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Blogging Glossary of Terms – A Beginners Guide

Suzanne Roy — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:00:21 +0000

Blogging Glossary of Terms

~ A Beginners Guide ~

Ever wondered what “Akismet”, “Avatar”, “Feed” or “Spambot” actually mean? Here I have listed my top most commonly seen blogging terms that hopefully will both educate and define some questionable words that you have come across while browsing the web.

Adsense

A way to create revenue via Google’s pay-per-click program which is available to both blog and web publishers.

Adwords

The blogger or web publisher’s program that populates the Adsense. The advertiser pays Google by way of pay-per-click.

Akismet

No Wordpress Blog should be without it! This comment spam filter is a must for automatically removing spam comments from your blog.

Avatar

No, not Avatar, the highest grossing movie of all time, this Avatar is an image that is used to show the author of the content on a blog or comment on another blog. I guess it could be blue though…

Dashboard

The admin area of your blog that is similar to your desktop of your PC, where you post new blogs, create pages, manage comments, etc.,

Delicious

Now owned by Yahoo!, this social bookmarking site allows bloggers to store, organize and share their blogs or web pages.

Digg

Similar to Delicious, this is another online location where bloggers can recommend content from their blog or any web page they would like to share with the world.

Feed

The RSS or Atom feeds used by news aggregators (or feed readers).

Feedburner

Another Google product that allows blog content to be “burned” or loaded into an easy way for interested readers to subscribe to receive future blog posts via Feed or even email. This is a huge attribute to any blog – it’s another opt-in that you must not be without! *** Check out my opt-in through the email version of Feedburner below.

Hyperlink

A link that takes you from one website (or blog) to another which is embedded into a word, words, photos, etc.,

Microblogging

Think Twitter. A blogging glossary of terms blog would be amiss without this term! A brief (micro) form of blogging where individuals publish updates via a slew of devices such as text messages, instant messages, email, mobile phone, etc.,

Search Engine Optimization. If you haven’t heard of this, where have you been hiding since 1985?! It’s the most important aspect of blogging (and any website/webpage) there is!

Social Bookmarks

A means for bloggers to share, publicize and drive traffic back to their blogs on an ongoing basis. Examples include Delicious, Digg, StumbleUpon and Reddit.

Social Media

Social: Getting out there; being noticed.
Media: Audio, video, photos, text, files, etc.,
Put the two together and what do you get? A set of tools (including blogs by the way) which everyone can use to get their message across the web.

Syndication

A way in which you allow your blog content to be circulated online.

This is by no means a complete list, however, it is a list of some of my top blogging terms that I use on a daily basis. Ask me 2 years ago, and I would have been stone-faced! With the ever-changing social networking and social media on the world wide web, it will be a given that this list will be updated in the coming months and years.

Feedburner Opt-in – Enter Your Email Address and Click “Subscribe”

#1 Real Estate Virtual Assistant Tip of the Week

Suzanne Roy — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:31:31 +0000

#1 Real Estate Virtual Assistant Tip of the Week

Getting Shoppers To Shop!

This morning I had a great conversation with a new connection I made directly through my social networking efforts. He gave me some wonderfully refreshing information that reminded me to remind you what the purpose of all this is:

What is Your Ultimate Goal?

To Make Money!

But how do you make money?

It’s a three step process:

Get Traffic
Get Leads
Solidify Sales

Many Real Estate Virtual Assistants and their Real Estate Agent clients have #1 down with their blogging, online listing marketing, social networking, etc., but what about #2 (and subsequently #3)? How are you getting those shoppers to shop?

You must incorporate opt-ins throughout your websites, which includes your social networking sites.

Here’s an example of an opt-in created within a Facebook Fan Page:

By simply adding this embedded form on your Facebook Fan Page (remember, this is NOT your Facebook Profile – that is for your PERSONAL life!) you will gain leads instead of just browsers.

You will also notice at the bottom of this blog, another opt-in. This can be incorporated on any website or blog – you have to give your audience a way into your show! Have multiple doors in place and the higher the liklihood that they will enter. And the more that enters, the more shows (or in your case, Sales) you will be able to execute.

Now don’t be shy – opt-in!

Virtual Assistant Rates

Suzanne Roy — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:12:23 +0000

Virtual Assistant Rates

Fees are rated on a per project schedule or via a Retainer Agreement. When a Retainer Agreement is not in place, or the number of hours deemed required is less than 12 per month, the hourly rate is $60.00. When a Retainer Agreement is applied, the hourly rate is $45.00.

Projects that are deemed necessary to be completed outside of normal business hours by Client (refer to General Information), will be billed additionally and at a premium rate of $60.00 per hour.

Terms and Conditions

V.A. Work uses TraxTime time tracker for accurate billing purposes. Expenses incurred for projects are tracked accordingly, itemized and added to the monthly invoice. V.A. Work does not charge for minor expenses, however, we do charge for any postage, shipping, mileage, printing costs or other specialized services that may be necessary to complete your specific project, at cost (receipts provided).

All invoices are sent via email and fax and are payable within 5 calendar days. When a project is being paid via our base hourly rate (at $60.00 per hour), 50% of project quote is due prior to work being started and the remaining 50% is due once completed, prior to being delivered. Hourly work is charged in 15 minute increments, with a 4 hour minimum. Retainer fees (of 12 hours or more per month) are due prior to work being started, on a monthly basis. V.A. Work reserves the right to charge additional fees for “Rush” projects. A $25.00 fee will be applied for any returned checks. Payments not received within 5 days of invoice date will be subject to an additional 10% charge additional to the monthly fee.

Payments may be made via online payment method through Google Checkout (an online invoice will be emailed to you at the beginning of each month), Paypal, credit card, personal or business check, money order or cashier’s check.