chris-turner.com -- Chris Turner

WordPress plugins make configuring and customizing your blog a snap. Here is a list of popular and very usefull plugins
Akismet
Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet database to
see if the post is spam. You need a WordPress.com API key to use it.

All in One SEO Pack
SEO plugin for your WordPress blog.

Collapsible Archive Widget
Display Collapsible Archive in your sidebar.

CommentLuv
Plugin to show a link to the last post from the commenter’s blog by parsing the feed at their given URL when they leave a comment. Rewards your readers and encourage more comments.

Comment Redirect
Redirect commenter who just made their first comment to a page of your choice.

Contact Form 7
WordPress contact form plugin.

Exclude Pages from Navigation
Provides a checkbox on the editing page which you can check to exclude pages from the
primary navigation. IMPORTANT NOTE: This will remove the pages from any “consumer”
side page listings, which may not be limited to your page
navigation listings.

Featured Content Gallery
FeaturedContentGallery.com Provides the ability to place a
visual slideshow on your blog.

Google Translator
Translate your blog from sidebar instantly

Google XML Sitemaps
This plugin will generate a sitemaps.org compatible sitemap of
your WordPress blog which is supported by Ask.com, Google, MSN Search and YAHOO.

Homepage Excerpts
(Search it on Google) Shorten post previews on your home page.

LinkWithin
LinkWithin.com Displays recommended stories and associated
thumbnails from your blog.

MaxBlogPress Optin Form Adder
put optin forms on your blog as a widget or within posts. Customizable

OnlyWire Button
OnlyWire WordPress plugin for multiple social bookmarking
submissions

Pretty Link
Shrink, track and share any URL on the Internet from your
WordPress website!

Really Simple CAPTCHA
Really Simple CAPTCHA is a CAPTCHA module intended to be called
from other plugins.
originally created for my Contact Form 7 plugin.

Recent Posts
configurable list of the most recent posts.
Instructions and help online.
Requires the latest version of the Post-Plugin Library to be
installed.

RSS Shortcode
Makes it easy to display an RSS feed on a page

SexyBookmarks
SexyBookmarks adds a (X)HTML compliant list of social
bookmarking icons to each of
your posts. See configuration panel for more settings.

Simple Facebook Share Button
Painlessly add a Facebook® Share button to your posts and/or
pages. Supports all five
button types, including custom button text, and placement above
or below content.
Includes compatibility modes to ensure seamless theme
integration. Button can also be
added using a shortcode or by inserting a function in your
template.

TinyMCE Advanced
Enables advanced features and plugins in TinyMCE. This helps
when writing posts. It
makes the writing section more like MS Word.

Top Commentators Widget
Adds a sidebar widget to show the top commentators in your WP
site. Adapted from
Show Top Commentators plugin.

TweetMeme Retweet Button
Adds a button which easily lets you retweet your blog posts.

Ultimate Google Analytics
Enable Google Analytics on your blog.

Video widget
Adds YouTube/Dailymotion/Google… sidebar videos. This
plugin is based on Executable PHP widget for multiples widgets, YouTube widget for
the idea and Video Embedder for the video html library.

Viral Tweets
software that you place on your website that
allows your users to send out a Twitter Message on your behalf.
You decide what the message is and they send that message to
their Twitter Followers. The Premium version of Viral Tweets also
allows your website visitors to automatically follow you when
they tweet out your message.

What Would Seth Godin Do
Displays a custom welcome message to new visitors and another to
return visitors.

WP-Cumulus
Flash based Tag Cloud for WordPress

WordPress Database Backup
On-demand backup of your WordPress database. Navigate to Tools Z
Backup to get started.

WP likes
Allows visitors to “like” your posts on the fly if they find it
interesting. Now with a
sidebar widget and customizing options.

WP Photo Album
Easily manage and display your photo albums within your
WordPress site.

WP Super Cache
Very fast caching plugin for WordPress.

Chris

Landing Page Success Tips

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:09:00 +0000

Also known as the “name squeeze page” or “lead capture page”, you can build your mailing list by funneling all of your would-be subscribers through the creation of a landing page. Not only do you do the work just once, your traffic driving efforts can be focused onto just one effective method.

The following are tips in creating a successful landing page that converts visitors into subscribers on a very huge percentage.

Success Tip 1: Offer a freebie in exchange for your visitor’s email address. I very much endorse this method of building your mailing list. You can offer a special report or a sample of your paid product to your visitor in exchange for their details such as name and email address.

Success Tip 2: The landing page must be written professionally. When writing your page, treat it as if you are writing a sales letter. While you are not necessarily making a hard sale or try to get someone to buy your product upfront, being able to entice your visitors to give their details to you is just as important as selling.

Success Tip 3: Other than your opt-in form and perhaps important disclaimers and terms, there shouldn’t be any other links on your landing page.

Success Tip 4: Rub in the benefits of the freebie you are offering more than a mere subscription to your newsletter. You should focus most of the attention of the letter on encouraging your prospective visitor to download your free offer. Later, you gently remind your prospect that he or she has nothing to pay but just merely subscribe to your newsletter in exchange for the freebie.

As a final reminder and conclusion, in order to build trust, you can include your hand-written signature or a photo of yourself explaining where you are coming from and how you can help your visitor through your free report on offer.

Chris Turner

Getting started with videoblogging

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 02:48:36 +0000

Videoblogging is the next generation of posting ideas and products over the internet. Everybody knows about textblogging. Now they use videos for a better way of expression. This form of communication may entail a lot of resources, but it is all worth it. If pictures say a thousand words, videoblogging exceeds that by far.

A videoblog requires larger disk spaces on websites, a faster server, and a whole new set of programs to support it. Videoblogs can be fed through RSS. This is technology of syndicating your website to other RSS aggregators.

Videoblogging works with people on the internet expressing their selves. Now if you put this on a business prospective, you are up to a lot of benefits. Think of it as a powerful tool in making showing your prospective customers your line of products or your services. It’s just like showing a commercial all for free. And if you videoblog through RSS, then most probably you are getting your target market.

People like to see what they are going to buy. Some would like to see proof and be sure that they are getting their money’s worth before shelving their dimes on it. All of us know the influence of a thirty second commercial. The effect of videoblogging is similar to that. You show your product, people watch it. If they like it, they buy it. If you present it good enough, they’ll buy the product even if they don’t need it.

Now on the web, things are pretty much static, unlike in television in which all are moving. If you post something that is mobile, it would most likely catch attention. Now imaging your product parading in all it’s royalty through videoblog. You’ll get phone call orders in no time.

If your business is just starting up, you can create a videoblog right at your own home. All you need is your web camera, microphone, video software, and lights. For as long as you know how to use your camera, then you can create a videoblog.

Invest in a good web camera. The higher its resolution is the better the output. And you like to present your goods in the optimum way so get the best one possible. Make a short story, or just capture your goods in one go. Just make sure you are getting the best profile for each. Get those creativity juices flowing.

Lights are important in a production. Make sure you illuminate entirely the area you are going to use to create videoblog. The brighter the area, the crispier the images will be. You can also use lighting effects for added appeal to the presentation.

Should you require sounds for your videoblog, you need a microphone. Record you voice as a voice over for promoting the product and its benefit to consumers. Sounds are as important as videos on a videoblog. It is advisable to make your sound effects as enticing as the video.

Your video editing software can be any program. You need this to finalize your work. You can add sounds, delete some bad angles, or insert some still pictures in there too. Some programs are user-friendly and can be used even with zero knowledge on video editing. Even simple video editing programs should do the trick. Select your background carefully too. The light affects the presentation so make sure that the background and the light complements each other.

Videoblogging is a great tool but it also has it downside. It may slow down the computer so other may steer clear of it. Download time may also be time consuming especially if customer is still on a dial- up connection.

But don’t let those stop you. Let videoblogging be an alternative for you, though it is best to still keep the text and pictures present in your presentation to accommodate all possible viewers of your site.

Nowadays, the more creative you are in presenting your product to the market, they more you are likely to succeed. Videoblogging offers an interactive way of selling. You involve the customers. You instill in them the advantage of your goods. And at times, those are enough to make a sale.

Chris Turner