Question from a Business Blogging student:

One student from our Advanced Business Blogging course asked a great question the other day in re: to customizing her new word press blog that we showed her how to create very easily.

She wanted to make her blog look good and have pictures, but couldn’t afford to hire a graphic artist or photographer to get cool photos to place on her upper header on Word Press.

Here’s one really quick resource I recently learned from John Paul, and I shared it with her.

(I’ll check with JP and his friends in the blogosphere to see if he minds if I share another resource on how to customize our blog reader’s word press blogs, and perhaps he’ll post a comment on this quick post.)

Here’s a clip from what I shared with her.

Let’s start by at least getting you set up with how to find the perfect photo for the topic you’re looking to blog about or highlight in your promotional material, shall we?

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My friend Thomas Pakii Pierce from Blog for Fun and Profit was interviewed last week by Denise Wakeman of Build A Better Blog System. As usual Thomas shined in his interview as he explained in detail the most powerful impact your business blog can have — building your social network.

Here’s a summary of the topics Thomas covered on the call:

What social marketing is fundamentally all about.

Why a social marketing emphasis is even necessary.

How to best position your blog for social marketing success and why blogging has changed the way marketing is being conducted online.

How to establish a successful community around your products, services and brand.

Why voice and value are the key to creating successful community and how to actually fine tune your voice to your blog to effectively communicate with your target audience.

How to leverage relationships with other bloggers for social marketing success.

Visit Thomas’s blog for the link through to the free recording, and while you’re there be sure to check out the great info he provides. Thomas is a passionate blogger and loves the technology. He’s always up to date with the latest things going on in the blogosphere.

Enjoy!

John-Paul Micek
The Click-and-Mortar Business Coach
Business Owners Coaching Club
http:/www.AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com

The © Copyright to all audio, video, images, and text are held by RPM Success Group Inc. and licensed under a Creative Commons License.

[This is the full version of the article in our weekly column in the business section of the Honlulu Star Bulletin.]

Ya’ know, for all the bugs and problems that come along with Microsoft’s products, there’s one thing I’ve always admired about Microsoft – their ability to keep their eye on the business ball.

The latest example of this is Microsoft’s entry into the blogging market, MSN Spaces. They may be latecomers to the blogging game, but they’re monetizing their free blogging service right from the start.

In coordination with the formal launch of MSN Spaces (and an update to MSN Messenger), they’ve opened the door for some incredible 21st Century advertising opportunities. And, the first few companies to jump in are major players like Volvo, Coca-Cola, and Adidas.

Volvo has intelligently positioned itself right on the home page of Microsoft’s blogging portal, MSN Spaces.

But it’s not just home-page positioning that sets Volvo apart. (more…)

If you’re a small business owner looking for music you can use to make your free business podcast sound more professional, this is a business blogging resource you’ll love! New tech Podcaster from Philly, Mike, from the Mike Tech Show had a really kewl song on his new podcast on tech where he shares great tons of free resources for podcasting.

The song was called “goodbye beautiful day“, and I couldn’t help but play it over and over, after listening to several of his podcasts, many of which were live from the Trenton Computer Festival but more importantly, he replied back to my comment on his blog to share where he downloaded the free podcast song from.

Mike shared the resource he got the free music download where you can get Pod Safe music for your podcast.

Garageband.com is the place where you can listen to songs, review the songs, post your songs, or download songs.

Another free podcast resource he shared from his new podcast is for people who want to find sounds for your podcast to entertain while you educate your podcast listeners (aka - your audience).

Here’s what Mike shared about Pod Safe music:

“Here’s the scoop, if the artist has the song to download, you can play it, copy it, just not make a profit from it. We call that, “POD SAFE”, free from the wrath of the RIAA.”

So enjoy downloading free songs from GarageBand and be sure to adhere to the rules, and you’ll be Edu-Taining in no time!

Also be sure to check out and subscribe to Mike Tech’s new Mike Tech Show which also serves as his blog, where he’ll continue to share technology and computer podcast discussing cool sites, software, tips and tricks that will make you more productive at home and work.

Coach Deb
BusinessOwnersJournal.com

PS: Too funny about the blogging and podcasting world. Mike lives not too far from where I used to live back in New Jersey, but apparently, I had to move 6,000 miles away to Hawaii in order to connect with him. Small world the podcast community and blogosphere has created for all of us! Small world indeed…

As a small business owner it’s vital for you to understand the shifts taking place in the 21st century marketplace. In order to prosper, profit, and climb to the top of the heap in your industry or niche, you need to clearly envision where consumers are headed — then get there ahead of them to greet them.

Imagine a marketplace where a new podcast show is downloaded every 44 seconds, and a new podcast listener added every 1.7 minutes! Is this some fantasy of small business owners looking for an edge with consumer controlled media? Or maybe the vain hope of some techie geeks hiding in back rooms around the world?

Nope — they’re actual tracking results for March 05′ from the Australian new media company “The Podcast Network.”

Cameron Reilly, co-founder of The Podcast Network, was both surprised and pleased with the stats. He said, “If we can maintain this momentum, within seven months we’ll have half a million listeners, which is equivalent of the top radio stations in any Australian city. That’s when the podcasting business model will come into its own.” With 60,000 mp3 files downloaded in one month, they’re certainly off to a rousing start!

Mainstream outlets testing the waters

More and more “main stream” outlets like NPR and BBC are joining in on the podcasting bandwagon. And while that’s good news for the future of business podcasting, it also means you need to move fast to establish yourself as a leader in your industry or niche now. It’s much easier to defend a position you already hold, than it is to take a commanding position away from another business to gain their audience.

Get going now — one step at a time

Podcasting is a great tool, but be sure to put one foot in front of the other. You can business podcast without a business blog, but it’s infinitely easier to do it through your existing business blog.

Get your business blog up and running now. By doing so you’ll be setting yourself up to successfully launch your own business podcast or internet radio show, and establish a commanding lead in your industry of niche ahead of your competitors.

Consumer controlled media is the unstoppable wave of the future. A lot of small business owners are going to be shocked at how quickly the marketplace will be changing in the next few years. Those companies that continue to market and do business based on the outdated strategies and tactics of the last century will be in for a big surprise as their client slowly drain away.

Don’t let yourself be that type of business owner.

If you’re a regular reader of AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com. you’re well aware of the trend now, so you can’t plead ignorance. Step up and get the coaching and education you need to establish a solid business blogging strategy. Then, and only then, will you be fully prepared to profit from the business podcasting revolution on the horizon.

How to Master Business Blogging is the best place to learn the proven strategies that will prepare you to profit from business blogging and business podcasting together.

If you use or visit blogs on Blogger.com, watch out for programs looking to load malicious code on your machine. Unsuspecting business owners looking to save a few dollars use Blogger’s blogspot to create their business blog. Then to add things like music and other bells-and-whistles to their blog, they download and install special plugins. When they do, these innocent players make their business blog a platform for the delivery of malicious code to visitor’s computers.

Most of the security breaches have to do with Microsoft Internet Explorer (ooooo — that’s a big surprise.) If you’re using either of the free (and infintely more secure/stable) FireFox or Maxthon browsers, you shouldn’t be susceptible.

Many of the attacks seem to happen when using th “next blog” feature at the top of each blog hosted at blogspot. You can read about the full details and how to protect yourself in an article written by Stefanie Olsen over at news.ZDnet.com.

When you read about these type of issues, don’t let it cause you to miss out on integrating blogs into your business grwoth and marketing plans. Done correctly, business blogging is one of the most powerful tools you can use to master the marketplace of the new millennium.
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Small business owners have been asking me about automated blogging programs they’ve seen. For entrepreneurs and business owners who are serious about building relationships with their target audience and maximizing the impact of their business blogs, beware of the claims these software programs make.

All the blogging automated programs I’ve seen thus far will have some immediate and long-term detrimental effects on your marketing efforts.
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As our inaugural podcast of the Effective Entrepreneur Radio Show we have a two part interview with best-selling author Robert Kiyosaki.

Robert is successful business owner and real estate investor, international educator in financial success, and best-selling author of the “rich Dad, Poor Dad” book series.

Click here to listen to two of our business coaching interview with Robert Kiyosaki. And be sure to subscribe to the Business Owners Journal for email notification of new podcasts of the Effective Entrepreneur™ radio show.

On March 29, 2005, Yahoo launched their new social network communication multiplier – Yahoo 360. It’s a powerful, new, all-inclusive interface that the average person with little or no technical knowledge can use to easily and instantly communicate with an infinite network of friends and associates.

Yahoo 360 is still currently in “invite only” beta testing, but I’ll share a quick overview with you. And more importantly – I’ll explain why understanding this new service is critical to your success as a small-business owner.

First, a quick review of what’s included in Yahoo 360

With Yahoo 360, even the greatest techno-phobe can easily access and use his or her own blog, instant messaging, photo storage/sharing, and Internet radio in one convenient interface. Yahoo 360 includes a host of other sharing tools including reviews and listings of your favorite restaurants, movies, music, etc.

Online social networking and blogging are not unique in and of themselves. Microsoft has stepped into the world of blogging with MSN Spaces. Google has Blogger.com and Orkut for social networking. But even with some current shortcomings, Yahoo has stepped it up to a whole new level.

It’s not for Pros – it’s consumer connection on digital steroids (more…)