A reoccurring theme on this site is money – specifically of the “how to” variety. So today’s post provides you with another resource to check into – a how to get paid to blog. This can be (and is) lucrative for many. However, that said, you should be aware that Sponsored Blogging (Is) Not As Easy As It Seems.

A quick check of Wikipedia reveals numerous facts you should be aware of: (more…)

I found the most extraordinary site this evening, totally legitimate, that actually trains you how to be a hacker but more “in reverse.” In fact, it’s all about IT Security.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge fan of the show NCIS. Computer forensics is fascinating to me, I just wish it had been around in my day (though it’s never too late in life to pursue your dream).

The website I discovered is EC-Council University, and it is absolutely amazing!

I’ve spent about an hour or more looking around with my focus on our son about to graduate from high school. He has a huge interest in all things computer, and this is one field that is not going down the tubes with the current economy. Unfortunately (for now) for us, you need to have a minimum bachelors degree to enroll (or at least that’s what I believe I am reading) to start taking their training and get accredited.

Your ultimate goal appears to be to fulfill the requirements to get a master’s degree (levels) in IT Security and Information Technology. You can accomplish this in under two years! Online – meaning you learn at your own pace, worldwide, anytime, anywhere. Yes, in the process, you literally become an “ethical hacker.”

Now more than ever, there is a call for computer specialists. But, until I explored their website I never contemplated the term “ethical hacker” before. Let’s face it, most of us think of hackers as the nefarious individuals out to cause wreck and ruin.

To be honest, I had to go put the search phrase “ethical hacking” into Google to get a clear definition. Wikipedia states:

White hat hackers, also known as “ethical hackers,” are computer security experts, who specialize in penetration testing, and other testing methodologies, to ensure that a company’s information systems are secure.

So yeah, I was right… in fact my reference above to NCIS was a good one. If you’ve watched the show (yes I know they are actors), they do amazing things with computers to track down the bad guys.

Training through the programs at EC-Council University can set you up to be that guy or gal in shining armor… the one that saves the day for corporate and government and even smaller businesses. Best of all, your skills (your role in IT security) would be in high demand!

Yes, a field still wide open for those willing to take the time and get the proper training! A paying field in high demand even in these tough times.

Honestly, to fully translate everything on their website would be impossible (and most likely illegal), so I’d like to give you one direct quote about getting training in IT security:

You will be able to access courses and resources using the Internet, anytime, anywhere. Download assignments, read and contribute to class discussions, review faculty feedback, and more at your convenience.

EC-Council University will provide you with an easy-to-navigate and rich volume of digital libraries and services. As a part of the Online learning system, you will be able to interact with other students enrolled in your courses so that you may share ideas, debate issues, and access messages left by your faculty. You will constantly be provided feedback on your progress by your faculty.

If you’ve been reading our blog for any length of time, or newly arrived, you’ll know we are always trying to find you the right “get paid to” programs, and what better way to get paid then to earn a respectable, useful, paying degree in a field that is never going away. The dinosaurs would have to return before IT is no longer needed.

So stop and rethink your priorities. Training is available to you, right now, online in:

o Security fundamentals
o Ethical hacking
o Penetration testing
o Computer forensics
o Disaster recovery
o Secure programming.

My ONLY regret is that my son could not start immediately (again he’s just graduating high school), but if you have struggling “kids back at home” or looking for retraining or a new job that has endless possibilities, be sure to visit their website for more information soon!

IT Security

EC-Council

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Google’s page rank is finally meeting its (long overdue) end.

I don’t know how many pages I’ve visited of late that get decent (or boatloads of) traffic yet have no or very low PRs. In reverse, you’ve got the huge PR website, yet you can easily tell (via add ons, etc.) that no one knows they even exist.

For further proof, head to the Google search itself. Type in anything you want (I typed in “latest news google pr“) then start scanning and researching the leading results. For my particular phrase, front page results reflected posts and web pages posted last month to several years ago. I did check the “pr” and “alexa” for many of them. No surprise to find that front page results included sites without any PR at all – along with some with traffic so minuscule anyone would be shaking their head over “why the front page?” (Maybe our accompanying illustration helps reinforce the head scratching, mind boggling way this is all “determined.”)

It’s fact – while there are popular sites (depending on what you type) like WebMD or Amazon in your search results, you always find within those same front page results websites with no PR and a variety of traffic (low to high).

So I’m going to go further out on that limb to say that I think when it comes to choosing “traffic versus Google PR” that anyone in their right mind would opt for the traffic, right?

Boatloads of traffic!

The Google PR used to be a badge of honor, and many a webmaster or seo expert sweated bullets over this one. Maybe some still do.

However, even the folks at Google cannot or will not tell (or do not know) whether PR really means a hill of beans in the end.

What prompted this post was an inspection this morning of my ezine advertising website.

At one point in its so far 7 year history, it achieved a traffic rank of under 21K and held onto a PR 4 (for this type of niche this was outstanding). Then along came one of those infamous algorithm changes and now… well this morning on my end of the world there is no PR on the site. Zip, zilch, nada.

Now it could be the folks at Google are in some cycle doing updates again. Could be the poor thing just lost out in this latest round of bids for ranking. Be that as it may, thankfully it does sit on the front page for many of the distinct keywords necessary for folks to find it. And that’s what counts.

Google plays with their algorithm so much and so often, you could easily drive yourself insane figuring out your next move. Running around in circles trying to please or appease, you’ll not only get dizzy, but allow much of your competition to race right past you.

What should you be working on? Words. Content. And more importantly, in SEO terms, keyword content. You do have to know the difference between appropriately working those keywords into your content (and which ones are really going to be any use to you in the first place) and cramming them into metas and content like there’s no tomorrow. Do not be short sighted nor mislead by shady tactics.

The time is ripe for the rest of the world to just “do their own thing.” Work your website or blog the way you wish to work it (and start having fun for a change). Go for the gold, go for traffic. Let’s also hope that Google drops this antiquated ranking platform very, very soon.

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Okay, today we started out the day in confusion…

Today was suppose to be THE launch date, so like the anxious to get started individuals we are, we arrived at the website at our appointed hour – only to find prelaunch has been pushed back a week (giving YOU plenty of time to still signup for free).

However, thankfully, we’ve got someone up above us keeping tabs on what’s what, and he’s super fast in answering any questions we might have – like where the heck is the upgrade button and/or email that was to arrive today LOL! The answer is…

Webprosperity has pushed back its launch date for an additional week giving you plenty of time to get signed up for free.

You Asked For It…Founders Launch Extended 7 Days
Posted – January 6th, 2009

I have been barraged with calls and e-mails for the last 24 hours by team members asking for an extension to the pre-launch. With the momentum of over 10,600 sign-ups yesterday it is evident the momentum is picking up with new team members.

The Founders Launch is extended till January 13, 2009-thats 7 days from today and that date is final!

Now make the next 7 days the biggest marketing days of your live.

Regards… David D’Arcangelo,

This is a great thing for anyone who hasn’t already signed up for the FREE prelaunch. We, however, were looking forward to getting the tools (at a heavy discount) today… but it will be worth the wait!

Once it does launch, Scott and I will be able to consolidate many of our 3rd party marketing tools into one – with what we average will be a 50% monthly savings for ourselves.

These are tools you have to use – not because some slick, useless sales letter talked you into it – but because you cannot run a business online without them. Plain and simple.

The price once it launches is very reasonable, and again while it remains in prelaunch, your sign up is still currently FREE.

With marketing must-have tools, and 67% to you off the top for Level 1 downline (and more as your downline grows), get signed up and hold your prelaunch position! And start spreading the news! Time is running out.

After making our post for January 3, it was off to my favorite forums. That’s where I found six tools mentioned by Owen that he loved using in 2008.

The one that caught my eye is Zemanta, an add-on to your Firefox browser that automatically recognizes your wordpress and/or blogger blogs. It’s a tool that’s going to help suggest photos, videos, articles, etc., related to what you’re writing about – all done from inside your admin area.

Here’s an example:

Related articles by Zemanta

• Twitter Is Stealing Your Password

What the example above shows is something Zemanta considered “related to” the rest of the information in this post (see below about Twitter).  There are many items to choose from, but I just picked this one – all from inside the admin area of this blog.

After installing (and it’s quick and painless and yes I did read the terms of service first), you’ll end up on the welcome page where you’ll get instructions on “how to get started right away” using this super cool tool!

A big thanks to Owen for sharing this and five other tools (one of which he created himself).

Excellent!

And, for those of you wondering why your Wordpress Twitter Updater plugin no longer works, well we don’t currently have the answer to that… However, TwitterBar 1.1 may be your easiest solution.

It’s been available since November 1, 2008, tried and tested. Just be sure you know what you’ve got typed in your address bar before you Twitter it. It can be words, the link of the page you’re on, whatever. So double check first

(The Firefox logo was also pulled in using Zemanta.)

A second alternative to get your feeds posted directly to your Twitter account (though the toolbar above is very cool), is TwitterFeed

TwitterFeed requires you to create an OpenSource id. Just be prepared to validate your signup via email AND be adept at picture recognition – the  process is a tad long while you “guess the picture” during the account creation process.

What TwitterFeed will do is, depending on your setting choices, take a peek at your blog feed and post the last “x” amount you designate at the time interval you ask it to check. While that may sound confusing, it’s not – it’s just a fill in the blanks AFTER you get past the picture recognition thing (it’s very hard to explain but worth the trouble).

So there you have it… multiple ways to get your current posts automatically onto Twitter, plus add some graphic interest to your posts painlessly.  Enjoy!

Now it’s your turn to tell us what you think about this post. So please DO comment!