Web Site Syndication: RSS, Atom, Huh?

You may have started hearing people talk about web site syndication. Sometimes called RSS (Really Simple Syndication), podcasting or an atom feed. Well, I'm going to leave all the technical mumbo jumbo out of this post - you can read more about that here.

Syndication is a great way to spread information about your business, products or services over the web. Many people out there actively look for content that relates to them in some way and reposts it for the benefit of their visitors. Why is that good for you? Well, if you include links to your business in the post, you just got a free advertisement. Some sites search for relevant content and even posts them automatically.

Many people use news aggregators, or programs that show news from several different sites all in one place. I use Google's personalized homepage so I can at a glance check my gmail inbox, view my Google calendar events for the day, see the latest posts on Slashdot and catch up on local news. If you have information that is useful for other people out there, put it on your website and syndicate it!

Establish yourself as an expert in your field. I met a travel agent recently who said that once he started posting regularly on his blog, which is syndicated, the traffic coming to his site went through the roof.

The best part about syndication is it is a great way to increase the traffic to your website - and it's FREE. The more links you get pointing to your site, the better your site ranking is going to be in search engines too.

Feedburner is a great tool to get your RSS feeds out there in the world to be found easier. Once you create an account for your syndicated content, Feedburner creates a page that lets people link to or subscribe to your content via email. You can see my links in the right column.

Another useful site is MyWebAuthor.com, which helps to get more traffic to your site if you post articles there.

Podcasting is pretty much the same thing as any other syndicated content - it's just in audio form. So you can post mp3 files that people can subscribe too with a "podcatching" program like iTunes and take the files with them on their mp3 player or just save the files to listen to later when they have more time.

The trick is coming up with good content that people want to read. But remember, people don't want to be bombarded with your new product or hear how great it is over and over. People catch on quick when you are trying to sell them something and they usually don't like it - so post often and post carefully!

Free Article Submission Sites

• http://www.ArticlesReprint.com
• http://www.article-highway.com
• http://www.articlecity.com
• http://www.articleshaven.com
• http://www.articlehub.com
• http://www.articledepot.co.uk
• http://www.articlefinders.com
• http://www.articlealley.com
• http://www.article-emporium.com
• http://www.amazines.com
• http://www.articlesubmissions.com
• http://www.authorconnection.com
• http://www.articleworld.net
• http://www.buzzle.com
• http://www.bigarticles.com
• http://www.constant-content.com
• http://www.devnewz.com
• http://www.devwebpro.com
• http://www.echievements.com
• http://www.ezau.com
• http://www.ezinearticles.com
• http://www.family-content.com
• http://www.goarticles.com
• http://groups.yahoo.com
• http://www.hotlib.com
• http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com
• http://www.ideamarketers.com
• http://www.impactarticles.com
• http://www.linksnoop.com
• http://www.marketingnewz.com
• http://www.marketingsource.com
• http://www.site-reference.com
• http://www.webdesignarticles.info
• http://www.webpronews.com
• http://www.seopapers.com
• http://www.valuablecontent.com
• http://www.webpromotionguru.com
• http://webdesign.templatemonster.com
• http://www.workoninternet.com
• http://www.zinos.com

Cell Phone Gadgets

Well, I'm a Verizon wireless customer and our "New every two" was up, so my wife and I went in to upgrade our old Samsung flip phones. And it was an experience...so I thought I'd share it here in the hopes it will save someone the headache that I went through.

New every 2?
First of all, the "New every two" or $100 credit towards a new phone only applies to the main line if you are on a family plan, which my wife and I are on. So that sounded discouraging at first, but since I ended up buying a $200 phone, they gave her a free phone anyway, so that turned out okay.

A Lot of Time Wasted on the Wrong Phone
I had spent HOURS researching different phones and I decided that I really wanted to merge my Palm Pilot and my phone together so I don't have to carry both around with me. The first obvious candidate for the upgrade was the Treo 650 or 700. I don't care about getting on the internet or checking email on my phone, so the broadband access on the 700 didn't appeal to me. I just wanted my Outlook calendar on my phone. But since those phones were close to $400, that was out. (They no longer had the 650 in the store, but they still have them online discounted) I can't justify paying that much for any phone unless it stays charged forever, includes unlimited internet and changes the oil in my truck for me. So I talked to a guy at the local Verizon store, telling him all I want is to sync my phone with my Outlook calendar and he suggested to me the LG V, which he used and it has a fold out qwerty keyboard and a large screen, camera, bluetooth and a calendar. He told me it would sync up with the Outlook calendar, as long as I get the computer sync kit, so I thought I was good to go. I took a look at the box for the sync kit and asked him why it didn't say anything about syncing with Outlook on it, but he assured me that it does just that, so I reluctantly got it for an extra $50. And I got the extended battery, which he recommended for another $60, not to mention a 512MB mini-SD card ($40) so I can store more photos and mp3s. *Eyes his empty wallet*

Trying out the Phone
Well I get home and play with the phone for 4 hours trying to figure out how to sync it with Outlook. It comes with a tool to sync your contacts with Outlook, but NO way to sync up with the calendar. I called Verizon's tech support and they immediately said that phone does not sync with Outlook. So after throwing a private temper tantrum, I looked on the web for a 3rd party tool that might allow the LG to sync with Outlook. Sure enough I found one so I bought it as a software download and started to regain some hope (Another $30). Then I try to install the software and it crashes every time I try to run the installer. Lovely. I try to contact their technical support, but that just ends up leading me to their automated help system which of course says nothing about the installer crashing...and it's a Saturday, so their not available to call. Later, that following Monday I did call them and they gave me a refund - thank goodness!

Finally, the Right Phone
So I take the phone back to Verizon the next day and tell them I had been told this phone syncs with Outlook and it doesn't. Of course THIS rep said, "Of course this phone doesn't sync with Outlook - only the smartphones do that." After restraining my desire to put her in a choke hold I tell her that I want to switch phones to the Motorola Q, which is indeed a smartphone and syncs just fine with Outlook (Another 2 hours of research on the all-knowing internet to come to that conclusion). Well, one hour and a frustrated Verizon sales rep later I was switched over to the Q ($200 after the $100 discount) with the extended battery ($20 on special) and luckily the miniSD card I bought the day earlier worked on this phone too, so I kept that.

The Motorola Q
I get the phone home, and despite it running Windows mobile, rather than PalmOS, which I prefer, it seems pretty solid. The battery indeed doesn't last long, so the $20 extended battery is a no-brainer. It synced up with Outlook perfectly the first try. Of course it comes with 101 ways to get on the internet with any accidental click of the pad. And since I didn't get a data plan, that is a disaster waiting to happen at the crazy price per kb downloaded. I thought that might be a problem, but I called up Verizon tech support and they put a data block on my phone so it won't get on the internet (and keeps me from sending or receiving photo messages, but oh well) and I found the settings to edit the home screen to remove all Verizon's custom buttons to get on the internet.

So now I am finally happy. The phone is nice, although there are a few things I don't like such as the nonstandard mini headphone jack and the fact that the phone won't fit in the leather carrying case I bought (another $20) with the extended battery in it. Arg. The buttons are a bit small and switching from dialing numbers and entering text characters is sometimes a pain. The camera is worse than on my old Palm Zire although it does have a flash. The speakerphone on it is quite nice and despite the phone being way larger than my flip phone, it's definitely smaller than my old phone and Palm put together and with my new Bluetooth headset (yes, I now have a plastic bug attached to my ear) it works out pretty nice.

Consequently, I am selling my old Palm Zire PDA, although I do love that thing.

Morals of the story:

1. Consult your wireless company's tech support number before choosing a phone - don't trust the sales reps in the store.
2. Buy your phone online. A business acquaintance of mine found his Q for $100 on Amazon.com.
3. Whoever tells you that technology makes your life simpler is LYING! I can just see God shaking his head as I struggled through this whole ordeal, wasting so much time.

Cheap Toll Free Numbers, Phone and Fax Services

Greetings! This edition we're reviewing some cost saving phone and fax services that are available for home and small business. These are all services that we have tried and although they may not be for everyone, we were generally satisfied with them and feel comfortable recommending them.

The first service that we are reviewing is the toll-free phone number company "TollFreeLive." They offer simple toll free numbers that can redirect your customers to any phone number...even to a cell phone! We were very impressed with their automated answering system that allows you to provide extensions for different employees or departments in your business. You can even assign a voice message to a number selection and record a message that describes the basic features that your business offers. All of your dialing structures can be set up online, or you can pay a small fee when you create an account to have TollFreeLive set it up for you. This is how it works: Someone calls your toll free number and they get your automated attendant(or you can record your own voice). They are presented with a menu like "For customer service, dial 1...for technical support, press 2, to speak with an attendant, press 0." Once they make a selection, they are asked to speak their name. Then your phone will be called and you will hear the name of the person calling and chose whether or not to accept the call. If you can't get to the phone, they will simply be redirected to your TollFreeLive voicemail box. Their basic service includes 5 extent ions and costs $9.99 a month, which includes 100 minutes of incoming calls a month--additional minutes are 5.9 cents each. Of course they also have larger plans with more included minutes and a lower price per additional minute, if that's what you need. They best part of this company is they have a place where you can search for available toll free numbers via their website so you can get the perfect memorable number for your business.

Send2Fax is a company that allows you to set up a toll free fax number for your business. Not only that, but you don't need a second line in your office, or even a fax machine! All incoming faxes are converted to an image and emailed to you. What about outgoing faxes? Simple. You simply send an email to a persons fax number @fax.send2fax.com with a file attached and that file will be converted to a fax that will print on any regular fax machine. The pricing starts at $1.95 a month. Yes, you read that right. There is a $4.95 setup fee and you have to prepay at least $20.00. You are then charged .15 cents per page that you get or send out. Anytime your account falls below $5.00, your credit card is charged another $20 to fill it back up. Of course there are larger plans available that include free pages for a larger monthly fee and they even have a broadcast fax service for solicitations, although we haven't used that service. We have found this to be a great service if you don't do a ton of outgoing faxing. We never had any problems receiving faxes, but once we did have a problem getting a fax to send to a particular fax machine correctly.

Vonage
You may have heard of these guys. The ones with the obnoxious TV commercials with the tune that you can't get out of your head? They provide phone service through your high speed internet connection. So if you have a cable modem or DSL, you can sign up with Vonage and get a phone line that uses your internet connection, but allows you to send and receive phone calls just like any other phone. In fact, in some ways, it's even better than regular phone service. For one thing, you take your phone number with you. Where ever you plug in the Vonage phone box into a high speed internet connection, your phone number will ring to the phone plugged in there, so you could take your phone along with you if you move offices or even go on vacation! Also, you can choose the area code that you want for your phone. So if you do a lot of business in Yeehaw Junction, FL (Yes, that's a real place) you could get an 863 area code so your customers would have a local call even though your office is in Businessburg, OH (also a real place). Pricing for Vonage starts at $14.99 a month for 500 minutes, which are good anytime, anywhere in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico, or you can bump up to unlimited calling for $24.99 a month. And remember, you don't have to pay for a phone line(unless you are using DSL for your high speed internet). We found the sound quality to be pretty good--better than most cell phones, but not quite as clear as a regular phone line. Vonage does have an online setting to configure your sound quality, but even at the highest quality there was a little bit of lag at times, but it was definitely usable. You also can check voicemail online and get email notifications of voicemail. Also, you can get your current phone number transferred to Vonage, but we experienced problems getting our number transferred in a timely fashion and we have heard that has been a problem for other people as well, but that is probably not entirely Vonage's fault--local phone providers are typically not excited about releasing your phone number to a competing company, so we got the feeling that it wasn't on their top priority list. We also found that we had to pay an $80 cancellation fee later to stop the service--so make sure you read the fine print!

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Well, there you have it. Three low cost phone solutions for your home or business. Again, they may not be for everybody, but definitely worth checking out.

Antivirus, AntiSpyware and other Goodies!

Greetings from Technigrafa! In this edition we will be discussing free anti-adware, anti-virus, anti-spyware and other utilities to make your computer run more smoothly.

Sure, you've heard about adware, spyware and computer virii, and no doubt you've experienced the frustation that these little nasties can produce when they infest your computer. But what can you do to protect yourself?

1. Don't open emails from people you don't recognize. This is probably one of the most common methods that virii and spyware spread. If possible, set your email program settings so that they will not automatically download images or run scripts. These things can either cause infestation, or confirm to spammers that your email address is a legitimate one.

2. Don't use Internet Explorer. Most online virii and spyware is designed to take advantages of security holes in IE. There are plenty of other browsers out there that provide just as good of a browsing experience(if not better). Here are links to a few that are free for you to download and install:

• Mozilla Firefox
• Opera

3. Avoid clicking on pop up banners or other annoying advertisements as you surf. These ads are often misleading and can trick you into installing unwanted software on your computer.

4. Be weary of emails you get promising SUPER deals, or emails claiming that an account you have with your bank, Paypal or eBay is about to be closed out if you don't click on this link and update your profile. This is usually a trick to get your account information. If you are concerned that an account of yours is in poor standing, contact the company directly by phone or from a website you know to be theirs.

5. Regularly update your operating system. Windows, MacOS, and Linux all provide means to automatically update your system periodically. These updates often fix security holes.

6. Regularly run an antivirus program and make sure to schedule it to download recent virus definitions. Here are a few free antivirus programs, but there are many good ones to choose from that are reasonably priced, as well.

• Avast! Antivirus Home Edition
• AVG Antivirus Free Edition

7. Spyware is software that gets onto your computer and monitors the sites that you visit and can even log data you type in(like credit card numbers!). The worst part is most antivirus softeware won't remove it. So it is also important that you regularly run spyware removal software. Here are a few free alternatives:

• Spybot Search and Destroy
• Ad Aware

So hopefully these tips will arm you for the war against spyware, adware and computer virii.

Also, Technigrafa is proud to announce that we now provide web hosting plans starting at only $20 a month! Our server is at a class A data center in Research Triangle Park and is backed up daily and backed up off-site on a weekly basis. Our plans include many of the features that other hosting companies charge extra for, like spam blocking and antivirus support for your email.

Click here to find out more about our new hosting plans!

Welcome - Purpose

Hello and thanks for visiting my blog!

Why am I blogging?
I own Technigrafa - a print design, web design and web hosting company in Raleigh, NC and I decided it might benefit our clients to have a blog where I can post general tips on websites, business promotion, or just cool stuff that I have run into.

Who am I?
Well, as described above I keep very busy with my business, but here's some other information that may help you understand who I am. I am a Christian and attend Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, NC. I play the drums (and sometimes bass) for church and also for a blues band in Raleigh. I taught middle school at Centennial Campus Middle School for five years before going full time with Technigrafa - which is probably a big reason I stress spending personal time teaching our clients so much :-) I love riding my 1980 Kawasaki 440 LTD motorcycle when the weather is nice. I am a HUGE Pittsburgh Steelers fan - even back in the 80's and 90's when they stunk :-) I am a member of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the Capital City Club for help in establishing business contacts, so I have a business card holder full of contacts that I can offer clients as they need them.

Who is Technigrafa?
Since this blog is geared primarily towards my business, I should explain a little bit about what we do. We are a print design, web design and web hosting company in Raleigh, NC. Let me tell you a little more about each aspect of what we do:

Print Design - We put the polish on your business. We work with a lot of new businesses who need a brand new corporate identity, IE logo, branding, business cards, letterhead, brochures, post cards, promotional items like shirts, pens, etc. We also work with more established companies who want to rebrand themselves in order to make them stand out from competitors or reinvent the company's image.

Web Design - Web design makes up a majority of what we do. From simple informational websites, to database-driven portal or content management systems (CMS), to ecommerce sites. I am a firm believer of using cascading style sheets (CSS) for laying out sites, rather than using tables, which was a common practice years ago before CSS and some designers still rely on them today. Why is that a big deal? Tables were designed to hold tabular data. Say you want a chart that shows your products and how much they cost. Well, designers didn't like the fact that HTML didn't really give you a way to format a page the way they were used to in print design. So, being the creative, ingenuitive types that web designers are, they figured out quick that tables are a good way to put stuff where you want it. So they ran with it - and I am guilty of this as well. Several years ago a technology called CSS came out and as browsers started to support it, it became an alternative way to layout a page - and in a much smart way. CSS works like this: All your page formatting (colors, location, sizes) are stored in a separate file from your site's content. That does a couple huge things. One, your site's HTML code is MUCH cleaner, which makes it easier for search engines to index your site. Second, pages designed with CSS load faster because the browser doesn't have to render hundreds of tables, which is messy. Third, CSS designs are more compatible with web-enabled devices like PDAs, phones, etc. with a small screen because these devices can ignore the CSS and just get the content they need quickly and without the fancy formatting. So am I a CSS nut? Yes, I suppose I am. Is CSS perfect? Goodness no! The biggest problem with CSS is every web browser renders CSS a little differently, so getting a page to behave nice in each browser is a huge, time consuming pain. Often you have to trick certain browsers to behave the way you want them too. Also, many browsers don't support CSS completely the way the standards say they should. Microsoft Internet Explorer is notorious for not supporting CSS the way it's supposed to. Now, I hear that IE 7 will fix a lot of that. But what happens when a site is designed to hack around IE's flaws and people begin to use IE 7 and it no longer has those flaws? Good question. I can't wait to see how that will affect things.

Okay, that was a horrible rabbit-trail tangent. Sorry about that! :-)

Web Hosting - We have our own server and it is hosted at the class A Peak 10 data center in Research Triangle Park. Peak 10 is arguably the most reliable data center in the area. That's why we chose them. Our server is backed up daily and backed up off-site on a weekly basis. Our plans include many of the features that other hosting companies charge extra for, like spam blocking and antivirus support for your email.

A big difference in hosting with us is since our server is here local and not in California or Canada, as many of the other "really cheap" hosts are so you will notice our sites load a lot faster. The data has less distance to travel. Also, since we are not a huge web hosting conglomerate, you get more personal service. When you call Technigrafa, you'll most likely get me and if there's a problem, I'll fix it right then or get our tech people to work on it ASAP if it's beyond my abilities. With the big "cheap" web hosting companies which will remain nameless, if you have a problem, you have to wait forever on the phone to talk to someone, who will put your problem in a queue which may not get even get looked at for days. It might be worth it to lack in customer service for the inexpensive prices they can offer - it takes all kinds. So the bottom line - our hosting might cost a little bit more, but you will get more personal service.

Anyway, if you've made it reading this far, I am impressed! I think I'm going to start off by posting some tips that we've sent out in our newsletter. I hope it helps someone out there!