Adding an Avatar with Gravatar

People tend to forget how important it is to add a face, personality and means of connection to their blog comments and posts.  Either they don’t know how or their too lazy to take 5 minutes to professionalize their image.  If you are going to take the time to comment on blogs then you need to take the time to add a face to those comments. If you want to see exactly how to do this then just go to the bottom of this post and watch the video.

With Gravatar, adding an Avatar has never been easier.

It is so basic and yet I am surprised at how many fail to use it.

An Avatar is a way for people to connect with you and see “the face” behind the comment.

Let’s take a look at an example of comments with and without a face.

Are you able to see the difference?

One more thing; add a way for people to connect with you when you comment.  In most comment sections on blogs it will give you an option to enter your website.  If you don’t have a website then at least include your Facebook or Twitter URL.

Now for the how to video:

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3 Pros of the WordPress Highlighter Plugin

I came across a cool little WordPress plugin, which is still in beta, that allows the visitor to highlight, comment and share any portion of a post to Facebook and Twitter.

You can see the tab hanging out of the left side of the screen that gives a brief explanation.  If you scroll down this post, or any other post, a drop down will appear at the top.

Here are the Pros:

  1. You can highlight and comment on any portion of the post.  This is great when you have a specific question or comment about a specific phrase within the post.  The comments then show in the comment section.  The same is also true for any images within the post.
  2. You can share the highlighted section on the two largest social media forums Facebook and Twitter.
  3. You can email the highlighted section.

Below is an example of the Highlighter WordPress plugin in action.  The same is also true for images.  Go ahead and give it a try and share your feedback.  Do you or do you not like it?  Should it stay or should it go?

Highlighter WordPress Plugin

4 Steps to Adding a Custom Photo Gallery to your WordPress Blog

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Have you ever been on a website that had photo galleries that revolved through the various photos with the click of a mouse?  Photographers, wedding planners, and artists are the most common niches to use this feature.  What if you used it to share your story and brand yourself?

In this post I am going to walk you through the steps of setting up one of the most custom looking photo galleries that you can install on your WordPress blog and website; at the end of the post I have added a video tutorial that will walk you through the entire process…let’s get started.

1.  You want to determine if you want to use the WordPress plugin in a post or page.

Both are fine and the plugin works great on either one.  Let’s just start with a WordPress post.  At the top of my post I like to put a call to action or something that will get the ready to click on an image; this is just personal preference.  Click on the “add an image” icon and select the images that you want in your WordPress photo gallery.  You can pull the images from three different locations.

2.  Select the images that you want in your photo gallery and save the changes.

3.  After you have saved the changes you can make some adjustments to how you want your photo gallery to display.

These can be changes such as random, ascending or descending and so on.  The only box that you MUST have checked is the “Image File” button. You have to have the thumbnails linking to the “Image File” or your photo gallery will not work.  After you have made the adjustments that you want click “insert gallery”.  Go ahead and publish your post at this time.

4.  Go to your plugins tab and install the “jQuery Lightbox For Native GalleriesWordPress plugin.  That’s it!

You know have a professional photo gallery installed.  Let me know what you think below.


Adding Video to your WordPress Website

Adding video from YouTube, Vimeo and other media sites to your WordPress website enhances the overall aesthetics and feel of your posts and pages.  Understanding how to manipulate the embedded code further changes the dynamics and can increase user interaction and length of time on your website.

Let’s get started…

1.  You want to make sure that you have the “HTML” tab open before inserting the embedded code.

2.  Go to YouTube and find the video that you want to include in your post and website.  Once you have the selected video you will see an <Embed> button below the player.  Click on this button.

3.  The <Embed> button will open up below the video and will show adjustments that can be made to the videos size, quality and color.  Once you have made the necessary changes you want to copy the code that is highlighted in yellow.

4.  Go back to your website and paste the code in the HTML tab and click Publish.

The code will look like this:

<object width=”1280″ height=”745″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/Aj-MpP5n3uE?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/Aj-MpP5n3uE?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”1280″ height=”745″></embed></object>

5.  View your post and see if any necessary adjustments need to be made.  You can make them by adjusting the videos width and height.  You want to make sure that you adjust both areas in the embedded code for width and height.

<object width=”1280” height=”745“><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/Aj-MpP5n3uE?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/Aj-MpP5n3uE?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”1280” height=”745“></embed></object>

6. If you would like your video to auto play on load simply insert the code &autoplay=1 at the end of the video ID within the embedded code as shown below.

<object width=”1280″ height=”745″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/Aj-MpP5n3uE&autoplay=1?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/Aj-MpP5n3uE&autoplay=1?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”1280″ height=”745″></embed></object>

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The Power of Personal Branding

If you are an internet marketer, YOU are your brand. You have to market yourself; therefore you need to be consistent. You have to be true to who you are. Take note of the things that make your personality and you should improve the gifts that you have. Compensate for the ones that you lack.

These days, when you say “brand”, people instantly think material branding. Branding from commercial products, these companies that have made their mark in our consciousness. And how did they make that mark exactly? It’s through years and years of consistent quality and unique product packaging. A good marketing and advertising strategy helped too. And what was achieved was a sort of trademark, a brand, a guarantee that you will get your money’s worth.

You may wonder why you should have a personal brand. Well, look at you and your business as living stories. Tell your audience, in this case, your customers what makes you and your business unique. Tell them what sets you apart from your competition. Think of those moments that make you stand out. You have to help them understand your tools and your community. You can do this by improving your own communication skills.

When you talk to your customers about your business, deal with them as if you are an annual review. Tell them what your business has done and what the goals are for the coming year. You should have integrity nonetheless. Another thing you should remember is that you must improve what you have. Do not lament on what you lack. If you focus on your liabilities, then you will not be able to work on your strengths.

As children, we are taught to be well-rounded. We should strive to fix what’s broken. But there are cases when you need to show your colleagues what you can do and impress them about your abilities and your perspectives on the business. You have to accept the parts of your job that you’re very good at accomplishing. You should encourage them that you can get it done for them. Remember that you are branding yourself.

Since you are brand and you are marketing yourself, it is best to think about your characteristics. Identify your strengths and work on your weaknesses. Re-invent yourself and invest in your well-being. After all, you are your own brand.

But then, you have to realize whether it is worth the time investing in something that you’re not. You can build and deliver power through those parts of you that are already considered to be your best gifts. If you look into other several works, these words have already echoed. Flip through those self-improvement books and you will see this statement.

Finally, the most important technique that you should learn in personal branding is confidence. You have to nurture your confidence. When you do, then you will accomplish far more than any software, logo, or slogan. You are your own brand, remember that. You have to empower your belief in yourself. This is the best strategy and method that you can do.

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