Friday, February 29, 2008
so far so tired
It was until yesterday, half of the semester, that my classmate told me that my band was incorrect, and the marker I deemed as 51KD was 98KD. I was so worried about this because this would spoil the whole work I had done for half of the semester. I got up at 6:00 in the morning and came to the lab, testing with positive control. I had been overwhelmed for there were so many samples to analyze that I never had an extra lane for positive control. I thought there should not have problems with the marker: at the beginning of the semester, we changed to a new marker and I examined carefully which lane corresponded to which molecular weight because there was no band graphics for that new marker. Now the result comes out, and I am correct, no spoil of previous work, what a relief!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Bank bonus by just sign-up
$200
Citibank
checking account, bill payments
2/29/08
$200
Citibank
find a MM account with $25K
3/31/08
$200
Metropolitan National Bank
free checking account, direct deposit
unknown
$150
Imperial Capital Bank
open an account with direct deposit and use online banking
3/30/08
$125
Chase
Free Checking, direct deposit
4/30/08
$100
Comerica
On The Job Banking, Rich Rewards Premier or Platinum Circle Checking Account, $2500 initial deposit
2/29/08
$100
UFB Direct
checking, savings, etc
unknown
$100
LaSalle Bank
checking account with $250 init deposit, Statement Savings Account with $100 init deposit, sign-up for debit card
unknown
$75
HSBC bank
Interest Checking Account
2/29/08
$75
Bank of America
Checking Account
3/31/08
$75
America’s Credit Union
Checking Direct or Choice Checking account with Direct Deposit, can join through AUSA
unknown
$50
HSBC bank
Premium Money Market Plus Savings account, $3000 initial deposit
2/29/08
$50
Salem Five
Star Checking with direct deposit
unknown
$50
MetLife Bank
Bank Money Market Account
unknown
$50
Heartland Bank
$5 per $1000 average monthly balance of the previous six months
unknown
$50
Franklin Templeton Bank & Trust
Classic Checking
unknown
$50
Everbank
for closing a 4.51% checking account
unknown
$50
Christian Community Credit Union
checking account, direct deposit
unknown
$50
Chase Bank
checking account
unknown
$30
National City
checking account, direct deposit, bill pay, check card transaction
unknown
$25
HSBC bank
Regular Savings Account, $500 initial deposit,automatic transfers of $10 or more from checking to savings account
2/29/08
$25
Discover Bank
money market or CD account, $2500 initial deposit
2/29/08
$25
E*Trade bank
savings account
3/31/08
$25
Salem Direct
eOne account with direct deposit
unknown
$25
Principal Bank
direct deposit
unknown
$25
GE
GE Interest Plus
unknown
$25
MB Financial
checking account, automatic debit; Eligibility - local deal
unknown
$10
Chase
checking account with direct deposit
3/31/08
Citibank
checking account, bill payments
2/29/08
$200
Citibank
find a MM account with $25K
3/31/08
$200
Metropolitan National Bank
free checking account, direct deposit
unknown
$150
Imperial Capital Bank
open an account with direct deposit and use online banking
3/30/08
$125
Chase
Free Checking, direct deposit
4/30/08
$100
Comerica
On The Job Banking, Rich Rewards Premier or Platinum Circle Checking Account, $2500 initial deposit
2/29/08
$100
UFB Direct
checking, savings, etc
unknown
$100
LaSalle Bank
checking account with $250 init deposit, Statement Savings Account with $100 init deposit, sign-up for debit card
unknown
$75
HSBC bank
Interest Checking Account
2/29/08
$75
Bank of America
Checking Account
3/31/08
$75
America’s Credit Union
Checking Direct or Choice Checking account with Direct Deposit, can join through AUSA
unknown
$50
HSBC bank
Premium Money Market Plus Savings account, $3000 initial deposit
2/29/08
$50
Salem Five
Star Checking with direct deposit
unknown
$50
MetLife Bank
Bank Money Market Account
unknown
$50
Heartland Bank
$5 per $1000 average monthly balance of the previous six months
unknown
$50
Franklin Templeton Bank & Trust
Classic Checking
unknown
$50
Everbank
for closing a 4.51% checking account
unknown
$50
Christian Community Credit Union
checking account, direct deposit
unknown
$50
Chase Bank
checking account
unknown
$30
National City
checking account, direct deposit, bill pay, check card transaction
unknown
$25
HSBC bank
Regular Savings Account, $500 initial deposit,automatic transfers of $10 or more from checking to savings account
2/29/08
$25
Discover Bank
money market or CD account, $2500 initial deposit
2/29/08
$25
E*Trade bank
savings account
3/31/08
$25
Salem Direct
eOne account with direct deposit
unknown
$25
Principal Bank
direct deposit
unknown
$25
GE
GE Interest Plus
unknown
$25
MB Financial
checking account, automatic debit; Eligibility - local deal
unknown
$10
Chase
checking account with direct deposit
3/31/08
bank best rates
APY% Bank name, account name (terms) APY for balance ranges
4.60 OneUnited UNITY Savings 4.60% for $10.0 - $200.0 K
4.50 First Horizon Relationship First Savings 4.50% for $5.0 K - $200.0 K, 4.00% for $1.0 K - $5.0 K
4.50 *AmboyDirect Money Market Maximizer 4.50% for $5.0 K - $10.0 K, 2.00% for $5.0 K - $10.0 K
4.50 Provident Direct Online Savings 4.50% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.47 Gloucester County Cyber Saver 4.47% for $1.0 - $25.0 K
4.25 *AmboyDirect eSavings 4.25% for $3.0 K - $100.0 K, 1.00% for $300.0 - $3.0 K
4.20 Rate Edge Savings Account (strict conditions) 4.20% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.15 Shorebank Savings Account 4.15% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.03 Amegy Money Market Powerhouse 4.03% for $1.0 K - $200.0 K
4.02 Umbrella Pot o' Gold Money Market 4.02% for $5.0 K - $10.0 K, 0.35% for $1.0 K - $5.0 K
4.01 Sterling National Internet Money Market 4.01% for $2.5 K - $200.0 K
4.01 *GiantBank Money Market 4.01% for $1.0 K - $200.0 K
4.00 *Beverly National E-SuccessSavings Account 4.00% for $5.0 K - $200.0 K
4.00 *BankUnited Online Savings (call to clarify) 4.00% for $5.0 K - $200.0 K
4.00 UFB Direct Absolute Savings 4.00% for $5.0 K - $10.0 K, 4.00% for $1.0 - $5.0 K
4.00 Intervest National Money Market 4.00% for $2.5 K - $200.0 K
4.00 Grand Yield Direct 4.00% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.00 Savings Square Savings Account 4.00% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.00 *Citibank Ultimate Money Market 4.00% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.00 *Amboy Direct Premium Savings 4.00% for $1.0 - $20.0 K
4.60 OneUnited UNITY Savings 4.60% for $10.0 - $200.0 K
4.50 First Horizon Relationship First Savings 4.50% for $5.0 K - $200.0 K, 4.00% for $1.0 K - $5.0 K
4.50 *AmboyDirect Money Market Maximizer 4.50% for $5.0 K - $10.0 K, 2.00% for $5.0 K - $10.0 K
4.50 Provident Direct Online Savings 4.50% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.47 Gloucester County Cyber Saver 4.47% for $1.0 - $25.0 K
4.25 *AmboyDirect eSavings 4.25% for $3.0 K - $100.0 K, 1.00% for $300.0 - $3.0 K
4.20 Rate Edge Savings Account (strict conditions) 4.20% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.15 Shorebank Savings Account 4.15% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.03 Amegy Money Market Powerhouse 4.03% for $1.0 K - $200.0 K
4.02 Umbrella Pot o' Gold Money Market 4.02% for $5.0 K - $10.0 K, 0.35% for $1.0 K - $5.0 K
4.01 Sterling National Internet Money Market 4.01% for $2.5 K - $200.0 K
4.01 *GiantBank Money Market 4.01% for $1.0 K - $200.0 K
4.00 *Beverly National E-SuccessSavings Account 4.00% for $5.0 K - $200.0 K
4.00 *BankUnited Online Savings (call to clarify) 4.00% for $5.0 K - $200.0 K
4.00 UFB Direct Absolute Savings 4.00% for $5.0 K - $10.0 K, 4.00% for $1.0 - $5.0 K
4.00 Intervest National Money Market 4.00% for $2.5 K - $200.0 K
4.00 Grand Yield Direct 4.00% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.00 Savings Square Savings Account 4.00% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.00 *Citibank Ultimate Money Market 4.00% for $1.0 - $200.0 K
4.00 *Amboy Direct Premium Savings 4.00% for $1.0 - $20.0 K
Saturday, February 23, 2008
How to Increase a Blog’s Page Views
There is often a lot of talk in ‘how to blog’ type articles on increasing visitors numbers to a blog there is another statistic that is important to some bloggers also - page views.
Most statistics packages measure both for you - ‘visitors’ (or unique visitors) measures the number of people, but ‘page views’ measures the number of pages on your blog that those visitors look at.
The number of page views per visitor varies quite significantly from blog to blog (based on many factors) but there are a number of reasons why bloggers might wish to increase this statistic including:
Stickiness - the more pages a reader views the increased chance of them coming back are.
Revenue - more and more of the ads that we are running on your blogs are impression based ads (ie the more times the ads are seen the more that is earned).
Whether you want to increase page views or not is something that different bloggers will place as a different priority, depending upon the goals of their blog, but if it is something you’d like to work on here are 14 tips on how to increase page views:
1. Interlink your Posts
Perhaps one of the simplest ways to increase the page views on your blog is to send yourself traffic by links between posts from within posts. While for some of us it might feel a little funny promoting your own writing in this way I find that my readers appreciate it if it’s done in a way that adds value to their experience of your blog by linking to other relevant things that you’ve written on the topics that you’re writing about. Most bloggers touch on the same topics numerous times in the life of a blog and to link to previous times you’ve mentioned something adds depth to what you write.
2. Highlight Related Posts
One way to interlink your posts that doesn’t happen from within a post is to have a ‘related posts’ section at the end of your entries. You’ll see an example of this if you scroll down this page to the yellow section just above my comments section. On ProBlogger this is run by a WordPress plugin (called related posts) which automatically finds other posts I’ve written on similar topics (if it’s doing it’s job you’ll find that I’ve written on this very same topic before - hopefully my ideas have developed a little). Of course you can also manually run a ‘related posts’ section also by simply ending your article with other relevant things you’ve written that readers might like to check out.
3. Add a Newsletter or Post Notification Services
One thing that I’ve noticed on some of my blogs is the power of having an email newsletter to increase page views. Those of you that have signed up to my newsletter here at ProBlogger will know that I generally have a section called ‘hot posts’ in which I recap the 5 most popular posts of the week on this blog. While regular readers of the blog who will have seen those posts already probably don’t visit those links quite a few people do. In doing so they often seem to visit more than one of them, thus increasing not only ‘visitor’ numbers but ‘page view’ numbers also. Other services automatically notify readers via email of new posts to your blog which you might also find useful (for example Zookoda and Feedburner both have ways of doing this).
4. Highlight Key Posts in Prominent Positions
I watched a friend surf through ProBlogger recently on their first visit to the blog. One of the things I noticed that they did was surf through the posts that I have highlighted in my three menu boxes at the top of this site. I’ve written previously about why I have those boxes up there and how they are key posts from ProBlogger that help with creating stickiness on the blog. My friend surfed through all of the links in the top left menu and some of those in the other boxes also - racking up page views along the way.
5. ‘Best of’ Pages
The other thing about the posts that my friend viewed from my top menus is that many of them are what I call ‘best of’ or ‘compilation’ pages that link to multiple other pages on this blog. For example the ‘Top 20 Posts at ProBlogger‘ is a prime example and is a post that I know that many first time readers of ProBlogger surf through from start to finish (I can tell because I can see them leaving comments along the way).
6. Write a Series of Posts
Writing a series of posts on a blog is an effective way of building page views on two fronts. For starters as you write the series you will find it draws people back to your blog over a number of days because they want to find out what you’ve got to say next. Secondly it’s also great once you’ve finished the series because if you’re smart about interlinking them you’ll find that people will read your series (with each post on a different page) from start to finish. Probably the best example that I can give you of this is my Blogging for Beginners series which I highlight in the prominent position on this blog and which I know new readers surf through from start to finish (and in doing so they end up reading 30-40 posts).
7. Use Extended Entires on your Front Page
If you’re writing long posts use the ‘more’ (or extended entry) feature to link people into your individual pages. I wouldn’t do it on all posts as it can be annoying, but for long posts it helps keep your main page more manageable but also has the side benefit of increases page views. I think some bloggers use this feature too much - but in moderation in longer posts it can be useful.
8. Run a Blog Project or Meme
One of the side benefits of my recent group writing projects (like the recent ‘goals‘ one) is that I found they not only brought new links and readers to ProBlogger but they also drew people back multiple times in a week (and day) to see what updates there had been to it. While memes, contests or projects like these won’t appeal to all of your readers you’ll find that some really really get off on them and will keep coming back to participate. Again - it’s not my primary goal for doing them but is a nice side benefit.
9. Excerpts in RSS feeds
Longer term ProBlogger readers will be aware that I switched from partial to full feeds in my RSS feeds a month or two back. While I did this for a number of reasons I knew in doing so that I would probably see a drop in actual visitor numbers and page views to the blog. This has been the case (although keep in my that RSS readership has increased significantly). Obviously if you do not give RSS readers your full posts in feeds you force them to either only read the first part of your articles or to actually come and visit your blog. This is obviously something I’ve had a change of heart on but is something worth knowing if you’re considering moving to full feeds.
10. Entice RSS Readers to Visit
Don’t tease or suck your RSS subscribers into visiting your blog but be smart about using techniques that might get them to visit. Using Polls, writing posts in a way that invites comments, interlinking posts etc will all draw your RSS readers (who don’t create any page views) to come and visit your actual blog (I wrote a little more on this here).
11. Build Interactivity into your Blog
The more your readers participate in your blog the more they’ll come back to it and they more pages they’ll view when they do. For starters people will come back to a blog if they’ve left their mark on it (via a comment, a vote in a poll etc) to see how others interact there but secondly the act of interacting often means a second page view. For example the very act of leaving a comment means two pages are viewed (once in viewing the post and a second time once the comment has been made). Of course this is not the primary reason you want people to comment but it’s a byproduct of it. Interactivity on blogs generally happens around the comments section (find out how to get more comments here) but is also increasingly common around polls and other blog tools.
12. Draw People Back to Comments
To build on this idea of interactivity, especially around comments, a couple of techniques that people use effectively is to highlight recent comments (there are a variety of plugins that will help you do this in a section on your sidebar - here’s one such plugin) but also to give people the opportunity to follow your comments either by having a RSS feed for comments on your blog or by allowing them to subscribe to comments via email (here’s a WP comment that does this).
13. Add a Search Feature
Allowing your readers to look for previous topics that you’ve written about by adding a search feature to your blog can also add further page views. There are a number of these available - most blog platforms have them built in and AdSense also offers one that lets your readers search either your site or the web as a whole (and where you can make a little money on the side if they search and then click on an ad - see the search bar in my sidebar for an example of the AdSense one).
14. Give Your Readers a Homework Assignment
Over the last week or so I’ve started giving readers on my digital photography school blog homework assignments. Because the blog is a ‘tips’ one it is a natural progression for me to suggest something that they could go away and do having learnt the tip. I find that in doing so readers keep coming back to a page for a number of reasons. Firtly they come back to refer to the tip you’ve written - especially if it is a step by step tip that they’ll use over and over a again. Secondly they come back to the page to tell you about or show you their assignment (if you allow them to submit their work). At present I get users to submit their homework to a Flickr group I’ve set up for that blog so in effect I’m not really increasing my own blog’s page views - but it does add to the page views of that Flickr group which has become quite active in just a week.
Homework Assignment
You didn’t think I’d end this post without carrying out my own advice did you?
Which of the above techniques do you implement on your blog already?
Which will you go away an implement today?
Go and give one (or more than one) a go and let us know how it goes in the days ahead.
Most statistics packages measure both for you - ‘visitors’ (or unique visitors) measures the number of people, but ‘page views’ measures the number of pages on your blog that those visitors look at.
The number of page views per visitor varies quite significantly from blog to blog (based on many factors) but there are a number of reasons why bloggers might wish to increase this statistic including:
Stickiness - the more pages a reader views the increased chance of them coming back are.
Revenue - more and more of the ads that we are running on your blogs are impression based ads (ie the more times the ads are seen the more that is earned).
Whether you want to increase page views or not is something that different bloggers will place as a different priority, depending upon the goals of their blog, but if it is something you’d like to work on here are 14 tips on how to increase page views:
1. Interlink your Posts
Perhaps one of the simplest ways to increase the page views on your blog is to send yourself traffic by links between posts from within posts. While for some of us it might feel a little funny promoting your own writing in this way I find that my readers appreciate it if it’s done in a way that adds value to their experience of your blog by linking to other relevant things that you’ve written on the topics that you’re writing about. Most bloggers touch on the same topics numerous times in the life of a blog and to link to previous times you’ve mentioned something adds depth to what you write.
2. Highlight Related Posts
One way to interlink your posts that doesn’t happen from within a post is to have a ‘related posts’ section at the end of your entries. You’ll see an example of this if you scroll down this page to the yellow section just above my comments section. On ProBlogger this is run by a WordPress plugin (called related posts) which automatically finds other posts I’ve written on similar topics (if it’s doing it’s job you’ll find that I’ve written on this very same topic before - hopefully my ideas have developed a little). Of course you can also manually run a ‘related posts’ section also by simply ending your article with other relevant things you’ve written that readers might like to check out.
3. Add a Newsletter or Post Notification Services
One thing that I’ve noticed on some of my blogs is the power of having an email newsletter to increase page views. Those of you that have signed up to my newsletter here at ProBlogger will know that I generally have a section called ‘hot posts’ in which I recap the 5 most popular posts of the week on this blog. While regular readers of the blog who will have seen those posts already probably don’t visit those links quite a few people do. In doing so they often seem to visit more than one of them, thus increasing not only ‘visitor’ numbers but ‘page view’ numbers also. Other services automatically notify readers via email of new posts to your blog which you might also find useful (for example Zookoda and Feedburner both have ways of doing this).
4. Highlight Key Posts in Prominent Positions
I watched a friend surf through ProBlogger recently on their first visit to the blog. One of the things I noticed that they did was surf through the posts that I have highlighted in my three menu boxes at the top of this site. I’ve written previously about why I have those boxes up there and how they are key posts from ProBlogger that help with creating stickiness on the blog. My friend surfed through all of the links in the top left menu and some of those in the other boxes also - racking up page views along the way.
5. ‘Best of’ Pages
The other thing about the posts that my friend viewed from my top menus is that many of them are what I call ‘best of’ or ‘compilation’ pages that link to multiple other pages on this blog. For example the ‘Top 20 Posts at ProBlogger‘ is a prime example and is a post that I know that many first time readers of ProBlogger surf through from start to finish (I can tell because I can see them leaving comments along the way).
6. Write a Series of Posts
Writing a series of posts on a blog is an effective way of building page views on two fronts. For starters as you write the series you will find it draws people back to your blog over a number of days because they want to find out what you’ve got to say next. Secondly it’s also great once you’ve finished the series because if you’re smart about interlinking them you’ll find that people will read your series (with each post on a different page) from start to finish. Probably the best example that I can give you of this is my Blogging for Beginners series which I highlight in the prominent position on this blog and which I know new readers surf through from start to finish (and in doing so they end up reading 30-40 posts).
7. Use Extended Entires on your Front Page
If you’re writing long posts use the ‘more’ (or extended entry) feature to link people into your individual pages. I wouldn’t do it on all posts as it can be annoying, but for long posts it helps keep your main page more manageable but also has the side benefit of increases page views. I think some bloggers use this feature too much - but in moderation in longer posts it can be useful.
8. Run a Blog Project or Meme
One of the side benefits of my recent group writing projects (like the recent ‘goals‘ one) is that I found they not only brought new links and readers to ProBlogger but they also drew people back multiple times in a week (and day) to see what updates there had been to it. While memes, contests or projects like these won’t appeal to all of your readers you’ll find that some really really get off on them and will keep coming back to participate. Again - it’s not my primary goal for doing them but is a nice side benefit.
9. Excerpts in RSS feeds
Longer term ProBlogger readers will be aware that I switched from partial to full feeds in my RSS feeds a month or two back. While I did this for a number of reasons I knew in doing so that I would probably see a drop in actual visitor numbers and page views to the blog. This has been the case (although keep in my that RSS readership has increased significantly). Obviously if you do not give RSS readers your full posts in feeds you force them to either only read the first part of your articles or to actually come and visit your blog. This is obviously something I’ve had a change of heart on but is something worth knowing if you’re considering moving to full feeds.
10. Entice RSS Readers to Visit
Don’t tease or suck your RSS subscribers into visiting your blog but be smart about using techniques that might get them to visit. Using Polls, writing posts in a way that invites comments, interlinking posts etc will all draw your RSS readers (who don’t create any page views) to come and visit your actual blog (I wrote a little more on this here).
11. Build Interactivity into your Blog
The more your readers participate in your blog the more they’ll come back to it and they more pages they’ll view when they do. For starters people will come back to a blog if they’ve left their mark on it (via a comment, a vote in a poll etc) to see how others interact there but secondly the act of interacting often means a second page view. For example the very act of leaving a comment means two pages are viewed (once in viewing the post and a second time once the comment has been made). Of course this is not the primary reason you want people to comment but it’s a byproduct of it. Interactivity on blogs generally happens around the comments section (find out how to get more comments here) but is also increasingly common around polls and other blog tools.
12. Draw People Back to Comments
To build on this idea of interactivity, especially around comments, a couple of techniques that people use effectively is to highlight recent comments (there are a variety of plugins that will help you do this in a section on your sidebar - here’s one such plugin) but also to give people the opportunity to follow your comments either by having a RSS feed for comments on your blog or by allowing them to subscribe to comments via email (here’s a WP comment that does this).
13. Add a Search Feature
Allowing your readers to look for previous topics that you’ve written about by adding a search feature to your blog can also add further page views. There are a number of these available - most blog platforms have them built in and AdSense also offers one that lets your readers search either your site or the web as a whole (and where you can make a little money on the side if they search and then click on an ad - see the search bar in my sidebar for an example of the AdSense one).
14. Give Your Readers a Homework Assignment
Over the last week or so I’ve started giving readers on my digital photography school blog homework assignments. Because the blog is a ‘tips’ one it is a natural progression for me to suggest something that they could go away and do having learnt the tip. I find that in doing so readers keep coming back to a page for a number of reasons. Firtly they come back to refer to the tip you’ve written - especially if it is a step by step tip that they’ll use over and over a again. Secondly they come back to the page to tell you about or show you their assignment (if you allow them to submit their work). At present I get users to submit their homework to a Flickr group I’ve set up for that blog so in effect I’m not really increasing my own blog’s page views - but it does add to the page views of that Flickr group which has become quite active in just a week.
Homework Assignment
You didn’t think I’d end this post without carrying out my own advice did you?
Which of the above techniques do you implement on your blog already?
Which will you go away an implement today?
Go and give one (or more than one) a go and let us know how it goes in the days ahead.
Friday, February 22, 2008
original speech of Clinton
CLINTON: Well, I think everybody here knows I've lived through some crises
and some challenging moments in my life. And...
(APPLAUSE)
And I am grateful for the support and the prayers of countless Americans.
But people often ask me, "How do you do it?" You know, "How do you keep
going?" And I just have to shake my head in wonderment, because with all of
the challenges that I've had, they are nothing compared to what I see
happening in the lives of Americans every single day. along with Senator
McCain, as the only two elected officials, to speak at the opening at the
Intrepid Center at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio, a center designed
to take care of and provide rehabilitation for our brave young men and women
who have been injured in war.
And I remember sitting up there and watching them come in. Those who could
walk were walking. Those who had lost limbs were trying with great courage
to get themselves in without the help of others. Some were in wheelchairs
and some were on gurneys. And the speaker representing these wounded
warriors had had most of his face disfigured by the results of fire from a
roadside bomb.
CLINTON: You know, the hits I've taken in life are nothing compared to what
goes on every single day in the lives of people across our country.
And I resolved at a very young age that I'd been blessed and that I was
called by my faith and by my upbringing to do what I could to give others
the same opportunities and blessings that I took for granted.
That's what gets me up in the morning. That's what motivates me in this
campaign.
(APPLAUSE)
And, you know, no matter what happens in this contest -- and I am honored, I
am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored.
(APPLAUSE)
CLINTON: Whatever happens, we're going to be fine. You know, we have strong
support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we'll be able to
say the same thing about the American people, and that's what this election
should be about.
and some challenging moments in my life. And...
(APPLAUSE)
And I am grateful for the support and the prayers of countless Americans.
But people often ask me, "How do you do it?" You know, "How do you keep
going?" And I just have to shake my head in wonderment, because with all of
the challenges that I've had, they are nothing compared to what I see
happening in the lives of Americans every single day. along with Senator
McCain, as the only two elected officials, to speak at the opening at the
Intrepid Center at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio, a center designed
to take care of and provide rehabilitation for our brave young men and women
who have been injured in war.
And I remember sitting up there and watching them come in. Those who could
walk were walking. Those who had lost limbs were trying with great courage
to get themselves in without the help of others. Some were in wheelchairs
and some were on gurneys. And the speaker representing these wounded
warriors had had most of his face disfigured by the results of fire from a
roadside bomb.
CLINTON: You know, the hits I've taken in life are nothing compared to what
goes on every single day in the lives of people across our country.
And I resolved at a very young age that I'd been blessed and that I was
called by my faith and by my upbringing to do what I could to give others
the same opportunities and blessings that I took for granted.
That's what gets me up in the morning. That's what motivates me in this
campaign.
(APPLAUSE)
And, you know, no matter what happens in this contest -- and I am honored, I
am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored.
(APPLAUSE)
CLINTON: Whatever happens, we're going to be fine. You know, we have strong
support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we'll be able to
say the same thing about the American people, and that's what this election
should be about.
Google Reader + FeedBurner: Create The Ultimate Traffic
Sometimes as a blogger you don’t want to create a new entry just to report an interesting article you found. (Some people use del.icio.us links for this purpose, but I find that to be less than user-friendly.) A much nicer solution is to provide a Reading List of sorts, similar to the point of a blogroll, but at an item level. The ideal Reading List would directly include the content to be read, rather than just a link to it, and be published in Atom or RSS for the convenience of your audience.
In this article I’ll show you how to use Google Reader and FeedBurner to manage a reading list for your audience.
Step 1: Sharing Items in Google Reader
Google Reader has a nice feature which allows you to share items you read via two mechanisms:
When you read an item from somebody’s feed that you think others will be interested in, just click the “share” icon at the bottom of the item’s display. This is easy enough if you will only ever have one shared reading list. If there’s a chance you might want to have more than one split out by topic, this isn’t the route to take.
Tag (or label) the item with a certain label you’ll use for shared items on a certain topic. I use “inkblots-reading” for just that purpose. If you go this route, go to Settings –> Tags and toggle “not shared” to “public” on that tag.
Now that you are sharing some items of interest, Reader will publish them for you in various formats. Some of these aren’t well documented, so you have to be ready for a bit of URL tweaking to get at the format you need.
Using option 1, you get an HTML page that anyone can view. Go to Reader’s homepage and click “Shared Items” in the left menu. You’ll get a link to the HTML page, like this one:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/[userid]
Note that the long number in the URL above is my personal Google Reader id. When you’re doing the same thing, you’ll have a different number.
Using option 2 that shares a specific label, you can click the “view public page” link by the tag to get a URL like this one:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/user/[userid]/label/inkblots-reading
Step 2: Get the Atom feed of your shared items
Now that you have some items shared via Google Reader, you don’t have to settle for a HTML web page to read them. A much better mechanism for your audience will be to distribute them as a Reading List using Atom or RSS.
If you want to publish a Reading List of all shared items, then click “Shared Items” in Reader’s left menu and look for the feed icon and link at the top. That’s an Atom feed that is composed of your shared items, dated according to when you decided to share each one.
If you want to publish a Reading List of only a certain tag, that URL is a little harder to find. The easiest way is to go the HTML page (via the “view public page” link by the tag name under Settings–>Tags) and then view the source of the page. Look for a tag in the source. It will have the URL for the Atom feed of just your shared items with that tag. For example, here is the URL for everything I have tagged “inkblots-reading”:
http://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user/[userid]/label/inkblots-reading
Congratulations: You have a Reading List that others can subscribe to. Technically, you can stop here and just give out that URL. But if you do, you have several problems:
You have no way to track statistics of how your Reading List is used.
You have no way to invite traffic back to your own site.
The feed isn’t browser-friendly.
The feed title isn’t customizable.
You have a URL that nobody (including you) will ever remember.
Time to do a little cosmetic surgery. This is where FeedBurner comes in handy.
Step 3: Use FeedBurner to publish your Reading List
If you don’t have a FeedBurner account yet, now is the time to get one.At the FeedBurner site, use the Atom URL taken from Google Reader to create a new FeedBurner feed.
Follow the steps of the wizard to complete the process, selecting a new URL for your Reading List. Now for the cosmetic surgery to make your Reading List something you’re willing to share with the world:
FeedBurner: Optimize
Use the Optimize tab to tweak a ton of settings for your Reading List.Enable the “Title/Description Burner” so that you can provide a much nicer title than the automatic one generated by Google Reader. I replaced the default “‘inkblots-reading’ via mwoodman in Google Reader” with “The inkBlots Reading List”. You can also provide a description which shows the purpose of the feed. For example, I used: “Hand-picked items of interest in the realm of RSS, Atom, and technology in general. Courtesy of inkBlots (http://inkblots.markwoodman.com)”Activate the “Feed Image Burner” so that the Reading List feed’s image is one of your own, which can include a link to your site or to the HTML version generated by Google Reader.Use “Browser Friendly” to make it look great in a browser and give your audience multiple ways of subscribing directly from the feed itself. I also suggest taking advantage of the Personal Message option to tell viewers the purpose of the list.Activate “Smart Feed” so that FeedBurner can switch the format from Atom to RSS if the requesting feed reader doesn’t like Atom for some reason.
Enable “Feed Flare” to add interactive links at the bottom of each item. Feed Flare units exist for Digg, technorati, comments, and tons of other uses. I created my own FeedFlare unit to include a “Read the latest on inkBlots” link at the bottom of each item. This is an easy way to invite traffic back to your site without mangling the integrity of the feed items you are sharing in your Reading List.
FeedBurner: Publicize
The Publicize tab in FeedBurner has a couple of options you’ll want to take advantage of.Turn on “PingShot” so that various feed search engines will be notified when your Reading List is updated. FeedBurner will check your shared items Atom feed for updates every 30 minutes. When new items are detected, FeedBurner will turn around and ping the various services on your behalf.“Email Subscriptions.” Yeah, I hate to mention this option, but you might as well turn it on. We need to be inclusive of our non-feedy friends.
Step 4: Tell the World, Share Your List
Congratulations! Now you have a Reading List that looks and smells like something created with some thought and consideration behind it.
Now comes the easy part. Anytime you want to add to your fancy-schmancy Reading List, simply “share” any item (or tag it) in Google Reader. How’s that for one-click publishing?
Best of all, you can now track subscription rates and item popularity via the Analyze tab in FeedBurner. (I can’t say enough how handy this information can be.)Happy feeding.
In this article I’ll show you how to use Google Reader and FeedBurner to manage a reading list for your audience.
Step 1: Sharing Items in Google Reader
Google Reader has a nice feature which allows you to share items you read via two mechanisms:
When you read an item from somebody’s feed that you think others will be interested in, just click the “share” icon at the bottom of the item’s display. This is easy enough if you will only ever have one shared reading list. If there’s a chance you might want to have more than one split out by topic, this isn’t the route to take.
Tag (or label) the item with a certain label you’ll use for shared items on a certain topic. I use “inkblots-reading” for just that purpose. If you go this route, go to Settings –> Tags and toggle “not shared” to “public” on that tag.
Now that you are sharing some items of interest, Reader will publish them for you in various formats. Some of these aren’t well documented, so you have to be ready for a bit of URL tweaking to get at the format you need.
Using option 1, you get an HTML page that anyone can view. Go to Reader’s homepage and click “Shared Items” in the left menu. You’ll get a link to the HTML page, like this one:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/[userid]
Note that the long number in the URL above is my personal Google Reader id. When you’re doing the same thing, you’ll have a different number.
Using option 2 that shares a specific label, you can click the “view public page” link by the tag to get a URL like this one:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/user/[userid]/label/inkblots-reading
Step 2: Get the Atom feed of your shared items
Now that you have some items shared via Google Reader, you don’t have to settle for a HTML web page to read them. A much better mechanism for your audience will be to distribute them as a Reading List using Atom or RSS.
If you want to publish a Reading List of all shared items, then click “Shared Items” in Reader’s left menu and look for the feed icon and link at the top. That’s an Atom feed that is composed of your shared items, dated according to when you decided to share each one.
If you want to publish a Reading List of only a certain tag, that URL is a little harder to find. The easiest way is to go the HTML page (via the “view public page” link by the tag name under Settings–>Tags) and then view the source of the page. Look for a tag in the source. It will have the URL for the Atom feed of just your shared items with that tag. For example, here is the URL for everything I have tagged “inkblots-reading”:
http://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user/[userid]/label/inkblots-reading
Congratulations: You have a Reading List that others can subscribe to. Technically, you can stop here and just give out that URL. But if you do, you have several problems:
You have no way to track statistics of how your Reading List is used.
You have no way to invite traffic back to your own site.
The feed isn’t browser-friendly.
The feed title isn’t customizable.
You have a URL that nobody (including you) will ever remember.
Time to do a little cosmetic surgery. This is where FeedBurner comes in handy.
Step 3: Use FeedBurner to publish your Reading List
If you don’t have a FeedBurner account yet, now is the time to get one.At the FeedBurner site, use the Atom URL taken from Google Reader to create a new FeedBurner feed.
Follow the steps of the wizard to complete the process, selecting a new URL for your Reading List. Now for the cosmetic surgery to make your Reading List something you’re willing to share with the world:
FeedBurner: Optimize
Use the Optimize tab to tweak a ton of settings for your Reading List.Enable the “Title/Description Burner” so that you can provide a much nicer title than the automatic one generated by Google Reader. I replaced the default “‘inkblots-reading’ via mwoodman in Google Reader” with “The inkBlots Reading List”. You can also provide a description which shows the purpose of the feed. For example, I used: “Hand-picked items of interest in the realm of RSS, Atom, and technology in general. Courtesy of inkBlots (http://inkblots.markwoodman.com)”Activate the “Feed Image Burner” so that the Reading List feed’s image is one of your own, which can include a link to your site or to the HTML version generated by Google Reader.Use “Browser Friendly” to make it look great in a browser and give your audience multiple ways of subscribing directly from the feed itself. I also suggest taking advantage of the Personal Message option to tell viewers the purpose of the list.Activate “Smart Feed” so that FeedBurner can switch the format from Atom to RSS if the requesting feed reader doesn’t like Atom for some reason.
Enable “Feed Flare” to add interactive links at the bottom of each item. Feed Flare units exist for Digg, technorati, comments, and tons of other uses. I created my own FeedFlare unit to include a “Read the latest on inkBlots” link at the bottom of each item. This is an easy way to invite traffic back to your site without mangling the integrity of the feed items you are sharing in your Reading List.
FeedBurner: Publicize
The Publicize tab in FeedBurner has a couple of options you’ll want to take advantage of.Turn on “PingShot” so that various feed search engines will be notified when your Reading List is updated. FeedBurner will check your shared items Atom feed for updates every 30 minutes. When new items are detected, FeedBurner will turn around and ping the various services on your behalf.“Email Subscriptions.” Yeah, I hate to mention this option, but you might as well turn it on. We need to be inclusive of our non-feedy friends.
Step 4: Tell the World, Share Your List
Congratulations! Now you have a Reading List that looks and smells like something created with some thought and consideration behind it.
Now comes the easy part. Anytime you want to add to your fancy-schmancy Reading List, simply “share” any item (or tag it) in Google Reader. How’s that for one-click publishing?
Best of all, you can now track subscription rates and item popularity via the Analyze tab in FeedBurner. (I can’t say enough how handy this information can be.)Happy feeding.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
5 top job tips for the young and restless
1. Product/Brand Manager
You won't be senior management, but you will have control over developing, managing and marketing an assigned product line. In other words, you get to exercise business savvy and creativity. A sizable salary and launching pad to other high-level marketing jobs are part of the package.
Median Pay: $90,100
Salary Total compensation(includes bonus)
Most people make:90% in this job make more than: $63,000 $65,300
Top earners:10% in this job make more than: $108,600 $119,600
10-year Job Growth: 21%
Growth in Jobs 39,249
Total openings 74,026
Career Description
Manages, develops, and implements product marketing activities to maximize sales of an assigned product line. Familiar with a variety of the field's concepts, practices, and procedures. Relies on extensive experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of tasks. May lead and direct the work of others. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. Typically reports to a senior manager.
Education/Experience
May require a bachelor's degree and at least 4 years of experience in the field.
2. Staff Nurse (RN)
Talk about a guaranteed job: The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects demand for nurses to be way above average for all occupations through 2014. You can specialize in a variety of areas and work in settings frommajor hospitals to patients' homes. If you've got management experience, you can move into administration.
Median Pay: $59,800
Salary Total compensation(includes bonus)
Most people make:90% in this job make more than: $49,500 $49,700
Top earners:10% in this job make more than: $68,400 $68,500
10-year Job Growth: 29%
Growth in Jobs 702,565
Total openings 1,203,429
Career Description
Evaluates, plans, implements, and documents nursing care for an assigned patient population. Assists physician during examinations and procedures. Performs various patient tests and administers medications within the scope of practice of the registered nurse. Promotes patient's independence by establishing patient care goals and teaching patient and family to understand condition, medications, and self-care skills. Familiar with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of tasks. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. Typically reports to a manager or head of a unit/department.
Education/Experience
Requires an associate's degree and is certified as a registered nurse.
3.Property Manager
You maintain a group of commercial, industrial or residential properties. Tasks range from organizing trashpickup to directing the buying, selling or leasing of units. There can be hectic moments when, say, a tenant's pipes burst, but the job is a good segue to other real estate positions.
Median Pay: $81,400
Salary Total compensation
(includes bonus)
Most people make:
90% in this job make more than: $54,300 $56,500
Top earners:
10% in this job make more than: $114,900 $130,000
10-year Job Growth: 15%
Growth in Jobs 55,259
Total openings 122,727
Career Description
Responsible for the maintenance of a portfolio of properties. Directs the buying, selling, and leasing of properties in the portfolio. May manage commercial, industrial, or residential properties. Provides information on operating costs as well as the annual budget for the properties. Familiar with a variety of the field's concepts, practices, and procedures. Relies on extensive experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of tasks. May lead and direct the work of others. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. Typically reports to top management.
Education/Experience
Requires a bachelor's degree and at least 5 years of experience in the field or in a related area.
4. Public Accountant
Public accountants do everything from auditing financial statements to advising companies on tax strategies andother business costs. You need a C.P.A. only to certify financial records, but "it's a credential a lot of employers like to see," says Frank Fusaro of the Forum Group, an industry recruiter.
Median Pay: $50,100
Salary Total compensation
(includes bonus)
Most people make:
90% in this job make more than: $38,400 $39,300
Top earners:
10% in this job make more than: $59,100 $62,000
10-year Job Growth: 22%
Growth in Jobs 263,854
Total openings 485,893
Career Description
Prepares balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and other financial reports. Responsibilities also include analyzing trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations incurred to predict future revenues and expenses. Reports organization's finances to management, and offers suggestions about resource utilization, tax strategies, and assumptions underlying budget forecasts. Familiar with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field. Relies on judgment and limited experience to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of tasks. Works under general supervision; typically reports to a supervisor or manager. A certain degree of creativity and latitude is required.
Education/Experience
May require a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance and 2-4 years of experience in the field or in a related area.
5.Information Technology Generalist
This is the gateway to more advanced IT jobs. You'll learn the basics by doing routine maintenance and fixing faulty PCs. Offshoring or not, growth in IT jobs is expected to be faster than average. And you'll have an advantage if you've picked up good communications skills in your first career.
Median Pay: $47,800
Salary Total compensation
(includes bonus)
Most people make:
90% in this job make more than: $35,300 $35,400
Top earners:
10% in this job make more than: $64,400 $66,600
10-year Job Growth: 31%
Growth in Jobs 152,955
Total openings 208,024
Career Description
Performs information systems administrative procedures and maintains documentation that covers two or more functional areas including data control, applications training, data coordination and scheduling, data security administration, etc. Has knowledge of commonly-used concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field. Relies on instructions and pre-established guidelines to perform the functions of the job. Works under immediate supervision. Typically reports to a supervisor.
Education/Experience
Requires a bachelor's degree and 0-3 years of experience in the field or in a related area.
You won't be senior management, but you will have control over developing, managing and marketing an assigned product line. In other words, you get to exercise business savvy and creativity. A sizable salary and launching pad to other high-level marketing jobs are part of the package.
Median Pay: $90,100
Salary Total compensation(includes bonus)
Most people make:90% in this job make more than: $63,000 $65,300
Top earners:10% in this job make more than: $108,600 $119,600
10-year Job Growth: 21%
Growth in Jobs 39,249
Total openings 74,026
Career Description
Manages, develops, and implements product marketing activities to maximize sales of an assigned product line. Familiar with a variety of the field's concepts, practices, and procedures. Relies on extensive experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of tasks. May lead and direct the work of others. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. Typically reports to a senior manager.
Education/Experience
May require a bachelor's degree and at least 4 years of experience in the field.
2. Staff Nurse (RN)
Talk about a guaranteed job: The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects demand for nurses to be way above average for all occupations through 2014. You can specialize in a variety of areas and work in settings frommajor hospitals to patients' homes. If you've got management experience, you can move into administration.
Median Pay: $59,800
Salary Total compensation(includes bonus)
Most people make:90% in this job make more than: $49,500 $49,700
Top earners:10% in this job make more than: $68,400 $68,500
10-year Job Growth: 29%
Growth in Jobs 702,565
Total openings 1,203,429
Career Description
Evaluates, plans, implements, and documents nursing care for an assigned patient population. Assists physician during examinations and procedures. Performs various patient tests and administers medications within the scope of practice of the registered nurse. Promotes patient's independence by establishing patient care goals and teaching patient and family to understand condition, medications, and self-care skills. Familiar with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of tasks. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. Typically reports to a manager or head of a unit/department.
Education/Experience
Requires an associate's degree and is certified as a registered nurse.
3.Property Manager
You maintain a group of commercial, industrial or residential properties. Tasks range from organizing trashpickup to directing the buying, selling or leasing of units. There can be hectic moments when, say, a tenant's pipes burst, but the job is a good segue to other real estate positions.
Median Pay: $81,400
Salary Total compensation
(includes bonus)
Most people make:
90% in this job make more than: $54,300 $56,500
Top earners:
10% in this job make more than: $114,900 $130,000
10-year Job Growth: 15%
Growth in Jobs 55,259
Total openings 122,727
Career Description
Responsible for the maintenance of a portfolio of properties. Directs the buying, selling, and leasing of properties in the portfolio. May manage commercial, industrial, or residential properties. Provides information on operating costs as well as the annual budget for the properties. Familiar with a variety of the field's concepts, practices, and procedures. Relies on extensive experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of tasks. May lead and direct the work of others. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. Typically reports to top management.
Education/Experience
Requires a bachelor's degree and at least 5 years of experience in the field or in a related area.
4. Public Accountant
Public accountants do everything from auditing financial statements to advising companies on tax strategies andother business costs. You need a C.P.A. only to certify financial records, but "it's a credential a lot of employers like to see," says Frank Fusaro of the Forum Group, an industry recruiter.
Median Pay: $50,100
Salary Total compensation
(includes bonus)
Most people make:
90% in this job make more than: $38,400 $39,300
Top earners:
10% in this job make more than: $59,100 $62,000
10-year Job Growth: 22%
Growth in Jobs 263,854
Total openings 485,893
Career Description
Prepares balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and other financial reports. Responsibilities also include analyzing trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations incurred to predict future revenues and expenses. Reports organization's finances to management, and offers suggestions about resource utilization, tax strategies, and assumptions underlying budget forecasts. Familiar with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field. Relies on judgment and limited experience to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of tasks. Works under general supervision; typically reports to a supervisor or manager. A certain degree of creativity and latitude is required.
Education/Experience
May require a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance and 2-4 years of experience in the field or in a related area.
5.Information Technology Generalist
This is the gateway to more advanced IT jobs. You'll learn the basics by doing routine maintenance and fixing faulty PCs. Offshoring or not, growth in IT jobs is expected to be faster than average. And you'll have an advantage if you've picked up good communications skills in your first career.
Median Pay: $47,800
Salary Total compensation
(includes bonus)
Most people make:
90% in this job make more than: $35,300 $35,400
Top earners:
10% in this job make more than: $64,400 $66,600
10-year Job Growth: 31%
Growth in Jobs 152,955
Total openings 208,024
Career Description
Performs information systems administrative procedures and maintains documentation that covers two or more functional areas including data control, applications training, data coordination and scheduling, data security administration, etc. Has knowledge of commonly-used concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field. Relies on instructions and pre-established guidelines to perform the functions of the job. Works under immediate supervision. Typically reports to a supervisor.
Education/Experience
Requires a bachelor's degree and 0-3 years of experience in the field or in a related area.
President Delegates
Source Clinton Obama Edwards McCain Romney Huckabee Paul
Washington Post 1262 1351 957 254
NY Times 1112 1117 12 827 142 205 5
AP 1262 1351 26 957 256 254 14
CNN 1250 1319 26 918 286 217 16
ABC 1268 1361 35 906 273 247 14
CBS 1260 1357 26 856 166 202 10
MSNBC 1262 1323 822 282 243 104
Washington Post 1262 1351 957 254
NY Times 1112 1117 12 827 142 205 5
AP 1262 1351 26 957 256 254 14
CNN 1250 1319 26 918 286 217 16
ABC 1268 1361 35 906 273 247 14
CBS 1260 1357 26 856 166 202 10
MSNBC 1262 1323 822 282 243 104
Strategies for using Adsense
Strategy #1 Do NOT put AdSense ads on pages that already make you significant money.
Strategy #2 DO put the AdSense codes on poor-earning, information-providing pages.
Strategy #3 Find the "perfect keywords."
Strategy #4 Convert "low-rent" visitors into "high-earning clicks."
Strategy #5 Start weeding out your affiliate programs that aren't paying you anything.
Strategy #6 Eliminate ads by fierce competitors.
Strategy #7 Keep it honest.
Strategy #8 Diversify.
Strategy #9 Use AdSense for search intelligently.
Strategy #10 Consider Google Link Units.
Strategy #11 Google AdWords' Site-Targeted Ads... Find out how its CPM Payments feature affects you.
Strategy #12 Improve relevancy of ads through Section Targeting.
Strategy #13 Earn income by referring new advertisers to Google.
Strategy #14 Add Video Ads to your pages.
Strategy #15 Frequent the SBI! Forums, the final and most important tip for SBIers.
Strategy #2 DO put the AdSense codes on poor-earning, information-providing pages.
Strategy #3 Find the "perfect keywords."
Strategy #4 Convert "low-rent" visitors into "high-earning clicks."
Strategy #5 Start weeding out your affiliate programs that aren't paying you anything.
Strategy #6 Eliminate ads by fierce competitors.
Strategy #7 Keep it honest.
Strategy #8 Diversify.
Strategy #9 Use AdSense for search intelligently.
Strategy #10 Consider Google Link Units.
Strategy #11 Google AdWords' Site-Targeted Ads... Find out how its CPM Payments feature affects you.
Strategy #12 Improve relevancy of ads through Section Targeting.
Strategy #13 Earn income by referring new advertisers to Google.
Strategy #14 Add Video Ads to your pages.
Strategy #15 Frequent the SBI! Forums, the final and most important tip for SBIers.
Top Ten Tips of How To Write A Successful Blog
1) Stay on topic
Opinions are generally accepted but the content of the items in the blog should all relate to a general theme. Unless you have an uncanny knack for wit, humor or cynicism, the majority of your readers will be interested in the content that relates to a specific defined theme or loosely defined area of interest. Most readers won't care that you eat Cheerios for breakfast. They may, however, be interested in the fact that vinegar takes out stains and that toilet paper rolls make great wreaths. Define a topic and stick to it. This will ensure that you create a loyal following of interested readers.
2) Be informative
If you are attempting to create the impression that you are knowledgeable about a specific industry or sector, be sure that you stay current on news. If you are endorsing a product or voicing an opinion, be sure to check your facts; your reputation is at stake. If you are offering an opinion, be sure to qualify your post, making it clear that the content is intended as an editorial.
3) Old news is not news
While blogging every day can be a drain, it is important that the information presented is current and accurate, writing an article or blurb about something that happened 6 months ago, will not be of interest to many. Telling your audience that Martha Stewart was convicted and will be going to prison, after her sentence is completed will make people question the value of your columns.
4) Adhere to a schedule
Create a schedule and stick to it. Realizing that blogging requires time and effort, don't create unrealistic expectations and be unable to deliver. An occasional lapse or holiday is generally understood but readers returning to find stale, out-dated content are going to find another blog with similar content. New blogs and RSS feeds are popping up on a daily basis. If you have worked hard to develop an audience and a community you don't want to lose them due to lack of communication.
5) Clarity and simplicity
Keep your posts and blog entries clear and easy to understand. Remember, the web is global and expressions, idioms and acronyms don't always translate. Sometimes a little explanation goes a long way.
6) Keyword-rich
If the goal of your blog is to increase your visibility, include related keywords in the title of the blog. Use the title as a headline to attract interest. Each item post should have a title that will attract attention but still be relevant to the post. The title should be no longer than 10-12 words.
7) Quantity matters
In order to attract the attention of search engines, you will need to develop content and substance. A headline or simple sentence is not going to generate the interest of readers or help with search engine ranking. Be sure to archive old blog posts to develop a large portal of similarly-themed content.
8) Frequency
If your blog content is updated frequently, search engines will tend to spider the pages at regular intervals.
9) Spell checking and proof-reading
It only takes a few extra moments and can save you from having to make embarrassing explanations. Remember that whatever you publish on the Internet can be found and archived. Think carefully about what you post before doing so.
10) RSS
RSS will increase your blog's reach. It is important that you include your blog's content in an RSS feed to increase readership and distribution.
Most weblog audiences are small, but with time and regular updates audiences grow. Bloggers may never have more than a few hundred readers, but the people who return to regularly are generally interested in what you have to say.
Opinions are generally accepted but the content of the items in the blog should all relate to a general theme. Unless you have an uncanny knack for wit, humor or cynicism, the majority of your readers will be interested in the content that relates to a specific defined theme or loosely defined area of interest. Most readers won't care that you eat Cheerios for breakfast. They may, however, be interested in the fact that vinegar takes out stains and that toilet paper rolls make great wreaths. Define a topic and stick to it. This will ensure that you create a loyal following of interested readers.
2) Be informative
If you are attempting to create the impression that you are knowledgeable about a specific industry or sector, be sure that you stay current on news. If you are endorsing a product or voicing an opinion, be sure to check your facts; your reputation is at stake. If you are offering an opinion, be sure to qualify your post, making it clear that the content is intended as an editorial.
3) Old news is not news
While blogging every day can be a drain, it is important that the information presented is current and accurate, writing an article or blurb about something that happened 6 months ago, will not be of interest to many. Telling your audience that Martha Stewart was convicted and will be going to prison, after her sentence is completed will make people question the value of your columns.
4) Adhere to a schedule
Create a schedule and stick to it. Realizing that blogging requires time and effort, don't create unrealistic expectations and be unable to deliver. An occasional lapse or holiday is generally understood but readers returning to find stale, out-dated content are going to find another blog with similar content. New blogs and RSS feeds are popping up on a daily basis. If you have worked hard to develop an audience and a community you don't want to lose them due to lack of communication.
5) Clarity and simplicity
Keep your posts and blog entries clear and easy to understand. Remember, the web is global and expressions, idioms and acronyms don't always translate. Sometimes a little explanation goes a long way.
6) Keyword-rich
If the goal of your blog is to increase your visibility, include related keywords in the title of the blog. Use the title as a headline to attract interest. Each item post should have a title that will attract attention but still be relevant to the post. The title should be no longer than 10-12 words.
7) Quantity matters
In order to attract the attention of search engines, you will need to develop content and substance. A headline or simple sentence is not going to generate the interest of readers or help with search engine ranking. Be sure to archive old blog posts to develop a large portal of similarly-themed content.
8) Frequency
If your blog content is updated frequently, search engines will tend to spider the pages at regular intervals.
9) Spell checking and proof-reading
It only takes a few extra moments and can save you from having to make embarrassing explanations. Remember that whatever you publish on the Internet can be found and archived. Think carefully about what you post before doing so.
10) RSS
RSS will increase your blog's reach. It is important that you include your blog's content in an RSS feed to increase readership and distribution.
Most weblog audiences are small, but with time and regular updates audiences grow. Bloggers may never have more than a few hundred readers, but the people who return to regularly are generally interested in what you have to say.
Top AdSense Tips
Niche Sites
Targeted niche sites that have a clear theme, tend to generate more advertising revenue simply because it is easier to achieve decent search engine placement.
Be warned though, you want to chose a niche where there is a sufficient number of advertisements available.
Target Keywords
When determining the site's focus, consider how much the advertisers pay for the advertisements. If the site is focused on ringtones, like Ringtone Central , the payout per click is going to be very small. Because ringtones are not high ticket items, advertisers will not spend a lot on pay-per-click advertisements.
With less obvious markets, use Overture to determine how much advertisers pay per keyword. The cost will usually be similar on Google. Search Overture for a keyword then click "View Advertisers' Max Bids" in the top right corner. This will show the Overture inventory and how much is paid per keyword. Because the market has become very competitive, it will be difficult to rank well in search engines with a new Web site that is optimized for the terms that have the highest payout. Consider targeting terms that are moderately priced.
Aged Sites / Time
Over time, as a Web site is spidered by Google, advertisements will generally increase in relevance. In general, older Web sites will rank better in search engines. The closer the advertisements relate to the Web page's content, the higher the "click-through" the publishers will see.
Coding
In order to minimize a Web site's maintenance, place the Google generated AdSense code in the Web site template or an "include" file. This will allow you to easily experiment with different advertisement sizes and ad placement, and keep the Web maintenance to a minimum.
Tracking Channels
In order to know how effective a specific Web site or ad placement is, use distinct channels and subchannels within Google. This will allow you to discern what performs best on a specific Web site. Using channels will tell you what sites are making money, what advertisements are making money and what ad position is the most profitable on a specific Web site. Keep in mind that you should run an advertisement for a full week, in order to properly test its effectiveness, different days of the week will vary the Web traffic so comparing one week to another will give the most accurate reflection of how effective a campaign performs.
When testing different advertisement sizes, placement or color schemes, be sure to leave campaigns in place for one week. Different days will often result in Web traffic fluctuations. Comparing Web traffic week to week will give a clear indication of what ad formats perform the best.
Integrated Ad Placement
Many webmasters have been successful at integrating advertisements into a Web site. The easiest way to integrate an advertisement into a Web site is to remove the advertisement border. This will allow the ads to better blend with the Web page. Google recommends contrasting the link colors with the Web site colors to increase click-throughs. It is also suggested that webmasters randomize the color of the advertisements, so that frequent users will not naturally "filter" the ads.
Number vs Value of Advertisements
Up to three advertisements can be listed on each page. This decreases the value of the advertisements served, so publishers should cautiously add advertisement units, as it dilutes ad inventory. In other words you want to serve the most expensive ads at all times.
Hot Spots
Like Web copy, "above the fold" holds true with AdSense as well. This means that advertisements that appear without having to scroll will be read more frequently. Hot Spots are areas on a Web page that result in a higher percentage of click-throughs. According to Google, the highest paying advertisements are located on the hot spots.
hot spots map - http://www.small-business-software.net/heat-map.htm
Google does not indicate if image advertisements or text ads perform better, so webmasters are encouraged to experiment with both.
Highest performing Ad Sizes
According to Google the 336 x 280 rectangle, the 300 x250 rectangle and the 160 x 600 sky scraper result in the highest number of click-throughs. Depending on the website's design and layout, publishers may experience different results with different ad sizes, placements and color schemes. Expirement and track the results for each website to maximize the AdSense payout.
Targeted niche sites that have a clear theme, tend to generate more advertising revenue simply because it is easier to achieve decent search engine placement.
Be warned though, you want to chose a niche where there is a sufficient number of advertisements available.
Target Keywords
When determining the site's focus, consider how much the advertisers pay for the advertisements. If the site is focused on ringtones, like Ringtone Central , the payout per click is going to be very small. Because ringtones are not high ticket items, advertisers will not spend a lot on pay-per-click advertisements.
With less obvious markets, use Overture to determine how much advertisers pay per keyword. The cost will usually be similar on Google. Search Overture for a keyword then click "View Advertisers' Max Bids" in the top right corner. This will show the Overture inventory and how much is paid per keyword. Because the market has become very competitive, it will be difficult to rank well in search engines with a new Web site that is optimized for the terms that have the highest payout. Consider targeting terms that are moderately priced.
Aged Sites / Time
Over time, as a Web site is spidered by Google, advertisements will generally increase in relevance. In general, older Web sites will rank better in search engines. The closer the advertisements relate to the Web page's content, the higher the "click-through" the publishers will see.
Coding
In order to minimize a Web site's maintenance, place the Google generated AdSense code in the Web site template or an "include" file. This will allow you to easily experiment with different advertisement sizes and ad placement, and keep the Web maintenance to a minimum.
Tracking Channels
In order to know how effective a specific Web site or ad placement is, use distinct channels and subchannels within Google. This will allow you to discern what performs best on a specific Web site. Using channels will tell you what sites are making money, what advertisements are making money and what ad position is the most profitable on a specific Web site. Keep in mind that you should run an advertisement for a full week, in order to properly test its effectiveness, different days of the week will vary the Web traffic so comparing one week to another will give the most accurate reflection of how effective a campaign performs.
When testing different advertisement sizes, placement or color schemes, be sure to leave campaigns in place for one week. Different days will often result in Web traffic fluctuations. Comparing Web traffic week to week will give a clear indication of what ad formats perform the best.
Integrated Ad Placement
Many webmasters have been successful at integrating advertisements into a Web site. The easiest way to integrate an advertisement into a Web site is to remove the advertisement border. This will allow the ads to better blend with the Web page. Google recommends contrasting the link colors with the Web site colors to increase click-throughs. It is also suggested that webmasters randomize the color of the advertisements, so that frequent users will not naturally "filter" the ads.
Number vs Value of Advertisements
Up to three advertisements can be listed on each page. This decreases the value of the advertisements served, so publishers should cautiously add advertisement units, as it dilutes ad inventory. In other words you want to serve the most expensive ads at all times.
Hot Spots
Like Web copy, "above the fold" holds true with AdSense as well. This means that advertisements that appear without having to scroll will be read more frequently. Hot Spots are areas on a Web page that result in a higher percentage of click-throughs. According to Google, the highest paying advertisements are located on the hot spots.
hot spots map - http://www.small-business-software.net/heat-map.htm
Google does not indicate if image advertisements or text ads perform better, so webmasters are encouraged to experiment with both.
Highest performing Ad Sizes
According to Google the 336 x 280 rectangle, the 300 x250 rectangle and the 160 x 600 sky scraper result in the highest number of click-throughs. Depending on the website's design and layout, publishers may experience different results with different ad sizes, placements and color schemes. Expirement and track the results for each website to maximize the AdSense payout.
10 Best Wordpress Plugins for Google Adsense
Adsense Deluxe - offers advanced options for managing the automatic insertion of Google AdSense or Yahoo Publisher Network (YPN) ads to your WordPress posts. Easily switch all AdSense ads to a new color scheme across the entire site.
Adsense Injection - inserts Adsense code randomly into a pre-existing blog. Takes a random paragraph (or br tag) break in your article and inserts adsense code. It does one per story on multi-post pages (home, archive, category) and let’s you pick how many to show on single post pages.
Adsense Inline - inserts Google adsense in blog posts.
Shylock Adsense WordPress plugin - allows you to insert Adsense ads on your blog without modifying the template. Set it up to show different Adsense ads for articles older then ‘n’ days. E.g. insert a 468×60 ad at the bottom of a new article for regular readers, and replace with higher paying 336×280 ad after 7 days for the search engine visitors.
Adsense Beautifier - makes your Adsense look beautiful by placing images beside them to increase your clicks (CTR) and subsequent Adsense earnings. (May not be compliant with Adsense TOS now)
AdSense Widget for WordPress Sidebar - Google AdSense widget designed for the new WordPress Sidebar Widgets plug-in.
AdRotator Wordpress Plugin - rotates your adsense ads with other affiliate programs like Chitika Eminimalls wherever you want. Helps to reduce ad blindness and test different ad formats and affiliate programs.
Adsense Earnings Wordpress Plugin - displays your adsense earning details within wordpress admin panel.
AdSense Manager - is a Wordpress plugin for managing AdSense ads on your blog. It generates code automatically and allows positioning with Widgets.
AdSense Sharing Revenue and Earnings System - allows you to view your adsense earnings and share your adsense impressions with your friends and co-authors.
Author Adsense Wordpress Plugin - allows blog authors to enter their Google Adsense Publisher ID and have ads displayed on their own posts generating revenue. Admin can set the ratio of author’s ads to admin ads.
Author Adsense MU Plugin - Webmasters of Wordpress MU sites can generate adsense revenue from hosted blogs as this script allows you to set an admin ID and the ratio of admin ad’s to blogger’s ads.
Google Ad Wrap - wraps posts and comments inside Section Targeting tags for better targeted ads.
Adsense Injection - inserts Adsense code randomly into a pre-existing blog. Takes a random paragraph (or br tag) break in your article and inserts adsense code. It does one per story on multi-post pages (home, archive, category) and let’s you pick how many to show on single post pages.
Adsense Inline - inserts Google adsense in blog posts.
Shylock Adsense WordPress plugin - allows you to insert Adsense ads on your blog without modifying the template. Set it up to show different Adsense ads for articles older then ‘n’ days. E.g. insert a 468×60 ad at the bottom of a new article for regular readers, and replace with higher paying 336×280 ad after 7 days for the search engine visitors.
Adsense Beautifier - makes your Adsense look beautiful by placing images beside them to increase your clicks (CTR) and subsequent Adsense earnings. (May not be compliant with Adsense TOS now)
AdSense Widget for WordPress Sidebar - Google AdSense widget designed for the new WordPress Sidebar Widgets plug-in.
AdRotator Wordpress Plugin - rotates your adsense ads with other affiliate programs like Chitika Eminimalls wherever you want. Helps to reduce ad blindness and test different ad formats and affiliate programs.
Adsense Earnings Wordpress Plugin - displays your adsense earning details within wordpress admin panel.
AdSense Manager - is a Wordpress plugin for managing AdSense ads on your blog. It generates code automatically and allows positioning with Widgets.
AdSense Sharing Revenue and Earnings System - allows you to view your adsense earnings and share your adsense impressions with your friends and co-authors.
Author Adsense Wordpress Plugin - allows blog authors to enter their Google Adsense Publisher ID and have ads displayed on their own posts generating revenue. Admin can set the ratio of author’s ads to admin ads.
Author Adsense MU Plugin - Webmasters of Wordpress MU sites can generate adsense revenue from hosted blogs as this script allows you to set an admin ID and the ratio of admin ad’s to blogger’s ads.
Google Ad Wrap - wraps posts and comments inside Section Targeting tags for better targeted ads.
How to install a Blogger HTML template
1.You have to choose a Html Template
2.Copy the code (Ctrl A: Select All, Ctrl C: Copy)
3.Go to your Blogger Control Panel - Edit HTML
4.Revert to Classic Template (You can return whenever you want).
5.Paste the code into the Template area (Ctrl A: Select All, Ctrl V: Paste)
6.All done!
2.Copy the code (Ctrl A: Select All, Ctrl C: Copy)
3.Go to your Blogger Control Panel - Edit HTML
4.Revert to Classic Template (You can return whenever you want).
5.Paste the code into the Template area (Ctrl A: Select All, Ctrl V: Paste)
6.All done!
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