his blog to learn more about the king of all search engines we affectionately call Google...

3 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

Blogging isn't this new online fad that's going to be here today and gone tomorrow. Blogs are increasing in popularity with every passing day. The only thing new is the number of blogs cropping up.

The reasons people blog vary from person to person and business to business. From housewives to corporate America - everybody's doing it!

You've read, researched and put into practice lots of things you SHOULD do. Now let's get into some of the things you shouldn't do. Here's a list of 3 mistakes to avoid.

Create Awesome Slideshow Videos Easily

The one thing I've found that's better than Christmas is finding great ways to make your internet experience better. Animoto is a site that automatically produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your photos, video clips and music. Fast, free and shockingly easy. Take a look at my first creation. And of course, I've included a cute little video short for your viewing pleasure right here. The site is free but to benefit from the "whole" package there's a $30 yearly fee. Either way it's well worth it!