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About martinbrossman

http://www.ProNetworkingOnLine.com
Success Coach / Trainer / Author Learn more on my Linkedin Profile: http://linkedin.com/in/martinbrossman or call me at (919) 847-4757

Blogging and Websites with WordPress

December 16th, 2010 | Posted by martinbrossman in Blogging | Wordpress - (0 Comments)

 

The two key components to understand when using WordPress:

1) The “Page”: Pages are the closest to the original fixed web pages but easier to edit. This is where you post the content that does not change as often. Examples of this would be About Us, Contact, Services. Pages – and the ability to set the home address to one of them (for example, About Us)  is one of the biggest things that makes it possible to use WordPress as a web site instead of ‘just a blog.’ Here is the Home page of this site: http://www.ncsmallbusinesstraining.com

and

2) The “Post”: The “Posts area” is the “Blog” component of the WordPress website and allows you to add current content on various topics easily. This has been part of WordPress since it started, and is usually the default page you see when you set up a simple WordPress site. Here is the “Posts area” on this site. Posts can be styled numerous ways – recent first, undated, set up to look like articles.  http://www.ncsmallbusinesstraining.com/blog/

You can find Post and Page in your Dashboard (also called the Admin Panel) that can be found on by signing in to your own wordpress site by typing /wp-admin after your website address in the browser bar to get the sign-in and password.
Here is the sign-in for this site, note the URL at the top after clicking on:
http://www.ncsmallbusinesstraining.com/wp-admin/

To setup WordPress so it looks like a website with a home page instead of the blog section:

1) Sign-in to your Dashboard
2) Create two pages: one page that you want to be your home page (i.e. Home or Welcome) and a page that you want to store the blog section (i.e. Blog or Articles)
3) Go to: Settings>Reading

3a) Under “Reading Settings” see these options: Front page displays change from “Your latest posts” to “A static page (select below)”
4) Pick the page you want to be seen first as the “Home Page” from pages you already created (Home or Welcome) and then the page you want to be your “blog” from the pages you created (see step 2). Make sure to select “Save Changes”.
5) Now just look at your site and see how it looks

Getting a API Key:
For some plugins you will be requested to provide an API key on the hosted WordPress. To get that you need to sign up for a WordPress.com account if you have not already and go into the area from the Dashboard: Profile / Personal Setting then look for “Your WordPress.com API key is:” copy that numbers/letters. This link may work if you are signedin to wordpress.com:
http://dashboard.wordpress.com/wp-admin/users.php?page=grofiles-user-settings
and to directly get a API key: http://akismet.com/wordpress/

If you notice the bottom of your WordPress pages you may notice that people can post a comment. If you don’t want that to show up (most people don’t) then just go into the page from Dashboard and scroll down till you see: ”

Few Examples of WordPress Websites:

ycorpblog.com – Yahoo

www.thefordstory.com – The Ford Story

electronicsblog.sel.sony.com – Sony

www.samsungusanews.com – Samsung

www.benjerry.fr/blog – Ben and Jerry

dalesgoldbergcpa.com – CPA Company

www.gowerpower.com – Gower Power

NCSmallBusinessTraining.com – Small Business Training with Martin Brossman

www.assistantangel.com – Assistant Angel

www.elsmithconsulting.com – Consulting site

A few tips on creating Pages and Post so they can get results:

  • At the bottom of each Page and Post answer the questions: What action do I want them to take next? and make sure you state that clearly. e.g. Give use a call? How have you use (the item) in your business?
  • At the end of each Post also have a link to the home page.
  • Have a relevant picture or video on each Page and Post to make it more interesting to view and keeping them on the page longer.
  • For ever photo added make sure to include the relevant keywords so Google can index that photo in the “alternate text” area.

To contact the instructors:

Michelle Gower GowerPower.com

Martin Brossman ProNetworkingOnLine.com

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Gift Ideas: A Few Reasons to Buy Local for the Holidays

November 27th, 2010 | Posted by martinbrossman in buy local - (0 Comments)

Gift ideasWhy buy local for the Holidays?

Looking for Holiday or Christmas gift ideas? Why not buy from a local merchant and help your local community as well?

I asked a few people to share reasons to take advantage of quality products from local merchants in your area and I want to share what they had to say:

“Buying local is a great way to strengthen our community on a smaller scale. As a pebble ripples through a pond, then can the positive effects of our stronger base community to ripple out and help others. One of the educational pieces I give my clients is to make sure you are strong, healthy and practice self-care so that your personal resources are set before you help your families. If our community is strong, then we can cause our own ripple effect within and outside ourselves.”
– Nancy Campbell www.campbelllmbt.com

“People should buy local to help support the local businesses that they like to frequent. We are seeing so many shops and restaurants closing down because they just can’t make it in this economy. How disappointing is it to go to the mall only to find your favorite store gone!

Online shopping does make shopping easy; however, consumers should consider calling a store directly and ordering over the phone instead (usually for the same deal). This will help even the bigger name stores stay in business here in Raleigh. If you have found a certain something on-line, do an Internet search to see if the product is available locally. You would be surprised how many items are made and sold right here in North Carolina. Google and Yahoo of course are good resources, but not all small business are listed or come up on the first page of search, so I would encourage consumers to ask their friends (tweet it, Facebook it or e-mail). I had a neighbor looking for a good dentist the other day. She received so many responses simply by sending an e-mail to a group of friends.

Buying local means to keep as many dollars right here in North Carolina as possible. Independent shops do keep more dollars locally; however, big name stores are equally important to our community (ordering on-line from a chain that is present in NC does not count as shopping locally if it doesn’t directly affect the sales at the local chain). Bottom line: consumers should try to shop at a variety of stores and buy local when they can.”
– Terri Voltz http://www.electricbeanz.com”

“You should support your local businesses because otherwise you’ll be paying the government for your neighbor’s unemployment and welfare checks, food stamps, and health care. If you support these local businesses, you enable them to remain in business, which means people stay employed and the debtload of the country and your state can be reduced. Plus, shipping costs are lower. :)”
– Marie-Dolores Anderson www.pamperedchef.biz/mda

“Consumer spending drives 70% of the economy. But when we shop at the big chain stores the dollars we just spent are overseas before sundown.

When we shop at local family owned stores 68 cents of every dollar returns back to our community and when we buy American Made at these stores every penny supports the growth of our own economy! Yep, the economy and the end of this recession is up to each and everyone of us. So get to work, find the “right gifts” for this holiday season… those that are American Made!

Here’s a few great resources to start with!  Links: http://www.FindAmericanMade.com ,  http://www.AmericanStyle.com , http://www.AmericanCraft.com”
– Wendy Rosen – www.americancraft.com

How can you find local businesses? Just search Google Maps ( http://maps.google.com/ ) for what you are looking for and the area you are in. Like “Toy Stores near Raleigh, NC” and you can tell which are local owned vs big box stores. Also make sure your own local business is listed here.

Lets hear your reasons to Buy Local and If you have or know of a local business that has gift ideas please share them too! Please share this with anyone you know and here is a short URL: bit.ly/buylocalgifts

To see more comments, check out the replies to this questions on LinkedIn and inSide919:

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/answers/marketing-sales/advertising-promotion/viral-marketing/MAR_ADP_VMM/756219-548650

inSide919: http://inside919.ning.com/forum/topics/why-buy-local-for-the-holidays

Related post: Five Reasons for Buying Local

Thanks! Martin Brossman http://NCSmallBusinessTranining.com

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Selling on eBay – The basics of what you need to know – Martin Brossman

November 4th, 2010 | Posted by martinbrossman in on-line Business Tips - (0 Comments)
Ham Radio on eBay - KI4CFS.com

What I bought with my eBay money.

eBay provides a low-cost way to sell items on-line and learn something about what is selling. You don’t need a store front, website or shopping cart to get going. It also provides a great way to learn about having your own business at a low cost. I became sold on eBay when I became interested in Amateur Radio (or Ham Radio) a few years ago (my call sign is KI4CFS). After passing my test I wanted to buy some radio equipment and made an agreement with myself– whatever junk in the attic that I could sell on eBay I could spend on radio equipment. After making a few thousand dollars from “stuff” in my attic, I not only became sold on eBay but now have some very nice radio equipment (see picture). Here are the basics your need for selling on eBay and let me know how you are making money with it. I am going to recommend you set aside $50.00 to learn how to use eBay.

What you will need to sell on eBay: a checking account; a paypal account; internet connection; some boxes and packing tape.

First the general overview. Go to paypal.com and set up an account then go to eBay and set up an account. Paypal is how you will pay for items and receive money. Next sign-in to ebay:

  • Look up your item in completed listings
  • Photo your item
  • Box your item (collected)
  • List your item
  • Sell your item
  • Ship it
  • Use Paypal & Parcel tracking
  • Give feeback after receive

Repeat the process and make lots of money.

Now for a few more detailed tips and notes. Even before you sell you should find a few low cost items to buy online using eBay. Like a new case or plastic protective cover for your phone.

Another resource for selling is http://www.etsy.com/ for crafts.

My video on how to use completed listing to determine the going price of an item on eBay:

Learn more from my Podcast interviewing someone that sell on eBay:
http://inquireonline.info/marketing/making-money-with-ebay

See all my classes and resources on NCSmallBusinessTraining.com Martin Brossman Senior Instructor Small Business Centers

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Definitions of Social Media for Business – The Top Websites

October 28th, 2010 | Posted by martinbrossman in Linkedin - (0 Comments)

Social Media Websites You Need to Know as a Business
Collected by Martin Brossman – (919) 847-4757 Facebook: http://BrossmanOnFB.com

Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org c2010 Wicipedia with exception of the inSideAreaCodes write up by Martin Brossman.  All these sites offer full service free levels of membership.

Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses web-based technologies  to turn communication into interactive dialogues. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content.”[1] Businesses also refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). Social media utilization is believed[who?] to be a driving force in defining the current time period as the Attention Age[citation needed]. A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

Facebook is a social network service and website launched in February 2004 that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc.[1] As of July 2010[update] Facebook has more than 500 million active users,[6] which is about one person for every fourteen in the world.[7][N 1]  Users may create a personal profile, add other users as friends and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, users may join common interest user groups, organized by workplace, school, or college, or other characteristics. The name of the service stems from the colloquial name for the book  given to students at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the US with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better. Facebook allows anyone who declares themselves to be at least 13 years old to become a registered user of the website.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

Facebook Wall: A place where “Friends” and you can post comment, pictures, links or video. The idea came from the small bulletin board  outside many dorm rooms in college where you may post things or your friends can.

Twitter is a website, owned and operated by Twitter Inc., which offers a social networking and microblogging service, enabling its users to send and read other users’ messages called tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the user’s profile  page. Tweets are publicly visible by default, however senders can restrict message delivery to their friends list. Users may subscribe to other author tweets—this is known as following and subscribers are known as followers. As of late 2009, users can follow lists of authors instead of just following individual authors.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005.[3]    The company is based in San Bruno, California, and uses Adobe Flash Video technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as amateur content such as video blogging and short original videos. Most of the content on YouTube has been uploaded by individuals, although media corporations including CBS, BBC, VEVO and other organizations offer some of their material via the site, as part of the YouTube partnership program.[4]   Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users 18 and older. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and now operates as a subsidiary of Google.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube

LinkedIn (pronounced /ˌlɪŋkt.ˈɪn/) is a business-oriented social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003,[2] it is mainly used for professional networking. As of 9 August 2010, LinkedIn had more than 75 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.[3] The site is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.[4] Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linkedin

inSideAreaCodes (first one was inSide919) is a free micro-business and small business networking site that lets businesses build business allies with other businesses in their area, grouped by their area code. It is 100% transparent to Google, allowing for a way to produce local content that can be viewed by anyone. This open system allows a business to increase its local web presence at no cost, but you must be a member to comment on a post. Since the people of a small business are often the best competitive advantage they have, inSideAreaCodes requires that you sign up under your real name and use a real picture (there is a separate place for your business name by your picture). All the inSideAreaCodes.com are built on the Ning platform (see following definition from Wickipedia). See http://www.inSideAreaCodes.com to find one near you or to see the founding group: http://www.inSide919.com

Ning is an online platform for people to create their own social networks,[3] launched in October 2005.[1] Ning was co-founded by Marc Andreessen and Gina Bianchini. Ning is Andreessen’s third company (after Netscape and Opsware). The word “Ning” is Chinese for “peace” (simplified Chinese: 宁; traditional Chinese: 寧; pinyin: níng), as explained by Gina Bianchini on the company blog.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ning_(website).

Connect with Martin Brossman on Facebook at http://BrossmanOnFB.com
Learn more about Small Business Training and Chambers of Commerce Trainning at www.SBCSpeakers.com or his Business training at www.ProNetworkingOnLine.com

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