The Blog Artist

 Hi guys... while I'm doing some "housekeeping" on my websites & blogs, I'm dropping off 3 new subscribe graphics for you to use on your ActiveRain blogs.

 

 

 If you want to grab them, all you have to do is...

- place your mouse over the graphic

- click the right mouse button

- select "save image as"

- download it to your computer

- then upload it into your blog signature or blog post

- and link it to your Rain blog subscribe ID

 

 I'll be adding more Rain blog graphics soon! Right now I have to run so thx for all great posts & info the you guys have been adding to the group, Have a great week...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

 

 To save you time, here are some of my favorite resources that I found on the web this week. Unless otherwise indicated, these are all freebies!

 

  M:IQ is a really nice mobile backup service offering users up to 1 GB of online storage for pics, videos, contact info, SMS etc... And yes, it's free.Check it out at  M:IQ

 

 

 Finding all the cool, useful stuff on the web can be a major pain. Here are some of my favorite reads from the past few days.

The History and Evolution of Social Media  by Cameron Chapman

 There are general social networks with user bases larger than the population of most countries. There are niche sites for virtually every special interest out there. In this article, we’ll review the history and evolution of social media from its humble beginnings to the present day. read...

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Why Twitter and Facebook Will Never Kill E-mail  by Kit Eaton

 Twitter's on every tech-fan's lips, half the World's teens seem permanently plugged into MSN or Facebook, and seemingly every gadget's getting wired to a social network. With these big changes afoot, is email slipping into history?  read...

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Content is free. Formats are not  by Matt Asay

 Content may be free, but the format in which we buy it certainly is not. As Apple, Google, Red Hat, and others increasingly demonstrate, consumers and enterprises are happy to pay for "free" when packaged in convenient formats that add value to digital goods.  read...

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 And... in case you missed them, here are just a few of the ideas, news and resources from the past few days by some of the sharp cookies that hang out in  The Art Of Marketing You group

 

Giving your blog Oomph!  Todd Clark

Your Vendors are a Reflection Upon YOU!  Debe Maxwell

Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall--What Do I Look Like On-line?  Holly Kirby Weatherwax

A Benchmark for Success: "Becoming Your Clients 'Trust' Agent  Rich Jacobson

How To Make Your Maps and Floorplans Come Alive  Cindy Jones

L.L. Bean Gets The Picture  Dorie Dillard

"Ready Brew" Open House Idea  Teresa Berry

When It Pays To NOT Be The Local Expert  Gary Woltal

Extreme Rudeness - Not For Me  Randy Eide

Not sold on Twitter as an effective outlet to market yourself? READ THIS  Lori Cain

The Number ONE Real Estate Marketing Tool I could NOT live without!  Janie Coffey

Exclude realtors from posting on a real estate network. Huh?  Pacita Dimacali

The Art of Online Listening! Google Alerts & Twitter ! ~ From that Chilliwack Girl  Liz Moras

5 Reasons to Participate in a Trade Show That's Not Real-Estate Related  Gabrielle Nemes

 

 If you have ??? about marketing YOU, blog design/graphics or building web presence, let me know and I'll try to answer them in a future post!

 If you'd like to participate in any of our upcoming marketing partnerships or to stay on top of all the new graphic goodies we'll be giving away . . .

 

 

You can also connect with me at... 

                             

 

 For more info about how we can help you stand out from the crowd, contact GiselleStCyr@garaughty.com

garaughty .com           TheBlogArtist .com

                                                                                                                                 

 

 Hi guys... for those of you who've been using my graphics to design your own wallpaper/calendars, this month I've also giving you a "blank canvas" to make things even easier to put your own designs together quickly.

 

October 2009 wallpaper/calendar (preview)

 The image above is a preview of the October wallpaper/calendar we're giving away on my art website Its a photo of a chessboard I finally finished last month.

 If you'd like to use the image above on your own blog or website, you can either download it and give it away as is or feel free to add your own text below the image.

 And remember, people do not download wallpapers to see advertising on their computer screens so... less is more, keep it simple.

 

And a "blank canvas"...

 And... if you'd like to create your own wallpaper/calendar, I'm also releasing the background image with the October calendar ready for you to add your own image and text.

 You can download it here and using any graphics program, add your own text and image.

 

A quick example...

 The image above shows an example of how you can add a simple photo and a little text to turn the "blank canvas" into your own masterpiece. Just...

- download the background image

- open it in any graphics program (it's a standard .jpg image)

- add your own photo and text

- save it

- upload it to your blog or website to give away

- it's also a good idea to create a small preview image so it fits well into your blog

 

Note: You do not need any expensive programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc... to add simple text. You can do this with pretty much any graphics program you have. If you don't have one, there are many free and inexpensive graphics editors that will do the trick. I'll review some in an upcoming post.

 Once again, I'm releasing this image into the blogosphere under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license which in plain English means you can use it however, wherever and whenever you like including on commercial blogs & websites, no restrictions

 On that note boys & girls, have a great week...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

 

 To save you time, here are some of my favorite resources that I found on the web this week. Unless otherwise indicated, these are all freebies!

 

 MailChimp has introduced it's "Forever Free pricing plan" which allows subscribers to send upto 500 e-mails per campaign and 3,000 emails per month at no cost. Check it out at... MailChimp.com

 

 Stop wasting time with spammers on Twitter. We will validate your followers so you don't have to. Check it out at TrueTwit.com

 

 Find all your favourite internet resources and services on your mobile: create your own mobile space from a selection of hundreds of services, widgets and RSS feeds. It's easy and it's free at goojet.com

 

 

 

 Finding all the cool, useful stuff on the web can be a major pain. Here are some of my favorite reads from the past few days.

 

How the yoga brand Lululemon turned fitness into a spectator sport by Bryant Urstadt

 Lululemon, if you don’t know, is a brand of yoga apparel. Avril Lavigne wears Lulu. Brooke Shields wears Lulu. Felicity Huffman, Jennifer Garner, Courteney Cox, Kate Winslet, and Kate Hudson wear Lulu. There are Lululemon blogs with names like Lululemon Addict and hundreds of Facebook groups... read

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Report: Nine Scientifically Proven Ways to Get Retweeted on Twitter  by Dan Macsai

 If I wanted make sure this post did not go viral I could promote it on Twitter by posting something like this "was bored watchin the game on tv and saw this thing about RTs...made me lol after i had really bad stomach cramps".

 Note the lack of punctuation, the use of of slang and abbreviations, the limited vocabulary, and the awkward overshare.  read...

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If Craigslist cost $1  by SethGodin

Some things are better when they're not free. Money creates a sort of friction. In the digital economy, magical things can happen when there is no friction. You can scale to infinity. On the other hand, sometimes you want friction.  read...

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Why the News Media Became Irrelevant—And How Social Media Can Help  by Michael Skoler

 Journalists are truth-tellers. But I think most of us have been lying to ourselves. Our profession is crumbling and we blame the Web for killing our business model. Yet it’s not the business model that changed on us. It’s the culture.  read...

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Tokyo Café Targets Trend Makers  by Miho Inada

 Pitching new products to affluent and influential young Japanese women. It's called a marketing café, a first of its kind in Japan. Sample Lab Ltd. opened the Lcafe last month as a way to reach Japanese women in their 20s and 30s with information about new products.  read...

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 If you're wondering how to customize your blog, take a look at our group's guidelines page for tutorials and graphics that you can download and use on your Active Rain blog .

 If you have questions about technology, blog design or building web presence, let me know and I'll try to answer them in a future post!

 

http : / /twitter .com / garaughty

 

 If you'd like to participate in any of our upcoming marketing partnerships or to stay on top of all the new graphic goodies we'll be giving away , please subscribe to our blog using the button below . . .

 

 For more info about how we can help you stand out from the crowd, contact GiselleStCyr@garaughty.com

   TheBlogArtist .com         TheArtOfMarketingYou .com         The Ultimate Closing Gift         garaughty .com

                                                                                                                                 

 

 

 I'm baaaaaaack! Contrary to the rumors, I haven't died of a caffeine or chocolate overdose. I'm just crazy busy and haven't had much time to blog but, I did manage to put together a new wallpaper/calendar for you guys to use in September.

 

September 2009 wallpaper/calendar (preview)

 The image above is a preview of the September graphic. It's another geometry type thing. Very simple, clean and with lots of space for you to add any extra text and/or logo if you'd like to brand it and give it away on your own site or blog.

 

How to use it....

 The image above is how it looks with some slight branding added. The whole idea is not to fill up the space with anything too promotional looking. Most people do not download wallpapers to see advertising on their computer screens so... less is more, keep it simple.

 You can either download it and give it away as is or feel free to add your own text, logo or whatever you like.

 

Close up example of branding...

 And this image shows an example of how you can use the "white space" to add your own personal touch with any graphics editor. Just...

- download the image

- open it in any graphics program (it's a standard .jpg image)

- add your text

- save it

- upload it to your blog or website to give away

- it's also a good idea to create a small preview image so it fits well into your blog

 

Note: You do not need any expensive programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc... to add simple text. You can do this with pretty much any graphics program you have. If you don't have one, there are many free and inexpensive graphics editors that will do the trick. I'll review some in an upcoming post.

 Once again, I'm releasing this image into the blogosphere under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license which in plain English means you can use it however, wherever and whenever you like including on commercial blogs & websites, no restrictions

 On that note, have a great week and I'll be back soon with more goodies for you. Later...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

 

 

 Finding all the cool, useful stuff on the web can be a major pain. To save you some time, here are some of my favorite resources & reads from the past few days.

 

110 Fresh Logo Designs For Design Inspiration  by Daniel Adams

 A Logo is a graphical element that, together with its logotype (a uniquely set and arranged typeface) form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo’s design is for immediate recognition.  read...

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Top Ten Branded Social Media Nightmares  by Ron Callari

 Success stories of brands and social media surface daily throughout the blogosphere. Since social media drives transparency in a very meaningful way, it forces companies to take a much more collaborative approach in resolving customer service issues... because when they falter...they can fall hard...and unfortunately end up on a TOP TEN list like this.  read...

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 Translate your tweets with Twinslator

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Top 10 Things the Microsoft/Yahoo! Deal Changes for SEO  by randfish

 The search landscape is changing significantly this morning, and SEOs of all stripes need to pay close attention. I'm going to do my best to summarize the impact of these changes based on what we already know and interpret what's going to change for the field of search engine optimization.  read...

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 TweetBlocker identifies spammers in your follow list and lets you easily unfollow and block them right from the TweetBlocker dashboard.

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Are we in a Social Media bubble?  by Josh Gordon

 You may not agree with this but you can't ignore it either. A recent issue of Media Life lays out a compelling case making the current enthusiasm for social media sound a lot like the "irrational exuberance" that led to the dot com bubble crash of 2001.  read...

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What Does Your Twitter Avatar Say About You?  by Joel Postman

 Tweets are short at 140 characters, but a Twitter avatar must visually represent a user in just 2304 pixels. Choosing the right avatar can affect the way people see you online. Here are some of the most popular avatar types and what they say about the user:  read...

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 If you're wondering how to customize your blog, take a look at our group's guidelines page for tutorials and graphics that you can download and use on your Active Rain blog .

 If you have questions about technology, blog design or building web presence, let me know and I'll try to answer them in a future post!

 

http : / /twitter .com / garaughty

 

 If you'd like to participate in any of our upcoming marketing partnerships or to stay on top of all the new graphic goodies we'll be giving away , please subscribe to our blog using the button below . . .

 

 For more info about how we can help you stand out from the crowd, contact GiselleStCyr@garaughty.com

   TheBlogArtist .com         TheArtOfMarketingYou .com         The Ultimate Closing Gift         garaughty .com

                                                                                                                                 

 

August 2009 wallpaper/calendar

 Hi guys, this month I've designed another new wallpaper/calendar that you can use or give away on your blogs and websites.

 Feel free to add your own text i.e. (compliments of... your name). You can see and/or download the full size version here  And before yous ask, yes you can use this on commercial blogs and websites. ;-)

 

And...

       

 If you'd like a little something extra to give out to your blog readers, I've turned this month's calendar into 2 wallpapers for the BlackBerry Storm and the iPhone

 Since space is very limited on cellphone wallpapers, my advice would be not to add any text but again, that is up to you. Feel free to add your own text if you'd like.

 The whole point of giving away this kind of stuff isn't to plaster your name everywhere... but to give people a reaosn to interact with you and to keep coming back to your blog for fun, free stuff.

 To get the full sized copy of the BlackBerry and iPhone wallpapers, just sent a note to my biz partner Giselle at GiselleStCyr@garaughty.com  Again, you have my blessing to use these anywhere you like, including on commercial blogs and websites.

 On that note, I have to get back to work so have a great weekend and I'll be back soon with some very cool news and more goodies for you. Later...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

 

 Finding all the cool, useful stuff on the web can be a major pain. To save you some time, here are some of my favorite resources & reads from the past few days.

 

Meet the 27-Year-Old Who's Hijacking Twitter, One Quiz-Crazy Tween at a Time  by Dan Macsai

 In just over a month, Dave Zohrob's Twitter app, LOLquiz, has amassed more than 300,000 users and spawned at least 20 trending topics. WTF?  read...

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40 Most Creative Business Cards You Will Ever See:  view...

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The law of the little shovel  by Seth Godin

 Call on one person ten times and you might make the sale. Call on ten people once each and you will likely get ten rejections. The important thing to remember is that separate events are often separate. If you use the same ineffective approach on one thousand people, it's not going to start working better just because you use it more often.  read...

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Twitcam posts your video description and link to Twitter for all your followers to see:
- While broadcasting, chat with your viewers via Twitter right from your broadcast page
- Once you’re done going live, we archive your video and display it on the same page.  view...

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Quid Pro No  by Chris Brogan

 The basic premise of quid pro quo is that people attempt fair/equal transactions. This makes perfect sense when the exchange is obvious: I’ll give you $1.00 for that soda pop.

 Here’s where this gets tricky: If I invite you to join the Facebook group for Trust Agents, it’s because I think you’ll get some value out of participating there. Say you join the group. If you now invite me to join your real estate company’s fan page after you’ve joined my book’s group, what should I do?  read...

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Free eBook - The Truth about Blog Syndication  view...

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Embrace the Lemon: Strategies for Helping a Campaign Go Viral  by Melinda Partin

 Viral marketing campaigns have quickly become one of the most simple and cost effective ways to increase brand awareness. But viral methods can be chaotic, and mastering strategies for controlling viral campaigns has become the Holy Grail for marketers.  read...

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Mom-and-Pop Operators Turn to Social Media  by Claire Cain Miller

 Three weeks after Curtis Kimball opened his crème brûlée cart in San Francisco, he noticed a stranger among the friends in line for his desserts. How had the man discovered the cart? He had read about it on Twitter. The beauty of digital word-of-mouth marketing was immediately clear. He signed up for an account and has more than 5,400 followers who wait for him to post the current location of his itinerant cart and list the flavors of the day, like lavender and orange creamsicle.  read...

 

 

 

 

 If you're wondering how to customize your blog, take a look at our group's guidelines page for tutorials and graphics that you can download and use on your Active Rain blog .

 If you have questions about technology, blog design or building web presence, let me know and I'll try to answer them in a future post!

 

http : / /twitter .com / garaughty

 

 If you'd like to participate in any of our upcoming marketing partnerships or to stay on top of all the new graphic goodies we'll be giving away , please subscribe to our blog using the button below . . .

 

 For more info about how we can help you stand out from the crowd, contact GiselleStCyr@garaughty.com

   TheBlogArtist .com         TheArtOfMarketingYou .com         The Ultimate Closing Gift         garaughty .com

                                                                                                                                 

 Hi guys... some people have personal trainers, some have personal coaches. I recently found out that I have personal butt kickers. So before TLW, Sally, Carole and a few others get on my case again for not posting often enough (thanks ladies), I'm stopping by to drop off a new copyright graphic I just designed for a "blog in progress".

 I'm putting this out into the blogosphere under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license which in plain English means you can use it however, wherever and whenever you like including on commercial blogs & websites, no restrictions.

 I realize it might be a little "too creative" for some sites but if you like it and want to grab it, all you have to do is...

- place your mouse over the graphic

- click the right mouse button

- select "save image as"

- download it to your computer and rename it to something like "copyright sphere" or whatever

 

 On that note, I have to get back to work so as always, thx for all great posts & info the you guys have been adding to the group and have a great week. Later...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

 

 

 To save you some time, here are some of my favorite resources that I found on the web this week. Unless otherwise indicated, these are all freebies!

 

 The SiteReportCard Image Optimization tool is a free utility that compresses your GIF, JPEG, and PNG images. Decreasing the file size of your web images will increase the download speed of your web pages without affecting image quality!

 

FREE for free: first ebook and audiobook versions released  by Chris Anderson

 We’re going to be rolling out the free digital forms of FREE over the next two weeks. First up: the Scribd form, right here on the blog (and anywhere else you want—it’s embeddable). This is the whole book!  download

 

 

Facebook Launches Widgets with an Eye Towards SEO  by Lawrence Coburn

 In yet another sign that old fashioned, embeddable widgets are experiencing a bit of a rebirth, Facebook today announced Fan Boxes.  Fan Boxes allow a Facebook Page's activity stream and / or fans to be displayed in a sidebar widget on any site.  read...

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Google Adds More Images to Local Search Results  by Frederic Lardinois

 This morning, Google announced that it will now display images next to some local search results. For the last two years, Google generally showed a map as the first item on the search results page whenever a user searched for a location, but now, a grid with six pictures will also appear next to this map as well.  read...

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On-page SEO - The Google Way  by Mihaela Lica

 We have discussed on many occasions the fact that Google does care for SEO and that optimized sites rank better in its search results. If you are still in doubt, there is one undeniable and indisputable proof: Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide   read...

 

 

 

 The posts listed below are just a small sample of the news ,   ideas and resources from the past few days by some of the sharp cookies that hang out in   The Art Of Marketing You group

- How to Add Facebook Fanbox to Your ActiveRain Blog  Jeremy Blanton

- ActiveRain and Facebook - A Social Networking Love Affair  Brad Andersohn

- ABOUT FEATURED POSTS AND HOW NOT TO GET FEATURED  Lenn Harley

- What Should I Blog About On Activerain?  Midori Miller

- "No Follow" on Active Rain tags have been removed  Bill Gassett

- Is Social Media a Double Edged Sword?  Kevin & Monica Ray

- Social Media - Would You Like Fries With That?  Greg Nino

- Google Voice Speaks  Hannah Williams

- San Diego Real Estate - Sellers Market, Buyers Market or... Lenders Market?  William Johnson

- How Future Google Mapping Technology in Real Estate Could Affect Your Business  Loreena Yeo

- Top 75 "Free" Photo sites and Top 45 Photo Stock sites  Castellum Realty

- Life just gets easier! (Linking your Blog to YouTube)  Elayna Fernandez

- "THE CLOSER" or How I Learned How NOT to Sell Homes  Brian Block

 

 

 

 

 If you're wondering how to customize your blog , take a look at our group's guidelines page for tutorials and graphics that you can download and use on your Active Rain blog .

 If you have questions about technology , blog design or building web presence, let me know and I'll try to answer them in a future post!

 

http : / /twitter .com / garaughty

 

 If you'd like to participate in any of our upcoming marketing partnerships or to stay on top of all the new graphic goodies we'll be giving away , please subscribe to our blog using the button below . . .

 For more info about how we can help you stand out  from the crowd, contact GiselleStCyr@garaughty.com

   TheBlogArtist .com         TheArtOfMarketingYou .com         The Ultimate Closing Gift         garaughty .com