open source solutions for your business

You hear all the talk about how you need to incorporate video into your online marketing, but how do you do that?

7DollarVideoStore.com has just released the 12 video tutorial Video Marketing on Steroids to help you get into the video race. These up-to-the-minute videos show where to get free software and services that will let you capture and edit you own video.

And there’s an section on branding your videos that you just can’t afford to miss.

The individual videos are just $7 and you can watch a sample video below. The video contains a coupon code you can use to get $10 off on the complete 12 video tutorial set.

Don’t be left out of the Video Marketing revolution. You can read all the details about this program at the Video Marketing on Steroids website.

I’m often asked about what programs I use to handle images… you know, do the routine cropping, resizing, basic retouching, etc. that many images need before they are put on a website or into a video.

I own Photoshop® CS3 and have found it be an invaluable tool. But not everyone is thrilled about the prospect of dropping $650 for the latest version of Photoshop. But how would FREE sound?

As it happens, there is an Open Source (free to use) clone of Photoshop called the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). It is a very powerful application and can do pretty much anything Photoshop can do.

But like Photoshop, it has a fairly steep learning curve. So learning by trial and error can be a long and frustrating process. The 7DollarVideoStore.com has just released a 27 video Creating Stunning Graphics Using the GIMP tutorial set that makes learning the GIMP a simple and entertaining experience. Watch the video to get the coupon code for $10 off the video set.

The first video in the series shows you how to download and install the GIMP for free. The remainder of the series hows you step-by-step how to use the GIMP to create stunning graphics and enhance your photos to make you look your best. You can download this video and others for free here.

Download the GIMP here

Using Apple’s QuickTime on your Mac or PC, it’s a piece of cake to make a video from still photos. You can then take that video and put it on YouTube, Google Video or Yahoo Video as well as other leading websites.

Or use the Perian QuickTime Plugin to export the video as an FLV (Flash Video) for display on your website if you are using a Mac. If you are on a PC, use Any Video Convertor to output the FLV file.

Make videos of your homes for sale, apartments for rent, cars, trucks, bikes and planes for sale, small products, etc. Why put static images on your website or in your eBay ads when you can put narrated video? Tests have shown that using video brings faster sales at higher prices.

This video tutorial shows you how to create a video from still photos using QuickTime Pro. We’ll be looking at how to make a video from stills in Windows Movie Maker shortly.

The 7DollarVideoStore.com is creating dozens of new videos every month and they never cost more than $7. You can register to be notified every time a new set of videos is available by visiting the 7DollarVideoStore.com website.

There was an excellent thread on the Warrior Forum today about what spam really is. I thought “jensrsa” made some great points in his reply, so I am posting it here:

It doesn’t really matter what the content is. It doesn’t matter what you “think” spam is.

Spam filters are basically anti-business, not anti-spam so, if you know how to frame your emails you’ll get through. if you don’t you will be blocked

Here are the basic “rules” courtesy of sitesell:

Some of the most obvious negatives to avoid in your e-mails…

• The excessive use of ALL CAPS in the subject line and message body of your e-mail.
• The use of trigger words like “free” (used alone, or in combination with any number of words like “trial,” “money,” “quote,” “sample,” “membership,” “access,” and so on), “sex,” “XXX,” “spam,” “$$$,” “checks,” “money orders,” “extra income,” “as seen on TV,” and so on. Even using seemingly harmless words like “search engine listings,” “cable converter”, and “reverses aging” will penalize your e-mail, so you must be exceptionally vigilant in the analysis of your SpamCheck report.
• The excessive use of punctuation “!!!”

… and finally, a very special thing NOT to do…

• If you think of using a trick to avoid detection (like putting a * in certain words to disguise them or adding 50 spaces in your subject to push a code out of sight), it’s only a matter of time until you are ESPECIALLY determined to be a spammer. Because “normal business people” don’t use tricks — they just do business.

On the other hand, there are certain elements of an e-mail that qualify it as being “bona fide” correspondence. With that said…
Here are some tips for staying on the “good” side of the various spam checkers, filters, etc. that stand between your e-mail and your reader’s INBOX. Use as many of these “good triggers” as possible, to prove that yours is a real, justifiable mailing…

• Use of the words “news”, “newsletter”, or “list” in your subject line
• Indication of publishing frequency in the subject line — weekly, daily, monthly
• Inclusion of date of newsletter in the subject
• Inclusion of the issue number in the subject line
• Make sure your newsletter has some substance — when was the last time you saw spam that had more than a few lines of text?

Above and beyond that, use your own common sense. You know what spam looks like — do not make your e-zine look like spam. And you know what a “VALID, GOOD” e-zine looks like — that should be your role model! And especially…

… NO TRICKS. Just do your business and keep it real.

Posted by jensrsa
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-internet-marketing-discussion-forum/9794-what-spam.html

Most of us are either using a wireless network to connect to the Internet – or are planning to use one in the near future. Here’s a video that shows you step-by-step how to set up and secure a wireless network at home or in a home-office.

If you’ve been reading my posts on this blog, you know how I’ve been advocating video as a way to drive traffic to your blog or website. I just wanted to give you a little idea of what posting a video to the best known video sites can actually do for your site.

Last week, I uploaded a video aimed at the target audience of one of my websites, AREIP.org. That site has been steadily serving about 22,500 pageviews per month – or about 750 per day.

On Tuesday, August 27th, I uploaded the video to YouTube, Google Video, Revver, Metacafe, Yahoo Video, MySpace and AOL Video. My pageviews for the following day were 2,118. That represents a 184% increase in traffic over average. (Click on the graph image to see an enlarged view)

How would you like to do that?

I know what you’re thinking - it takes a long time to upload videos to all of those sites and I just don’t have the time. How would you like to be able to upload your videos to all of those sites (and a few more) with just one click?

Using TubeMogul, you can upload to all of those sites and more at absolutely no cost. Here’s a video from the folks at TubeMogul showing how the system works:

Paul Colligan, of Podcast-Secrets.com, has posted a video on 7 best practices for leveraging the power of TubeMogul. You can view that video here as well. Paul gives some great tips on how to use TubeMogul to your best advantage.

What? You’re still not creating and posting videos? That’s OK. This is not the last that you’re going to hear from me about this, so get ready to for some great info on what your own videos can do for you.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

by Marianne Williamson
from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

Get it at Amazon: Book

“Beliefs are the most powerful force in the world. What we believe to be true about ourselves appears in our lives as our lives.”

Elizabeth Day of edaycafe.com wrote a short, interesting post on the power of belief and how controlling your thinking can make your life better. You can read the post on Dumb Little Man - Tips for Life.

And while you’re there, read some of the comments. There’s a comment on how even a great idea can be mangled by one of it’s own authors and how others allow it to affect them.

A short while ago, we posted a review of Open-Realty® 2.5, the latest version of the popular real estate listing and website program. (You can read the review here.)

Feedback tells us that there are still quite a few agents and investors who could be using Open-Realty to build their business, but are intimidated by the thought of installing the software, setting up the databases, configuring the application, changing themes (templates), and so on.

I have always felt that technology should level the playing field in most occupations, not set a bar that makes entry or advancement difficult. That is one of the chief reasons that Orange Cat Productions set up the How Do I DO That? Videos website – to make technology easier for folks like you and me to understand and use.

There are a LOT of web hosting companies who offer control panel installation of software and configuration of the databases they run from, but you still need a degree of technical knowledge to keep the process from turning into a nightmare. Many of these accounts sit around doing nothing for their owner, wasting both time and money.

Well, now OrangeCat.net has a solution to that. Hosting accounts with Open-Realty, WordPress or Joomla! Content Management and PHPList list building software already installed and ready to use. Have a look at OrangeCat’s pre-installed hosting solutions here.

No more uploading, installing and configuring software. No more setting up users, passwords and tables to get a database up and running. No searching for and installing templates, themes and plugins to get the most out of your software. It’s all done for you. All you do is add content – which is as easy as creating a letter in Word.

And if that’s not all, OrangeCat.net can manage your site for you from top to bottom. Whether it’s adding, updating or deleting content, listings, products, email addresses or anything else, OrangeCat can do it FOR you. Find out more about OrangeCat’s Done4U Internet Marketing Services.

So now even the most devout technophobe can use the Internet to build their business – no matter what that business may be. And now there’s no reason why you should ever feel intimidated by technology. Make technology work FOR you! Click here to learn more.