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Let’s start with a definition of each:

Blog: A blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a type of website, usually maintained

EverythingWestVillage.com in basic WordPress blogging format

by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Website: A website (or “web site”) is a collection of related web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that are hosted on one web server, usually accessible via the Internet.

Content Management System (CMS): A content management system (CMS) is a computer application used to create, edit, manage, search and publish various kinds of digital media and electronic text.

Background

The World Wide Web was “created” in 1990 by CERN engineer, Tim Berners-Lee.  On 30 April 1993, CERN announced that the World Wide Web would be free to anyone.  Websites were born.

Until recently the typical website is, what I would call, an “online billboard” for a company.  Websites were a place to go online to find information about a company and in some cases purchase goods or services directly from a checkout feature on the site.  The primary focus was to be an online advertisement for the company.  These “ads” gave a brief outline of the company’s products or services and listed contact info in hopes visitors would contact them.

The term “weblog” was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997.  The short form, “blog,” was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May 1999.  Blogs were born.

The introduction of blogs produced a different type of website.  These sites were typically created and used for purposes of an online journal by an individual.  Authors of blogs are called bloggers and the range of topics that they blog about differ from one to another, but typcially bloggers write what they are passionate about.

Enter Web 2.0

The term Web 2.0 was first used by Dale Dougherty and Craig Cline and shortly after became notable after the O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.  The term “Web 2.0″ refers to a perceived second generation of web development and design, that aims to facilitate communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web.  Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications; such as social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies.

Present Day

With the introduction of Web 2.0 somewhere along the way, web developers started to notice several benefits to designing websites using blog publishing applications; WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal to name a few.  These benefits are primarily associated with the content management system that the blog publishing application is built on.

Some of these benefits included:

• Easy web publishing solution (WYSIWYG)
• Easy integration of plugins and widgets
• Higher search engine rankings
• Lower costs
• Relational marketing
• Expert positioning for yourself or company

Where most people get confused is that they think of a blog as an online journal.  For this reason the term blog seems to have a negative connotation to most.  All of the websites (unless otherwise specified) designed by Zowbie Consulting are built using WordPress as the CMS, thus the websites we design could be called blogs.  For lack of a better term we will call the sites we design “blogsites”.

Website – Weblog – Blog – Blogsite

EverythingWestVillage.com as a "blogsite" using WordPress as a CMS. Designed by Zowbie Consulting

The design of a blogsite can be setup in such a way that it can be an exact duplicate of an “online billboard” type site (traditional website), however with the site being built on a content management system the website would have a lot more functionality.

Pictured at right is the  blogsite, EverythingWestVillage.com.  All the content (WordPress pages and posts) remain the same as that of the screenshot above, however the site features custom coding and style sheets which enable it to appear more like a website than the look above which people tend to associate to blogs.

The blogging component of a blogsite is used as a way to market to and generate future clients while the “website” is used more for the tools and application of working with current clients.  A blog is just a marketing tool inside your website.

A recap of what was learned.

A blog is a type of website, however a website is not necessarily a blog.  A blog uses a content management system (CMS), however not all websites use a CMS.

More examples of blogsites:

MTOBikes
Razor Family Farms
Saint Nicholas Episcopal Church
All About Roswell
Smyrna Vinings
Asher Pierre
Sold on Roswell

If you would like to receive more information about blogsites, please contact us.

Please post your comments or questions below.

Pushing ahead in the decades-long effort to get computers to understand human speech, these three iPhone applications feature sophisticated voice recognition technology. The ability to recognize just about any phrase from any person has long been the supreme goal of artificial intelligence researchers looking for ways to make man-machine interactions more natural.  Systems that can do this have recently started making their way into the mainstream.  These three voice recognition iPhone apps are great…why?  Because they “rock like KISS” (via Lacy Razor) and they also happen to be free of charge!  Enjoy.

Melodis Dialer – one of my complaints for the iPhone in comparison to other smart phones was that it did not offer the ability for voice recognition dialing.  The Melodis Dialer application fixes that.  I’ve tested it out and although it didn’t connect with Paris Hilton for me it did recognize just about every other name.  The application works best when a first name and last name are spoken.

Google Mobile App – Driving or just don’t like to type?  This app is for you…functions just like Google’s search engine, however this app uses voice recognition to populate the search field.  Give it a try.

Voice Notes -  Have you seen the movie Dirty Work?  “Note to self…”  If you are like me and are always on the go you probably don’t like having to type notes into your iPhone.  Use VoiceNotes instead and record a short audio message for later reference. Why walk when you can stumble?  Why type when you can speak?

The question led to a great conversation of whether or not a Flip video camcorder or webcam was the way to go.  Prior to the introduction of the Flip and other mini camcorders this question would have been relatively easy to answer.  With the emergence of the Flip and others though a debate is in order.  First, I’ll list what I see as advantages and disadvantages of both, then you post your opinion in the comments section below.

Webcam

Advantages

• convenient – no setup needed
• ideal for video conferencing or video chat programs
• easily livestream video

Disadvantages

• could forget to turn off and reveal your private life
• must be connected to a computer to function

Flip Video Camcorder

Advantages

• higher quality of video (especially with MinoHD model)
• small, compact, and light weight
• mobility/versatility

Disadvantages

• setup involved  (requires a tripod for best usage)
• image stabilization – video quality is significantly reduced if unit is not held still
• must upload video to computer, no direct connect while filming

The Flip most certainly appears to have caught the attention of most consumes, but for those that desire more of a “built-in” solution the webcam still seems to be the preferred method.

One last thing to mention, most Windows based laptops and just about all Apple computers (iSight camera) come with a built-in webcam…now that’s convenient!

Connect your virtual lives with the WordPress LinkedIn Application. With the WordPress App, you can sync your WordPress blog posts with your LinkedIn profile, keeping everyone you know in the know. Once added, you can filter your posts with a special LinkedIn tag and even display your personal WordPress Gravatar (global avatar). Updates are automatically sent to your network for instant notifications and gratification.

This should take you less than 5 minutes to complete, but it will most certainly leave a lasting impact on your business and its marketability.

To start, you will need to install the WordPress LinkedIn Application.  Click on the button that reads, “Add application”.

Next, type in your blog’s URL.  Example below.

That’s it…you’re done!  Now click on the “View My Profile” tab and you’ll see how the application has now integrated your WordPress blog feed into your LinkedIn profile.

1. You already know everything there is to know about real estate, marketing, technology, and business strategies. If you have mastered each of these areas, then give the $150 as an extra tip to your private jet pilot as you most certainly roll like that.

2. Barack Obama was unavailable for the keynote. If you were only coming to see the President, then you can stay home. However, Dave Jenks, yes that Dave Jenks: co-author of “Shift” and “The Millionaire Real Estate Agent”, will be the keynote and he may be worth the $150 by himself.

3. You are morbidly afraid of friendly smart people. REtechSouth will be crawling with the smartest people in the real estate industry and rumor has it they are all very friendly and approachable. Stay home if you can’t stand meeting smart people who are actually nice to you.

4. You think Google is fake. If you believe wrestling is real but landing on the moon and all that internet stuff that came later is fake, then stay home and spend the $150 for the next wrestling event on pay-per-view.

5. You like doing things the hardest way possible. All of the tips, tools and technologies presented at REtechSouth are simple to use and will take up very little of your time. It’s best for you stay home and try to reinvent the wheel, design a better paper clip, or walk and chew gum – as these things are way harder to do than anything shared at REtechSouth.

6. You believe having fun is for losers. If you’d rather be miserable than happy, then do not show up at REtechSouth. There will be live music, entertaining speakers, cool visuals, and it all ends with a cash bar networking happy hour.

7. You’re married to Brad Nix or Matt Fagioli. These guys have been consumed with making REtechSouth a kick ass event for almost 5 months and their wives are certainly tired of hearing about the newest ‘dynamite speaker’ or latest ‘elite sponsor’. So stay home and enjoy a day without REtechSouth only if you are married to Brad or Matt.

Unless one of the 7 above apply, then you should hurry up and take advantage of this $25 off discount code and get your butt down south for REtechSouth, March 20th, Gwinnet Center.  See you there!

Setup your network.
Make sure your network is in place BEFORE you need it.  You can do this by revisiting your LinkedIn network at least once a month and search for new connections in two ways:  Searching by using the advanced search tool to find past colleagues, and look at your current connections connections.  If you have a relationship with someone that is in your 2nd tier, make them a contact in tier 1 so that you can connect with their second tier.

Find yourself on the outside looking in?
Do you work in sales or some other field where cold-calling is prevalent and can’t seem to get past the gatekeeper on the other end?  I’ve been in this situation and have used LinkedIn a number of times in order to be put in direct contact with an individual that I would otherwise be unable to reach.  Everyone knows someone that knows someone who knows someone.  LinkedIn identifies these degrees of separation and makes it easy to be put in touch with someone through and introduction from someone else or through a chain of people.

Move up the career ladder.
Another great use of LinkedIn is to use it as a means to find new employment opportunities.  Similar to the example above LinkedIn is a great way to come into contact directly with the persons responsible for hiring at a given company.  Be sure that when a potential employer looks at your profile that it is complete and impressive…your profile is your resume, but it is so much more as you’ll soon learn, keep reading.

Word of mouth marketing.
Are you great at what you do and have clients that love and appreciate you for it?  For most, if not all, the answer is  ‘yes’.  Although you may be great at what you do it is often difficult to get testimonials from clients.  Email requests for testimonials from clients get lost in the inbox and writing an email as silly as it may sound is time consuming.  LinkedIn provides a very easy way to give testimonials as well as to request them.  Remember, what goes around comes around so be sure to leave plenty of testimonials if you intend to request them.  If you like the information in this post, please provide a testimonial on my profile!

Don’t be a loner.
There are many groups within LinkedIn that are great for connecting with individuals with the same interests and business expertise as yourself.  Join these groups and become active.  No one person is as powerful as they are when they join a group.  Your business will flourish from the interactions you have with group members.

Become Jeeves and answer questions.
There is no better way to show your expertise and knowledge about something than to answer questions related to the subject.  Not only will you help someone out, but you will also be demonstrating to other members of LinkedIn that you are an authority on the subject.

Be vocal and sound off.
Post network updates regularly.  Letting others know that you are productive and busy is a good thing.  People will notice and they will contact you because they will see you as someone who is an authority and one that is knowledgeable about a particular industry.

So there you have it.  Did you know you could do all this with LinkedIn?  It often gets over shadowed by Facebook, Twitter and others, but it remains the most protected and private, yet beneficial site for business professionals.  Is it time you stop neglecting your LinkedIn?  Connect with me on LinkedIn, my email is carl@zowbie.com.

View my LinkedIn profile.

Is there a way in twitter to search for people by their location?  Yes.  You can also search using several other fields as well.

You can search twitter by going to the following URL:  http://search.twitter.com

You can conduct an advanced search by going to this URL:  http://search.twitter.com/advanced

The advanced search will allow you to find people based on their location, keywords and several other fields…you can even find people who reference a particular person!

Conducting a search to find people based on keywords or location can prove to be very successful for your marketing efforts.   For instance, I use the advanced search feature to search by keyword to identify and network with individuals interested in mountain biking to promote and market my website, MTOBikes.com.  Likewise, I use the advance search feature to find people based on their location to connect with individuals located in or around the Smyrna Vinings community as a way to increase the exposure and brand awareness of SmyrnaVinings.com.

There you have it…a short and sweet tip that will help you get a jump start in your twitter social networking efforts.

Cloud computing is a service based technology.  It is a savings oriented business model.  What this means is that the services and applications are hosted off line and the end users do not have to worry about the technical details or investment of money.  Essentially, cloud computing is web based software and storage solutions.

There are two main advantages to cloud computing.  The software is stored on the third party’s servers, thus providing users the ability to access systems regardless of their location or device.   It also enables the sharing of resources and costs among a large pool of users.

In a struggling economy movement to “the cloud” is expected as it is a way for businesses to trim operating costs.  I have argued in the past against cloud computing as I strongly believe in keeping things internal and not having to rely on outside third party vendors.  As this movement takes stride be cautious as to how dependent you become as a simple change in the services structure such as a price increase, change in service offering, etc. could greatly impact your business based upon your level of reliance.

The technology analyst and consulting firm, Gartner, lists seven security issues which one should discuss with a cloud-computing vendor:

1. Privileged user access—inquire about who has specialized access to data and about the hiring and management of such administrators
2. Regulatory compliance—make sure a vendor is willing to undergo external audits and/or security certifications
3. Data location—ask if a provider allows for any control over the location of data
4. Data segregation—make sure that encryption is available at all stages and that these “encryption schemes were designed and tested by experienced professionals”
5. Recovery—find out what will happen to data in the case of a disaster; do they offer complete restoration and, if so, how long that would take
6. Investigative Support—inquire as to whether a vendor has the ability to investigate any inappropriate or illegal activity
7. Long-term viability—ask what will happen to data if the company goes out of business; how will data be returned and in what format

Google Apps is a common example of cloud computing.  It provides common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on Google servers.  Applications like document sharing, calendars, email, live chat/instant messaging, and so much more.

Other honorable mentions:

Freshbooks – Online Invoicing, Time Tracking, and Expense Service.

Western Digital’s solution is the WD Passport. The Passport is a USB-powered, portable hard drive that includes backup and synchronization software and even a tool that lets you take your desktop wallpaper, email, and internet favorites, to any computer you want.

The drive has a single blue light to show the drive is plugged in and powered on, aside from that, there is just a single USB port that lies behind a small, rubber flap.  The flap prevents dust from getting into the USB port when the drive is not in use.

A USB cable is included, but it’s short (about seven inches or so). There have been a few occurrences, when plugging into a desktop computer where a longer cable would have come in handy.  We feel that the short cable is ideal for laptop usage and prefer it over the unnecessarily long cables found with other USB drives.

Software Bundle

Every backup drive needs backup software, and WD’s solution is named WD Sync. The software lets you sync folders between your computer and the drive, so you always have a backup on the drive in case something happens to your PC’s hard drive. It also lets you bring your web browser’s bookmarks, and Outlook email, to any PC, and you can even have your desktop wallpaper on whatever computer you connect to as well.

In addition to the features just mentioned, the WD Passport also lets you initiate a “secure” browsing environment on whatever computer you plug it into, so you could theoretically plug it into a coffee shop PC, surf the net, and then disconnect, and nobody would know what you did (except your conscience).

Conclusion

The WD Passport is an excellent product.  We love being able to have our bookmarks and files synced all the time, and to be able to essentially take “our PC” with us to any computer.  The Passport provides a large amount of storage capacity in a very small, slim, sexy glossy case and works well with both Macs and PCs.  We have referred many clients to this product and have received no complaints in return.

Purchase a Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive