Nothing beats using all forms of communication at your disposal when it comes to marketing and advertising. And mobile marketing is a great option to add to your array of reaching out to others this year.

Millions text daily, and many marketers are finding their bottom lines increasing through the use of this simple, yet highly effective, form of communication.

And, of course, marketing is not the sole purpose to texting. For example, the use of short codes can also be applied to any arena. Imagine how highly effective it becomes when schools and colleges use this lightening fast way of passing important messages! Student-teacher interactions happen at almost the speed of light! Class canceled? Voila you know! Campus security issues, again in a flash you are notified! Assignments altered? Due dates delayed? Again, using 8444.com, you (the student) are informed in a snap.

Actually, I am going through their site, and quite frankly there are just so many ways to use their service – too many in fact to list them all (hence for more about short codes, click that link). Their list of applications and vertical markets is quite extensive! And, with your own creativity and imagination, this large list has plenty of room to grow!

So is 2010 the year you incorporate mobile marketing? There’s just one way to find out. Find out if your mobile phone carrier includes the 8444.com service. You’ll find a comprehensive list (current as of December 1, 2009) here at 84444 Supported Carriers.

Pull out all the stops! Use all available methods of communication at (literally) your fingertips, and see what an exciting year this one becomes for you, your family, and your business online!

This morning I ran across a website (scrub that “Qlog”) that has me not truly confused, but a tad at a loss for my typically gregarious posts.

First, I’d never heard the term “qlog” before now (I’ll explain in a minute), and when I arrived at amyafrica.com, and started reading a rather lengthy (and crazy) story about beaches, birkin bags, and gabby individuals, I figured it was just a “personal blog” filled with someone’s stories.

However, I was wrong. What you will find is a combination of what Amy is calling “99% queries and quintessentials, 1% quibblings.”

Which means when you arrive at the qlog (the one I read is called Puttin’ Spanx on a Sidewinder!”, you’ll first encounter a highly detailed account of the above mentioned story of Hermes Birkin Bags on the beach.

BUT… right when you get to wondering what this is all about, there at the bottom are “5 Things Customers Really Do Care About.” This is a solid section of seo and marketing information.

So above you get an entertaining story, below you get useful information to help you navigate the world of seo, consumer confidence, and essential tools for doing business online.

Amy’s entire qlog is filled with similar entries. Another interestingly strange mix is the post about Why Epiphanies Never Occur to Couch Potatoes,” accompanied below with more solid marketing advice on how to get your visitors to click.

Of course the whole premise of this new qlog is give and take. You can make use of her “Ask Amy A Question” link, interact yourself by commenting on her qlog, etc.

An entirely different perspective on the use of blogging and combining “social community participation” that I encourage you to experience for yourself

Click here to visit http://www.amyafrica.com

I don’t know about you, but in the past 10 years or so being online, I don’t know how many times I’ve changed hosting companies. It really has gotten so out of hand, that I cannot count on one hand the number of times I’ve moved websites.

I wish I’d known about the reviews you can find over at webhosting geeks.

Visiting their website today I was astounded at the number of hosting companies – not only out there – but listed in an easy-to-use directory. Yep, they’ve taken most of the work out of finding a decent one and posted it all there in black and white (and other cool colors) so you can select a hosting company just right for you.

A visit to just their front page immediately shows you:

o  The top 10 highest rated hosting companies

o  Features like how much space you get, how much traffic you can have without it impacting your bandwidth, and the price

o  Bonus features! Every hosting companies offers something extra (okay maybe not every one, but those listed in the top 10 certainly do) like a free domain forever, and marketing bonuses to get you headed on the right track for doing business online.

You also can easily click on any link for even more information.

But it doesn’t end there!

Down the left hand sidebar you’ll be astounded at even more ratings, the awards these “geeks” have won since 2004 (I love a website with longevity, that says a ton), along with links out to the Web Hosting Geeks’ Blog.

Loving blogs, of course I had to click.

Their most recent post (at the time of the writing of this post) is their April 14th, called Is Your Business Website Secure?.

Excellent advice to read, especially with the increase in attacks and hackers apparently with a ton of time on their hands. Why be sitting on hosting that does nothing to protect your hard-earned, hard worked asset – your online domain!

Here’s another post I found, that I think you’ll also find fascinating. It’s called Fantastico: cPanel’s Best Kept Secret.

Of course you’ll find even more information and stay up to date just by bookmarking the webhostinggeeks blog

If you’ve chosen the “lazy man’s (or woman’s) way” of creating a website, you might find your current hosting company short on this amazing feature. Fantastico is a wealth of ready-made, one click installations of a large variety of extra goodies for your website:

o  Forums
o  Shopping carts
o  Blog installations
o   Drupal (community building)
o  Wikis
o  and a whole lot more.

The great thing is you don’t have to know how to install a single thing, if your hosting includes Fantastico!

Frankly, I could spend hours looking around Webhosting Geeks at all the tools, resources, suggestions, and recommendation the folks over at webhosting geeks provide (and you should, too!)

Never, ever rush into choosing a hosting service. Always do your homework. And again, their website is the perfect stop to begin to make sure you choose the best hosting for your needs.

Enjoy!

During the past week, we’ve been super busy!

A great addition to our Whole Hog Blog family is the not-for-profit website and blog for ALS of Nevada. The entire state of Nevada coverage for ALS patients and their caregivers is provided by just three individuals (and an outstanding Board of Directors). Two people cover the state, with another fine individual up in the Reno area providing assistance to those in need suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease.

We’d like to ask you to please visit the site, comment on the blog, and help get their traffic and alexa rankings rolling.

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We’ve also added a blog to My Wizard Ads, an ezine advertising information blog. “Diane’s” first true business online after a several year stint as a publisher herself (weird talking about myself in the third, or would that be fourth (?) person). Day in and day out I field questions for not just the new but veteran internet marketer. Ezine advertising gives people the freedom to use other people’s lists as contact points to announce and promote the businesses and programs they join online.

Again, a visit to that new blog and your comments would be greatly appreciated, too.

Both of these new additions have do-follow linking, so your trip gains you that valued backlink in the process.

Enjoy!

With the Super Bowl behind us (those who follow the game, if even for just the commercials), I’ve got to say first that the commercials were a let down this year. The only one I thought was worth the money spent was the commercial for eTrade. But that’s just my opinion.

In the meantime, after your (probable) eat fest yesterday, you might be looking in the mirror thinking, “Holy cow! I look like a ____!” (Fill in the blank yourself)

So today’s post isn’t about marketing or social media strategies, instead I’d like to reference you to a great place to begin to get a handle on your health – after all it’s a new year and this year could be that new you look you’re longing for!

I use the weight loss formula on this page.

On the 30th of October (this past year), I decided it was time to turn back the clock and look and feel more than just a little bit better. Working online can (and most likely does) mean sitting on one’s backside for hours on end (no pun intended).

What I did was a tad different. I did of course figure out what my height, age, and current weight was using the formula above. I also allotted 30% extra (slightly active, I pace a lot when I’m on the phone) which also accounts for just breathing and getting through the day.

However, my next step was to figure what I wanted to weight, calculate the formula for that, and eat as if I already weighted my targeted goal!

I gave myself until the end of February (birthday time) to hit my “target” weight. And guess what… last week, yes even before January was over, I was there (which means… I’m 19 lbs. lighter already)!

Actually though, I have an “ideal” weight in mind – which is oh another 5 (who knows maybe 10) lbs. And with all of February ahead of me, and following the formula above, I’m positive I will hit that ideal weight.

Turns out losing weight and getting healthy so you’re better able to conduct business online actually do go well together

Enjoy!