WordPress Blogging Tools and SEO tips for Online Entrepreneurs

Make Blogging Easier with Blog Publishing Tools like Scribefire

September 29, 2009 // No Comments »

I’ve been using the Scribefire plugin for Mozilla Firefox for several weeks and have found many benefits for the entrepreneurial/small business blogger. If you’re just reading up on Scribefire, in a nutshell it is one of many free blog publishing tools that makes posting to your blog easier.  Of course, we all want to do things a little quicker and want convenience, and I’ve found this tool helps both ways.  There are two distinct ways to use Scribefire.

1) As a blog editing tool
2) As a blog publishing tool

Specifically the Scribefire Blog Editor Enables you to:

1. Create draft blog posts in a jiffy and save them to work on them later (without having to log in to your blog publishing platform)
2. Write your post in plain text with a user friendly word processor interface
3. Customize your content in the html editor (you can also use css for content style)
4. Preview your blog post as it would appear right on your blog
5. Import all of your published blog posts into scribefire so that you can easily reference previous posts
6. Preview your published posts just in case you want to copy an excerpt from it into your current blog post
7. Copy the URL (link) to your blog post to easily link it to your current post (by clicking on a "copy" icon)
8. Save your published notes in order to re-purpose your content (i.e. write follow up blog posts as a part of a blog post series)
   

I particularly appreciate the ability to quickly draft a post without the hassle of logging in to my favorite blog publishing platform - WordPress.    When you have a sudden burst of inspiration, you can quickly save your draft in Scribefire or export it at the click of one button save it as a draft on WordPress or your preferred blogging platform.

A view of the scribefire word processing interface is below.

You have a few tabs on the left, one of which is the green share button.   From there, you can bookmark your posts on delicious as well as share them on Digg, StumbleUpon and some other social bookmarking sites.  Additionally, you can share your post as soon as you are done via Facebook.

On the right of the scribefire blog editor you’ll see:

1. The blogs you have added to Scribefire
2. Draft blog entries
3. A list of your blog’s categories
4. Options.  From here you can decide when to publish and what tags to use as well as link to any non WordPress sites and enable some ping services, which will notify the search engines of new content on your blog.  For a cool thorough list of ping servers read Cenay’s Giant List of Ping Servers article .

Also, Scribefire integrates with the Zemanta plugin , a plugin (also for Mozilla Firefox) that easily allows you to add value on your blog, by providing related content you can link to at the click of a mouse button to increase your value for your readers and provide quality linking sources to help build your SEO and authority.  (See this post below for examples).

You can categorize your blog posts with the categories on your blog as you can with ScribeFire.

Scribefire also integrates social media components to help you promote your content (or help it travel further).

The Blog Publishing Limitations of  Scribefire:  SEO and Images

There are a few limitations to using this tool from an SEO standpoint and webmaster.

You’ll have to log in to WordPress to update your title, keywords, blog description.  Although you can add tags in Scribefire.

A second limitation to the tool, especially for new bloggers who are less code savvy is working with images.   You will have to get into some code to add title and alt tags and some SEO tweaks here.

However, if you don’t know html, you could use one of my favorite free blogging tools - Zemanta - to help with getting cool images for your blog articles.

Overall, I highly recommend any serious blogger to use this tool for its ability to help you easily:

• draft
• post
• link back
• re-purpose blog content

The Scribefire blog publishing tool gets a B+ from the Dali Blogger.  Get it and tell me what you think!

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Posted in Blogging Tools

DaliBurgado.com Gets a Facelift and New Direction

August 29, 2009 // 2 Comments »

New WordPress Theme Tweaks, New Direction, New Life at DaliBurgado.com

I’m back here to break the silence after a few months…yikes. So I’m blowing some new life into DaliBurgado.com.

I’m going by my new alias here, "The Dali Blogger" (Dali Blogga if you want to put in the New York accent up in there).

After the not so cool experience of moving this blog from an awful hosting company to my favorite folks (IX Web Hosting ) and working on my other blog at  Secrets to Web Success , I’m back!

I’m going to give myself the goal of blogging here once a week while I work on:

1. 5 other niche blogs
2. Launching a blogging information product with my girls Cenay and Carol at Secrets to Web Success
3. Recording some songs and commercials
4. Working on a big SEO project
5. Working on some web development projects

Did I mention I had my plate full?  ha ha

So please share your thoughts on the new theme tweaks I’ve made and let me know what you’re up to!

I appreciate you.

Dali

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Online Entrepreneurship Interview with Tonya Pruitt

March 12, 2009 // No Comments »

Recently I had the privilege to connect with an successful online entrepreneur friend of mine, Tonya Pruitt , blogger on Affiliate Home Based Business topics.  Tonya shared some lessons in online entrepreneurship and gave us her opinion on the importance of having a positive mindset as well as personal development in your online business success.  I met Tonya on Twitter several months ago and enjoy following her.

Let’s see what Tonya had to say…

How long have you been an online entrepreneur?

I’ve been marketing online since Oct. 1998.

Wow, I actually started my entrepreneurial life back in my senior year of high school in 1994. I spent 5 out of 7 classes in business training classes that enabled me to start my first business that year. I started in Network Marketing at 18 years old.  So I’ve now had almost 15 years of business building training and experience.

Currently I have TLP Unlimited which is the same "business" I’ve had all along though it’s had many different faces. I started off with Network Marketing/MLM and have progressed through the years from that to eBay and now for the past 9 years I’ve been focused on Direct Marketing and Affiliate Marketing as well as web development.

Personally, I love what Affiliate Marketing provides for the individual who chooses to get into this form of sales. You never have to create your own products (unless you want to).  You never touch the products.  You never do refunds and customer support.  You are able to run a very financially sound business without all the headaches of product creation, and distribution … What more could you ask for?!

I also love the ability to pick and choose the markets I want to sell in.  Affiliate marketing enables you to be flexible.  I call it a seasonal type of business.  For example, one of my business models (I’m giving secrets away here) is to promote what’s IN SEASON at the time.  During the holidays I promote products that people want to buy then.  During Spring I promote flowers, gardening stuff, etc.  During summer I promote beach gear, travel packages etc.  During fall I promote winter clothing etc.  During winter I’ll promote snow shovels, gear, clothes, etc.

I also promote the sports products only during their particular season.  It increases sales when you promote while people are really searching for those products.

This is a HOT topic in my opinion.  I personally think if you’ll use the personal development products, and the Mindset products in conjunction with your business development products you will find success. I think the two types of products are NEEDED and very much a part of my own personal system I use to build my success.  They are the key to anyone finding success.

The thing people need to realize though is that only YOU can change your life .  You can read these products all day long but if you don’t apply what you are reading and put into action the tips you receive you will not succeed.

The systems in these books won’t work unless you work the system.

I gage success in any aspect of your life, in how much you help others! If you can provide a good product or service to others and change their lives then you have succeeded.  Otherwise you’re just in it for the money and to me money is not everything!

1. http://profile.to/tlpunlimited (Facebook)
2. http://www.myspace.com/tlpunlimited (Myspace )
3. http://www.twitter.com/tlpunlimited (Twitter 1)
4. http://www.twitter.com/tonyapruitt (Twitter 2)
5. http://www.linkedin.com/in/tlpunlimited (Linked In)
6. http://www.affiliatehomebasedbusiness.com (Blog)
7. Tons more… will leave ya with this.

Visit Tonya Pruitt’s blog at Affiliate Home Based Business dot com.

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Posted in Habits of Entrepreneurs, Online Entrepreneur Interviews

Showing Gratitude and Appreciation for Online Entrepreneurs 2008

December 18, 2008 // No Comments »

As the year’s end draws near, I thought I would dedicate a blog post to highlight the online entrpreneurs who have influenced me the most in 2008.  I also wanted to express my sheer appreciation and gratitude for connecting with the following individuals this year.

The following online entrepreneurs , bloggers and marketers have made a great impact on my business and success this year, and I would love to share who they are with you.

Go follow these amazing folks on Twitter , and subscribe for their blog feeds (if you’ve not yet done so already).

• Remarkablogger , Michael Martine, @remarkablogger , blog consultant extraordinaire, is someone I’ve recently had the pleasure to connect and work with.  He’s provided solid feedback on my growth as a blogger and is someone I call a friend.  Michael, thanks for all your advice and for your guidance.  You really helped me narrow my focus as a blogger and helped me with SEO. Congratulations on your upcoming launch of SEO Nomicon.  I’m reading it today!  Michael also suggested the title of my new e-book Mindset Marketing , so many thanks!

• Web Success Diva , Maria Reyes-McDavia, @websuccessdiva is someone I closely follow because she is always at the top of her game when it comes to Wordpress blogging and social media marketing.  I’ve learned tons simply by reading Maria’s blog and following her Tweets on Twitter.  Maria, thank you for all the valuable information and insights.  I look forward to all you have in store for 2009 and look forward to getting to know you more personally.  You totally rock!

• Myron Golden , my millionaire mentor, Mr. Golden.  Myron has helped me see the true value in myself and also has helped me develop the mindset of a millionaire.   It was after one of Myron’s Six Figure Business School seminars, this Fall that I got inspired to create my e-book and affiliate program for Mindset Marketing .  I appreciate you for all of your phenomenal training and guidance.  Myron’s not on Twitter yet.  Hey Myron hurry up and join us on Twitter!  You rock, my friend.

• Cenay Nailor , my good friend, mastermind buddy, and Chief Leveraging Officer @cenay .  Thanks for all the technical assistance, as I learn code myself :-)  You’ve been a lifesaver this year, and I look forward to working with you on our consulting blog in 2009.  Cenay is a super savvy online marketer and software developer.  If you’re an affiliate marketer her I Frame Generator affiliate link cloaker is a must. Cenay, you rock!

• Andrea Goodsaid , my good friend, Chief Leveraging Officer, and first accountability partner @agoodsaid .  Andrea and I have been friends for some time.   She has helped me tremendously, especially when I was a newbie who didn’t know a thing about blogging.  Andrea inspired one of my earlier blog posts about the importance of accountability partnerships in one’s online business success.  Andrea , thanks for all the talks and keeping me on track.  I look forward to working with you more closely on our consulting blog.

• Deontee Gordon , my buddy and Chief Leveraging Officer @deontee .  I’m so glad we connected and that we’ll be working more closely in 09 at the blog!  Deontee is a Facebook marketing pro, and I’m really glad we became friends in 2008.  You have one of the most radiant personalities online.  I’m so looking forward to your Facebook 101 product and working with you!

• Anthony Whyms , my friend and host of Moving Forward Marketing at Blog Talk Radio @anthonywhyms .  Thank you for being such an instrumental part of my e-book launch and for having me on your show.  You provided so much great advice and have helped me a great deal.  Anthony , I look forward to our continued relationship and Joint Venturing on many many other projects.  It has been really fun!

• Ed Phillips of Teleseminar Nation and Telesemainar Web Folk @EdLovesSumo .  Thanks for the friendship and assistance in promoting Mindset Marketing.  Ed and I have so much in common it’s not even funny.  I look forward to working with you in 2009, Ed.

• Ray Johnson - New breed Internet marketing and relationship builder extraordinaire @RayJohnson .  It’s been awesome following you and getting to know you.  Congratulations on the launch of Subscriber List Secrets !  I look forward to working with you in 2009.

• Jonathan Gillardi - Thanks for your powerful testimony on Mindset Marketing @Jgillardi .  I am honored to know that an online newbie helped you see from a different perspective and helped you gain more clarity and focus.  I am so humbled.  I look forward to getting to know you a lot better.  I appreciate you a great deal, my friend.

• Paul Cooley - Internet Mentor and Blog Talk Radio Show Host @paulcooley .  Thanks for always commenting here on the blog, Paul.  I am excited about your new blog at Possessing your Land and look forward to joining you on your Blog Talk Radio show in two days.  I’m excited to be working with you too.  Gosh, I’ve met some cool folk leaders year!

• Michael Millman , my copywriting hero @MichaelMillman .  I met Michael, as most of the above people I’m grateful for having connected with on Twitter.  He graciously looked at some email copy for my e-book Mindset Marketing and gave me some phenomenal advice.  I was quite floored he said my copy was very good overall.  Michael, I appreciate you and look forward to learning from you.

• Levi Wardell, my SEO champion, blogger at Serpable , and frequent blog commenter @trontastic .  It’s awesome to have connected…yes via Twitter and here on the blog.  I look forward to your new SEO e-book!

There are many many other awesome folks I’ve met online this year by simply being on Twitter and blogging!  I appreciate all of you.  And I really appreciate you as my reader for taking the time to read my blog and participate.

What’s in Store for Dali Burgado in 2009?

1) More Blogging

• Here and at Secrets to Web Success , with my Chief Leveraging Officers and business partners.
• To cover tutorials on Twitter, Facebook, Copywriting, Joint Venturing, Relationship Building and more!

2) Video and pod casts (yes I’ll be producing some video for ya - I’ve had technical issues here this past week, so maybe I’ll crank out one or two before the year is out)

3) More Information Product Launches - Mindset Marketing on steroids next year.  I’m making it into a course, and I’ll be working my tail off to coach others to create their own information products.

4) Public Speaking -  First here locally in Stafford, VA, but also anywhere and everywhere.

Who are the people YOU are most grateful for meeting/connecting with in 2008, and what are their Twitter IDs?

To a phenomenal 2009!

In appreciation!

Dali Burgado

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Posted in Gratitude

Creating Clarity in Blogging

November 12, 2008 // No Comments »

Hey All,

In order to create clarity sometimes it’s necessary to connect with leaders who are where you’d like to be.

Last Friday I connected with Michael Martine of Remarkablogger for a blogging strategy session.  Michael is a seasoned blogger and blogging consultant.   The blog strategy session was phenomenal to say the least :-)  Michael spent over an hour with me on Skype providing honest critical feedback about this blog you are reading.

He was super helpful in teaching me some cool SEO techniques as well as in helping me develop a clearer vision for this blog.

To be honest, when I started this blog, I didn’t do enough keyword research to ensure I had nabbed the best niche and profitable main keywords. I just went with my gut feeling and began to blog about the things I was passionate about.

Even though I am sometimes on page 2 of Google for one of my main keywords, “online productivity, ” I find that no one is looking for the personal productivity material I have here.  Rather they are looking for internet applications to help save time.  It wouldn’t matter if I were on page 1 of Google because I wouldn’t provide the solution THEY would be looking for.  So, I the lesson here is that I have to define my niche more clearly.

Michael helped me realize I should narrow my niche even further.

I could become angry and mope, but I choose to look at it as a moment of clarity.  At least I took action.  I now realize I can give up on that keyword phrase and move on.

What’s more, you seem to have found me somehow anyway!

Many of you follow me on Twitter, Facebook, My Blog Log or Blog Catalog.  I have already begun to develop a loyal following in you.  Had I hemmed and hawed about keyword research before beginning this blog I probably wouldn’t even have this blog or connected with you.

I say that to tell you this…taking any kind of action in your online endeavors will always create clarity.  Imperfect action is better than no action at all.

It is the way you perceive the outcome of your actions that will determine whether or not you can move on with excitement or disappointment.

As an online entrepreneur, you must look at every outcome as a learning lesson and move on.

So, within the next few weeks I’ll be making some good changes to the blog.  My focus will be more on successful mindset development and creative marketing.

My social media marketing and blogging content will go on another blog.  I am working on with some really neat leaders in social networking and Internet marketing at Secrets to Web Success.  It is also where you will be able to find a range of blogging and social networking consulting services too.

In addition, I’ll be unveiling a pretty powerful e-book on developing the mindset of a master marketer within the next few days that will be a cornerstone product here at daliburgado.com.  Make sure to check your tweets or your RSS reader for that announcement!

In the meantime, let me know what else you would like to hear about on this blog. This blog means nothing without your input!

I appreciate you!

Dali Burgado

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Posted in Habits of Entrepreneurs, Internet Marketing Productivity

Achieve Google Page Rank Fast

October 27, 2008 // No Comments »

Google Pagerank.

After subscribers, it’s what all new or seasoned bloggers want.  Whether you are still trying to get your first one or are working on improving your page rank below you will find:

• The benefits of improving your page rank
• Its definition
• And how a new blogger achieved her first page rank in a little less than 3 months (officially it takes 3 months for Google to update page rank but I knew I had one before it appeared).

Benefits of Achieving Google Page Rank

The higher your page rank, the easier it is for your prospects to find you.  By working on your page rank you improve your visibility and exposure to the world.  Very powerful!  Although, having Google page rank is not synonymous with SEO (search engine optimization).   It does help somewhat in terms of search engine visibility.

According to Google:

• “PageRank reflects our view of the importance of web pages by considering more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Pages that we believe are important pages receive a higher PageRank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results.”

Before telling you how a newbie blogger of 3 months (that would be yours truly) achieved a Google page rank within her first 3 months as a blogger, let’s get to the definition of the page rank so we are all on the same page!

Definition:

A Google Page Rank is the number from 1-10 that Google gives a website or blog and determines that website or blogs’ importance.  The Page Rank (PR) is based on the number of inbound links (or websites that link to your site).   However, Google not only takes into consideration the sites that are linking to you plainly.  It also calculates the number of inbound links that come from pages that are already highly ranked.   The Page Rank of a website or blog is determined also by the Page Rank of other sites.

If you’ve installed the Google toolbar you’ll see a green bar indicating any site or blogs Page Rank.

Achieving Google Page Rank is more than just knowing this definition.  One must apply a few techniques consistently in order to achieve one, two or more!

Below is how I have worked toward achieving my Google page rank fast:

1) Great Content and Keyword Density

When I write a blog post I ensure that I have great content and that I have my keywords spread a few times throughout my posts (don’t overkill).   I’ve studied this, and I don’t know exactly how Google calculates this, but I do know that you do have to do some keyword research and make sure you blog title, post, and keywords are all in alignment.  Not rocket science, right?!  In addition, there are several cool plugins that assist you with this (I am listing them down below).

When I write, I do think about a topic before doing my keyword research.   I don’t let the keyword research dictate what to write about.   On the flip side, I do attempt to find some winnable keywords to shoot for.  I also aim to shoot straight from the heart and from a place of service and value whenever I put up a blog post.  I don’t like fluff or filler, so everytime I blog I ensure it’s a good post.

When a blogger writes, it should come from the heart.  As an aside, pay attention to what others in your social networks are speaking about.   Tons of great blog post ideas will come from just that.

2) Title

Within the last two months I have been creating better titles.  It is important that your main keyword be in your blog title.  It is also important that the keyword be closer to the beginning of the title as well.  There are a few cool plugins that help you optimize your blog title too.  (See Below).

3) Commenting

Over the course of my blogging I have made it a conscious effort to leave comments on other blogs in the “productivity” and “entrepreneur” niche.   I have not counted my comments (as I probably should have) :-).  However, I do know that every week I leave at least 10+ comments on other blogs (It was way more when I first started blogging).  I also consciously leave comments on high page ranking blogs.

An important thing to know is that you’ll want to make sure your comments are full of value.

What I like to do is read the entire post and comment on my favorite part of the blog or add a thought that can add value to the community there.  I also end by telling them I appreciate them for sharing their thoughts.

I once heard the greatest need we have is the need to feel appreciated, so I like to say “I appreciate you”.  It makes me feel good, and it makes the other blogger feel great.

4) Having links to your Blog on Social Networking and Bookmarking Sites

Within the last three months, I have joined (or increased my presence on) several social networking and bookmarking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Blog Catalog, My Blog Log, and several others, and have added my blog link in everything I join.

My main two sources of social networking traffic come from Twitter and Facebook.

5) Articles, HubPages and Squidoo

I have written a few articles, hubpages, squidoo and one or two videos with my blog url (link) in everything, so I have other sources pointing back to my blog.  I have been slacking in this deparment, but I know this helps too.

6) Wordpress Plugins that assist with Search Engine Optimization (SEO

1. All in One SEO Pack -  Probably the most popular one, as it is a recommended plugin as soon as you get your Worpress blog set up.

2. SEO Title Tag 2.3.2 - Allows you to search engine optimize your blog’s title tags.

3. SEO Slugs 1.0- Removes common words like ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘in’ from post slugs to improve SEO. 

4. Commentluv 2.5.3 - Shows a link to the last post from the commentor’s blog in their comment. 

For my favorite resources on how to increase google page rank go to:

http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/google.shtml

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Increase-Google-Page-Rank&id=525462#

http://wordpress.com/tag/increase-google-page-rank/

Have any other ideas about increasing or achieving google page rank?  Let us know!  I appreciate you!

Your Partner in Online Productivity and Success,

Dali Burgado

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Posted in Internet Marketing Productivity

5 Steps to Avoid Internet Marketing Information Overload

August 12, 2008 // No Comments »

If you are an Internet Marketer, or an aspiring Internet Marketer, chances are you’ve been sucked into the vortex of information on the best way to make money online and continue to learn about the latest and greatest best ways make money online programs.  And even likelier it has led to some serious Internet marketing information overload !

It is super easy to get caught up in learning what others are doing to make money online and find yourself not doing the important things you need to do in order to build your email list or blog following.

I recently came across two successful bloggers who blog about Internet Marketing (Courtney Tuttle and Yaro Starak ) and Personal Development who helped shed some light on this topic.

In a recent blog post, Courtney Tuttle speaks of an experience with a client that spent a good deal following "make money online" blogs and always looking for the hottest way to make money online. According to Tuttle, the main thing a new blogger should be focusing on is content creation and link building instead of staying on top of what others are doing to make money online. For a full view of this blog post visit:

Are You Suffering from Internet Marketing Information Overload

I also subscribed to Yaro Starak’s blog recently and read his "Blog Profits Blueprint" which not only speaks of information overload being a reason most bloggers fail but also adds "lack of direction" to the recipe.

When one does not have clear goals, a vision, or a plan it is easier to get sucked into the vortex of ever-changing Internet Marketing techniques and the best way to make money online strategies.

Below you’ll find 5 Steps to avoid Internet Marketing information overload that have greatly helped me achieve laser focus and productivity in my Internet Marketing efforts.

I look forward to your comments!

5 Steps to avoid Internet Marketing Information overload:

1) Set ONE Goal for the next 30 days. Don’t get goal crazy, but focus on one aspect of your Internet Marketing business you would like to grow. My goal the next 30 days is to create 1 Squidoo lens per week and an E-Zine article pointing to each Squidoo lens, which will point to my blog to gain readership and get more of myself out there.

2) Plan your week every Sunday or Monday. What action steps will move you forward in reaching your Internet Marketing goals? If you need more training to fine-tune some skills only focus on the training related to your goal for that month (i.e. if your goal is to build relationships with people on Facebook or Twitter stick to trainings that deal with online relationship building preferably on exactly Facebook or Twitter – not on creating squeeze pages).

3) Select 3 or 4 Tasks to Focus on Per Day. Don’t go crazy with a "to do" list. Really prioritize and select a few actions that will help you move forward in your Internet Marketing goals. Today for instance my goals were to: 1) Begin working on a new Squidoo lens (keyword research), 2) Submit my latest article to several article directories with my automatic article submitter 3) work on this blog post.

4) Find an Accountability Partner. An accountability partner is someone who shares similar goals and will agree to hold you accountable to what you say you will do – ideally on a daily basis. Accountability partners motivate each other and help each other prioritize. You should articulate your goals to each other and check in daily (via phone or Instant Message) to get pumped up for a productive day.

5) Don’t check email more than 3 times a day – Let’s face it, Internet Marketers like to opt-in to the guru’s email lists and learn from the best. While it’s important to stay on the cutting edge and learn from the top dogs, you have to be careful not to spend a good portion of your day in learning what’s the hottest Internet Marketing Strategy and what’s the latest make money online formula. Focus on your goals. If you notice yourself spending more than a half hour at a time in "learn mode" get back on track to content creation and link building, as Courtey Tuttle recommends!

I hope this helps you in your efforts to avoid Internet Marketing information overload.

Your Partner in Online Prosperity,

Dali Burgado

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Posted in Internet Marketing Productivity