Update Your WordPress Blogsite Permalinks and You Will Be Found
September 29, 2009
Lately, I’ve noticed quite a few established blogsites still using the standard WordPress permalink structure. By naming your permalinks well, you may find some of your posts successfully listed at number 1 in the search engines (Google loves blogs). What is a permalink, you ask? A permalink, aka permanent link, is a URL that points to a specific blog post. This looks like jibberish by default: http://example.com/?p=123. The ‘&p=123′ text is called the post slug (isn’t that an awful way to refer to it). The post slug will appear in your URL in place of the full title of your post. By incorporating keywords and shortening your post title, you will absolutely be found and can attract new visitors to your site.
From the WordPress dashboard, select Settings, then Permalinks. From the WordPress Common Settings, choose something like Month and Name or create your own. Personally, I customize the settings and use the year and the post name, like http://www.example.com/2009/sample-post.
Not only will you be found by the search bots, but humans will find the address more visual pleasing and informative, as well. Don’t let this wonderful SEO opportunity pass by. It is such an exciting moment to see a post brought up as number 1 following a Google search. Why not change your permalink structure now and remember to leave a comment after you see your name in Google lights!
Resending a 1ShoppingCart Email Broadcast to a Customer
September 26, 2009
There may be occasions where a few customers have missed a broadcast or autoresponder message with important sign up or purchase details. An easy way to resend the message to specific customers is by creating a new autoresponder group. In this way, you can broadcast only to those who missed the details.
Start by creating a new autoresponder and name it, for example, Resend 0901. View the Client Details for each customer who missed a message and subscribe them to the new autoresponder. Revisit the email broadcast list and select the message to be re-broadcast. The recipient(s) will be the Resend autoresponder group you have just created. Select the broadcast time and send the email.
If customers missed a previous autoresponder message, find the missed message and copy it to the new Resend autoresponder group, then set it to send out with 0 days delay. View the Client Details for each customer who missed the broadcast message and subscribe them to the new autoresponder. This will immediately send them the missed message. Once the re-broadcast has been successful, you can decide whether or not to keep or delete the Resend autoresponder.
Contact us if you need some help with the solution. If you try it out, be sure to stop back and comment on your success!
Email Marketing Gets Better With 1ShoppingCart
September 8, 2009
If you haven’t heard, 1ShoppingCart launched it’s improved email marketing system recently. My fellow virtual assistants and I have been anxiously awaiting this update to check out the now-included newsletter templates for broadcasts or monthly ezines. There are several well-designed format choices available depending on the type of message to be sent out:
- Welcome – clean and simple format for a quick message
- Invitation – single column format for a quick invitation to an event
- Single – single column format
- Right – right sidebar with a main column for articles
- Left – left sidebar with a main column for articles
- Coupon – used for product promotions and announcements
- Promotion – used for product promotions and announcements
The nice selection of templates are ready to use but can be easily customized for client branding, if needed. Here’s a great short video demo to learn more about all the updates … even more reasons why I love working with this shopping cart platform. Go see for yourself!
It’s Official…I’m Master Cart Certified!
July 17, 2009
As a Virtual Assistant, I have learned that the growth of my business truly relies on my ability to continue my education. When I review my goals and budget throughout the year, I incorporate training that reflects those goals for growth or expansion into complimentary areas.
Last year, several of my clients requested shopping cart and affiliate management assistance for their online businesses, as a companion to their bookkeeping tasks. I decided to educate myself beyond my self-starter adaptability and enrolled in several cart courses. I am proud to note that I have now completed Practice Pay Solution’s Cart Strategist and Cart Technician training to become Master Cart Certified in the 1ShoppingCart brand system. I am happily displaying their logo!
And very shortly, I will be even prouder to display another cart certification … but I’ll leave that a surprise. Go ahead … toot your own horn, and let me know what you have in the works.
Intuit Small Business Town Hall on Using Social Media
June 23, 2009
I am happy to say Intuit, makers of QuickBooks software, is continuing to improve. They are building their Small Business Community with town hall events, webinars, training, conferences, Ask the Expert events and more. This Thursday, June 25 at 9am PT (12pm ET), the Town Hall topic will be Using Social Media to Grow Your Business. Join Michelle Long, CPA and the following guests as they discuss how to use social media such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, for effective marketing.
- Scott Wilder – Small Business Group at Intuit
- Chris Kim – Senior Marketing Manager with Intuit
- Dante Layton – Owner of Dante Layton, Inc.
- Ruth Perryman – Owner of the QB Specialists
Cost is free and there will be a Q&A session following the discussion. Hope you can make it!
I’m Excited About The Way WordPress v2.8 Handles Widgets
June 12, 2009
How exciting! WordPress version 2.8 is now available with many cool new features to simplify and improve our user experience. Notably, it is now possible to browse the theme directory like you can the plug-ins directory, all widgets are multi-instance widgets which allow use more than once, and screen options appear on every page to adjust for varying monitor sizes.
My favorite new feature is the ability to drop widgets into any one of your theme’s sidebars in a single screen, inactivate them, and save their settings. I know this would have come in handy when my blog page crashed this week because I used a one-time only widget that was suddenly invisible.
Watch this video for a nice overview of the new WordPress version 2.8.
I know it’s enticing to see that dashboard message “WordPress 2.8 is available! Please update now.” but do not select that link until you back up your database, widgets, your pages and posts and any customization you’ve done. Then, by all means, click away!
