Archive for February, 2010
How can you afford not to learn how to create a website?
Feb 28th
Never before have people had such a chance to join in on the Social Media and Internet Media Phenomenon…
Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners and Sole Traders now have an amazing opportunity to create a massive Internet Presence as easy as writing emails and sales brochure copy. Instead of restricting their efforts to hard copy media they can now get a Website up, throw a Landing Page together, or get a blog online using easy to use Open Source CMS platforms that enable “ultra fast” online publishing.
Once the technology has been mastered, simple sites can be created quickly. This means that you can have an idea in the morning and have a web site up that evening. As with all things there are some advanced techniques which will help the site be ranked, provide call to action such as data capture and creative, innovative design to learn, but the essential part is to be able to get stuff online in the first place.
So how can you learn?
The truth is there are many ways, trial and error, books, the internet, courses, one to one training, the options are many. The most effective and quickest ways have always been the many personal training routes, such as 1 day or weekend courses and of course personal tuition.
This type of training is for those who are serious about learning the core skills at the quickest pace possible. Most who attend this type of course, or who do some sort of personal mentorship program, understand the benefits getting these core skills under their belt as opposed to getting web designers or other to do the job for them.
The economics are plain. If you are a Small Business Owner or someone with a Entrepreneurial Streak and a some good ideas, or someone who is looking to start a new business venture, then learning the skills of an Internet Marketer would give you a massive advantage over someone else in the same position, but has to go to web designer to get anything done.
Someone with these core technical skills could get multiple sites up quickly and extremely cheaply, for as little as $15 (£10) per site. If you have to go to a web designer each site would cost a minimum of $700 (£500) even for the cheapest of site, and that normally does not include hosting.
This means in real terms that at the beginning of a business you could probably just about afford one site, whereas the person who has spent their money on getting the training, could get 3 site, 4 landing pages and a blog and still have change over for a new laptop!.
The reality is that, if you don’t embrace using the computer and being totally at home on the internet then you WILL be left behind in business by people who are prepared to learn. The simple truth is their online marketing dollars will go massively further than someone who still insists on getting others to do their websites for them.
Find out more about our 1-2-1 Mentorship Program
Science fiction or just the future of advertising?
Feb 22nd
I know I saw this in a film somewhere, but can’t for the life of me remember what film it was in, probably a few. This technology is incredible but something inside me is a little worried as well, but I’ll cover that later.
First the technology.
Samsung are promoting this as a technology as a way to measure audience recognition of your product advertising as you watch it. The system uses facial recognition software to determine your demographic. Who YOU are!
I see marketers all over the world rubbing their hands with glee. Imagine having an interactive advertisement that could read the type of people who are passing by and tailoring that ad specifically for them.
It really does have some amazing uses in the delivery of message and will significantly alter the way ad campaigns are put together. But does anyone else out there have an uneasy feeling about this, or is it just me? Am I just getting a little paranoid in my old age?
Consider a scenario, which I don’t think is farfetched, where the government of the day would like to keep a close eye on its citizens…. This would be the perfect technology, unobtrusive, accepted, invisible… It really makes you think!
Anyway, enjoy the rest of the day!!!
How to put audio on a WordPress site
Feb 21st
Audio is a quick and easy way to get some dynamic content onto you web page or blog post which, if done right will keep your site visitor engaged and therefore keep them longer on your site. I’m not going to go into the technicality of creating a good audio track here. Today I’m looking at the best way to embed the audio in the page once you have it.
I have seen many audio players and some are great looking, however, I have seen many which look awful and completely spoil the look of the page.
Although I said I’m not going into the actual recording technicalities, I just have to say one thing. DONT!!! Do a telephone recording and put it on the site, unless you are recording a telephone interview with someone. It is so simple to record onto your PC or Mac Nowadays that there is no excuse for appalling sounding audio…
How To Get Audio On To Your WordPress Site
Here are a few ways to get Audio on your site. The first is to use The “Audio Player” Plugin for WordPress.This is just about the easiest way to get audio on to your site using the ”Audio Player” Plugin. I have recorded an example audio below and used the “Audio Player” Plugin which I think looks great and can be used on any site. It will fit in no matter what the colour scheme.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
How To Get It
Go to “Plugins” in your dashboard and click on “Add New” at the top of the page, then in the search box type in “Audio Player”. It should be the first one on the list.. by “Martin Laine” You will need to host your .mp3 files somewhere other than on your WordPress Account.
Simply click on “Install” on the right hand side of the page and then go to the page or post you want the audio file. and enter:
I have had to do the code above as a graphic, siply because if I put the real code in it just reverts to the player you see above. The actual code to the player above is:
In other word the fill link to wherever your mp3 file site. I would suggest you look at getting an Amazon s3 account to host your audio files. go to http://aws.amazon.com/s3/ That’s where this link above is hosted.
SoundCloud Audio Player
This player is mainly for music but has been used for narrated audio. Simply sign up for an account and upload your music or other audio to the site.
You will be provided with an embed code which you can paste into your page or post. Don’t forget to paste it in the “html” page not the “Visual” (You can also use a plugin and a shortcode – see the SoundCloud site for more information)
Here is a track from my band using SoundCloud, so you can see what it looks like… For more go to www.vinemessiah.com
End of Days – Live by andyphillips
There other ways but I find these 2 the cleanest ways of getting audio on to your WordPress sites. you can find additional information on this subject - Click Here
Andy Phillips
