Friday Favorites (2)

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Friday Favorites - smiles2send.com

This week I’d like to thank the following blogs for their creative yet informative postings. Round three has begun.

Name: Yeepage
Blog: Yeepage
Reason: Interesting article on the blue’s of blogging. How to regain your passion for blogging, and what to do about it.
Example: Regaining Your Passion For Your Blog

Name: Sean
Blog: WarriorBlog.net
Reason: The articles he writes are creative and to the point. No bs, what he writes is listed right in front of you.
Example: Make Money Giving Away Free Ebook

Name: BloggingWeb20
Blog: BloggingWeb20
Reason: A great way to bring in an audience that is obsolete in blogging, and ask questions about your blog.
Example: What Mum Taught Me About Blogging. Written by - Karen Zara

Name: Israel
Blog: Fat Man Unleashed
Reason: Some great posts have been read from his blog. Updates daily with some great posts on improving overall fitness. I love his humor.
Example: Human Weapon Is A Test Of Inner Warriorness

Name: David
Blog: MarketingDeviant.com
Reason: Great topics for business, and marketing. What else do you need to run a business successfully?
Example: Marketing Strategy Of VS Advertising

How To Write For Success

Writing - pdc.ecusb.edu

The content your blog contains is the most important aspect overall. You receive traffic due to what’s inside your blog. Although a nifty headline may attract visitors, it’s not the sole reason for keeping their attention. Once they’ve arrived and it’s poorly written how long do you think they’ll stay? I’d guess not long at all. How could it be the heart of your blog is poorly written, generic, lacks personality and humor? This knowledge certainly eludes a lot of individuals. So with my help hopefully I can take you from attracting visitors to keeping them. In this article I’m going to help you write an article that will keep your visitors glued and have them return with friends!

Topic Selection

Alright, the very first thing to do is select a topic. Lets try to pick a topic that you can narrow down, that will not leave doubt in the reader. When I say doubt, a topic that you can write concrete evidence on. You wouldn’t want to start a debate with your readers. Anything is possible. If you own a blog that’s within a popular niche this won’t be hard to accomplish. It definitely helps to write something that people are wanting to read. 

How to invest with minimum loss > Mechanics of a Golf swing.

Gotta Name?

Some will create a great headline, and write around it. Either way will work. It’s true that you need a headline that will knock your socks off! Picture this - Your searching for something specific, you would only go to a site that you feel has the best answer right? Usually that article has a clear, to the point, and accurate headline. Your headline doesn’t have to be generic, plain, or boring. It can have some spice but lets keep it simple.

Example topic finance, and headline - Financial Success in 5 Steps

Research Remaining

We have a topic to write about, now two things remain: research, and actual writing. It’s crucial from this point that you don’t slack off. If you have great content with dry writing your article will suffer. If you have a great topic with horrible research the article will be pathetic. There are many ways to accumulate content for your article. This is strongly important in which topic you choose. A topic on sports will be easier for information than on sonic waves. Wherever you receive your information, make sure you cite the source. Any information you find is copyrighted. There are many strategies for generating information ase article directories, pub, magazines, peer review sites, etc.

Dreadful Writing

This may be what you’ve been waiting for all along. The sentence arrangement, vocabulary, and word selection can make you or break you. There are two ways to increase your English. One - read. The more you read, the higher your intelligence will become. Two - write. You won’t improve on anything if you don’t practice. Whenever you write, first you should brainstorm on how you want the article to flow. Try not to jump from one subject to another - stay on point. A great way to imagine your article is like a river. A river flows, your writing should immitate it.

Everyone has their own writing style. I will not say do this, and you should expect this. You should simply write as if you were speaking about it In Elementary school I learned a valuable tip. While reading what you’ve wrote aloud, if you need to take a breath you need a period or a comma. When you write don’t be afraid to display your humor. No one wants to read a boring article. Showing that you have a personality can take your words to the next level.

Conclusion

Concluding your article you shouldn’t have a ‘The End’ or ‘in conclusion’. You should sum up what you’ve wrote, and give your opinion on everything. You could even end your article, and give hints to a similar one. This is a great way of encouraging someone to click on another article that you’ve written.

Spell Check + Proof Read

An absolute freaking must! Would you like to read an article that was misspelled, periods, and commas were out of place? Then apply your own knowledge, and do the right thing! Once you’ve finished, do it again. You may have been set on your article while writing, but reading it once more you’re bound to change anything. It could be for the best!

Wordpress and relevant pushbutton publishing

Title

The title should be the same as the article’s name.

Description

Your description appears below the title name. Have an interesting description will definitely help in clarifying what the blog and article is about. Having a description that’s irrelevant will falsify your article.

Keywords

You don’t want to over do it here. Keep it simple and to the point. Don’t break down every phrase, and add individual words (see below). Keep your keywords around 10 and less.

World War II is your topic. You shouldn’t have keywords like - World, War, I, II, World War, World War I, World War II.

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Randy Couture From Fighting To Acting

Randy “The Natural” Couture retired, announced October 11, 2007.

By: Boxing in Las Vegas

Randy in his career has accomplished many tasks including: UFC Hall of Fame, UFC heavyweight & lightweight championships, Army soldier, and a college wrestler (3-time olympic alternate & 3-time NCAA Division-I All-American). To me in 44 years of life that’s a pretty big list of achievements! But Randy isn’t finished! He’s pushing on to become a actor.  Do I have your attention yet? If so keep reading!

 Randy is a Greco-Roman styled wrestler in the MMA. He’s the only athlete to hold dual championships in heavyweight and lightweight divsions of the UFC at the same time. The only fighter to accomplish that task, and a five-time champion in UFC history earning the nicknames “The Natural” and “Captain America”. In order to receive this recognition he’s fought past Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, Pedro Rizzo, Kevin Randleman, Jeremy Horn, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Tim Sylvia. A bunch of ass whooping right? All are large name athlete’s on the list.

The first retirement - (past: early 07)

Once he retired from the fighting arena, Randy began participating in an array of activities including broadcast commentator on UFC, co-host of “Before/After the Bell”. He will also appear in an upcoming film with Rob Schneider comedy “Big Stan” (not sure of the date). He was featured on Spike TV’s reality show “Pros vs. Joes,” on January 25, 2007. That episode featured himself including Michael Irvin, Kevin Willis and Jose Canseco. Couture returned for the finale where he took part in a football based round. The teammates then were Kevin Willis, Randall Cunningham, Bruce Smith, Roy Jones Jr., and Tim Hardaway. He’s had a cameo appearance on the CBS show “The Unit” posing as a military guard. So as you can see Randy isn’t afraid of audiences! He definitely has the credentials to become a well performer in acting.

Randy the movie star (present - oct 07)

Flickr Randy Couture by Kakberg

The ground and pound fighter is pursuing a career as an actor now. He’s already received the lead villain role in Universal’s “The Scorpion King - The Rise of the Akkadian”. What caused Randy to become an actor?

The Juicy Stuff! 

The retirement has left two contracted fights in the air, on-air analyst, and his heavyweight championship behind. He hasn’t officially retired and is planning on fighting for another promotion. Contributing factors for his retirement are the lack of UFC management, and disputes of UFC not signing #1 ranked heavyweight fighter Fedor Emelianenko. The reason Fedor was mentioned is, because Randy feels that he’s accomplished all there is to in the UFC. Dana White president of UFC says, “He told us he is at a crossroads and he said, ‘Who else is there for me to fight?” White said of the meeting, which he said occurred around the time of UFC 76, which was Sept. 22 in Anaheim, Calif. He told us, ‘If I fight anyone but Fedor, then I’m just fighting for the money.’ Randy was never a guy who fought for money. He wanted the biggest and best challenges. He has movie deals, TV deals, a lot of (stuff) going on in his life. A lot goes into training for these guys and he just has too many other things going that he wants to deal with if he’s not going to fight the best.” So basically we lost one of the greatest MMA fighters of our time, because UFC skimped on the contracting deal? Just pathetic! He hasn’t officially retired, so hopefully we’ll see more of Randy. We know for sure on the big screen he’ll be seen.

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites | smiles2send.com 

I’d like to dedicate Friday for the day to congratulate sites of recognition. The blogs listed are based on different aspects. I’m going to list 5 sites only. Hopefully not any of the same from one week to the next. 

Name: Marcos Azaro
Blog: www.socialseo.org
Reason: For the many creative headlines! Everyone could improve thier title creativity.
Example: The Essence Of Linkbait: What Hitler Knew Very Well (And I Hope You Too)

Name: Nick Bakewell
Reason: For providing relevant content that can promote your blog, website or forum and increase your overall traffic.
Blog: www.abstractpromotion.com
Example: Forum Promotion 101: Basics - Monetization

Name: Sean Nguyen
Reason: For continuously providing content to promote your blog in different ways.
Blog: www.warriorblog.net
Example: Finding blog topics that will bring in traffic

Name: Blogging the Movie
Reason: For having one of the most original ideas that i’ve seen with blogging.
Blog: www.bloggingthemovie.com
Example: Blogger Rookie of the Year

Name: Keeyit
Reason: For a wonderful subtitle quote. 
Blog: www.keeyit.com
Example: Yesterday is History.Tomorrow is a Mystery, and Today is a gift.That’s why we call it the Present

I strongly encourage visiting these sites. They offer great insight on anything related to your blog.

GOOGLE PageRank Exchange Chain

Google Logo | cise.ufl.edu

The Technorati Exchange Chain done so well, it’s time to increase the Google PageRank. We know how much blogs are valued through Technorati, PR, and Alexa rankings. I came across a chain already started, and I’ve added 5 of my own most visited blogs to the list. Anyone can participate no matter the amount of traffic your receive. Simply copy from where it says start here to end here. Paste into a new post, edit with 5 new blogs, and publish. 

** Start Copy Here **

We all know how important getting link backs is and with this chain, you can get the ball rolling! You don’t have to be an established blogger to take part in this chain.

Here are the rules:
1. Copy this post from the point where it says “Start Copy Here” to the point where it says “End Copy Here”
2. Add yourself and 5 of your favorite bloggers to the end of the list.
3. Post this on your blog

Enkay Blog | Ms. Danielle | Cash For Comments | BetShopBoy | JohnCow | Mr. Gary Lee | Jon Lee | Dosh Dosh | Some Make Money | The King Kong Blog | RomanDock | Michael Kwan | Ed Lau | Jane May | Sam Breadstone | Windows Tips, Tricks and Hacks | ProBlogger | The Beef Jerky Blog | The Prize Blog | Online Coupon Codes | Jamaipanese | Rugjeff | ShadowScope | The News Press Net | JohnWaraas | Online Opportunity | Sara | Gaje Master | Graphic Design | romandock dot com | RevieWOW | Drunken Housewife | Sparemoolah | antonolsen | blogitude | joeymoggie | alltheinfo | Sugar Queens Dream | cricketdesi | Average Joe Blogger | Make Money Online with a Girl | Bloggrrl | Daily Blog Tips | Nate Whitehill | Pure Blogging | Yeepage | LSG | Dolphinscuba  | Onemansgoal | Etienne Teo | Derek Semmler | Alex Rector | Sean Nguyen  | Thomas Sinfield | Nick Bakewell | Catherine Lawson | Tibi Puiu


**End Copy Here**

Soldier Outfitting: Past, Present, and The Future

Browsing through my local Stars and Stripes the front page caught my attention with the headline, “How much are you carrying?.” It’s a simple breakdown of how much it cost to supply a soldier in World War II, OIF, and beyond.

1940s and Past:
In World War II a soldier didn’t have much to carry. In fact the total weight I’d guess would be less than 35 pounds. The equipment in that decade consisted of bare minimum. A soldier typically carried or worn a uniform, steel kevlar, weapon, canteen(s) with cup, bedroll, and a pack. When the soldier stepped onto the battlefield the total cost of his eqiupment was $170.
World War II

From Vietnam-Iraq:
As the years continue we evolve, and as we evolve manufacturing prices inflate. In the 70s the price inflated from $170 to $1,100. Vietnam, the war at that time demanded improved eqiupment, and so the flak vest and M16a1 was developed for the needs of the soldiers. From Vietnam until the first involvement in the Middle East, the Army’s eqiupment hasn’t been upgraded signficantly. Changes have been made, but not as much from the 40s-70s.
Vietnam War

The inflation of manufacturing increased from $1,100 to $17,500 for the present day. For battlefield operations presently a soldier is outfitted with: advanced body armor, high-tech flak vests, improved kevlars, M-4 Carbine, NVGs/Thermal Sights, ballistic eye protection, digital print fire-retardant uniforms, tennis shoe styled boots, camel bak, kevlar gloves, and ear plugs. With all this eqiupment it’s difficult to have mobility with the weight of 75 pounds.   

Futuristic Soldiers:
In the coming years (2015-?) Soldiers should expect many upgrades ranging from full body armor uniform, visor mounted kevlars with digital landscapes, weapons that shoot around objects (buildings), greatly improved communication ear pieces, and overall lighter packing. The Pentagon has already put a price tag on outfitting the soldiers of tomorrow to be from $30-60k (depending on versions).

Soldiers in 2025?

The Army of tomorrow:
Just to brainstorm and day dream what civilization would be like in the next century. I believe we’d have full bodied armor that is perfectly balanced to our height and weight. Xray, Thermal, NVG screens. Force Fields for offensive and defensive stances. The possibilities are unlimited.

What do you think we’ll have in the next century whether Military or not? I’d like to hear your thoughts in the comment area!

Technorati: U Fave I Fave Exchange

If you use Technorati you should know that having fave’s increases your authority. If you want some serious traffic this technique is a proven method for it. Having a high authority on the largest blog search engine is a great opportunity. It’s quite simple you favorite me, I favorite you. The idea is very creative, and it originated from  Jack Humphrey.

Lets get started

1. If you haven’t done so already go register at Technorati.
2. Now you need to get your blog registered in the Technorati database. To do this we need to Claim My Blog.
3. Add my blog to your favorites, and comment on this article, I will return the favor both ways.
4. Once you’ve finished step three please leave a trackback, and I will do the same in return.

What You Get

1. A new favorite.
2. More authority.
3. Comment on your blog in recognition and thanks.
4. A trackback from your’s to mine.
5. Increased traffic!

What I Get

1. A new favorite.
2. Increased authority (if you leave a track back)
3. A comment asking to be added and hopefully a thank you.
4. A trackback (can be in any form, mention in a update, an article…)
5. Increased traffic!

By the way this exercise won’t close. That’s it. Promote this article as much as you can, and watch your traffic increase daily. Please mention this post in a update, article, idea, etc. I’ll be helping you increase your authority through the track back, and I would appreciate the same in return.

For participating in this exercise I’d like to thank:

1. Marko @ NovaksBlog
2. Sean @ WarriorBlog
3. Chessnoid @ Chessnoid
4. IWH @ InterWebHunt
5. Sharkyx @ Lost Art Of Blogging
6. Thomas Sinfield @ Thomas Sinfield
7. Nick Bakewell @ Abstract Promotion
8. Richard Rinyai @ The Professional Assistant
9. You?

NFLs 5th Week

Chicago vs Green Bay:

Green Bay summary: I was suprised on the outome that Chicago improved their record to 2-3. I was rooting for Green Bay in this one. Perhaps it was Brett’s poor decision making that allowed them to win? He threw 2 interceptions for the 27-20 victory. Although he did throw a massive amount of yards (322) maybe, but you can’t determine the loss off of one individual. The Packers had a total of 5 turn-overs (2 from QB). As for the rushing and receiving it was mediocre. DeShawn Wynn rushed 13 times for 78 yards. Greg Jennings on the receiving end showed a good performance for the lack of receptions. Brett threw to him 4 times for 83 yards.

 http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/sp/getty/14/fullj.getty-75557896ms012_chicago_bears.jpg

Chicago summary: Brian Griese starting his second game due to a benched Rex Grossman was a good decision. Bears coach Lovie Smith, says “We liked our quarterback play.” Coach also said, “He did a great job managing the game,” and “Got us out of some tough plays, made good decisions.” Brian Griese had a QB rating of 97.8 with 15 completions out of 25 attempts. Those 15 completions led to 214 yards, 2 TD, and 1 INT. On the rushing side Cedric Benson rushed 27 times for 64 yards and a touchdown.  Desmond Clark led the receiving end with 3 receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown. When Favre thew an interception to Brian Urlacher the game’s tempo changed for Chicago. Immediately following the great defense, the offense fired with a touch down pass to tight end Greg Olsen. Green Bay lost this game due to their turn-overs and bad play calling, this led to Chicago countering for great offensive work.

Carolina vs New Orleans

Carolina summary: I honesly thought my Panthers were going to lose. I’m estatic none the less! Steve Smith is definitely the player of the game no matter how many believe John Kasay’s winning 52-yard field goal was. Smiths 17-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter pushed the Panthers to within one score of tying/leading. Later on Carr connected with Smith again to set up Johns field goal for the win. With David Carr’s lingering injury he managed to over come his pain and execute brilliantly with the aid of his team. David threw 10/17 for 119 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. with DeShaun Foster rushing 19 times for 59 yards and no celebrations (TD) he wasn’t impressive at all. Receiving led to two players Keary Kolbert and Steve Smith. Keary caught 4 passes for 74 yards with no touch down. Steve with 4 receptions for 47 yards and one touch down really assisted in the win in New Orleans.
* Jake Delhomme will be out the remained of the season with a right elbow injury.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20071007/capt.2da0160bb82044338efb501ddc6937b5.panthers_saints_football_laab117.jpg

Online Savings Account

A great way to earn extra money due to interest would be opening an Online Savings Account. Online compared to Brick and Mortar Banks is extremely lucrative (comparison below). The accounts are developed to “piggy-back” onto your original checking account. The concept is great, because if you need the money you can simply transfer it back into the savings account. Keep in mind some if not all have transfer limits monthly. Other than the tremendous interest opportunity some OSAs are easy to open with Minimum Opening Value, No Minimum Balances, and No Monthly Fees.

How Much Can I Earn?
Your current checking account pays nearly nothing most likely. I know for sure my Bank of America savings is .02 percent While my FNBO Direct earns a nice 5.05 percent. Let’s conduct a little interest experiment between $50 contributions with 5.0% and .20 %
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/136/329732512_af80cfe6e8_m.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know $50 a month isn’t much, but a penny saved is a penny earned! The money will add up take a look…

  • 5.00 % and $50.00 contributions for one year = $613.94
  • Bank of America at 0.20% and $50.00 contributions = $600.55
  • Total difference between Bank of America and 5.00% = $13.39
  • Increased with 200 monthly at 5.0% for a year = $2455.89

As you can see to be the largest bank in the world their interest is horrible. Now they do have interest savings account much higher (2-4%) but these accounts are minimum of thousands of dollars. Take my advice and open a OSA today.

Here is a small compiled list of popular Online Savings Accounts/Banks.

FNBO Direct: 5.05% APY, $1 to open, No Monthly Minimum Balance.
Emigrant: 4.75% APY, $1 to open, No Monthly Minimum Balance.
HSBC Direct: 4.50% APY, $1 to open, No Monthly Minimum Balance.
ING Direct: 4.30% APY, $1 to open, No Monthly Minimum Balance.
Incentive - $25 Account Opening Bonus

Do you know of more that should be added? Comment on this, and I’ll update.

The Do’s and Dont’s of Blogging

Following the advice I’m about to reveal to you should lure people to your blog and keep them there! The process is quite simple, following it will not only improve your traffic, but increase your blog’s wealth. I present to you the 5 Do’s and 5 Don’ts of blogging!

1. DO - Write valuable information to increase your content’s capacity. Write what you want not what other people want. Make it interesting that the commentators will remember. Remember the reason why people come to your blog is to read what you’ve wrote!

DON’T write information to fill space. Having one well written addictive article is worthless if the rest is garbage.

Tornado @ flickr.com2. DO- Name creative bold titles. Don’t over do it with text such as and & but. Creative titles will catch someones eye. Example topic Cars - F Bodies Newest Design. If you didn’t know what a F Body is you wouldn’t know it’s a Camaro. Here’s one more - Eight Cylinders of pure Adrenaline. Remember a bold title is similar to a Tornado sucking everything in!

DON’T create a title on a subject that is generic. Great example on making money online would be… Make Money Online With Me. That’s pathetic, and I believe you can do much more. Don’t use strapped for time as an excuse. Take your time, and deliver a knock out!

3. DO- Have a unique theme that is not cluttered with text and advertisements. If you cannot afford to purchase a custom theme simply download one and customize it to your liking. Think of this - Would you rather look and drive a Lamborghini Diablo or a Honda Accord? Remember once their at your site, it’s either the design or the content that will make them come back!

DON’T continue writing amazing articles on the old ass word press theme. Create a good atmosphere with an amazing vibe. Not the feeling of well I’ve seen this before or been there done that.

4. DO- Welcome user feedback. They’ve came to your Blog and their about to leave, encourage a comment! A great example is to leave space in an article/post for users to fill in. Remember once a friend always a friend (most likely)

DON’T respond to comments, and you’ll appear as a snob. How would it look if you wanted all the glory, but didn’t want to share the spotlight? It’s not right to receive and not give. This is a golden rule of how not to make a good community.

5. DO- Leave a reason for visitors to return. A great example is to offer something. Back links, Affiliates, eBooks, and Blogroll can be an example. Remember incentives will keep them returning!

DON’T do anything to offer help, and your visitors will think your an oaf. Most of what you should offer should help yourself and the community, am I right?

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