Courtney Speaks

Who are your online mentors?  Mine have changed over time but have included Kelly McCausey, Lynn Terry, and Jimmy D. Brown.

If you are undecided if you should start a work at home mom business or what type of online business then you need to follow Kelly.  WAHM Talk Radio is a great start.  Also check out her mastermind group, Mom Masterminds.  Kelly does a great job of helping you figure out where you want to go and how to get there.

If you to learn how to make money as an affiliate marketer, then Lynn Terry is your go-to gal.  Check out her blog ClickNewz and click over to her free forum, Self-Starters Weekly Tips.  If you want more one on one interaction, considering joining her Elite group.  I’m a member and just love it.

Jimmy D. Brown is more of an all around guy.  What drew me to Jimmy D. Brown in the first place was the fact that he was a Christian as well.  And he wasn’t afraid to share that fact within his online business.  He is the type of entrepreneur I strive to be.  Not to mention he has some great guides all on different topics.  You can find out more about him at his blog, Jimmy D. Brown.

When you need support, answers, and direction where do you go?

Have you noticed that a lot of mom bloggers are using Blogger as their blogging platform? I have and it irks me. There is just so much more you can do with Wordpress. I’m working on a couple of projects to help inform mom bloggers how Wordpress can enhance their blogging experience and why they need to be using it.

One of those projects is an e-book, A Mom Blogger’s Guide to WordPress, which is design to teach mom bloggers how to install and setup a WordPress site as well as how to successfully run a WordPress blog. It’s not quite finished yet, but it is in the works.

I’m pretty excited about it.

I’ve been listening to God and making changes in my online business and unfortunately while I was making some of those changes this blog got neglected.  But no more!

Thanks to some great referrals my web design and development business is really taking off.  I’ve have got awesome clients and they are not afraid to tell their friends about my work.  This is great news, but it sure does keep me busy.

After talking with a good friend online I have decided that I have to learn how to let go.  Let go of those projects that are not what God is wanting me to do.  While I’ve been focusing on what God has been telling me to do, I still have some other projects that are taking up valuable time.  So I’m letting those go and boy is it hard to do!

I mentioned last week that I started a new blog, WP Geek Girl, and while WordPress is one direction I believe the Lord is leading me in, I just don’t have the time to update another blog.  So I’m moving it to this blog.  You will be seeing much more posts about WordPress in the near future.

It’s hard work to put God in the forefront of your business but it is the only way to become a success.

Everyone wants to now how many people visit their blog every day. Some people may check their stats every hour, some every day, and some people maybe check them once a week. To be able to check your stats though, you have to have some sort of analytics program installed on your blog.

My analytics program of choice is Google Analytics. The best feature is that it is free! I also like how easy it is to install – just copy and paste some code – and the advanced features are pretty neat. I really enjoy the goal setting and having the ability to link it to my adsense account as well.

Below is a quick tutorial on how to install Google Analytics on your WordPress blog.

1. Go to http://www.google.com/analytics/ in your favorite web browser. If you do not already have a Google account, you will have to create one.

2. Once you are into Google Analytics look for the “Add Website Profile” option towards the bottom of the page and choose that option.

3. Next you will see a screen that allows you to “Create New Website Profile”. Under “Choose Website Profile Type” be sure to choose the “Add a Profile for a new domain” option. Under “Add A Profile for a new domain” section type in the exact url of the site you want to add the analytics to, such as wpgeekgirl.com. One you have done these two things, click on the Finish button at the bottom.

4. Next you will be shown a screen that allows you to copy the code you will need to insert into your site in order to allow the analytics to properly track your traffic. Highlight the code and then right-click and copy it.

5. Now it’s time to insert this copied code in your WordPress theme file. Login to your WordPress blog with administrator privileges. From the Appearance menu choose the Editor.

6. On the left hand side of your screen you should see a list of files that are included in your chosen theme. Find and click on the file named footer.php.

7. The footer.php file will now appear in the editor. Scroll down to the bottom of the file and look for the </body> tag.

8. Place the cursor above the </body> tag and paste the code you copied from Google Analytics into the editor.

9. Click on the Update File button to save the theme file.

That’s it! You have now installed the Google Analytics code on your WordPress blog. Of course there are plugins that supposedly take care of this for you, but I don’t like having to use plugins if I don’t have to. With an analytics program installed on your blog, you can now track your visitors, the number of view you get a day, what keywords are being used to find your site, and much much more.

Affiliate Marketing Tip #1 – Keep Your Affiliate Links Organized

One of my biggest problems with affiliate marketing is keeping track of all of my affiliate links. Not only do I want to keep track of all my links, I also want to be able to cloak the links so others can not change out my affiliate link with another. Luckily there are some WordPress plugins that help keep all my affiliate links nice and organized.

The WordPress plugin I have chosen to help organize and cloak my affiliate links is MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate. The reason I chose this particular plugin is because I have used other MaxBlogPress plugins and have been very happy with them.

Take a look at the powerful features the power MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate plugin has as an affiliate blogging tool:

1. A link that looks original and distinct

With Ninja Affiliate, you can easily give each affiliate link an easy-to-remember name. Manage your affiliate links and make them look professional, original and vividly distinct too.

2. Manage Links by Groups

If you have too many affiliate links then Ninja Affiliate allows you to easily create different groups to manage your links. Group your affiliate links in an organized way.

3. Convert ordinary keywords into money making affiliate links

Automatically turn keywords in your blog to affiliate links. Ninja Affiliate has been designed not only to track and manage affiliate links but also to convert the keywords inside the blog posts to affiliate links.

4. Avoid commission theft

Cloak your affiliate links to prevent link theft and affiliate sabotage. No one will ever steal your hard-earned commissions again.

5. Insert Affiliate Links Directly

Add your affiliate links directly for your WordPress blog editor so that you’ll never have to hunt for links again. (This is my favorite feature! )

I know there are other similar WordPress plugins out there, but this is the one I use and recommend. How do you keep your affiliate links organized?

One of the great things about running a self-hosted WordPress site is the sheer magnitude of plugins available to enhance your site and make the administration of your site easier. One of my favorite plugins that make administration and theme development easier is Exclude Pages by Simon Wheatley.

The Exclude Pages plugin makes it easy to remove certain pages from your navigation menu or any place that the theme calls for a list of pages. The plugin simply adds an extra option on the page editor asking weather you would like to include it in the pages’ listing or not.

If this option is checked then the pages will appear anywhere in your theme where the wp_list_pages(); template tag is used. If this option is not checked then the page will not appear in the page listing. It makes coding easy because I don’t have to worry about hard coding post ids in the template tag to exclude pages. It also makes it easy on the client to remove and add pages to their navigation menu without contacting me every time a change is needed.

According to the WordPress Plugin Directory the plugin is good works on WordPress versions 2.2.3 – 2.8.4. I am currently running WordPress 2.8.6 and have never had a problem with the plugin.

Do you use the Exclude Pages plugin? If so, what is your opinion? If not, how do you handle excluding pages from your navigational menu?

Oh goodness it feels like it has been forever since I have posted any content over here on this blog!  I apologize about that.  Life just got busy.

I don’t want to make excuses, but time sure is flying by.  I go to bed at night wondering where the day went.  I’m afraid my kids are going to be grown before I know it.

I have good news though!  I have started a resource for moms who use or want to know more WordPress called WP Geek Girl.  This is where I will be sharing tips and tutorials on how to use WordPress.  I think by now everyone knows that I love WordPress.  I am also working on a project with another Christian blogger on a project that will walk you through transferring your blog from Blogger to WordPress.

Today’s post is really just to let you know that I haven’t forgotten about this blog.  While I don’t except to be able to post 6 days a week like I had been, I’m going to aim for 4 days.  I’m looking forward to getting back in the swing of things over here!

Today I have a guest post from Tami Kellerman. Enjoy!

Many times after a move I found myself in a community with little or no support system. There I would be, alone, thousands of miles away from family and not knowing a single sole.  So, I would get out there. I would become acclimated to my surroundings, get a job, join some groups and get involved….and that is what I did with my website.

Integrating my faith into my website really was never, not part of my plan.  It is who I am and what I write about. No matter what your website may be about….there are others in the cyber world with similar interests and experience that can help guide you. Reaching out to other bloggers like myself and taking a look at how they set up their blogs, was a huge part of my process. Finding similar interests groups can be as easy as goggling your subject matter or joining a social media group.  I recommend you do both.

I already had a Facebook account so I decided to try Twitter.  I created an account and started stumbling around.  Twitter, as with almost all social media can be an amazing networking experience.  I simply started searching under Christian Authors, Christian Writers, Christian bloggers etc. The numbers are amazing and the amount of useful information being shared is staggering. An additional benefit is the amount of people you can reach with links to your blog. Without even thinking about it I had started to market myself and my writing.  Eventually, I started posting links to my blog on my Facebook account and have only increased the numbers of people that I am exposing my writing to.

Here are some other great ways to integrate your faith or blog interest on your website. An Amazon Book Store on your site that sells books that would appeal to your readers or that you have referenced in past blogs.  Having a My Playlist MP3 devise on your site that plays your favorite music,(mine plays my favorite Christian Music), A Blog roll widget that has links to favorite blogs related to your specific blog genre and/or a recommended resources widget with links to sites that provide help and information regarding your subject matter.

Staying true to why you created your blog in the first place is crucial in being successful at marketing yourself and integrating your values and beliefs.  I can’t image having my blog set up any other way and look forward to how God will use me through my writing or any other way he has planned!  It is the thrill and fear of the Unknown again!! I pray you are energized as you launch into your unknown!

Tami makes her home outside of Chicago with her husband, Michael, and their three young children.  She was raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Journalism.  She received her Master’s in Public Administration from Valdosta State University.

Tami is working on her first book and enjoys blogging on her website, www.mudpiesformom.com, about how God is working in her life and the lives of those around her.  She is committed to becoming the woman God created her to be and providing inspiration to other woman on their own journeys.

You ever feel like life is conspiring against you and nothing goes your way?  That was me this past week.  Nothing went the way I had planned.  I was not as productive as I would have liked to have been either.  I completed one goal from last week and that was posting everyday on this blog.  Hopefully this week will be better.

Goals for this week:

• Post everyday on this blog
• Write 2 articles for article marketing
• Complete a web design for a client
• Launch my new site

How was your week?  Were you productive?  Did you accomplish your goals?

I have one other tidbit of information I wanted to share with you.  Have you ever wanted to learn about Wordpress and web design?  Or about how you run a successful web design business online?  Well Kelly McCausey is hosting a free webinar about this very topic!  The webinar is about Blog Evangelists which is a membership program designed to teach others how to launch and run a blog design business to serve their local small business community.  I have take this membership course and was very happy with the lessons and information learned.  So if running a web design company is something you have ever thought about doing, check out the free webinar on January 19, 2010.

Thanks for sticking with me this week while I explained what PLR is, if it is ethical to use, how to use PLR, and sharing with you how I rewrite PLR.  As promised today I have a some additional resources for use in learning more about PLR.

Where to find good quality plr:

• Christian Mom PLR is my site where I sell Christian based content.
• EasyPLR.com is a site where you can find PLR articles on almost any subject matter.  From Internet Marketing, mom topics, to video games, this site has a little bit of everything.  I am a happy customer of EasyPLR and will continue to use them in the future as well.
• MostlySanePLR.com is a site where you can find PLR e-courses to offer to your mailing list.
• YummyPLR.com is the answer to creating great food related content on your website.
• PLRFoodContent.com is another site to find food and recipe related PLR content.
• AllPrivateLabelContent.com is a site where you can find not only PLR articles, but PLR templates for press releases and research bundles.  They also have content specific memberships such as: All Green Content, All Mom Content, All Marketing Content, All Health Content, and All Finance Content.
• PLRforChristians.com is another site that focuses on Christian based PLR content.
• MomPLREbooks.com is a site that sells complete PLR ebook packages for the mom niche.
• PLR.me is a site that sells personal development PLR content.

Additional Resources:

• PLR for Podcasts – free e-course explaining how PLR can help you start a podcast internet radio show.
• Easy Private Label Articles eCourse at EasyPLR
• How To Create An Ecourse In Only One Day by Jimmy D. Brown
• How To Make A Fortune With PLR

Do you have questions or concerns about using PLR?  Do you think it is something you you would use in your blogging efforts or in your online business?  I’m really interested in hearing your opinions about PLR.