Microkids Related Posts WordPress Plugin Review

Microkids Related Posts WordPress Plugin

Why you need it
Related post plugins allow you to present your reader with other content they may find useful or interesting. This helps keep your reader browsing your site and also provides additional internal links, which help search engines discover all your content.

Microkids Related Posts plugin provides a simple, effective solution.

Ease of use
The options are very easy to configure but has advanced capabilities for those that need them.

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Make Your Video Debut

This is a guest post written by Kathleen Dowdey of AvocadoVideo.com.  Kathleen produces online and offline video for small businesses, agencies, special events and entertainment venues. www.avocadovideo.com

Ready to take the plunge and liven up your website with some video? You’re not alone. “With the advent of YouTube, anyone with a video camera, some editing software and a little bit of free time can create a video of just about anything,” writes Katie Wertz. She’s published on the Bruce Clay, Inc. website, a leading search engine optimization consulting service that helps clients up their SEO rankings. Wertz notes how well video engages website visitors, then mentions an attractive bonus: “Because of the YouTube partnership with Google, it’s a great way to be found…”

Join the millions who are rushing to broaden their web user reach with video. After all, video on your website sounds like a simple proposition, doesn’t it? Still, you might take a deep breath after visiting YouTube where you’ll discover a staggering range of possibilities. Before you touch that camera, consider what kind of video you want. There are many factors – the quality, content, genre, style and vision. Your research and project conceptualization will likely be the most valuable investment you make. Done well, it will even save you money.

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Using Online Video Trailers To Market Books

This is a great idea I spotted over at Digital Media Buzz – authors are starting to use video trailers, similar to movie trailers, to promote upcoming book releases. It’s a simple idea – applying an existing marketing tool to an industry that hasn’t typically embraced the digital world yet – and has tons of potential. Below is a trailer for W. Heyden Nissim’s new sci-fi novel, Our Time is Near, created by Idea Werks Studios. I see no reason why authors shouldn’t up their digital guerilla marketing game in the same way that independent musicians and labels have been doing.

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What Is An Online Marketing Strategy?

What is an online marketing strategy?

Sometimes people’s eyes just glaze over when I talk about online marketing strategy. Perhaps they’re thinking ‘I have a website and I’m on Twitter, what else is there?’ Or perhaps it’s just one of those big fuzzy terms about which people have a vague concept but no real clarity.

Well here’s what I’m talking about when I say ‘online marketing strategy’. It’s essentially a roadmap for how you market your business. It’s not just about being on Twitter or Facebook, those tools are just a couple possible pieces of the puzzle. Your strategy is a long-term plan for your online marketing that utilizes the relevant tools for your specific business and most importantly  – all the parts work together to achieve your business goals.

WHY you need an online marketing strategy:

1)   To help you identify where you should be spending your time and efforts
2)   To help you stay on track with your business development
3)   To establish benchmarks to measure your effectiveness
4)   A well laid out plan will keep you from feeling overwhelmed by the task of online marketing
5)   Likewise your plan can provide inspiration when you’re not sure what to do next.
6)   If you have a staff, everyone needs to be on the same page – laying out a clear strategy will help.
7)   Consistency in your efforts and messaging is key and having a roadmap will help you achieve this instead of blindly fumbling along.

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Notes & Resources from WordPress for Business Meetup

The Southern California WordPress Meetup was a lot of fun as usual. Natalie Maclees was our gracious host and even provided dinner for everyone. WordPress provided swag, and Packt publishing gave away a free copy of their “WordPress for Business Bloggers” book. We had a full group of awesome WP lovers at various levels of experience, and with a diverse range of businesses.

We covered a variety of issues under the umbrella of ‘WordPress for Business.’ Here’s some of the resources that came up during the course of the evening. If you’re in Los Angeles and using WordPress, you’ll find this group to be a great resource for information and networking.

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