My Blog Log, A Fun Widget

Ok, what's a widget?

According to Wikipedia, a web widget is a portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate HTML-based web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation. They are derived from the idea of reusable code that has existed for years. Nowadays other terms are used to describe a web widget including: gadget, badge, module, capsule, snippet, mini and flake.

YIKES!!! What does that mean to you? It means you can easily add fun stuff to your blog without having any programming knowledge.

Today I'm going to share with you a fun "widget" I recently discovered, My Blog Log. My Blog Log is more than a "widget", it's also a social networking site.

If you have a blog, well with the exception of wordpress.com blogs, you can add this "widget" to your blog. It shows which members of My Blog Log have visited your site. This is a great way to expand your online community. Why not try it out on your blog and participate over at My Blog Log by visiting other members logs.

I've written a "how to" for grabbing the code you need (it's generated for you after you do some things, like pick colors) and putting it into a text widget. Try it out and if you have any questions, IM me at magicinwords on Skype or Yahoo, or comment on this post. Let's hear from you. Did you try the widget? If you did, how do you like it?

What To Charge, Pricing Strategies for Freelancers and Consultants

This is a consummate guide to all your pricing questions. Author, Laurie Lewis, provides an in-depth discussion of pricing strategies, tracking methods, establishing gees, analyzing projects, and developing contracts and agreements for professional freelancers and consultants.

This is an easy read and full of great tips and advice for appropriately bidding and pricing projects. No freelancer should be without this book.

You'll want to read this book with pen and paper in hand for all the notes you'll be making. You'll want to immediately use the formulas, suggestions and pricing rules it contains.

Become An Amazon Associate

Start earning passive income by becoming an Amazon Associate and review books or products.

Log on to Amazon and scroll to the bottom of the page. Tap the "Join Amazon Associates" link and sign up to become an associate.

Now you can sign in, as an associate, and start searching for books, CDs, DVDs and a plethora of products that compliment your business. You can promote a single item or create a store for your site.

One of the easiest ways to start earning passive, or residual, income on the Internet is by blogging and reviewing books or products. Give it a whirl, what do you have to loose?

Any comments?

Why I Love WordPress

What kind of blogs do I program?

When I started talking about blogs in March 2005, I was using Blogger. In January 2007 I discovered WordPress. WordPress.com is the free WordPress site. There you can easily start your blogging adventure. However, your blogging url will be http://magicinwords.wordpress.com and you won't have the flexibility of WordPress until you have it installed on your hosting service.

Why do I like WordPress?

I want to create passive income from the Internet. WordPress allows me the ease and flexibility of putting up a search engine friendly site that anyone can keep updated without programming skills. It's the perfect answer to soneone who's a solopreneur or small business owner. It's easily customizable, has thousands of themes to choose from and, the plugins take the pain out of any task.

What are themes and plugins?

Themes are the design of the site. You might think of them as templates with unique looks. You can visit WordPress' Theme Viewer to get an idea of the variety of themes that exist for WordPress. Themes are either one, two, three or four columns wide. The "style" can be changed through the Cascading Style Sheet. Very fun to play with!

Plugins extend the usability of WordPress. There are plugins for contact forms, surveys, tags, rss feeds, the list goes on and on . . . . Visit the WordPress Plugin page to see examples of what plugins can do for a WordPress site.

Sites I've Programmed with WordPress

• North San Diego Business
  
• SBS Associates
  
• Imagine Carlsbad
  
• Shirley Carolan
  
• Business Builders, Inc.
  
• Granny On The Go
  
• San Diego Women, Inc.
  
• Spirited Boutique
  
• Walters Consulting Group
  

Sites That Use WordPress To Manage Their Content

• Ali Lassen's Leads Club
  
• BenchFit
  
• Vicki's Flash Pops
  
• Chad Of All Trades
  

Contact Magic In Words today for
more information on how to get your business blog up and running!