Archive for Resources
Make Sure Your WordPress Blogs are Secure from Hackers
Posted by: | CommentsI just received an email from Lynette Chandler, who sends out excellent info on technology issues. (As someone who is somewhat tech-averse, I need all the help I can get!)
Lynette talked about the security issues with WordPress blogs and what to do about it. (Lynette says “regular web sites” such as sites created with XSite Pro web design software are not necessarily any more secure, but I’m going to check on that with XSP. So far I’ve NEVER had a problem with my XSite Pro sites, only my blogs.)
Here’s what Lynette wrote, and the helpful info she shared:
“If you haven’t heard already, there has been a bunch of attacks to
WordPress blogs lately. If you go to WordPress forums and search for
security or hacking you’ll see it has gone on since before version
2.5.1. The most vulnerable sites are those running version 2.3.x but
there has been some report from people using 2.5.1
“It is not clear that those running the newer version were infiltrated
before upgrading. The official WordPress word on this is, version
2.5.1 is secure.
“But you know, this is more about what we as site owners should do to
make sure our sites are not so easily hacked. Look, every software
has their weak points. The trick to surviving a web site hacking is
to take steps so you don’t go through it in the first place.
Prevention is better than cure.
“Also, having regular *web site* backups are super important.
“I talked about this to my friend Elizabeth lately on her podcast.
You are advised to listen to it. Here’s the link.
“Some of the things discussed in the podcast are:
“1. What can happen if a hacking occurs (even if it is not a
Wordpress powered site – so if you don’t run WP, don’t sit back and
relax yet)
“2. Some suggestions how to lock down your WP and sites.
“In addition, here’s a blog post I made earlier with resources how to
secure your site.
“Finally… what do you do to find out if you’ve been hacked and how
to fix it? Here’s a resource that will be super helpful.
“Till the next time, stay safe and don’t forget to backup, backup,
backup.”
Thanks, Lynette!
Yet Another (Very Profitable) Way to Deliver Your Content (Message)
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a pop quiz for you:
How many ways can you think of to make your content (message) available to others?
(If you know the brainstorming technique I taught a few weeks ago, you can pull out a piece of paper and “cluster” your answers now. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the Writing Secrets Revealed class to find out.)
Well, I wonder if you’ve thought of the one I cover in this week’s article.
It looks to be one of the easiest, and profitable, ways I’ve come across.
You’ll be hearing–and seeing–more about this very soon, because I plan to do this myself.
Build Your Web Site Quickly, Easily, Inexpensively (The Best Software I Own)
Posted by: | CommentsA reader who listened to my Resource Roundup #1 teleseminar asked about whether I used the web site creation program I recommend, XSite Pro website design software, for www.wordstoprofit.com, and what I thought of it.
That got me going, because XSite Pro web design software is one of the BEST programs I’ve EVER used. I could not do my online work without it!
Last week, I created the following web sites in a matter of minutes:
- http://www.writeyourbookrightnow.com (with all the subpages)
- http://www.writingsecretsrevealed.com
- http://www.virtualbooktourexpert.com
I also made a new site out of what was a page on my site:
http://www.virtualbooktourexpert.com
I use XSP for almost all my sites, except my blogs. Here are a few examples:
(This Your Book Publishing Coach blog and my www.abundantgiftsblog.com blog are WordPress. I do like WordPress, too, but honestly–it’s easier to work with XSP.)
I just upgraded to Version 2 of XSite Pro. The latest version seems amazing, and I already think XSP is amazing. To read my full review of this software that, in my opinion, is the best software I’ve ever bought, click here. I actually describe and demonstrate some of the tasks you can do, and tell how long it took me to do them.
To get straight to the web page for XSite Pro, go here. I read every word of that site with my usual skeptic hat on. Honestly, none of it is hype. The program does all it says it does.
There are some webinars coming up that will make even clearer all you can do with this program. Check it out and sign up here.
If you want to create web sites where you can post your own articles (search engines love this), sell your products, and get known–easily, quickly, without even having to understand how blogs work–get this program. Honestly, it’s one of the best products I’ve ever bought in my life. Certainly the best software package. (The most profitable one, too!)
Learn What Makes a Winning Book Proposal, and about Writing Children’s Books and Fiction
Posted by: | CommentsMy friend and colleague Terry Whalin has been busy doing some terrific teleseminars I thought you would want to know about.
Take the one he did on book proposals. You can listen to the replay if you head on over to www.askterrywhalin.com.
There you can ask your question, listen to the replay, and download a great new Ebook he just created, his Book Proposals That Sell Extra Special Report. I’ve seen it, and it’s a goldmine of valuable info on book proposals, writing–you name it.
It’s also well worth the $40 to access the interviews he did with 8 top publishing professionals. Why? Because you’d never in a million years have access to these people yourself, and I doubt they’d be as honest as they were with Terry. Each editor or publisher gave a slightly different perspective on what they look for in a book proposal. Check it out.
If you’re interested in writing Christian fiction or writing for children, you can catch the replay of the call Terry did last week with editor and author Andy McGuire at www.askandymcguire.com. Listen to the questions Andy answered from the teleseminar–it’s very enlightening.
Writing Secrets Revealed–Get Your Book Outlined in Minutes–Today!
Posted by: | CommentsI want you to know that, because of some “life stuff” happening, I was unable to remind you that the price for “Writing Secrets Revealed: How to Write Your Book in 45 Minutes a Day or Less (Even If You Think You’re Not a Writer)” is going up.
(I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say it can be summarized in two
words: “computers” and “water.” Thankfully,neither situation is disastrous.)
So, fair is fair! You get 3 extra days to get this audio and the accompanying Action Guide for $9.95, before the price goes up to $14.95. Price will go up on June 27 at 9 pm Central.
And in my opinion, $14.95 is still a steal for what you will get.
Here’s what a couple of attendees had to say:
“Diane, Thanks for the Brainstorming technique. I already have 5 article titles just waiting for me to develop. This is an excellent idea! They may even be turned into whitepapers for my customers. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” –Patricia Hubbard, Virginia Beach, VA
“I knew about mind mapping but never was it put so simply like you did.” –Racheli Smilovits, www.loans-4-u.com
You also get the Action Guide with my filled-in notes, including the exact “outline” I used to plan that teleseminar in 6 minutes.
Plus I answered questions people asked.
More info here. If you want to become a writer–even a prolific writer–very quickly and easily, you must learn these simple techniques! If they don’t work for you, I will refund your money!
A Class that Could Launch You as a Prolific Author
Posted by: | CommentsTuesday’s teleclass on “Writing Secrets Revealed: How to Become a Prolific Author in 45 Minutes Day or Less (Even if You Think You’re Not a Writer)” was so much fun for me!
Most important, the participants loved it.
Here’s what Patricia Hubbard of Virginia Beach wrote to me at the end of the call:
“Diane, Thanks for the Brainstorming technique. I already have 5 article titles just waiting for me to develop. This is an excellent idea! They may even be turned into white papers for my customers. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
If you want to know what we covered, and get access to the replay and the Action Guide with my filled-in notes, go here.
I shared the two exercises, and four brainstorming techniques, that I use virtually every day, for everything I do.
One technique allowed me to outline my whole teleseminar in 6 minutes.
On the Action Guide you will see the exact “outline” I used (though it won’t look anything like any outline you learned how to do in school!).
These techniques are easy to understand and do, and I can just about guarantee they’ll turn you into a prolific writer, too!
(One of them even has the added benefit of being a great stress reducer; I’ve been doing this for 12 years without missing one day, not because I’m disciplined, but because of the tremendous benefits I get from it.)
I also answered questions that were submitted.
Before 9 p.m. (Central) on June 23, you can get the audio and Action Guides (both the blank one and the one with my notes) for $9.95. After that, it’s $14.95.
I think that’s a steal for a class that can literally revolutionize your life as an author.
Oh yes–there’s also a Special available to anyone who listens to the call.
Amazing (Free) Training on Blogging
Posted by: | CommentsWednesdays are my “blog upkeep day.”
Here’s why.
It’s the day I attend Cathy Perkins’s Wizard Weekly teleseminars.
For 30-60 minutes (depending on number of questions), Cathy goes over some aspect of blogging with WordPress (“the best blogging software EVER” she says–and I agree).
She has a Resource Guide, with links to things like plug-ins (today’s topic was “{Plugins I Don’t Want To Live Without”). She’s very clear and does not overwhelm you with info that is too “techie.” (She’s a whiz at tech stuff but keeps that in check with us techno-dummies.)
She’s also in the middle of teaching her course on “The WordPress Dashboard–Your Mission Control.” Tonight is Module 3, but all the prior classes are available for download, so if you miss anything, you’ll still be able to catch up.
Blogging is one of the cornerstones of writing a book that I’ll be teaching soon. Why? Because you can get so much out of it, for so little effort.
You get to start writing your book, if it’s not written yet.
You get feedback from readers (invaluable).
You get media exposure. (The media look to bloggers more and more when they want to find and “expert.” If you have a great blog, and know how to optimize it, you possess that all-important “platform” that publishers clamor for.)
And it’s so easy, truly! Sure, there are lots of cool things you can do to and for your blog. But the basics are not difficult.
If you can write emails, you can write a blog post.
Cathy Perkins will show you how to get started … and take you as far as you care to go. If you already have a blog, she can do a blog audit to help you squeeze every bit of “juice” out of it in terms of search engine optimization, page layout, links–all the things that will turn your blog posts into profits.
At least visit her site, sign up for her blog postings, and attend the Wizard Weekly teleseminars. Tell her I sent you.
And–sign up for her course. Tonight’s a webinar, so you’ll get to SEE what she’s talking about. Cool.
Well, I’m off to add some cool plug-ins to my blog. Look for some differences in the “look” of this blog as a result!
How I Overcome Information Overload
Posted by: | CommentsDo you ever feel paralyzed when you look at your email inbox?
I sometimes do. There’s just too much to keep up with.
I sometimes long for the days before email, blogs, all the information over-glut. (Gee,what was that like?)
Yet, I have learned much through all the available media. It’s a double-edged sword.
The complication is, how do you know whom to trust? There’s so much HYPE, especially on the Internet.
So, here’s what I do.
I decide on a few “most trusted advisers.” I test them out, and if they’re “the real deal,” I tune in to them, and I tune out the rest.
I read their newsletters, blogs, emails.
I only read them after I get my own most-critical tasks for the day done. (If you take Simpleology, you know that Joyner advises you to take care of your daily targets before even reading email. When I follow that advice, I get much more done.)
If I never get to them–oh well. They pile up, and maybe I read them, maybe I don’t.
If I miss something important–oh well. At least I’m focusing on my most important targets.
I learned from Michael Masterson (one of my mentors) that you just have to pick your “gurus.” Find the experts in whatever field you happen to need to learn about, people with whom you resonate, and let the rest go.
I have my Internet marketing mentors, my publishing mentors, my business mentors.
I’m very selective about whom I add to my list. I look for people whose style resonates with my own, who operate with integrity, and whose results are real-world.
I hope, of course, to become one of your “most-trusted advisors” concerning writng, publishing, marketing and promoting books and other information products.
The people I recommend are my own “most trusted advisors.” People I know personally, and whom I’ve had the opportunity to “test.”
I hope I, and the people I recommend, will help you cut down on “information overwhelm.” No hype, no fluff, just the real deal, as best as I can judge.
By the way, one such mentor is Alex Mandossian. Find out why here–and how you can get more than $14,600 in marketing education from Alex and me, for 1/10th of the price.
(Comments, anyone? How do you handle information overload? Who are your most-trusted advisers?)
The Big Problem with “Real” Bookstore Signings
Posted by: | CommentsI just viewed a video in which Alex Mandossian talks about the big problem with in-store book signings.
He hits the nail on the head!
(If you want access to this video and his other trainings, plus a custom author marketing analysis, sign up here .)
A friend of mine once nearly had a nervous breakdown toward the end of an exhausting, two-month author tour to promote her novels. (I never had the heart to ask how many books she sold. I suspect it was at least as much as she could have sold on a Virtual Book Tour.)
компютри втора употребаContrast this to the experience of the coauthors of Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices , for whom I conducted a Virtual Book Tour . They received 668 questions and signups before the VBT on March 18, and we conducted the book tour from the comfort of our own homes, in 60 minutes.
Hundreds of people attended the phone interview, and people bought the book from all over the world.
Not only that–but in the 2 months since, 59 more people have asked questions. One of the huge advantages of a VBT over a bookstore signing is that you get to begin a relationship with your readers that lasts, because when they sign up for the VBT they give their email addresses.
People can continue to ask questions of the author, and then they listen to the replay of the Virtual Book Tour.
This means you can begin and continue a relationship with readers–something that thrills readers. They not only get to ask the author a question and hear the author explain the book–no matter where they live or the author lives–but they now get to continue to hear from that author. (Assuming the author continues the relationship, of course.)
None was this was ever possible in what I call “the old era” of publishing. In the ‘old era,” which is passing away, a reader bought a book, and had almost no way to connect with the author, or vice versa.
Yes, we’re in a new era of publishing, all right, and Alex Mandossian, with Virtual Book Tours, has a big hand in ushering in that new era. If you haven’t signed up for the Virtual Book Tours Systems Preview Call, where you’ll hear all about how VBTs work, please sign up now . It’s the future of book promotion, especially as gas prices soar and bookstores close. The call will give you the leading edge to prosper in this exciting new era of publishing.
Pop Quiz on What Bestsellling Authors Do
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a pop quiz for you:
Question: “What do all bestselling authors have in common?”
Answer: They all are able to …
- generate massive amounts of publicity …
- create viral (word-of-mouth) impact …
- build an ultra-responsive list …
- AND they have a great title and subtitle for their book.
Question: “What do the following authors all have in common?”
- Donald Trump
- Jack Canfield
- Julie Andrews
- Stephen Covey
- Harvey Mackay
- T. Harv Eker
- Brad Smart
- Michael Gerber
- Mark Victor Hansen Read More→
