Covering a Niche

Posted on August 28, 2010 by MJ

In your niche business blueprint you need to find a way to put yourself in front of people interested in your topic. Some people will tell you to create multiple sites in the niche and use different angles for each. They will write a blog post everyday, adding it to a different blog each day. While this focus allows for a lot of diversity, and allows a broader blanket, it can really spread you thin.

Single site development, this method means putting emphasis on the single site. This means developing social interaction with visitors. This one site means it is easier to share with others. Spending time to come up with beneficial posts and development of relationships is critical, which can be a disadvantage to some.

There are several different ways to cover a niche.

Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love

MJ Schrader

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Freebie Friday ~ Online Tool Suite

Posted on August 27, 2010 by MJ

What is better than one tool?

How about a whole suite of tools?

You may know Mozilla as the creators of Firefox, but they have other programs as well. They actually a suite of creative applications that can be added to your Firefox or used as is in your browser. Just by visiting Aviary.com you can see the 8 tools together.


Phoenix allows you to edit images.

Roc can help you create music and can be used with Myna

Talon is a screen capture program. Capture web pages, then edit, crop, resize or mark the image.

Myna is an audio editor. Remix music or audio tracks. Record your voice and instruments or apply sound effects.

Raven conquers vectors, allowing to edit vector images online.

Falcon can quickly capture images and web pages from brower or desktop.

Peacock changes things as you see fit. This effects editor works just by pulling the effect into the mix.

Toucan allows you to use or create color swatches and palettes.


As you can guess with this many tools in one place, you could do a lot of different things. They have video tutorials and quick guides to help you get started. Knowing that you might feel overwhelmed, they also offer Frequently Asked Questions and site instructions not just instructions on the individual tools.


You can even set up and save your files online Aviary. This allows you to share and use your images and creations in more ways.

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Niche Blogging for Business Success

Posted on August 26, 2010 by MJ

If you have found your niche, congratulations!  Now that you have, do you know what the next steps are? Finding your niche is just the first step in the niche business success blueprint.

What are you going to offer?

Have you researched to find products that fit your niche? What problems do people have? If you are going to provide a service or a product, even a digital product, have you studied the market to see if you can fill that problem or problems?

Are they willing to pay?

For a niche business, earning money is essential. While you may have the very best solution to a problem, it will not matter if the people will not pay. Even if there are some buyers, you need enough to make your niche business work.

Your niche business blueprint

A business is as unique as you are. There are no rules that are guaranteed to work or not work, these are guidelines to help you succeed. You need to consider if your market is big enough to have buyers and small enough to have a target market. Finding buyers and something to sell is the goal that is an absolute must.

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Writer, Author, Speaker, Foreshadowing

Posted on August 25, 2010 by MJ

Unfortunately I have a stomach virus, and really do not feel like shooting a video, even if it is video Wednesday.   But this is a reminder of several things.

1) I have not followed my own advice in getting ahead on blog posts so you have extras when something happens.

LESSON:  Make certain you have a few extra posts in case an emergency or sudden virus happens.

2) Also make certain you know what you are going to cover before time.

LESSON: Plan in Advance.

3) Yes, One hundred articles in hundred days #4 just ended but I have not shown my video from #3

LESSON:  Your blog should also show your accomplishments so people know what you are about.  (ME=writing)

4) Videos should be filmed in advance and can be uploaded on the correct day.  Note: videos are helping me prepare for being a speaker.

LESSON: Record videos early.


Ok, so yes I am a writer.  The pictures and videos are from #3 which was the first HAHD I entered.    HAHD #4 just ended and it was my second HAHD contest, completed with over 200 articles.   Yes, I am working on becoming a speaker.  Yes I am working on becoming a published author.  And yes foreshadowing.

What?

Can’t tell you, otherwise you would know and this post would not be foreshadowing.


Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love

MJ Schrader


I heart Ezine Articles Mug from when I became a Platinum Author

The cartoon mug for completing a mini challenge

The HAHD is from HAHD that completed in April!

See all my articles at http://RockstarGuideBooks.com/articles

From their blog!!!!



  • Of the 2,615 Expert Authors who enrolled, 261 (10%) successfully qualified with 100+ articles.
  • Total Qualifiers = 261, Double Qualifiers = 68



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Photo Plugin for WordPress Websites

Posted on August 24, 2010 by MJ

This blog post was by request.   NextGen Gallery is one of the most popular and highly recommended of the WordPress Photo Gallery Plugins.  You install via Plugins and add new. Scroll down your dashboard a bit.

Add a Gallery

Click on add a gallery. Type in your new gallery’s name in the add new gallery box. Then choose Upload images to upload images off your computer. When you upload images make certain you choose a gallery. If you have several images in a Zip File you can choose that. Another option is import image folder if you know the server path. (Importing requires the images be some place online and accessible.)

Manage Gallery will let you change the name of a gallery or add a description. Here you can also link the gallery to a specific page. The images in the gallery will be below. Click on them to change their name, description or tags.

Manage Albums will allow you to create an album and add one or more galleries to it. Tags will let you add, change or delete tags you use in the photo albums.

Options

Options gives you several options to change or create. You can change the maximum size of thumbnails and other images. You can choose the quality that of images Next Gen will set up for quality resizing. You can choose to backup images or automatically resize. You can set up features in the gallery, such as how the images display and much more. You can also add effects to how your images show. Next is the watermark, use an image or your website name or other text. You can choose the font, color and size. Finally the last option is what you want the slideshow to look like.

The next buttons under gallery.

After options is style. This requires knowing and understanding css code. If you have other users on your blog, you will want to set up Roles, as to who can manage, edit or make changes to the albums. About is the credits and the final one, you do not need to mess with unless you actually want to start over, or uninstall Next Gen.

On posts and pages

Make certain you have TinyMCE loaded. If you do you will have a button appear that looks like a little album with photos. Click this and you will be able to add images to your post. You can choose to add images, galleries, or albums. Whatever you need for that blog post.

There you have it!  Next Gen Photo Gallery plugin is great for photographers or those in need of many pictures.

Live  ♥ Laugh ♥ Love

MJ Schrader

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More is Not Better, WordPress Plugins and Your Website

Posted on August 23, 2010 by MJ

Many people ask me about WordPress plugins. What scares me is how often “Do you know all the plugins?” Currently there are over 10,000 available on WordPress.org. There are others sold by individuals and business. Some plugins are only available to members of certain websites, and many more options.

The other thing people think is more plugins means better. Yes, I do have about 8 to 12 on each of my websites. But if you have played Tetris, you know that there are multiple shapes of blocks. The same is true with plugins, they are not all the same shape. They do not always fit neatly together. The more plugins you have it’s like the more blocks on Tetris you have, you start having holes, and suddenly the end of the game starts coming because pieces are not fitting right.

The same is true with plugins. They don’t always fit together quite right and with more plugins the more likely you are to have problems. The reason I went with Disqus is because it did the job of 3 or 4 plugins. That’s why Platinum SEO is better than All in One, it does the job of two plugins.

Research every plugin. The other problem is knowing if a plugin is a good one. Some plugins are not worth it. Some plugins will cause your site problems. Some plugins do not perform as stated, some plugins may not do what you really need. Know what your plugins are and if they will do what you need.

Just because a plugin gets a great rating and does what you want it may not work with your theme or plugins that you simply “must have.”  Decide what is more valuable and go with that.   If a plugin does not work or you no longer need a plugin, deactivate it, then delete it. Keep your WordPress website like your desk. Keep what you need, throw away the rest and don’t over load it.


Hope you are having a grand and glorious day!!


Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love,

MJ Schrader


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MYTH BUSTED: The Web is Dead

Posted on August 22, 2010 by MJ

Today’s post was going to focus on blogging and in the world apart from social media and web-centric life. While this was the goal, a tweet showed up on my stream:

Apparently Wired announced the The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet. Well, it does not take reading that article at all to announce the web is far from dead. But let’s continue with this argument for the sake of beginners and people who worry about the future.

Wired argues that apps (meaning applications) are taking over the world. And while the internet is available on more things; think of your phone, your game console, even the DVR that streams Netflix; people are not actually on the web.

Well, first off the number of people on the web has grown substantially over the last 15 years. Then few people had dial up internet, waiting forever for the whir and pop that your connection actually reached an open line and connected. Then came broadband and cable. All 3 I got when these were fairly new and geeky phenomena.


Photo by Todd Huffman WiFi in Afghanistan


Yet now these are common and growing, as more and more people join the online community. This means that the graphics of people doing this or that on WIRED is total bunk! People AROUND THE WORLD expect to have these  connections and even better to have WiFi so we can connect where ever we are with whatever piece of technology we have with us at the time.

In this aspect, I am behind. The last job and then lack there of have kept my personal technology behind. My cell phone recently died, and I finally got a Blackberry. Since I  send daily pictures to Facebook and Posterous, I quickly got the Facebook app. “It makes Facebook easier” and takes your Blackberry from quick, back to dial up days of Internet and computing speed.

Let me assure you, I got that off  my Blackberry quicker than… well,  my boyfriend’s favorite quote. Do I really think that apps are going to take over? NO. Some people will always value quality over convenience.

Another thing is that this goes back to the fallacy pointed out in the DoFollow myth with people making certain everything they do is Google friendly. Did I find that article by visiting Wired or Nieman Journalism Lab?

No, I had never even heard of Nieman Journalism Lab. I found the article because Bill tweeted it. Since I trust Bill’s judgment and the title seemed interesting I read it. How did I find the other articles? I clicked the links included the first article.

With many articles I would read some comments to see various arguments. Someone with good points I would click their name to see their blog. Then read their articles, and comments and continue this post on for days as I again and again point out that social networking is going to keep the web growing for years to come.

And yet as I do want to continue to have posts for the rest of the week I shall end my argument here.

Speaking of social networking, join my fan page Facebook.com/LoveRockstar and Twitter Twitter.com/Loverockstar and while we are being social, visit Bill Hibbler.Com


Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love

MJ Schrader


Bill Hibbler is a wonderful expert, who helped me create the quote I use as part of my branding.   “Making your inner rockstar shine in business and life.”    This brief sentence encapsulates who I am and what I do for you in 30 seconds.  You want to be a rockstar at least in spirit and that is my job.

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Get More Traffic with Networked Blogs

Posted on August 21, 2010 by MJ

Yesterday on Freebie Friday I mentioned Networked Blogs. As blogging is the major focus of this website I am happy to return to this subject. Networked Blogs is the application to tie your blog and Facebook together for an easy way for you and your followers to share favorite posts.

The advantage is this gives you more exposure which can increase your blog followers

Today is going to cover some steps to implement.

Add the NetworkedBlogs app to your Facebook.

From the new page, click the Add a new blog.

You will need to verify your blog. There are 2 ways to verify your blog. One get friends to say you are the blog author, which has the advantage of getting friends to subscribe and get you started towards the 20 followers. When you have 20 followers you will be listed as blog on networked blogs.

The alternative is that you copy the html code they give you and paste it somewhere on your blog. You can paste in a text widget on your blog.

If you have a fan page, visit your fan page and click the + sign. This will allow you to add a new tab, from the drop down select Networked blogs.

You can also repeat the above step on your profile.

Now your blogs will automatically post to your wall.

If you want to add a specific post to your wall click the Networked Blogs button under the status box. Then select the post you want.

To add the widget, just click widget on your blog profile page.  Select the widget you want, you have two choices.  Then select all of the code in the box.  Then go back your blog and choose widgets under appearance.    Then pull a text box over to your sidebar and paste the code into the text box.  Your widget should appear.

This will help you get more website traffic which will help grow your business.

Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love

MJ Schrader

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Freebie Friday Fan-Tastic Facebook

Posted on August 20, 2010 by MJ

Facebook week is coming to an end.  Next week I will probably be going back to WordPress and blogs.  This week has been extremely important to me because I know many of you have children and families, which is a far different world from business friends and potential customers and clients.

Keeping your family safe from people you do not know is why you need Personal Settings for Facebook Privacy.  Since you also want to remember (plus simplify your settings) how you know various people use Setting Up Lists on Facebook.

Today as Freebie Friday is going to cover tools to get your Facebook set up for maximum growth for you, your website and your business.

Facebook Fan Pages, this was mentioned earlier in the week with Fan Pages to Get More Traffic, but it bears repeating.  Create your fan page now.

If you already have a blog, get the Networked Blogs App.  Every person who follows your blog with Networked Blogs will see your blog in their feed.  It also makes it easier to post on your Facebook.  Once you get 20 followers you will be listed on Networked Blogs making your blog easier to find.

If you have a Twitter account, then Connect Twitter to Facebook. Every time you update your fan page, your Twitter will be updated.

And finally once you have 25 fans on your Fan page, update your Fan page name.  It takes the long Facebook web address and shortens it to http://facebook.com/LoveRockstar.

With these tips your fan base will be sure to grow.

Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love

MJ Schrader

Tomorrow: One last look at Facebook.

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How to Build Your Brand with Facebook

Posted on August 19, 2010 by MJ

Now that you have a fan page, you’ve set up your lists and privacy settings it is time to start branding you and your blog or business. Remember the number of people on Facebook is an incredible amount. There are all sorts of people, blogs, businesses, in a wide variety of styles and formats. You need to brand yourself so who you are becomes a recognizable persona.

Be consistent.

Decide on your branding strategy. Analyze how you want to be seen on Facebook and other social media sites and stay consistent to that image. Stay with the image and build it. This includes choosing links and names on media sites that is consistent with that image.

Import

With Facebook you can connect with your email accounts, and IM accounts to get contacts you already have. These are already people you know, so you can add them to your Facebook network. Also these connections may help you grow even more.

Update your status.

When you go weeks without updating your status, people wonder if they are following someone or a ghost. You can use your lists to send a personal status to friends and another status to other contacts. Use these because you want to stay in front of the public eye. Use these methods to help grow your business on Facebook.


Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love

MJ Schrader



Tomorrow: Freebie Friday Facebook Tools



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