Slide show - just because

As some readers of this blog already know I'm a photographer. Over the past two days I've been putting together a slide show for my page on Powerful Intentions, a community networking site to which I belong. I thought it would be fun to embed that slide show here as well. The photos I've included have nothing at all to do with marketing so. I'm putting on this site, just because. According to the rules, blogs shouldn't include things that are off topic or outside their principal focus - but then I've been known to break rules in the past.

Please take a minute and enjoy the show.


Find more photos like this on Powerful Intentions: Law of Attraction Community

Hard Core Blogging with ScribeFire

If you Blog a lot, either professionally or not, you may appreciate anything that makes this activity easier, faster, more efficient or simply more fun. ScribeFire an add on extension for FireFox which promises to be all that and perhaps more.

In essence this little program is a WYSIWYG editor specifically for blogs. It allows you to create blog posts as if you were using a word processor and then quickly post them to your blog. The idea is ingenious and simple. ScribeFire is directly accessible from your browser via a small yellow icon which appears in the lower right corner of your browser window. As you surf along you can quickly pop open the ScribeFire, grab bits of text or images of things which can be integrated into you post.

As an example I copied the ScribeFire logo at the top of this article into the article with a simple copy paste operation. For those of us that use a lot of graphics in our blog posts, this feature is especially useful - Nifty neat and fast

I'm sure readers will also appreciate the convenience of being able to create "quotes" from other articles or posts using copy paste techniques. Because ScribeFire opens a split screen at the bottom of your browser window, you can write your blog post while viewing a reference page in the top frame of the window. For me at least this kind set up is perfect, especially when I need to accurately reference important information.


Adding links to external URL's and or images is also quite easy with this program.
As a simple example I dropped this image from Flickr in here using a simple copy image command. If you missed reading my bio, that's me in the picture.

Once again because this is a WYSIWYG program the interface makes it pretty simple to accomplish the task. Changing font size or colour or style on the fly is also dead simple.

The ScribeFire getting started page contains a number of comments which point to some problems. As the program is being updated and bugs are being fixed ongoing, I suspect that those issues which are noted have been or will be addressed.

For me this is a great way to speed up blogging and make it more efficient. With the hours I spend blogging daily, speed and convenience are important to my productivity. If you think this program might work for you, it's easy to download and install, into Firefox. If you're not already a FireFox user you can download it here.

If you try ScribeFire and want to tell others about the experience please feel free to leave your comments on this post. Because I have now installed Disqus, as my comment manager your comments can become part of a threaded online discussion in a moderated forum. This will allow you to not only make comments, but also to become part of an ongoing discussion with other readers on this subject.

One of the best parts of blogging is being part of a community which offers feedback and interaction. Your comments can be of tremendous value to other readers and an important source of new information. If you have experience using ScribeFire good or bad, let us know.

The Day the Computer Died

The computer makes funny noises and then takes a final last gasp and quits . Most anyone who uses a computer has been through such a scenario at least once, if not many times. For me this is kind of a normal thing and perhaps all to frequent.

When the computer is the center of your business having it pack up and stop, even briefly is a problem. Having a backup system allows one to keep working, but without access to some important info on the main drive, this is a limited solution at best.

From a sociological point of view computers and technology in general have some interesting implications and, for bloggers in particular those implications are important, even profound.

Weaving in traffic
The internet has been called the "Information Superhighway" a term that seems quite dated now. Even so it's an apt phrase when one considers that the volume of data or numbers of users is often referred to as traffic. Websites and blogs rely on getting traffic to be noticed and, there's little doubt that the traffic out there gets heavier every day. The internet really has been "weaving" its way into every aspect of our lives and, in point of fact has become integral and essential part of doing business. For those of us involved in internet marketing, it is our business.

It only takes a little hiccup like a cooling fan to go or a power supply to pack in for our technological vulnerabilities to become exposed. It's not pretty to think of what a serious system crash could cause, locally or globally.

How dependent we've become on little bits of data stored on hard drives. How interconnected we all are in this ever shrinking world. On a larger scale there's the issue of the power we need to power this world.

Information Knowledge and Power
It's often said that knowledge is power, which of course is very true . Some define knowledge as information to which we apply wisdom. It is ever so true that the information which flows down these cyber highways in such a torrent every second is not always wise. The internet has given a voice to millions that in previous generations would have never been heard. Today, the so called silent majority are not so silent any longer.

The importance of this kind of technological tool can't be underestimated. It has been likened to the invention of the wheel or the invention of copper tools. It's something so remarkable and so huge in the history of human kind that it can only be truly appreciated from a distance. Like the Great Wall of China it is so vast that it can never be fully seen from a single point.

Power and the People
Power to the People is a slogan which might be called the "mantra of the 60's". That was a time of dramatic social change globally. Today this new media has really given tremendous power to anyone that has access to the internet . Individuals have the ability to generate an enormous number of readers simply by creating a blog which attracts attention. In that regard this social change has broadened and deepened in ways that even those in the 60's counter culture could never have imagined.

As is so clearly illustrated by my little computer problem, the technology which makes all this possible is fragile and subject to the whims and fancies of forces which may be well beyond our control . For countless generations humans of been subject to the natural forces of flood, drought, famine and disease. Today throughout the developed world we face uncertainties of a different kind.

The Future is Here Today
The internet is often trivialized as being nothing more than scams, schemes and misinformation. A place of charlatans and crooks simply looking to make a quick buck . It's frequently seen as being a dangerous place where hackers or viruses lurk in every nook and cranny and pedophiles troll looking for their next victims . All this is of course true and unfortunate.

In spite of the often negative press, the internet has also become an important place for us to express ourselves, exchange ideas and even make a honest living. More and more however it really is the center of a globally integrated community which is allows us unrestricted access to others of the species - something that only fifty years ago would have seemed quite impossible and one hundred years ago would have seemed like magic.

Many readers of this blog will likely use the internet extensively. Those of us who fall into that category could in fact be creating the future. It may be our destiny to use this unique medium to make the world a better place by sharing information idea and ideals . It may be that as happened in the 60's what happens online could drive social change in remarkably new and exciting ways - in a sense, creating the future.

It's Up To Us
With great power comes great responsibility is more than just a line from the Spiderman movie. It's well worn phrase that's been applied to virtually any moral argument discussion about the obligation of leaders to those they lead. Those who blog or write online, irrespective of the forum or format can in theory wield as much influence with readers as any leader ever has or every could. The idea that the pen is mightier than the sword has never been more evident than it is today.

Those of us who are authors, where self published or commercially published have a real responsibility to understand and protect the unique and valuable resource called the internet. At a personal level we need very much to be true to our own sense of integrity and do all we can to ensure that we don't abuse the opportunity to be heard. On a larger scale we need to understand the bigger issues which might threaten to impact or damage this channel of free communication.

If the internet is to survive it must be powered up. As the production of energy is a dominate issue today and in the future it is something which all internet users should consider with care. The so called "Green Movement" will be a subject of much discussion and debate and, in so far as the internet is concerned is essential .

The second issue of concern is one of control. Who actually controls the technology we use? There are many that would like to dominate and control the internet, either for political or commercial reasons.

Regardless of what you write about or where, these are matters which are not only of interest but in fact essential to the survival of the internet as we know it. As happened for me this, it only takes a small hiccup with one computer to bring into sharp focus just exactly how vulnerable we are. Anyone who logs on today should perhaps give some thought to how quickly this medium which is easy to take for granted could disappear or become much less accessible.

The internet is much more than simply the "ham radio" of the 21st century. It is something which has the potential to change the world, one person at a time, one thought at a time. Let's do all we can to ensure that it will be here for many generations to come.

Helium Can Inflate Your Ego

I have written about Helium in previous posts, however, I feel that this is a subject worth revisiting and a site well worth another review.

Blogging for the most part is all about communicating with words. The better we write the better we can make our ideas and information clear and readable. The creative muscle which helps writers accomplish this benefits from getting as much of a workout as we can give it.

Helium is a free online forum where any writer can hone their writing skills in a supportive environment which is purpose built to nurture and encourage writers to develop and improve writing skills.

Peer review is the best kind of feedback
In baseball, football or basketball it easy to get feedback because of fans. With writing however such feedback can be hard get and or judge. Blogs offer readers a chance to comment, but many comments aren't all that valuable when trying to gage the effectiveness of your writing.

Helium on the other hand is a forum where reader feedback is the most important aspect of the site. Posted articles are peer reviewed and rated by other writers. The results of such reviews can really help a writer to focus and improve their writing craft. It's also valuable to read and rate the work of other authors.

Beyond Feedback
Branding yourself is one important part of a good overall marketing strategy. Gaining credibilty and authority is a critical aspect of being recognized and respected online. One might think of this has creating credentials.

Once you begin marketing online others may in fact have an interest in you as a "partner". They might also simply want to know something about who you are. Articles posted on Helium have a unique URL which become immediately available to search engines and borrows link juice from Heliums high page rank. Publishing articles on Helium offers quick exposure which, if done correctly can be leveraged in a marketing strategy.

It's not the only piece of the marketing puzzle but it can be one important way to make sure that you're name is out there. After publishing several articles on Helium I Googled myself and found that I was the top three results on the SERP.

When publishing articles on Helium and on Ezine Articles I have on occasion been the top 5 results on a Google SERP.

Longevity Is the Key To Success
Internet Marketing is a numbers game. The more exposure you have over a long enough period the better the odds you will have of succeeding. Articles published on Helium remain online and continue to be seen by hundreds, even thousands of readers. Because they have a long life they provide much more bang than one might expect. If you create a popular article which continues to stimulate readers, it can do that 24 /7 and attract attention to you a marketing "brand".

If you want more information about Helium I've embedded a short video clip below. Check it out and then please, leave a comment. If you've read the previous post you might note that I have now installed a new comment management system which makes your comments even more valuable than before.

I "do follow" so comments posted here will generate a backlink. In addition you'll find that you can now participate in an ongoing discussion or network with others via this commenting system.

Announcing Important Comments about Comments on this Blog

Within the last few days I’ve installed a new “comment / discussion system" on this blog. There are several reasons for doing this which I’ll briefly explain.

This new system uses Disqus, which is a web based comment management system. This system allows comments left on blog posts to be threaded in much the same way they might be in an online forum.

These threaded comments will allow readers to participate in an ongoing open discussion or conversation which, with the old commenting system would have been impractical. The importance of this is simply that it makes each comment accessible to other readers and in doing so enhances a sense of community and involvement.

This is especially important where topics of specific blog posts contain information which might be enhanced or debated by readers. In a sense it offers me, as publisher and my readers an opportunity to communicate in a much freely and in a more interactive manner. It also offers an opportunity to get feedback across the community, which as other marketers will appreciate is invaluable.

Reader comments are one way a publisher can judge if articles which they post are seen as useful. This kind of interchange really is the most important aspect of blogging. However with most comment / discussion systems don’t encourage any kind of direct interchange. In many cases reader comments are as valuable to other readers as is the actual articles.

Here are some other features that Bloggers who wish to use this system should also find very useful:

For those who might consider using Disqus on their blogs it is advertised to work on most blogging platforms and has an interface for Twitter and Facebook. Accordingly you can also

Comments can be moderated by the publisher and or third party moderators. This of course is important feature for Bloggers that wish to ensure the quality and integrity of their site.

The Disqus system also allows commenters to be ranked and ordered in terms of something the developers of the system call “clout”, which might also be thought of as “authority”.

To find out more about Disqus simply click one of the highlighted links. In addition I’ve added a video clip which was originally posted by Robert Scoble on his blog Scoblerizer.

A St. Patrick's Day Toast

Happy St Patrick's Day

If you count yourself as having Irish decent or are simply one of the millions that celebrate the day, here's good wishes for the best of the day to you. For everyone else, Irish or not, the here's wishing you all the best of the day as well.

You can get and send a larger more grand version of the St Patrick's Day e card shown here, from my page at Toonpool.

The card contains an Old Irish Blessing in the form of a Toast, which is somewhat unreadable in the this smaller thumbnail. It reads as Follows:

May Love and Laugher Light Your Days
and Warm Your Heart and Home.
My Good and Faithful Friends be Yours,
Wherever You May Roam.
May Peace and Plenty Bless Your World
with Joy that Long Endures
May all Life's Passing Seasons
Bring the Best to Your and Yours.



Toonpool also features a number of my other cartoons, some of which have also appeared in this blog.

If you see any you like you may also freely send those as e cards to friends or family. Simply scroll down the page to see thumbnails of my cartoons , click an image to enlarge and scroll down to find a send as an e card link. Clicking the link pops up a form which allows you to fill in to and from info required to send the card. Hit send and the card will be instantly on it's way.

By the way the site has some really great cartoons by other internationally acclaimed artists as well as others that are not so well known but still great in their own right. If you like cartoons this is a great sight to visit - just be careful, it's addictive.

Motivation for Marketers

I read and review all kinds of marketing materials, products and programs. One of the things I find especially irksome is how many experts or “Gurus” beat the same drum over and over, that motivation = success.

My response to that is simply “Duh, really, who would ever think that? If you don’t catch that I’m being just a bit sarcastic, let me state for the record that I am.

Holly cow Bat Man is it really possible to succeed at anything without being motivated? Really now, it generally takes some kind of motivation simply to haul out the credit card and buy sometime in the first place.

So what’s the rub here, what’s my gripe? There are tons of programs out there that claim to make money “automatically, on autopilot, while you sleep or go to the beach or spend time with your family.” Work 2 hours a day “they say” and a make 6 figure

income. So aren’t those prospects pretty motivating all on their own?

Ok I’ll give the Gurus some credit here. The truth is that people can be simply lazy and really don’t put in even the minimum effort required to get something to actually work. But consider that it is commonly quoted by experts that over 90% of all people that begin marketing on line fail to make any money at all.

How could it be that, with so many fool proof, simple to make money online programs out there, there is such a high failure rate. Could it be that perhaps there’s a tad more to this online marketing business that isn’t just about motivation alone?

Do people really lack the small amount of motivation to make these systems work or, is it something else wrong with this picture; something perhaps more fundamental? Where is the proverbial fly in the ointment so to speak?

If you spend sometime on forums reading through the posts from would be marketers, you’ll find that many people are quite simply “dazed and confused” by online marketing. They buy something which lays out ideas and concepts which they don’t fully understand. In many cases they’ve signed on to a, “hands off system”, over which they have no, or only minimal control, so their motivation is really not the issue.

After getting into the program they purchased they find themselves in the deep end of the pool and they really don’t know how to swim, so they quit and drown long before they ever have a chance to learn what’s wrong.

There are of course variations on different themes – some programs use some form of network or multilevel marketing, paying sponsors for those that initiate into the program through different levels. Such programs point to the motivation of the sponsor as the key to their success. The more people you sign up the more money you make etc yada yada yada.

There are other programs that require people to buy ads or participate in some kind of exchange. Once again the participants are often told that their success depends on their motivation to place a few ads here and there and to patiently and consistently do this over and over.

With no real understanding of what they are actually doing, patience runs out when the expected dollars don’t roll in and it’s easy to just write the whole thing off as money lost as a bad experience.

This is especially true when the results of the program have be seriously hyped to the max as an inducement to be motivated to haul out the old credit card and buy in.

So here’s my strictly and entirely biased opinion about motivation when it comes to marketing online. Motivation is something you either have or you don’t. If you really are motivated you’ll do what it takes to become educated and informed about the nuts and bolts of marketing online. You’ll read and gain knowledge and experience by doing things yourself rather than relying on some get rich quick scheme or program.

In my world there are no quick fixes, no easy outs and no magic formulas; there is only information, good, and bad. It takes motivation to sort out what works from what doesn’t, what’s good from what’s bad. It takes time to build a business and it’s not something that you can’t do without some thought, some time and some real effort. You simply need to know what you are doing and why.

Don’t let yourself become “dazed and confused”, just make the effort, to make the effort and, if you really are motivated success will follow.

In case you are wondering I am promoting a free book which really does lay out the nuts and bolts of online marketing and – it really is free, no kidding no strings and best of all, it’s hype free.

Get the book, read it and use your own motivation, or perhaps that which you borrow from the book to get in the game. If you are one of the many that have already fallen off your horse, here’s your chance to get back on and continue along.