You’ve got to admit that blogs that give you visuals help ease the “text only” versions, and tonight I was lucky to come across a free to join website called Acobox.
Sort of along the Flickr line, Acobox gives you free signup access as either a blogger or a photographer (actually as a blogger I do see I have the ability to upload images to their site).
Then you just go hunting for interesting pictures they call “hotlinks.”
For example, you’re looking at one right now.
It was very easy to get and insert, too – don’t you just love that!
This particular image came from their Animals Gallery under Birds, which lists 316 additional images. And, of course if you opt to add yours into their system, just think of the advantages of having your images hotlinked on other peoples websites and blogs.
The only trouble I seem to be having is what I see inside the wp-admin is space between the picture and my words. Outside on the blog, the words hug tight to the image. I’ve tried playing with the horizontal alignment, but it doesn’t seem to do much of anything (sorry I’m a bit of a stickler, but I’m sure there is a workaround for this).
Oh and as the title tells you, this isn’t just for bloggers. Website owners can come to Acobox and get their images, for free, too!
So don’t be shy. Again sign up is free, and I had this image inserted in the blink of an eye.
In our search for a video sharing website similar to YouTube, but without your competitors videos showing up at the end when your video is done running, our hunt was on.
A second requirement was the video sharing site had to accept videos longer than 90 seconds – even with a Pro account at Flickr, it is not possible.
The hunt continued.
While we checked many, finding the file size is easy – finding the length in terms of time your video takes to run isn’t always straightforward. Other than YouTube, most killed the upload at a minute and a half.
However…
Mission accomplished! We decided on Viddler.com – which has all the features we were looking for… and it’s free! Here’s an example – Street Sampling. When you get to the site, below Scott’s bio, you’ll see the ones we’ve loaded so far (there will be more).
In addition, I’d like to mention to all our Whole Hog Bloggers that we will be upgrading everyone to WP 2.7. We’ve tested it out and read all about it. The reviews are excellent and the transition was seamless… you’re going to love the new dashboard!
And since tomorrow is Christmas, and we do celebrate, I’m not sure if we’ll post on Christmas or not.
So a Very Merry Christmas and Holiday Season to everyone, and may your New Year be your biggest and brightest yet!
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As the CEO and founder of Turning Point, Inc. and Maxwell Publishing, Kathleen also is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and an internationally recognized Internet marketing and publicity expert for speakers, trainers and authors.
We’ve worked with Kathleen in the past (or we would not be recommending her program). She knows her business and imparts useful, practical, do-able instructions making it easy for any level – newbie or veteran – to make money online.
Kathleen works with professionals “who want to learn how to package their expertise and knowledge into money making products and service. She does this by teaching them eProduct development, Internet marketing, multi-media program development, self-publishing skills, teleseminar development and developing mentoring courses that they can offer their clients.”
As online readers, we all have an immense arsenal of potential ways to track this and that as it strikes our fancy. And today, I’m going to let you in on a secret you may not be aware of…
You must have noticed how we really stress the value of commenting at the end of each of our posts… right? You have noticed, yes?
We’ve done write ups about dofollow and nofollow, and the value of free marketing and advertising yourself through the simple process of replying to posts you read on blogs.
FREE marketing! Yes, the few moments you take to make a truly constructive reply to any post on any blog can (and does according to our tracking stats) bring you free visitors to whatever link you choose to use as you fill out the comment form.
It’s so darn simple, and free, that after reading you’re crazy if you’re passing this up.
And this tool – Co.mments.com – allows you to easily access blogs you’ve asked questions on, and hope to hear from either the blog owner or one of his or her visitors to get the answer to your question.
Of course, that’s just one idea and way, to use this marketing tool.
Okay, not everything is worth commenting on. Maybe your brain has taken a siesta and nothing comes to mind. But, let’s face it, as humans we all have thoughts, opinions, experiences, and questions about something. It’s just built into our DNA to have our say.
That’s what those commenting boxes are for! And, repeating myself yet again, you’d be crazy not to comment. It’s FREE marketing.
If you’re a blogger, especially a WordPress user, than you most likely have the Sociable plugin (if not, get it). Co.mments is one you can activate that will allow your visitor to quickly add individual posts of COMMENTS to conversations they wish to follow.
As an online internet marketer, start your own Co.mments account. This way, you can quickly and easily keep track of posts that you are:
1. Interested in hearing what others have to say
2. Waiting perhaps for an answer to a question you ask
3. Begin the process of networking within that post with the other readers of that post.
Be you blogger or marketer (or both), it’s fast and easy to create an account. You’ll then get your own (see ours above) web page link for quick access (bookmark it and refer to it often!), along with a feed that you can use perhaps on a Squidoo lens or….
Those who comment on a regular basis will see the value in this great tool. Those who are not yet using commenting to its fullest can now start that ball rolling with ease.
Sign up for your own Co.mment account today (it’s free!).|
SPECIAL NOTE: As SEO testers, we’re also interested in how (or if) this particular social marketing tool shows up in the search engines. With a PR of 5 and Alexa rank hovering at the 83K mark, not testing this would be a huge mistake. So bloggers, be sure to offer this as an option for bookmarking on your blog. And marketers, it’s such an easy way to keep track of where you’ve been it would be silly not to use it. All your comments, one page (your own!), and a quick reference guide as you check back on your favorite posts.
You’ll find our Co.mments icon right below here… it’s the orange one with the slanted row of dots on it in the “Be Sociable Please Tag Us” section. Click it, track this and/or any of our posts, and see how very easy your commenting life becomes
After Posting Update: Just found this Christmas song on JuliesJournal and wanted to add it to this post. A bit off topic, but it’s very cool. Enjoy!
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Okay now here’s you chance, don’t pass it up. Take one minute and let us know what you think! Your feedback and input do matter to us! Leave your comment!
2CreateAWebsite is one of our favorite blogs, and this morning I finally had the opportunity to play catchup; I’m glad I did!
Have you ever been on a website or blog and wondered, “What in the world is that particular color?”
ColorZilla makes it easy as pie to hover over any color on any webpage and find the exact “ingredients” that make up that particular color.
“With this handy Firefox add-on, you can use the eyedropper tool to hover over any color in your browser and it will display the hex color code.”
After I added it to my Firefox browser, it shows up in the lower right hand corner. Depending on the other addons you’re using, you may have to make some modifications to their settings so you can see the string of code (for example I downplayed some of the SearchStatus features to allow room for the hexidecimal code TO show).
For those truly interested in getting “just the right color,” and keeping in mind that even after you do, it really does all depend on the graphics card and monitor your visitor is using, ColorZilla is the way to go.
There’s even help/documentation files on their website to help you get the most out of using this new color picker addon.
Sort of along the Flickr line, Acobox gives you free signup access as either a blogger or a photographer (actually as a blogger I do see I have the ability to upload images to their site).
