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Casual Articles - Introduction To Blogging - Part 3b: Setting Up A Blog On A Private Domain
Training Seminars: A Great Marketing Strategy For IT ConsultantsTraining seminars present an excellent opportunity for you to market your IT consulting business. When you sponsor your own training seminar you raise your trust and credibility with potential customers. The added bonus is that you reach a large amount of people all at once.Rather than having to talk to each person one on one as you do with regular networking channels, training seminars allow you to connect personally with a bunch of people at the same time. Training seminars are a natural extension to your networking and relationship building activities. A large number of people you invite to attend the training seminar will typically include your work contacts and other people you have met.The people you don't know will usually come from some sort of direct mail promotion you have done to advertise your training seminar. Here you are pre qualifying the attendees based on interest. This helps to ensure most of the people in the audience are interested in the services you offer.Train lessly. But changing providers later is a pain and is best avoided, so choose carefully. If you're just starting out, there's no need to spend lots of money getting advanced hosting plans. Unless you have tons of money and plan a huge promotional campaign. In which case, it's unlikely you need to read the rest of this article or series :)
Set up your blog. Here's where things could get technical, and there are a lot of options.- If you don't have a technical friend you can rely on, your hosting provider may offer a service where they do this for you, as part of their hosting account package, or may charge you a setup fee. One of my providers
Create Winning eBay Auction TitlesIt’s probably fair to say that one of the key reasons why many auctions end unsuccessfully on eBay is because people have got their auction title WRONG.With the eBay marketplace is becoming ever more over-crowded, it’s now increasingly more important to create auction titles that work. You really do need to stand out from your rival eBay sellers.So what does an auction title need to do?Its most important job is to get people to click onto your auction. You can have the most amazing bargain in the world, or an absolutely fantastic and compelling advert, but if people never get that far then you’ll never make sales. The first step in the buying process is for people to click onto your auctions.So how do I create a “winning” title?The tips below are what I’ve learned as an eBay seller over the past few years. I’ve tried many different strategies and ideas, and these are the ones that work. They bring in the buyers time and time again.“MY TOP 6 TITLE TIPS”Create my Warning: this article, by necessity, touches on some technical webmastering details. If you want to set up a blog but do not want to use a free host, then this article is for you. However, if you find it too technical, you may want to consult a a friend who understands this stuff. I'll do my best to keep the technical aspects to a minimum. I do not provide specific details of installation and configuration.So, you've decided to forego a free host and use your own web domain for your new blog because of the freedom it affords you. The steps to do so are functionally simple, but there are important differences compared to using a free host. Here are the general steps:
- Choose a domain name for your blog that best represents what you will be writing about.
- When you choose a domain name, you might consider the terms "blog", "diary", "journal", or "letters" as part of the name. There are some bloggers who think that the term "blog" might not be in use in a few years. I personally don't think it matters that much: use what you are comfortable with.
- Unfortunately, a lot of short, popular keywords and phrases have already been registered as domain names. You may have to come up with a large list of name options, and check them in decreasing order of preference.
- There are a number of websites that offer free domain name checking. For example, http://www.internic.ca, http://www.internic.com, and variations thereof for several other countries. Most Internet hosting providers also offer a domain name checking service that tells you whether the name is taken or not.
- If you plan to use your website to promote your business, it is recommended that you register your domain name for at least two years. This helps your standing in the Search Engines, and indicates that you intend to do serious business on the Internet instead of becoming a "spammer". Of course, if you are promoting your business, the domain name should probably be similar to your business name. Your blog can then simply be setup in a subdirectory of your domain.
- Choose a hosting plan.
- Once your domain is registered, you need to pay for the monthly cost of site bandwidth. With most hosting providers, you can register a domain and set up the hosting all in one session. However, you should understand the difference:
- Registering a domain name is like registering a business name with the government, but it also gives you your future web address, or URL.
- Setting up a hosting plan is the equivalent of paying for monthly rent for an office space for your business. If you choose the right hosting provider, you can do all the setup in one place.
- Compare the hosting plans of several hosting providers. Most of them will let you upgrade later, painlessly. But changing providers later is a pain and is best avoided, so choose carefully. If you're just starting out, there's no need to spend lots of money getting advanced hosting plans. Unless you have tons of money and plan a huge promotional campaign. In which case, it's unlikely you need to read the rest of this article or series :)
- Set up your blog. Here's where things could get technical, and there are a lot of options.
- If you don't have a technical friend you can rely on, your hosting provider may offer a service where they do this for you, as part of their hosting account package, or may charge you a setup fee. One of my providers
Important Details About Battery Acid Spill Kits for Industrial PlantsAre You in Compliance with 1910.178(g)(2)1910.178(g)(2)“Facilities shall be provided for flushing and neutralizing spilled electrolyte, for fire protection, for protecting charging apparatus from damage by trucks, and for adequate ventilation for dispersal of fumes from gassing batteries.”Battery acid spills pose safety and environmental threats. Leakage of the lead and sulfuric acid found in batteries contribute to worker injuries, fire, hydrogen explosions, and groundwater and soil contamination.Due to the damaging effect acid has on eyes, skin and mucous membranes, acid spills can pose a serious danger to human health. Prolonged exposure can even cause life threatening injury.Proper spill containment is a requirement for safety and environmental safety. Adhering to the OSHA guidelines is not only environmentally sound but provides protection against business liability. To ignore battery containment procedures and regulations altogether is environmental and business suicide. B an> for your blog that best represents what you will be writing about. - When you choose a domain name, you might consider the terms "blog", "diary", "journal", or "letters" as part of the name. There are some bloggers who think that the term "blog" might not be in use in a few years. I personally don't think it matters that much: use what you are comfortable with.
- Unfortunately, a lot of short, popular keywords and phrases have already been registered as domain names. You may have to come up with a large list of name options, and check them in decreasing order of preference.
- There are a number of websites that offer free domain name checking. For example, http://www.internic.ca, http://www.internic.com, and variations thereof for several other countries. Most Internet hosting providers also offer a domain name checking service that tells you whether the name is taken or not.
- If you plan to use your website to promote your business, it is recommended that you register your domain name for at least two years. This helps your standing in the Search Engines, and indicates that you intend to do serious business on the Internet instead of becoming a "spammer". Of course, if you are promoting your business, the domain name should probably be similar to your business name. Your blog can then simply be setup in a subdirectory of your domain.
- Choose a hosting plan.
- Once your domain is registered, you need to pay for the monthly cost of site bandwidth. With most hosting providers, you can register a domain and set up the hosting all in one session. However, you should understand the difference:
- Registering a domain name is like registering a business name with the government, but it also gives you your future web address, or URL.
- Setting up a hosting plan is the equivalent of paying for monthly rent for an office space for your business. If you choose the right hosting provider, you can do all the setup in one place.
- Compare the hosting plans of several hosting providers. Most of them will let you upgrade later, painlessly. But changing providers later is a pain and is best avoided, so choose carefully. If you're just starting out, there's no need to spend lots of money getting advanced hosting plans. Unless you have tons of money and plan a huge promotional campaign. In which case, it's unlikely you need to read the rest of this article or series :)
- Set up your blog. Here's where things could get technical, and there are a lot of options.
- If you don't have a technical friend you can rely on, your hosting provider may offer a service where they do this for you, as part of their hosting account package, or may charge you a setup fee. One of my providers
Managing Regional Mall Car Wash and Detailing ConcessionsWhen managing a regional mall car wash and detailing concession you must understand the dynamics of the labor issues, mall hours and proper price point strategies to make it all work. It is a difficult business to manage and you need a flexible scheduling strategy and way to even out the ups and downs or peak periods and dead times.Remember Malls have slow periods and long hours; 9-10 AM to 9 to 11 PM during Christmas and that is a lot of labor hours, also consider labor supply is not so easy and you cannot hire total derelicts or Illegal Aliens to wash cars in broad daylight at Malls, as that will not fly with your customers. You need repeats, as those who shop till they drop shop often and you want their business every visit.Price Points, please realize this is not a low-cost high volume deal. For Mall employees give them a Special Courtesy Price in the mornings to get you going with stacked cars, as you have all day to do them and that takes out the rocky schedule of a feast or famine busines http://www.internic.com, and variations thereof for several other countries. Most Internet hosting providers also offer a domain name checking service that tells you whether the name is taken or not.
- If you plan to use your website to promote your business, it is recommended that you register your domain name for at least two years. This helps your standing in the Search Engines, and indicates that you intend to do serious business on the Internet instead of becoming a "spammer". Of course, if you are promoting your business, the domain name should probably be similar to your business name. Your blog can then simply be setup in a subdirectory of your domain.
- Choose a hosting plan.
- Once your domain is registered, you need to pay for the monthly cost of site bandwidth. With most hosting providers, you can register a domain and set up the hosting all in one session. However, you should understand the difference:
- Registering a domain name is like registering a business name with the government, but it also gives you your future web address, or URL.
- Setting up a hosting plan is the equivalent of paying for monthly rent for an office space for your business. If you choose the right hosting provider, you can do all the setup in one place.
- Compare the hosting plans of several hosting providers. Most of them will let you upgrade later, painlessly. But changing providers later is a pain and is best avoided, so choose carefully. If you're just starting out, there's no need to spend lots of money getting advanced hosting plans. Unless you have tons of money and plan a huge promotional campaign. In which case, it's unlikely you need to read the rest of this article or series :)
- Set up your blog. Here's where things could get technical, and there are a lot of options.
- If you don't have a technical friend you can rely on, your hosting provider may offer a service where they do this for you, as part of their hosting account package, or may charge you a setup fee. One of my providers
Specialty Equipment Marketing and Traps Companies Run Into; Case StudyIn a recent business marketing project a new innovation was conceived by marketing student Paula Chavis. Her invention, is a filtration Reverse Osmosis system specially designed to recycle the waste wash water for use elsewhere in the carwash; for instance landscaping, toilets or even pressure washing the facility.Now then what will be some of the details? For example these systems must have some sort of warranty right? Sure, that makes sense indeed. So what would be a good warrantee?“We will offer a 5 year warrantee with a chance to purchase an extended warrantee as well.”Five years is a very good warrantee but are we sure we can afford to do this? I would hold short on that due to the very expensive membranes in RO units, but if you warrantee the housing of the system you should be fine. I would have a 12-month warrantee, but then charge a service contract for electrical and membranes. You may wish to cost this out, because it could be very expensive and cost the company future earnings span>. - Once your domain is registered, you need to pay for the monthly cost of site bandwidth. With most hosting providers, you can register a domain and set up the hosting all in one session. However, you should understand the difference:
- Registering a domain name is like registering a business name with the government, but it also gives you your future web address, or URL.
- Setting up a hosting plan is the equivalent of paying for monthly rent for an office space for your business. If you choose the right hosting provider, you can do all the setup in one place.
- Compare the hosting plans of several hosting providers. Most of them will let you upgrade later, painlessly. But changing providers later is a pain and is best avoided, so choose carefully. If you're just starting out, there's no need to spend lots of money getting advanced hosting plans. Unless you have tons of money and plan a huge promotional campaign. In which case, it's unlikely you need to read the rest of this article or series :)
- Set up your blog. Here's where things could get technical, and there are a lot of options.
- If you don't have a technical friend you can rely on, your hosting provider may offer a service where they do this for you, as part of their hosting account package, or may charge you a setup fee. One of my providers
Compromise Agreements – A Clean Break After Redundancy Or DismissalIncreasingly, companies are making use of compromise agreements - sometimes for redundancy but most frequently in situations where an employee is being dismissed. The ‘agreements’ are legally binding; normally this is desirable for the company as it prevents the person being dismissed from pursuing a case with an Employment Tribunal. In most cases if you have to sign a compromise agreement there will also be some kind of severance payment as a form of compensation.Often people might see compromise agreements as beneficial to the company rather than the worker, but if you have been approached to sign a compromise agreement there is no reason you should see this as a bad thing. Whether the agreement is a result of a dismissal, redundancy or general breakdown in the relationship between you and your employer there are plenty of reasons why a compromise agreement could work to your advantage.You don’t have to wait months for an Employment TribunalUnfortunately lots of people lessly. But changing providers later is a pain and is best avoided, so choose carefully. If you're just starting out, there's no need to spend lots of money getting advanced hosting plans. Unless you have tons of money and plan a huge promotional campaign. In which case, it's unlikely you need to read the rest of this article or series :)
- Set up your blog. Here's where things could get technical, and there are a lot of options.
- If you don't have a technical friend you can rely on, your hosting provider may offer a service where they do this for you, as part of their hosting account package, or may charge you a setup fee. One of my providers has an administrative panel where you can enter some information (such as your new blog's name, etc), and the blog will be set up for you after you click "install". Many providers offer this type of easy install, but they do not always have any of the popular blogging platforms.
- If you want to use one of the more popular platforms, such as MovableType, WordPress, TextPattern, Drupal, etc., you'll need to download the software from the source, then upload it to your new domain's web server (host), then install it. This is too technical to explain properly in a single article. I recommend finding a host or a webmaster that will do this for you. For example, both MovableType and WordPress have teamed up with hosting providers to do this. You would have to register your domain name elsewhere, but then set up hosting with them.
- There are far too many blogging platforms and too many differences of installation to get into the details here. In fact, I could fill a book talking about the different blogging platforms. All of the popular platforms have reasonably well-written instructions. Here's my summary of a few platforms I'm familiar with:
- While Blogger.com is most often used with the controversial Blogspot.com domain, you can use Blogger.com's interface to set up a blog on your own domain.
- Blogger.com is very easy to set up and use. It's a bare-bones blogging platform, but it's not a bad starting point for new bloggers.
- WordPress.org's WordPress is super-simple to install and has a whole host of "skins" (templates) and plugins for special functionality. I love the easy install, but many of my favourite WordPress plugins slow the website down, forcing me to disable them. This platform is quite popular amongst non-technical bloggers who manage their own domain.
- SixApart.com's MovableType is easy to use. I enjoy the interface, and use it almost daily for a blog I write for someone else. But because I focus on free, OpenSource CMSes (Content Management Systems), I haven't used the full version of MovableType on any of my sites. (There is an older free "personal" version.)
- SixApart also offers their own free OpenSource platform called LiveJournal. You can use their free hosting, which in principal is like Blogspot.com. But if you don't want their banner ads showing, you have to pay a monthly fee. You can also down load the LiveJournal platform code and install it on your own domain. Unfortunately, unless you have a background in using the Linux operating system, you probably shouldn't even attempt it.
- Drupal.org's Drupal is arguably one of the most versatile and well-supprted blogging platforms. I've selected it for my next round of blogs. However, it's not an easy install like WordPress. Furthermore, according to the Drupal community, domains s
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.casualarticles.com/article/58620/casualarticles-Introduction-To-Blogging--Part-3b-Setting-Up-A-Blog-On-A-Private-Domain.html">Introduction To Blogging - Part 3b: Setting Up A Blog On A Private Domain</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.casualarticles.com/article/58620/casualarticles-Introduction-To-Blogging--Part-3b-Setting-Up-A-Blog-On-A-Private-Domain.html]Introduction To Blogging - Part 3b: Setting Up A Blog On A Private Domain[/url]
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