We spent about 7 hours together on Sunday and discussed what Megan wanted to achieve with her new site.  Of course, more visibility was top of the list.  Megan’s competitors have web sites, so she realized that to remain competitive, she needs to have a presence on the Internet as well.

Megan also wanted a site that was simple for visitors to navigate and consume, nothing terribly complex or busy would do.

She didn’t want to spend a whole lot of money either, so I told her that I would help her get everything for as cheap as I could muster, but without the end result looking cheap.  I recommended WordPress as it’s malleable, easy to maintain, and would be easy for Megan to manage her own content, saving her money by not requiring a web developer for minor changes in the future.

We started by discussing potential domain names and finally decided that MeganMahoneyTraining.com was perfect for her needs, so I had her navigate over to GoDaddy to buy a domain name, and then point it over to my web host, where I told her I would use my own hosting account for her so that she could save the cost on hosting.  What are friends for after all?

She paid about $15 for the domain name per year, plus she added privacy so that crawlers can’t get her personal information.  The domain name was low cost enough that she decided to purchase the rights to the domain name for 3 years.  Not a bad decision as that saved her a few more bucks as there was a discount for adding years to the order.

With the domain name routed to my hosting, we could then begin to establish her website.  I decided to use WordPress as it’s incredibly flexible, and I’m able to wrangle it to do pretty much anything I need it to do with relative ease.  About 5 minutes later, we had it up and running, and were adding some content into the system and organizing the layout.

Megan had brought a bunch of pictures that were scanned and made into graphics to fill in some of the pages, as well as to create a nice looking header banner to top the site off.  Using the new Twenty-Ten WordPress template made all this effort a real breeze.

After going back and forth a little with the text, we finally reached the end of what I call the first phase of web development, getting something out there that provides visitors (existing customers and potential customers) a way to learn more about her services, provides a way to reach out to Megan, and a way for people interested in her business to keep up with what she’s doing.

The site looks great, does exactly what she needs it to do, and by using WordPress, the site is ready for more content, more changes, more improvements…basically, it’s ready to live on the Internet and become the home base of Internet operations for Megan Mahoney Training.  Here’s what Megan had to say about the whole process of developing the site, and the site itself:

As a novice computer user I was reluctant to use the internet for advertising. Times are changing and in order to advance my business and keep clients connected, having a website is the obvious choice.

Wayne was so patient and kind, explaning the tech side of everything. He worked so long, making the site exactly how I wanted. Luckily his experience helped with design and programming.  If not for Wayne, I would not have such an incredible site.  And he saved me hundreds of dollars!! I could not be happier!

Wayne’s competitive pricing and personal attention sets him above the rest.

Thanks Megan, it was a pleasure being able to guide you through the development process.

By the way, there’s just something special about the Twenty-Ten WordPress template that people really like.  I know I enjoy my version of it here on my site, but I’ll tell ya, Megan isn’t the first client and friend of mine to express that the default template after installing WordPress was “perfect” for them.

Congratulations Megan on establishing your first web site!  It was a pleasure working with you, and I look forward to helping you grow your business’ Internet presence.  Go check out her new site, and perhaps if you’re in the Southern California area, maybe contact her for some horse riding lessons!

That’s why I’m writing this today.  Every now and then you find a deal that is just too good not to pass up.  Just think about it, $97 is enough to cover your hosting for a number of months.  If you are an existing customer of DreamHost, you could set this up to get your hosting for free, and still pocket a few dollars by referring just one person per month.  I call that pretty cool, and worthy of shooting for.

But that’s the thing, you don’t need to be an existing customer anymore.  They have changed things so that anyone can now promote DreamHost website hosting and still grab that $97 per sign-up.  I say it’s about time, and hurray, and many other things like that!

To top it off, once someone signs up, if they sign anyone up, you’ll make an additional $5 per sign-up.  Sounds like a pyramid scheme doesn’t it?  Well, this time, it’s a pyramid scheme I can promote and still feel good about myself.  DreamHost is, after all, a really good web host, one that I highly recommend to all my clients.

Get Started Now!

You can sign up really easy by completing this form.  They also have a ton of graphical elements that you can use to help your promotions, so check it out, and may you reap great rewards for yourself!

I enjoy automating to see what can be done.  To see what I can do, and when it strikes me, to see where there are holes in a system.  But if you’re a blogger, there’s a problem with aggregating your posts to these networks.

Mr. Herzog commented on my 140 characters isn’t enough to express how I feel post something that really made me think. Then, it made me visit a few sites where my posts are aggregated to.

Ari said:
If you don’t visit your Twitter account but keep it inactive, what about people who mention you in tweets? What if I sent you a tweet but never heard back? What does that say about you? At least, you should edit your Twitter bio to tell people where to contact you.
Ari Herzog@Online Media Strategies´s last blog ..Should Digital Sabbaticals Be Planned to End

Well, after reading that, I decided to take a little trip over to Google Buzz where I have been playing last.  I aggregate my posts over to Buzz as well, and what do you know, it generated a few comments.  In fact, I found a few of my more recent posts were generating a little conversation with others there.

I had no clue!  Not until I visited there and saw that one of my posts had a number of comments on it.

So even in light of a little automation and aggregation, that doesn’t halt the need to continue to participate in little ways on these social sites.

The only thing I would argue with Ari about on this is that each social service is different, and for me, Twitter is much different than Buzz.  Twitter is like what David said in his comment on my post, “a 140 character billboard”.

Buzz is designed to create in-depth conversation around a particular subject, or whatever the post is communicating, so to me, that means that Buzz is more important to check regularly than Twitter would be.

There are a number of people that I’ve met on both services, and others too, that I enjoy speaking with from time to time.  I might not always get a chance to hang out and play around with these services like I once had time to do, but I should remember that the connections I’ve made on these services are just as real as the connections I make in real life.  Albeit, not as formal perhaps, or as tangible as real life connections, but connections just the same.

As a blogger, I can’t forget to check these sites somewhat regularly, so I can at least afford the people that decided to follow me when I was quite active, the respect they deserve by replying and returning a comment when they comment on my posts on these social services.

It just seems like the right thing to do.  Thanks Ari for making that point, it was quite timely. 

They’re complete dolts though, and I hope they read this post.  If I had a chance, I’d say the exact same right to their faces.

“You’re DOLTS!”

Just take a look in your spam file and read some of the crap they bounce around.  Here are a few of the ones that make me cringe when I see them.

Forex News commented:
You made good points there. would make certain they are on the actual topic and discovered most people may agree together with blog.

This dolt couldn’t put a coherent statement together if you paid him. I call him a “him” since in my mind, girls aren’t this idiotic.

Here’s yet another from Mr Forex News:

You’re an extremely smart person!

Yes, I know. And you’re a complete dolt.

Here’s another one (you know I could do this all day…)

Boyd Baraby @ Chicago Computer Repair commented:
So many computer parts and accessories… I think this is the main thing that scare people from using them.

This dolt owns a locality focused AdSense site apparently, and the thing that gets me is that this user posted this comment, not once, but twice, right in a row.  The first post he left a comment on could have passed as a legit comment.  The context felt right, and his grammar is somewhat good.  But, he couldn’t leave well enough alone and got greedy.

Stupid POS spammer.

Now, you might think that this post is going to cause me undue stress and perhaps a little retaliation from the spammers, but it won’t.  They don’t even read your blog or mine.  Just like my Twitter stream automation, they too are automated.  So it makes no sense to even entertain one bit of their crap, nor does it make any difference if you call them out on the carpet.

The best thing to do is to establish your Akismet plugin and just allow it to do it’s thing.  It does pretty well to catch most spam.  Every now and then, just hop in your spam file and bulk delete everything.  You don’t want your spam file growing large enough to cause your site to slow down.

In fact, that’s a good point right there.  For those of you who have ventured into the “Let’s see what WordPress can do” arena by setting up an untold number of sites, any spam those sites are getting are building up, and might eventually bring down your site.  If left unchecked of course.

I doubt it will effect the public interfaces, but when you try to access the spam file, if there are hundreds of thousands of records in there, you might be in for a bit of trouble.  Best thing to do is to make sure you check the “Automatically discard spam comments on posts older than a month.” checkbox on the Akismet admin screen in WordPress.

The only reason I can see that this persists is because of, wait for it….automation.  These spammers set some process up to run whenever and do whatever, and just let it run.  That’s the thing about automation.  Done correctly, it will run until your account is shut down, or the apocalypse, whichever comes first.  So, the big question I have for everyone is, am I a Twitter spammer?

I say no, since it’s completely up to you to follow me or not.  I’m not intruding or forcing anyone to read my tweets, since Twitter is a public site.  You might say that my site is a public site too, so no difference right?

Wrong.  A blog is an apple to Twitter’s oranges.

I just wanted to get this off my chest, I’m sure you can probably relate to my frustration at the moment.  If you blog, I’m sure of it.

And that’s exactly how I feel about Twitter and their 140 character limit…a limitation.

I understand why they did it, I think.  The service was only meant to provide a short, quick message, and perhaps a link to some image or site if you can squeeze it in there.  Maybe you could even add in a #hashtag for organizational sake, if you can do it within 140 characters.

I don’t agree with 140 characters and really don’t use Twitter that much, except for the processes I’ve left laying about that still use Twitter.  My Twitter stream is completely on auto-pilot now.  I don’t visit there anymore except the rare occasion that I need to do something there.  You might ask “Why would you automate your Twitter stream?”.

A few reasons actually, the first being because I can.  As a web developer, I’m constantly trying new things and adding “skill points” to my toolbox, as it were.  Automating Twitter was something that I saw as a valuable skill to have, especially when you stop to consider how big Twitter has become over the past few years.  Many corporations have adopted Twitter and included it as part of their marketing initiatives, so it makes sense that I should know and understand something that they’ll be using, and will surely want to automate in some manner.

The second reason is because 140 characters isn’t enough to express how I feel.  I enjoy casual conversation, a spirited debate and even fiery arguments, but trying to feel satisfied within 140 characters is darn near impossible.

Yet another reason I left behind an automated stream on Twitter is because I found that there are just too many self-interested people out there trying to sell me this, or show me something that doesn’t appeal to me.  There’s too much crap.

Yeah, crap.  It’s a promotional vehicle for way too many people, and that might be its downfall one day.  Of course, it all depends on who you follow, but even the control you try to place on who you follow can become muddled over time, as I’ve found.

To be fair, I never really placed much emphasis on who I follow.  I’ll follow anyone on there as long as your not an annoying Twitter user.  Of course, I’m not there to accept your friend request.

Oh wait, that’s automated too. 

Is it the constant barrage of negativity in the news of the world?

Is it the flood of information that is always crossing my eyes?

Is it because I feel too much for the world, and when I see what people are doing to the world that the feelings that well up in me permeate outward towards others in kind?

Can one become too connected with diversity that they ultimately feel lost in their own identity?

Perhaps I’m just in need of a vacation.  What I can’t stand however are those that are so positively up-beat that it could make you puke.  I DON’T want to be that person one bit, but I also don’t want to open the newspaper and think that the world is just going to shit all the time either.

The problem is that I’ve been told all my life to allow myself the right to express my feelings.  But what if those feelings are viewed negatively by others, and starts a little shit-fest on some social network?  So much for everything I’ve learned from others about embracing my feelings and learning to share them…that doesn’t seem to apply to online life one bit.

Since you’ve been online, do you find that you’re just as negative about the world?  If so, have you tried to battle those feelings, or just allow them to flow?

Sure, I’m making some money, but it isn’t the job replacement that I was hoping for. Instead it’s only a nice supplement to my existing income. Believe me, I’m not balking!  However, if I’m to retire one day, I need to get my income up.

I had hopes (and to be honest a complete lack of direction) when I started that I could make this into something very worthwhile. Worth the time and effort it takes to write a well-rounded, informative post.

Some might find it really easy to kick out post after post and not really look for anything in return.  That’s how I felt during my first few years, but now, if I’m going to spend my nights and weekends writing, it’s going to have to pay off.  When I have resources enough to write for fun, then perhaps then I will.

In fact, I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at how the John Chow’s of the world work their blogs.  It seems that every week John is announcing some great this or that with an affiliate link.  Usually its a product that another John Chow has put together that teaches you how to be another John Chow.

I don’t know about you, but I would grow very tired of this process, even if it made me money.  To top that off, it doesn’t seem genuine to me.  After all, it doesn’t take much to hit Clickbank, find a product and write a quick little email to all your subscribers about how fantastic the product is, and how you can benefit from it.  It’s easy for the most part, but it just doesn’t feel genuine.  Especially when you’re networked with a million other John Chow’s and they each have a product to promote.  It sure helps when you have a following that will stroke you a bit regardless of what you put out there.

But back to me and my blog here.  I’m obviously struggling to write a decent, lengthy and detailed post like I used to, but I find that I’m more apt to do updates and what-not if I’m micro-blogging, which usually happens outside of my blog on services like Twitter or Buzz.

I’m going to bring my activities from there, here.  The thing about services like those is that if you’re a blogger like myself, they’re great places to promote your writing or whatever you might be slinging from your blog, site or company.  However, what happens after time is that all those tweets or buzz items end up helping the social service more than they help your own site.  Sure, you might get a following there, but what is it that you’re really doing?

You’re giving your content away for free.  Your original thoughts and ideas, feelings and emotions are worth something, and to some extent you should be compensated for the time and effort.

Oh wait, it’s all about fun and connecting with new and interesting people, right?  Sure, I guess on the surface that’s exactly what it might be.  But under all the nice marketing and hype, you have a company that wants you to continue pumping content into their system.  That keeps them alive and making money.

Meanwhile, back here at my blog, things are stagnant.  Things have dried up, but these other services are benefiting from my time spent on them.

Not any more though.  This blog will now become my micro-blogging tool.  I’ll slowly change it around to meet my new direction and you’ll see the end results if you continue to follow the crap I throw out there.

Besides, the big ones provide API’s that help you automate your postings there, so if I post here, it will be made available there.  So, why am I using these services as a primary output device, when they should be a secondary device that feeds off of my blog.

It just seems to make sense to me.  What do you think?

This is promising news for Floydians like myself.

According to Waters, Gilmour told him, “If you do ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him’ for The Hoping Foundation gig, I’ll come and do ‘C. Numb’ on one of your Wall shows.” Waters’ response: “How fucking cool! I was blown away.”

Really fucking cool!

Good chuckle at the end there as well…

“Not really tricks, techniques”! We can all feel good about ourselves again, tooling your sites to help you rank better in big G isn’t dirty.

I’ll add that from experience, I find a good sprinkling of your keywords in the title, page description, heading 1, heading 2 and 3 if it makes sense, and use the alt property on the img tag. In fact, I’d say it might work out really well if you use a blogging system like WordPress. You could make the tags that you apply to each post correspond with the content for that alt property. Making the process of adding new images as simple as:

1. Log in, create new post
2. Add title, apply tags, assign category
3. Post

What you do in step 2 means everything, and any way to decrease the time spent there, the better.  So taking advantage of existing work you’ve done by thinking of the tags as an extension of your selected keywords for the post/image, you could apply a list of keywords elsewhere within the entire html, like say in the meta tags for “keywords” (which really aren’t all that important, depends on who you ask).  I always try to include meta keywords though, to be thorough.

As well, the WordPress Codex contains all the information you need to include the tags into the ALT property of the image tag as well.  You can dump those tags onto the page and use them in a variety of ways.

Applying good tags to your image posts, and even non images posts, and used in ways described in the video, and with a little tag ingenuity on the resulting html page, will help save you time, and help to increase your PageRank.

Of course, if you need any help you can always ask for my assistance. I’m more than happy to help when I’m able.

If you liked the video, thank Google, and catch more of Matt on the Google Webmaster Central Channel on YouTube.