Our world is developing and evolving quickly and today we live in a fast moving information age. The flow of information is moving so fast that at times it seems impossible to keep up. People are rushing around, our work load is usually overbooked, there are not enough hours in the day and everyone appears stressed. Let's face it in the real world some things we have no control over, but we do have control over how we manage these things either at home or at our place of work.
Benjamin Franklin once said "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." By getting your life and work in order will help increase your sense of self-esteem, confidence, and pride. Better organisation will help you to reach your goals in life and in time help you become an extremely successful person. Without some form of organisational structure your life could become chaotic and your days could be full of stress. Surely we all want to make our lives easier so it is advisable to take some time to get organized! The best way to do this is by using a day planner or personal organiser (or Terminplaner for all you German's out there). These are usually small (ish) portable folders / books which usually containing a diary, calendar, address book, and other sections which help you to organise your time and information. Digital day planners / personal organisers and online organisers are also available.
Day planner / personal organisers are the perfect tools to help people organise their busy schedule, keep track of upcoming events, and maintain a list of ongoing tasks they need to accomplish. Some day planners even contain useful other items such as maps, magnifying glasses, telephone codes and notepaper.
The most famous branded (and in my opinion the best on the market) day planners are those made by Filofax. The name Filofax has become synonymous with personal organisers and its brand name is now generally used to describe all types of personal organisers / day planners.
There are many advantages to getting yourself organised that include reduced stress, saving time, and working more efficiently. It is even economical to make sure you are organised. By taking the time to plan and organise your life or work, you'll end up saving time and/or money. Generally for me I find that since I have used a day planner I can better manage my time (work and social) and prioritise all my daily tasks. In my mind things now seem to fall into place when working within deadlines and limits. I have managed to achieve more balance in my life.
Also I just want to finish by saying that by becoming more organised does not mean that all the spontaneity and fun of life goes away. In fact I have found that it actually increases my ability to accomplish more and enjoy my life to its fullest.
So go get organised and take one more step towards your goals!!
Friday, 7 May 2010
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
The use of Twitter
We probably are a lot to ask the same old question.... Is Twitter of any use? Why is Twitter so successful?
First of all, Twitter is a microblogging service, which means that Twitter users can only write short messages on their account that can't go over 140 characters. This 140 characters limit ensures Twitter that no one else tries to use it for anything else.
A lot of people think it is completely stupid but it is working! The reason for that is because Twitter is another way of telling the world what you are doing.
Many companies have started using Twitter as well but for different purposes. By using the microblogging service their main goals are:
- To develop their network and communicate with their customers.
- Watch what their competitors do.
- Get new clients.
- Drive more traffic to their sites.
- Promote their products or services.
This is only a short list though.
First of all, Twitter is a microblogging service, which means that Twitter users can only write short messages on their account that can't go over 140 characters. This 140 characters limit ensures Twitter that no one else tries to use it for anything else.
A lot of people think it is completely stupid but it is working! The reason for that is because Twitter is another way of telling the world what you are doing.
Many companies have started using Twitter as well but for different purposes. By using the microblogging service their main goals are:
- To develop their network and communicate with their customers.
- Watch what their competitors do.
- Get new clients.
- Drive more traffic to their sites.
- Promote their products or services.
This is only a short list though.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Conversion and Usability of a website
Web marketing first focused on traffic which meant the more traffic went to a site the better. Good quality content was the rule to bring traffic!
But it has become a lot more difficult to attract visitors to a site over the past years mainly because the number of commercial sites has dramatically increased. As a result, we need a lot more than good content to attract internet users
Thankfully, the development of search engine optimisation has come at the right time to become some sort of fine art which goal is to always find new ways to bring traffic and more particularly conversions to a site.
But the quest of becoming number one of Google or the other search engines can sometimes put into jeopardy the main point which is to show a good looking and clear website for the users.
Even if it is important for a website to rank well on the search engines, there is very little point in being top but having a bad looking site that will not generate any conversions.
That is why your site needs to be easy to use and give calls to actions so the users know clearly and quickly where to go to buy or register and more importantly know what the site is about. It is also extremely important for users to be able to go through the site easily and to find what they are looking for quickly.
But it has become a lot more difficult to attract visitors to a site over the past years mainly because the number of commercial sites has dramatically increased. As a result, we need a lot more than good content to attract internet users
Thankfully, the development of search engine optimisation has come at the right time to become some sort of fine art which goal is to always find new ways to bring traffic and more particularly conversions to a site.
But the quest of becoming number one of Google or the other search engines can sometimes put into jeopardy the main point which is to show a good looking and clear website for the users.
Even if it is important for a website to rank well on the search engines, there is very little point in being top but having a bad looking site that will not generate any conversions.
That is why your site needs to be easy to use and give calls to actions so the users know clearly and quickly where to go to buy or register and more importantly know what the site is about. It is also extremely important for users to be able to go through the site easily and to find what they are looking for quickly.
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Monday, 22 February 2010
HTML Newsletters
An HTML Newsletter or Online newsletter is a newsletter sent by email to the person who subscribed to it. A properly designed newsletter will look a lot like a web page. The reason for that is because it is created by using HTML.
The main advantage of this type of newsletter is that it is much more stylish and prettier than a text newsletter that will look like a simple email, or a spam.
There are mainly two elements to such a newsletter. The first one is the webpage you have designed for your newsletter, and the second element is the process of sending that webpage via email to the subscribers.
You can either create the webpage yourself and use a distribution service to send it, or use a newsletter service that will do everything by using templates and then distribute the email for you to a certain number of people.
The path you chose to take will obviously depend on your HTML skills and the time you can allocate to do all the work. Using a specialized company to do that might sound expensive at first but you will probably save time and get better results in the end.
Creating an HTML newsletter can take time if you don’t really know anything about HTML but it is not something that hard to do. You will obviously have a huge advantage if you already know how to use webpage creation softwares like Dreamweaver or FrontPage for example.
The main advantage of this type of newsletter is that it is much more stylish and prettier than a text newsletter that will look like a simple email, or a spam.
There are mainly two elements to such a newsletter. The first one is the webpage you have designed for your newsletter, and the second element is the process of sending that webpage via email to the subscribers.
You can either create the webpage yourself and use a distribution service to send it, or use a newsletter service that will do everything by using templates and then distribute the email for you to a certain number of people.
The path you chose to take will obviously depend on your HTML skills and the time you can allocate to do all the work. Using a specialized company to do that might sound expensive at first but you will probably save time and get better results in the end.
Creating an HTML newsletter can take time if you don’t really know anything about HTML but it is not something that hard to do. You will obviously have a huge advantage if you already know how to use webpage creation softwares like Dreamweaver or FrontPage for example.
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Social Bookmarking sites
Since we are now in the social media era or whatever they call it, let’s talk about social bookmarking sites!
The principle of social bookmarking sites is fairly simple. It’s more or less the same as when you bookmark a web page on the browser on your computer. The only difference this time is that you can share your discoveries with the rest of the world.
The best known bookmarking sites are Digg and Del.icio.us. They aren’t the same and work slightly differently. While you can bookmark the homepage or a specific page on a site on Delicious, on Digg you must “digg” videos, images or news/articles.
Most of these sites are not very valuable for SEO people looking for back links as they mostly are “no follow” links that won’t be counted by Google (but should be by Yahoo). But on the other hand they are great to spread the news or let people know about a new site (or simply a site). Digging an article or bookmarking a page could bring hundred of vistors to your site!
The principle of social bookmarking sites is fairly simple. It’s more or less the same as when you bookmark a web page on the browser on your computer. The only difference this time is that you can share your discoveries with the rest of the world.
The best known bookmarking sites are Digg and Del.icio.us. They aren’t the same and work slightly differently. While you can bookmark the homepage or a specific page on a site on Delicious, on Digg you must “digg” videos, images or news/articles.
Most of these sites are not very valuable for SEO people looking for back links as they mostly are “no follow” links that won’t be counted by Google (but should be by Yahoo). But on the other hand they are great to spread the news or let people know about a new site (or simply a site). Digging an article or bookmarking a page could bring hundred of vistors to your site!
Friday, 5 February 2010
Free Movies Online
Watching movies is one of the best ways to do entertain ourselves. We can be taken to a completely imaginary land, starting to guess who has done what and who will win in the end.
Some of us are just addicted to movies and would spend days watching some, whereas others would just see it as a fascinating pastime.
There is a way to watch movies that has been more or less overlooked, which is the free way. We are not talking about pirate sites offering to download illegally the latest movies for free. These sites are dangerous, not only because you could download viruses and Trojans without knowing it but if you get caught watching illegally downloaded movies, you may be in trouble. No we are talking about the good guys who provide us with free movies to watch online legally. You may all think that it is mad and that it only exists in our dreams but you are wrong!
It exist. Sites providing free films need to pay the license for the movie if it is still protected and hasn’t fallen into public domain yet, and that’s why you will often have adverts at the beginning of the movie or on the site which purpose is partly to pay for the license so that the sites can provide you with free movies.
This also works because you can’t download the movies and can only watch them using streaming.
Some of us are just addicted to movies and would spend days watching some, whereas others would just see it as a fascinating pastime.
There is a way to watch movies that has been more or less overlooked, which is the free way. We are not talking about pirate sites offering to download illegally the latest movies for free. These sites are dangerous, not only because you could download viruses and Trojans without knowing it but if you get caught watching illegally downloaded movies, you may be in trouble. No we are talking about the good guys who provide us with free movies to watch online legally. You may all think that it is mad and that it only exists in our dreams but you are wrong!
It exist. Sites providing free films need to pay the license for the movie if it is still protected and hasn’t fallen into public domain yet, and that’s why you will often have adverts at the beginning of the movie or on the site which purpose is partly to pay for the license so that the sites can provide you with free movies.
This also works because you can’t download the movies and can only watch them using streaming.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
How to check backlinks on the Search Engines
Here is an interesting video i found on You Tube on how to measure backlinks (or inbound links).
Very interesting!
Very interesting!
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
A Gym Myth: Spot reduction
While we are well in the winter and people start thinking about sun and sandy beaches, more and more decide to fight the cold weather and get to a fitness club to lose the weight accumulated during chrismas or simply gain some muscles to look nice on the beach.
Every year when people go the those clubs for the first time, they all hear from their friend or still thinkat about those exercise myths.
We probably all know those myths and all think they are true.
The most well known myth is the spot reduction. Spot reduction does not work and loosing weight in a particular spot is extremely difficult. The only way to actually lose weight at a particular point is to use plastic surgery with liposuction.
The reason for that is fairly simple actually. Fat belongs to the whole body and is not compartimented by body parts. As a result, focusing on a part is not really going to get the fat away but will big up your muscles.
Every year when people go the those clubs for the first time, they all hear from their friend or still thinkat about those exercise myths.
We probably all know those myths and all think they are true.
The most well known myth is the spot reduction. Spot reduction does not work and loosing weight in a particular spot is extremely difficult. The only way to actually lose weight at a particular point is to use plastic surgery with liposuction.
The reason for that is fairly simple actually. Fat belongs to the whole body and is not compartimented by body parts. As a result, focusing on a part is not really going to get the fat away but will big up your muscles.
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Freebies Sites
Freebies websites have started to be used by everybody from teenagers to parent eager to make savings. It's got us like a mania, and everybody now wants to know where they can save some cash and get freebies.
Housewives or unemployed parents now spend their days trying to find sites offering vouchers or free coupons for mainly food but also anything they can get as long as they can save a few quids here and there.
Young couples short of money will hunt places they can go for free for a meal or at least not pay the whole meal, especially with Valentine Day. Large families will almost make it one of their hobby to find "buy one get one free" offers or to get free offers. It is probably a relief for parents to be able to get a free toy, even if it is a small one when they do not have much money, and they know their kid will just love it.
A lot of sites specialising in freebies have been created in the sole purpose to tell people where to find vouchers, free meals or two for one offers.
Those sites will list carefully which supermarket is doing special offers and on what, or which company offers a freebie or a registration to anything.
Forums are also a good way to communicate where to find freebies, and the mention of a website offering something for free on one of theses can bring it thousands of vistors eager to get a freebie.
You can also watch movies online for free if you know where to look. There is nothing illegal here and some websites offer free films to watch, usually on streaming. The reason for that is usually because the adverts on their site or during the film are paying for the licence for the movies. Those sites wouldn't offer free movies to watch online if they weren't getting anything out of it.
Housewives or unemployed parents now spend their days trying to find sites offering vouchers or free coupons for mainly food but also anything they can get as long as they can save a few quids here and there.
Young couples short of money will hunt places they can go for free for a meal or at least not pay the whole meal, especially with Valentine Day. Large families will almost make it one of their hobby to find "buy one get one free" offers or to get free offers. It is probably a relief for parents to be able to get a free toy, even if it is a small one when they do not have much money, and they know their kid will just love it.
A lot of sites specialising in freebies have been created in the sole purpose to tell people where to find vouchers, free meals or two for one offers.
Those sites will list carefully which supermarket is doing special offers and on what, or which company offers a freebie or a registration to anything.
Forums are also a good way to communicate where to find freebies, and the mention of a website offering something for free on one of theses can bring it thousands of vistors eager to get a freebie.
You can also watch movies online for free if you know where to look. There is nothing illegal here and some websites offer free films to watch, usually on streaming. The reason for that is usually because the adverts on their site or during the film are paying for the licence for the movies. Those sites wouldn't offer free movies to watch online if they weren't getting anything out of it.
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