28 September 2011

Data Recovery In Everett, Lynnwood, Mukilteo WA


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25 September 2011

25 Free And Proven Tips for Blogs!

With so many blogs being created every day, it’s a mystery to many bloggers how to make their blog stand out. There are many types of blogs or purposes for blogs and a certain number of tactics are applicable to just about all of them. Some companies choose to hire a blog consultant, but others like to try things internally. For those “DIY” companies and individuals interested in practical tips for marketing and optimizing a business blog, try out the following list of blog marketing and optimization tips:
1.    Decide on a standalone domain name www.myblog.com or directory of existing site www.mysite.com/blog. Sub domain is also an option blog.mysite.com. Avoid hosted services that do not allow you to use your own domain name!

2.    Obtain and install customizable blog software – Word Press and Moveable Type are my favorites.
3.    Customize blog look and feel templates – aka design.

4.    Research keywords and develop a glossary – Keyword Discovery, Word Tracker, Site Point, SEOBook Keyword Research.

5.    Optimize the blog:
o    Template optimization – RSS subscription options, social bookmark links, HTML code, Unique title tags, URLs, Sitemap
o    Add helper plugins specific to Word Press or MT
o    Create keyword rich categories (reference your keyword glossary)

6.    Enable automatic trackback and ping functionality.

7.    Create Feed burner Pro account and enable feed tracking.

8.    Setup a Google account for Sitemap, validate and prep for future submission.

9.    Identify authoritative blogs, web sites and hubs for outbound resource links and blog roll.
10.  Format archived posts, related posts.

11.  Enable statistics for tracking – Google Analytics, Click Tracks.

12.  Submit RSS feed and Blog URL to prominent RSS and Blog directories / search engines.

13.  Engage in an ongoing link building campaign.

14.  If podcast or video content are available, submit to Podcast and Vlog directories.

15.  Submit blog URL to paid directories with categories for blogs – Yahoo, BOTW, bCentral, WOW, JoeAnt.

16.  Optimize and distribute a press release announcing blog.

17.  Request feedback or reviews of your blog in relevant forums, discussion threads. If you have a resourceful post that will help others, point to it.

18.  Research and comment on relevant industry related blogs and blogs with significant centers of influence.

19.  Post regularly. If it’s a news oriented blog, 3-5 times per day. If it’s an authoritative blog, 3-5 times per week, but each post must be unique and high value.

20.  Monitor inbound links, traffic, comments and mentions of your blog – Google Alerts, Technorati, Blog pulse, Yahoo News, Ask Blogs and Feeds.

21.  Always respond to comments on your blog and when you detect a mention of your blog on another blog, thank that blogger in the comments of the post.

22.  Make contact with related bloggers on AND offline if possible.

23.  When making blog posts always cite the source with a link and don’t be afraid to mention popular bloggers by name. Use keywords in the blog post title, in the body of the post and use anchor text when you link to previous posts you’ve made.

24.  Use social networking services, forums and discussion threads to connect with other bloggers. If they like your stuff, they will link to you.

25.  Remember when web sites were a new concept and the sage advice to print your web address everywhere you print your phone number? The same advice applies for your blog.

20 September 2011

Five Tips for Smarter Social Networking

We are all trying to figure out how to get more value from online social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Most of us are just skimming the surface in terms of the potential these networks offer us as individuals. To realize this potential, we need to become more active orchestrators of our social networks, setting the tone and drawing out others.
Practices are still evolving, but here is some brief, and often contrarian, advice that comes from our decades of experience studying networks and the way people act within them:

1. Express more vulnerability. This flies in the face of much personal improvement and business school wisdom. We are taught to create "personal brands" that prominently feature our strengths and carefully hide our weaknesses. But trust requires vulnerability, so if you value trust in your social network, you might want to talk about some of the really difficult problems you are wrestling with and seek advice.

2. Mix professional and personal lives. We have also been taught to compartmentalize our professional and personal lives. Social networks will increasingly break down those walls. Again, the issue is trust. It is much easier to build trust if people have a more holistic view of who you are. Try mixing it up — you might be surprised by the results.

3. Provoke. In an effort to "win friends and influence people," we often bend over backwards to see the other side and temper our own statements to avoid upsetting people. It turns out that provocation does two things: it reassures people they are seeing the real you (assuming most of us have provocative views of one sort or another) and it helps stimulate other people to generate new insights. Of course, the key is to provoke in productive ways, but provocations can be a key to strong relationships.

4. Promote others. Too many of us approach social networks as a way to promote ourselves and our work. If that's all you are doing, it quickly turns people off. One important practice to develop is to promote others. Find people whose work and deeds you admire and promote the hell out of them — it will make them more successful and increase the desire of people to connect with you.

5. Actively seed, feed and weed. We are often taught that social networks are emergent and self-organizing — they take care of themselves. Baloney. Truly vibrant and growing social networks are carefully tended by the individual at the center of his or her network. These social networks require catalysts to expand — interesting people, ideas and conversation topics that can motivate people to connect with you and become more and more engaged. The people who contribute the most need to be recognized and rewarded. And the people in the social network who are generating negative energy and too focused on their own self-promotion need to be gently escorted to the exit.
Of course, individuals should tailor this advice to the specific circumstances of their work and employers. For example, legal or regulatory issues might preclude or restrict certain of these practices.

17 September 2011

Netflix continues to fall amid subscriber worries


Shares of DVD rental and streaming video company Netflix Inc. continued to decline Friday amid fallout from its lowered expectations for its U.S. subscriber base.
THE SPARK: Netflix announced plans in July to split its DVD-by-mail and video streaming services, raising the price of a monthly subscription for people who still want both. The decision was met with anger from some customers, and on Thursday Netflix lowered its guidance for U.S. subscribers by 4 percent to 24 million in the third quarter, saying more customers had dropped their subscriptions than it expected.
That means the company will have 600,000 fewer customers in the U.S. at the end of September than it did at the end of June.
THE BACKGROUND: Netflix kept its forecasts for its earnings and international subscriptions intact. But its July guidance was already below analyst expectations. Despite the subscriber exodus, Netflix maintains that the split was a good idea.
But investors may be worrying that this is just the start of Netflix's troubles. The company had another setback this month when it couldn't agree with Starz Entertainment on new licensing terms, which means Netflix users will no longer be able to stream Starz's popular mix of recently released movies and TV shows after the current deal expires early next year. This could cause more customers to leave.
ANALYST COMMENT: The lowered numbers "reflect a degree of customer disinterest in streaming only (which features improving content that is far from spectacular) and DVD only (for low volume renters, Coinstar's Redbox still presents a better value option), as well as displeasure with Netflix's subscription plan changes," Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said in a note to investors.
The analyst added that while the plan changes "clearly" hurt subscriber growth, their full effect on Netflix's revenue earnings growth is difficult to predict. That's because the mix of Netflix's subscriber base is unclear, he added. That is, some customers could be switching to cheaper plans while others could be switching to more expensive ones.
"Until Netflix provides greater detail about the composition of its subscriber base, the uncertainty caused by mix will remain," Pachter added.
He kept an "underperform" rating on Netflix.
SHARE ACTION: Netflix shares fell $14.09, or 8.3 percent, to $155.16 on Friday. The company announced the lowered forecast early Thursday, and the shares tumbled 19 percent that day. They have traded between $140.02 and $340.09 that past year.
The stock is down 45 percent since July 12, when Netflix announced it was splitting its subscription plans.