No, I didn’t die. No, I didn’t fall off the edge of the planet. No, I didn’t get bored of this online stuff and go “offline”.

A New Year brings new changes to life and this year I decided to switch it all up. I challenged myself to make a YouTube video every day for the next year. This year I plan on focusing the mass majority of my energy on YouTube. I probably won’t be making blog posts or podcasts as much this year, but I can guarantee you will be able to see a video instead (which is much cooler)!

Don’t worry, I’m still here. I may just be slow at times in responding to you. I assure you though that I read everything you send me and will respond to it.

Watch my Daily Vlog HERE.
Main Channel (where most of my sketches, shorts, and shows are).

To Your ULTIMATE SUCCESS,
Taylor Marek

The fact is that some of the most basic work forms the basis of all jobs. Good work in these fields is a lot more useful than people think it is. If you’ve done work as a ghost writer, cover designer, or formatting work for a book print, you’ve also done the fundamental work required for some much higher paying jobs.

Targeting a portfolio

Contracts and employers are looking for skills. The better your skills, and the more value you can bring to a job or a contract, the more likely you are to get that job. You’ll also more than likely get more work and above all add to your portfolio some of this very valuable higher rate material.

The classic mistake when going for jobs is to be a bit too literal minded in interpreting what the job wants. It’s advisable to do your homework on any job which attracts your interest.

Start with the basics:

Check out the products, content and design issues: This is like a map of the realities of the job. It’s valuable information, and it can also show you how to approach getting the job.

What does the job really need? This is critical approach. Look for the strengths and weaknesses in the work. If the job lacks something you can do, you’ve got material to work with.

What additional values can you bring to the job? What would you say you can do that they’re not doing? Don’t get too modest about this issue, because your skills may be exactly what this job needs.

What materials can you use to give a really good presentation? What do you have in your portfolio that’s better than their existing work? Remember that you’re the expert in this case, and your skills need to prove that you know what you’re doing. If the contract sees good value, you’ve got the job.

What can you create to show the contract or the employer? This is a slightly sneakier approach, but it’s effective. Can you do something in their type of business as a mockup, which will act as a portfolio presentation, even if you don’t have direct experience? If so, you’ll at least get their interest, and quite possibly any extra outsourcing work they’ve got, as well.

The idea is to make yourself very clear:

• Yes, you can do everything the job requires, and more
• Yes, you can prove your skills
• Yes, you can do brochure printing, greeting card content, flyer printing, whatever they need done.

A successful presentation has nothing to do with luck. It’s content that counts in getting the jobs as much as your designs and your content work. Keep that in mind, look for opportunities, and you’ll do very well.

What do you think?

With this plugin you can easily add a custom text box to the footer of every blog post to increase reader comments and interaction!

UPDATE (10-29-2010): You can now download the plugin from the WordPress Plugin Directory!

UPDATE (1-10-2011) This plugin has merged. You can now find it here:

http://taylormarek.com/2010/08/12/call-to-action-author-bio-wordpress-plugin-professional-bloggers/

If you have questions or need support, leave a comment!

1. Blubrry PowerPress Podcasting plugin

Blubrry PowerPress brings the essential features for podcasting to WordPress including full iTunes support, web audio/video media players and more. I’ve been with Blubrry for years, and they do quality work. If you are a podcaster, you had better have this plugin.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/powerpress/

2. Akismet

Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not. So far, Akismet is responsible for catching 12k spam comments on my blog.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/akismet/

3. IntenseDebate Comments

IntenseDebate comments enhance and encourage conversation on your blog. Build your reader community, increase your comments, & boost pageviews. I run many WP websites and run both ID and Disqus on certain installs. ID so far has been responsible for all the cool stuff comment-wise you see on my blog. The cool thing is they also backup your comments, so you will never lose them!

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/intensedebate/

4. Top 10

Track daily and total visits on your blog posts and display the count as well as popular posts. This one little plugin helped me keep track of what the 10 most popular posts on my site were. I would’ve never known “How To Write A Check” was #1 without it.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/top-10/

5. All in One SEO Pack

Automatically optimizes your WordPress blog for Search Engines (Search Engine Optimization). Little did I know my blog would rank better automatically for this. I was able to find I rank pretty high up in Google for “America’s Got Talent Tips” (Search Results).

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/

Those are my 5 plugins I couldn’t live without. What are yours?

This time, I want your feedback though. What would you like to see? What do you want my site to have that would make it easier/better for you?

Joe Boyle of Website Begin brought this idea to me and will be working with me on the redesign, so I’m pretty pumped to see what he (and you) will come up with.

If you want me to go ahead with this redesign, simply leave a comment saying, “Yes!” and a feature you would like to see on my new design. If you don’t want me to redesign my website and want it to be left alone, leave a comment saying, “No” and a reason why (optional).

-Taylor Marek

Determination

I’m not going to sugar-coat it for you. I’m not going to hide it behind my e-mail list, nor mystify it to be uncovered in a product. I’m putting the word out there for everyone to see. Ruminate on this word.

It takes a alot of determination to set out on this path, and even more so after. I’ll dare say most of you won’t make it down this path, you will falter and fall. But those who push on, those who do not falter, those who show an unimaginable amount of determination will push all the way to the end, wherever it may be.

Determination. Do you have it?

It could be a good thing at times, and it could be a bad thing at times. It all depends. What I will say though is that the mental trigger never goes off and we miss the opportunity that we should not have.

After putting this much energy into this project, making sure everything is ready, and then waiting, you’ve just killed the moment. You need to train yourself to recognize the opportunity and instantly pull the trigger. It could very well be the difference between life and death.

How do you train yourself to recognize opportunity? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Conclusions

• This just doesn’t make any sense… #GoFigure ;P
• I personally seem to feel better getting thoughts posted on a daily basis opposed to a weekly 600+ word cram article.
• It seems more people visit when I post daily as opposed to weekly.

Ah well, that’s just me. Now you know what I’ve been up to the past month. I’ve set new goals for this month and will be tracking and posting the results at the end of next month. Stay tuned.

What I Need From You

I need your questions! I’ve you’ve been holding back, now is the time to ask questions. If you’ve been scouring the web for an answer, simply ask it here and I will answer it for you!

Leave a comment with your question and I will take a snapshot of the comment and answer it in a future blog post! When the post is live, I will send you an email with a link to it. You will also get full link credit for your question so be sure to link to your website and twitter username.

So? What are you waiting for? Ask away!

Here is my response to that post. I figured this idea needed to be refreshed because I think people are forgetting something about social media and blogging. They are NOT separate entities. If anything, blogs are used to push out the “new media content” to the masses to spread virally via “social media”!

You may be surprised to know this, but blogging has been around for quite some time. This isn’t something “new”. It is simply an easier way to communicate with a worldwide audience and share your thoughts. In the age of castles, knights, and “damsels in distress” the only way a story could travel was via a “storyteller” who would travel to each town and tell his/a story for the umpteenth time. Talk about being winded! The internet makes it so much easier now…

Blogs? Co-equal with Social Media and dare I say where “Social Media” got its body! Can’t have legs running everywhere without a body right? ;P

My Points?

• Social Media is simply the next step. It is an evolution of the old method made much easier by technology.
• Yeah, I think you should quit worrying about it Brian. We get it.
• Tofu? What kind do you mean? The regular kind or the stinky kind? We have both in Taiwan, which is where I am currently. The regular kind tastes good to me.

Your Points? Comment below!

Seth Godin: This is broken | Video on TED.com

Stradivarius, whose work is good

Do you really, truly know your destiny? I mean, do you actually know it or are you just guessing at it? Do you think you will be the next rockstar? Do you know that for sure or are you basing it on what people think or say about you?

A good book once told me:

There is something you need to understand. [Insert Subject] is an endless frontier. It is a frontier that no one has reached the end of or fully explored. You have taken one step into this endless frontier, and you are asking me how far you have gone?? Well, you’ve only taken one measly step!

I want you to realize something, you have taken one step into this endless frontier. And you are now one step further into this frontier than 99.9% of the human race. But don’t be satisfied with just one step. Don’t settle for just being above average. Never pitch your tent. Until you have explored the outer reaches of this endless frontier, never stop your pursuit of excellence!

-When God Writes Your Life Story by Eric & Leslie Ludy

Think about it. Many great people in this world did not know their true destiny until the end. Most of the time it was their little secret, kept hidden from the rest of the world.

So now I pose the question to you again, do you really know your TRUE destiny?

Do you remember that plugin I found that professional bloggers used? The one that flowed and integrated with your site rather than distract and interrupt the reader? This video shows the features of it.

Here’s the post I wrote on it: http://taylormarek.com/2010/08/12/call-to-action-author-bio-wordpress-plugin-professional-bloggers/

Based upon the giveaway idea I found at Website Begin, courtesy of Joe Boyle, I decided to come up with a giveaway contest of my own.

Giveaway Details

If you leave a comment on this blog post or any of my other posts, I will GIVE YOU an official 2.0 copy of the ‘Call To Action‘ Plugin! The deadline for you to leave a comment is September 30, 2010. That is when I will close down the giveaway.

Update: The Giveaway is now closed. You can still leave a comment though. ;P

So what are you waiting for? Unleash the comment flood!

I’ve looked across websites and tested out various WordPress plugins in the WordPress Plugin Directory, but was never able to find one that actually did what I wanted it to. So I decided to get to work on one myself.

My plugin sports several customizable features that I know you will love. I took in a massive amount of research and user feedback to make sure this plugin does what it needs to do.

Get it Here: Call To Action WordPress Plugin

With this plugin you can add a “call to action box” to the footer of your blog posts. It is designed to flow with the content of your blog and give readers a specific action to do after they have finished reading your post.

Update (10-4-10): Version 1.0.2 of this plugin can now be found in the WordPress Plugin Directory!

Update (11-16-10): Version 2.0 has been released. Get it here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/call-to-action-plugin/

Screenshots

Any questions? Will you be using this plugin or let the professional bloggers have all the fun?

All of these decisions are eventually faced in the lifetime of an entrepreneur, often many times during their life. The same idea holds true for bloggers, podcasters, and every other new media vocation.

Why don’t we take a look at two popular brands and break them down. Perhaps it will help you in the decision making process…

McDonald’s

McDonald’s is known for its many fast food hamburger chains scattered across the globe. The initial idea was developed by Dick and Mac McDonald. They wanted to provide a way to give meals to people as quickly as possible. Their equity was purchased by Ray Kroc who then set out to expand it to the four corners of the earth. The result is that McDonald’s is now a worldwide brand worth many billions of dollars. Every kid from Generation Y to the present has McDonald’s branded permanently in their mind because of the mass marketing effort of McDonald’s. Can’t tell me it didn’t pay off well…

What is McDonald’s known for?

• Big Mac – This one product continues to pull in massive sales in part because of a well executed marketing plan.
• Marketing to the younger generation- You get new plastic toys! (Who doesn’t want one when you are little?) Consequently, when you are older you just walk in there out of habit.
• Food tastes good. Yup, nothing like sprinkling sugar on the fries to make them taste better and a soda, juicy burger, and the occasional salad or other goody. Hence why America is now plump as well.
• Affordability. How many times do you walk into McDonalds to find you are dead broke and can’t buy anything? Unless you are dumb enough to forget your wallet when you go in…
• Speedy Service. That was coined by the original owners and still holds true to this day. I’d like to see a system like that somewhere else on the world that is as efficient about what they do than McDonald’s. Personal Opinion Note: If I am short on time, I will go into McDonald’s to buy something fast.

Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary is one of a kind. He is a fireball of energy and strives to answer every question that is thrown at him. He grew up in New Jersey and was always fascinated with business. He started cutting grass, selling flowers, and then selling baseball cards. He was good at it too. Baseball card sales in his high school years amounted to “three thousand bones a weekend“! He then became interested in wine and read every magazine on the subject. He worked as a clerk in a wine shop, then created his own brand, opening a wine shop and then expanding it to unheard of heights. His tactics, as crazy as they were, are what pushed him into the position he holds now. When he stumbled upon new media/social media, he bit into it like a bull dog and refused to let go. Wine Library TV came out of that. Out of all the people I know in this space, Gary defines how New Media and Social Media should looks like.

He is now an accomplished author, video blogger, brand consultant, and speaker. That and he still holds his position at Wine Library. Contrary to what you may think, Gary actually does alot more for his wine company marketing-wise whenever he is interviewed. He has become associated with the wine world.

What is Gary known for?

• One line sayings. Gotta admit I love hearing the “legacy is greater than currency” and “CRUSH IT” quotes he throws out from time to time.
• Explosive Introductions. Yup, Gary is never without one. It turns alot of people off when he hollers his introduction to the video camera, but the rest become excited and engaged in a snap.
• Wine. Gary bleeds wine. It is all he ever talks about, and he knows what he is talking about. His opinion on wine undercuts the rest and brings a new light to it.
• New York Jets. You can’t go long without him speak on the Jets. If is blood is wine, his heart is the New York Jets. He knows everything about them too. He has to if he is to fulfill his dream of buying them.
• Passion. Not a day goes buy that he doesn’t portray it. He loves what he does and wouldn’t trade anything in the world for it.
• Authenticity. Gary is 100% real. Unedited and uncut, every vlog post and winelibrarytv show he has done in one take.
• Personal Branding. Gary epitomizes how personal branding should be done.

What can McDonald’s or Gary teach you about branding?

1. The brand is your defining point. Everything is built off of it.
2. Have a unique story. No one likes the same old bland status quo.
3. Personal brands depend on the person, iconic brands depend on the decisions of the company.
4. If the person dies, their brand will continue on in a solidified state. If the icon dies, so does the company.
5. Icons are remembered for all time, so is a person.
6. Iconic brands become an authority symbol, personal brands become a person.
7. People tend to trust iconic brands as they mature, same with a personal brand. With the personal brand however, a trust level is built with that person.

Hope that helps you out. I for one am enjoying building a personal brand.

Am I missing anything? Am I totally wrong? Is there something you’d like to share? I’ve pulled the soapbox over, would love to hear your two cents.

It is a week after all the hubbub around the Apple press conference. Things have now cooled down a tad. Now its time for me to interject my thoughts…

Here they are:

The iPad is nothing more than a glorified IPhone, only bigger.

Yes, you heard me. That is what I think of it. Now, before you start calling me out on twitter, let me say a couple things. (Yes I know about all the jokes, but I am not posting them here)

First off, Scobles’ 16 year old kid agrees with me! Secondly, Paul Colligan, the tech guru that he is, ran the numbers on the iPad which proved to be quite interesting. Third, a college friend of mine has 27 reasons against the iPad. And finally, my good friend Harrison Painter thinks that the iPad will soon be coming to a WalMart near you!

Oh, and I haven’t even launched into the jokes yet! (Don’t worry, I’ll be breaking them out at the end)

In all honesty, lets go back to my original quote. It does everything the IPhone does, why do we need another thing to lug around? And by lug, I do mean lug! Don’t worry though, you won’t be getting flatter abs or bigger biceps with this thing anytime soon.

I am not convinced. I was really looking forward to what would happen with IPhone’s exclusivity deal with AT&T. And I REALLY didn’t like the fact that to add insult to injury that Apple goes ahead and throws in 3G on AT&T.

Now that you’ve heard the bad, here is the good side.

What I did like about the iPad was the option to have a bigger screen to see more detail. The 3G option is pretty neat as well. I did look at Verizon’s netbooks when they first came out but realized I would max the bandwidth usage in an hour with that I do, so the iPad just might be the answer to that problem. If only it had an iBall camera though!

I could see this device finally making use of the RPG gaming apps in the app store. Now you can actually see detail on a larger screen and have more options than be squished between your two thumbs.

I also liked the fact that this takes us another step in the digital media distribution medium. Looking forward to the day when we no longer read inewspapers, as “neat” as they once used to be, and iwalk around with a little tablet thing with all the news we need at the touch of our finger. That and the podcast options too.

If I do get my hands on the iPad, it very well may be version 2 or 3.0.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?

iDone.

I originally didn’t want to make any New Year Resolutions!

That changed though. You are getting the benefit of reading them now that I am posting them on the web for all to see.

Resolution #1: Find 1000 True Fans

Being that I am starting to take my online presence more seriously and in developing my online business, I find this is a key component. I wrote about it in my Thought Leaders post not too long ago.

Resolution #2: Find and interview the Thought Leaders

Yup, also from the same Thought Leaders post. I find that if I surround myself with the Thought Leaders of this realm, collaborate together, and become good friends, we can take this vibrant world of New Media to the next level!

Resolution #3: Comment and Stumble every blog post

I’m finding out that if I can comment on and stumble every post, the more traffic that blog sees and the chances that I get noticed. Not only does it benefit my reputation, but it also shows I am out on the web interacting with other people, leaving little tips of my own as I go along. If you think about it, it really works out better for the short and the long term, as well as benefits both parties. The unique thing when I stumble posts is that it pastes it into my Friendfeed account and sends out an automatic tweet to my twitter audience later on, where even more people read it. Pretty cool eh?

Resolution #4: See if I can maintain a daily post

Yeah, this one will probably be a kicker of a one to keep, seeing as I am a full-time college student with a 30 credit hour semester load, but we will play it by ear and see what happens. I would love for you guys to keep me accountable. Holler if I haven’t posted anything, and I will see what I can do to post something for you.

As a matter of fact, lets make it even easier. Click here to send me a tweet if I fall behind for the day.

Those are my resolutions for the year 2010. What are yours? Comment below.

-Taylor Marek
Your ever present Social Media Nut ;P

Today we have a chat with Nathan Hangen. Be sure to take notes for this one!

I was originally impressed by the post he wrote called “How to be like Batman“, the interview came out of that.

The stats regarding podcasting that I mentioned in this episode can be found at:
http://blog.blubrry.com/2010/01/28/podcast-consumer-attitudes-study-released-video/

To learn more about Nathan, read his book, or chat with him via twitter,
click on one of the links below:

Blog – NathanHangen.com
Book – Beyond Blogging
Twitter – @nhangen

Want to Retweet this episode to your Twitter Audience? Click Here.

Sponsored by Create A Fan Page.

Lets continue the conversation. Comment below or use these options:

• Toll Free Comment Line: 1-866-867(TMP)-2860
• Send me an e-mail.
• @taylormarek me on Twitter
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taylormarek

It goes as follows:

There once was a businessman, who, after he had created a product to solve an urgent need, set out to market. He stopped in many places. Villages, cities, states, and everywhere else he saw his product could do the most good. Some of the product he sold fell upon deaf ears, no one wanted to buy what he had to offer. Some of it fell upon interested people who put it on a shelf and let it collect dust. Others fell upon those who needed it. They started using it, but quickly became disillusioned and requested a refund. Still other fell upon those who recognized this product, eagerly bought it and consumed it entirely. Through them word started spreading and soon the businessman was looking at an increase of thirty, sixty, even a hundred times more then he ever thought possible.

What is the meaning? It means that you, as a business owner, will always have these four types of customers. The ones you want to go for are those where the “seed falls upon good soil…and produces… even a hundredfold…”

The rest will take care of itself.

What’s your application to this parable?

The banner you see above and the logo used on my podcast are all the result of Podcast Designs. Becky, who does all of the design work, was referred to me by a fellow podcaster for getting a good logo done for my podcast. She blew me away with what she came back with, and I fell in love with it immediately. Not only does she do logo’s, but also ebook covers, website templates, and any other graphics work you need done.

Podcast Designs comes highly recommended by me, so be sure to tell her that I sent you when you need graphics done.

May 2010 be your most prosperous year yet!

-Taylor Marek

Note: This is one of those rare posts where I recommend someone I use on a regular basis for work they have done for me. I am not compensated in any way, other than good will, for recommending Podcast Designs, I am merely sharing a resource that I use and works well for me.

© Stephen Poff

You are in the art museum marveling at a masterpiece when you notice there is a green smudge running across the bottom of the painting that should not be there. Regardless of whether it was a careless stroke by the artist or not, what just happened? Instantly your liking of the painting took a hit.

The same should be with your blog, research paper, forum post, or any other form of writing you undertake.

I’ve read many blogs. Possibly even too many… (nah, scratch that. I’ll be reading blogs forevermore) I’ve read enough to know this fact. Please double check your work!

Currently, Chris Pirillo is doing a YouTube series slamming poor grammar and writing skills (Note, there is language and it is meant to be offensive, but in a humorous kind of way). Chris can get away with it as he has been on the internet for quite a while now and he has a degree in English, so I can understand where he’s coming from.

It is a simple yet most often overlooked fact in today’s age. Here are a couple tips to remember:

1. Solidify your thoughts

By reading what you just wrote, you will be able to clarify your thoughts. If you need to make changes, now is the time to do it before you publish it. It also confirms what you were thinking, and typically your mind and the words on the page will click together. It never hurts to read what you just wrote and is much more beneficial if you do in the long run.

2. Uncover Errors

If there is a comma missing, punctuation misplaced, or a word spelled wrong, you will usually find it on the second read-through. You may also find a word that looks similar, but because the spell checker didn’t flag it, it will go unnoticed unless you read through and realize that the word is actually spelled differently.

Trust me, it will make you look better in the long run if you double check your work.

A picture is worth a thousand words yet if one part is wrong, it ruins the entire masterpiece.

What are you doing to correct that?

I’ve only taken forever to bring this product to completion. It all started in 2008 at the New Media Expo. I was speaking to my mentor, Paul Colligan, and he strongly recommended that I launch a product. At that time, my podcast had only been around for two years. It was making nice gas money, but you can’t really live off of that now can you? ;P

Originally I had hoped I would be picked in a big sponsorship deal for my podcast, but I soon realized that isn’t going to happen. Not to say it never will, but the chances of it happening are far and few. That in mind, I decided to hunt around for information to create my first product.

A year passed with still no product on my end. I think I was spitting out too many ideas than was good for me, but a couple months ago changed all that. I had all the pieces and all the dots, but had no idea how to connect them. From November up until now I learned how to connect the dots and arrange the puzzle pieces in the right order. Not only was it the most fun I had in a while, but it was also a stretching point. I learned alot from it.

Now I am pleased to announce to the world, the “Social Media Vault“!

Everything I know up to this point is included. I’m also including key bonuses to make sure this vault stays fresh with the most recent information on social media. I’d love to see you have access to this vault of information, or to share this link with a friend.

Included in this vault are case studies of many people I know, as well as a basic overview of Social Media. I also scratch the surface of Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Recording these was the most fun I had in a long time, and I learned a couple things that will surprise even you.

I probably shouldn’t be telling this, but remember when I launched the TaylorMarek20 Vlog? It is still going strong and I am including bonus videos inside this product that I won’t be releasing to the general public…

Enjoy and take notes!

http://socialmediaplatinumtraining.com/social-media-vault/

Tell me how many times the easy road has paid off for someone? I can tell you from experience it DOESN’T. Most of the time you just meet the people who are lucky and it paid off for them. Its why they are called “One Hit Wonders”. Remember Furby? Remember Nano Pets? (If you grew up in the late 90′s you’d know these…) Notice the pattern?

What about the rest of us? Well, let me just say it as plain as can be. Hard Work. Yup, that is what it takes.

Disclaimer: I am in the middle of reading, “Crush It” by Gary Vaynerchuk. It may or may not be influencing what I’m writing, but regardless this is something I’ve known about for several years.

When I first started my blog/podcast, I did NOT do it for the purpose of raking in eyeballs and money. I wanted to share something with the world that was near and dear to my heart. If millions of people came, great! If millions of dollars flowed my way, great! But that is not why I was doing it. I was joining the ranks of people sharing a passion of theirs for the world to benefit from. Sure I’d like to have that life and be able to hang out on a beach sipping a soda (notice I didn’t say piña colada… ;P), but I have more important things I could be doing then that. Trust me, I’d get bored with that life real fast. Anyone would get bored with that life real fast.

Why? Because we have an ingrained sense of purpose in the work we love to do. Its what makes us who we are. Hard Work is what fulfills a basic desire in a man’s life.

Now that’s not to say millions of people will view my website, millions of dollars will flow my way, and that I might hang out on a beach sometime in the future. Those are just the side effects of working your butt off. Notice how easy it is to get off of track? We make the spin-off of what we do into something we think defines us. Don’t hold that up to the pedestal of “goals to attain”, because its not.

In my studies, I’ve been noticing a pattern. Those who make it in life, and those that are remembered for all time, are those who worked till their butts fell off and kept going. Was it easy? No. Was it fun all the time? No. Was the pain unbearable at times? Yes. Did it pay off? Yes. Is it still paying off for them? Yup.

I’ll let you peruse your thoughts and post a comment, but I’ll leave you with one thought.

“You’ll only get out of life what you put into it. Little effort reaps little. Exponential effort reaps countless rewards. How much are you going to put in?”

#LIVEIT!

Lots of updates and changes to the site, and plenty stuffed into this episode.

First off, my start into the video realm came on May 19 with the launch of the TaylorMarek20 Vlog. Find the latest vlog/video of my making over at: http://www.youtube.com/taylormarek

This episode is a new twist, in that I have New Media instead of Finances for this episode. Take a listen and tell me what you think.

New Media: 13 Successful Blogging Tips.

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/06/10/successful-blogging/ – Darren Rowse and his 5000th blog post! Well worth a read.

Business: Business Podcasting

Have you looked at integrating a podcast into your business? If not, you’re missing out.

Technology: Bing Pre-Iphone

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10261061-2.html – Google’s Schmidt dings Bing

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10261260-1.html – Five of my favorite things about the Palm Pre

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10260521-233.html – iPhone OS 3.0 revisited

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10260010-1.html – Details about Apple’s new iPhone 3G S

Lets continue the conversation, comment below or use these options:

• Toll Free Comment Line: 1-866-TMP-2860
• @taylormarek me on Twitter
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Taylor-Marek/784580234

Internet Business:

Jason Van Orden -Podcaster first and foremost, entrepreneur at heart. He was responsible for most of the promoting ideas I’ve implemented on this blog/podcast.

Podcasting:

Paul Colligan – Best mentor anyone could ask for. He knows this area well, and is an awesome friend to have. To me, his name is synonymous with podcasting.

Blogging:

Yaro Starak – One of the first blogs I ever followed when I first came into this realm in early 2006. Everything he writes is so simple, anyone can understand it.

Darren Rowse – When I first ran across ProBlogger, I thought of the name. I said, “I want to be a Pro-Blogger” and I’ve modeled much of what I do on the internet around that statement.

Social Media:

Leesa Barnes – Started out podcasting, made a book, then merged into the realm of social media. Best interviewer I’ve had, and LOVES speaking on New Media.

Those are my mentors, what about you?

3. Good Blog Design – I cannot emphathise this enough. The way your blog is designed will either make or break your blog. There are many themes and designs out there, so you need to be selective and choose the one that fits your style and niche, but is also appealing to the audience as well. Colors play a big factor in this. I’ve mentioned this as well all the way back in Episode #39, and the topic of color branding in Episode #41.

4. On Site Branding – This is key to distinguishing yourself from the crowd. If you cannot effectively brand your blog in your blog (roundabout way of saying this), you will become part of the crowd and not the leader. Think of a big crowd with everyone wearing grey. Looks bland doesn’t it? Now imagine one person in that crowd wearing a bright yellow shirt. Who will your eyes be drawn to?

5. Make Your Blog Personal – Having that personal touch is what makes your blog your own. Your style of writing, personality, and connection with the audience can drive your site in a powerful way. The audience have someone they can relate to and trust, all of which drives people to your site and create a 2-way conversation.

Now for my contribution:

22. Traffic tends to Gravitate towards Mature Posts

Notice I didn’t say old posts. These are posts that have been around for a while and still stand the test of time and keep drawing an audience to it. Its one of the foundational posts of your blog. I have noticed on my site that many visit the archives and not the most recent post. It puzzled me for sometime until I found out that I hit something that created an interest beyond what I thought. It happens alot in the blogosphere, but that just one of the perks of new media .

If you have something you would like to contribute or have questions about, feel free to comment. If you want to read all 21 tips, then I suggest you head out to the post: http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/07/18/21-ways-to-make-your-blog-or-website-sticky/

Help Donate to the Taylor Marek College Fund. Go to: http://taylormarekpodcast.chipin.com/college to donate.

In today’s episode I will show you to put your Finances on Autopilot. In Business you will learn about Audio Branding your company. In Technology you will find out about which blogging platform to use. I recommend Blogger, WordPress.com, WordPress.org, TypePad, and MovableType.

The articles used in today’s show can be found at:

http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/starting/archive/2007/st0627.htm

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas about anything mentioned during the show, or to give your two-cents on a topic, call our toll-free line at 1-866-TMP-2860.

Today you will learn about if you should protect your assets for Finances. In Business you will learn about an interesting concept called Fusion Marketing. Technology wraps up the show with how to start a blog, with a step-by-step method for success.

Thank you to Al Lautenslager for the idea of Fusion Marketing.

Want more information on how to start and run your blog the correct way? Then visit Yaro at: http://www.blogtrafficking.com/ Visit his Forums at: http://www.blogtrafficschool.com/forums/ Note: I am a frequent poster there, so feel free to stop by!

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas about anything mentioned during the show, or to give your two-cents on a topic, call our toll-free line at 1-866-TMP-2860

You can now find it here: http://taylormarek.com/premium/5-reasons-why-i-blog

How are you doing with the “Smile Challenge”? Let me know how you are doing by dropping me an e-mail or calling 1-866-TMP-2860. Data will be collected anonymously and the results will be given in a future podcast.