It’s Not How Smart You Are – Advice from the World’s Most Famous Genius
by: Cory Galbraith
He had a terrible memory, used music to stimulate his thinking, and told his university teachers that their classes were boring.
Albert Einstein – thought to have mental disabilities as a child, became known as a genius – yet attributed his success, not to his intelligence, but to his character.
Love, curiosity, imagination, balance and determination were the values he embraced.
He did not see himself as smart. Just more curious and persistent than the average person.
Einstein’s view of his own success carries powerful lessons for us today in enriching our careers, relationships, and well-being.
“Try not to become a person of success, but rather, try to become a person of value.”
We all want success. But Einstein knew the emphasis has to be on creating value first. What can we bring to the table? What unique qualities do we possess that can be leveraged to help others? Selling our value does more than fuel our career. It attracts key relationships and gives us purpose. A life which is directed toward the fulfillment of personal desires only, said Einstein – will always lead to bitter disappointment.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
To Einstein, imagination is paramount. His experiments all took place in his mind. Today – imagination is in short supply. Often, it is discouraged. Yet it is only when we see beyond the confines of conventional thinking can breakthroughs occur. Our careers and relationships need not be limited, stagnate or die. We can imagine better things for ourselves and do as Einstein had done – bravely following the trail of our unhindered thoughts.
“I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.”
Most of us give up too soon. A friend of mine abandons his plans at the first sign of difficulty. Einstein didn’t see obstacles as reasons to quit, but rather, reasons to work harder. His theory of relativity did not come, he said, from his intellect – but rather, his dogged persistence. He was more stubborn than any problem. We can be too.
Albert Einstein had a secret weapon to stimulate his thinking: music.
He played Mozart on the violin to put him in the correct “zone.” A few notes on the piano would ignite his creative juices. Music, in fact, is what made Einstein tick. And there are some historians who speculate that Einstein, had he not been a physicist, might have become a professional musician.
In his later years, he would say that music, above all else, is what made him happy. His doctor once remarked that while other violinists likely played better than Einstein, nobody played with more emotion.
Albert Einstein was multi-faceted. He loved music, both for the sheer joy of it, but also as an aid to relax his mind. He considered himself good enough to perform in public, which he did on many occasions, but oddly, no known audio recordings of Einstein playing the violin exist.
According to family legend, Einstein’s imagination first emerged at a young age when he was introduced to his baby sister. The little Einstein looked at the girl and asked “where are the wheels?” believing her to be a toy.
But his parents developed doubts about his overall mental capacity when, as late as age seven, he kept slowly repeating the same sentences over and over, struggling to learn language. In school, his teachers were also concerned, but for a different reason. Einstein was rebellious and didn’t appreciate the demand for discipline.
When he first tried to enter university, Einstein flunked the entrance exam.
He had a poor memory, unable to remember names. It’s said that he couldn’t remember his own phone number.
Despite these apparent deficiencies, the mind of Einstein was in full swing.
As early as 16, he practiced what he called “thought experiments” always asking “What if?” In one such experiment, he wondered what would happen if he chased a beam of light. Could he ever catch it? He concluded that you can’t slow down light, but you could catch it if time itself had stopped. (An idea which later transformed into his special and general theories of relativity).
What would happen if today, we could push aside modern life’s distractions and engage in thought experiments?
When Einstein finally entered university, he told his professors that their classes were dull. As a result, none would give him a letter of recommendation.
He couldn’t get a job in academia, ending up as a patent clerk. In his free time, the 26 year old clerk worked feverishly on his theories, producing the now famous theory of relativity which changed the world of science forever.
Up until Einstein, the universe was viewed as three dimensional. Things could go up and down. left and right or forward and backward – no matter where you would happen to be looking. But Einstein said the universe is actually four dimensional, because things are “relative” depending upon your perspective, and also depending upon gravitational pull. For example, a ball rolling down the floor of a moving train may seem slow if viewed from inside the train, but very fast, if seen from outside.
Essentially, Einstein determined that depending upon where you are in space and time, natural occurrences will behave differently.
Major inventions, including the smart phone, television and remote control technology – all became possible because of Einstein’s theory – each taking into consideration the differences between how things work at a certain point in location and timing.
Einstein’s well-known formula E=mc2 in which the mass of any object is a measure of how much energy is contained within it, led to a more sinister invention – the atomic bomb. (Einstein was in favor of the bomb as a way to put a quick end to World War Two, but he would later fight against the proliferation of weapons).
Einstein’s general theory of relativity would indicate that light could bend. Astronomers put this idea to the test during a solar eclipse in 1919 in which the moon covered up the sun. Even though the sky was darkened, stars around the Sun could still be seen – proof of the fourth dimension. Einstein was shown to be correct, and the news made him famous.
Albert Einstein married twice. First to Mileva Maric, another physicist-in-training he met in university. Before marrying, the couple had an illegitimate daughter who was never spoken about by Einstein. Her existence was discovered in the late 1980s through Einstein’s private papers. What happened to the girl is unknown. Mileva was considered almost as brilliant as Einstein and some historians believe she helped him create his theories of relativity. She grew lonely in the marriage as Einstein spent time on his work. Mileva died in 1948, largely forgotten.
The second wife was Elsa, Einstein’s cousin. Einstein had numerous affairs during the marriage, which Elsa knew about. She accepted the affairs, but demanded Einstein put her first, which he did. In return, Elsa spent much of her time protecting the great scientist from unwelcome visitors and an army of people who wanted to meet him.
Fame was not something Einstein enjoyed. He was often stopped on the street, but when asked if he was the real Albert Einstein, he replied that he just looked like him.
Einstein’s major work was accomplished in his younger years. He spent the rest of his life teaching, working with other scientists, and supporting various causes, including civil rights. When he ran out of problems to solve, he continued to study, for what he called “the pleasant occupation of thinking.”
It was 62 years ago this month, in 1955, that he suffered from a ruptured aneurysm at age 76. Even on his deathbed, he was working – writing a speech for television. Einstein refused surgery, saying he did not want to prolong life artificially. He had done his share, explaining: “It is time to go.”
The scientist with the crazy hair once said he feared technology would eventually surpass human interaction and create a generation of idiots – a prediction some believe is now coming true.
Albert Einstein, remembered today for his genius, will go down in history as someone who believed that character is as important as intelligence, and that every life has a purpose.
Einstein won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921. Later, in 1933, he visited the United States but, being Jewish, chose not to return to his home country of Germany due to the rise of Adolf Hitler. (He became an American citizen in 1940). Einstein had 3 children by his first marriage, one of whom was diagnosed as schizophrenic. The mind of the genius was so special that when he died, the pathologist on call, Thomas Harvey, decided to steal it. The brain traveled with Harvey, and at one point, his wife threatened to throw it in the garbage. It would not be until 2010 that Harvey’s heirs turned over the brain to the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Maryland.
Today, there is a resurgence of interest in Albert Einstein. A ten-part drama entitled “Genius” starring Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson is appearing on the National Geographic channel.
How Much $ To Rank
I found this tool recently and decided not to spend advertising money for digital solutions due to the overall benefit versus cost that digital solutions has in Tampa Bay. The frame below is from How Much to Rank.
What Is Your Emotional Intelligence
Jus playing around with other’s and found something that is quit appealing to me. Below is an out of the box one that I will enhance or replace when I get the time.
WordPress Web Design For Dummies
WordPress Web Design For Dummies Cheat Sheet
Combining the power and flexibility of the WordPress content management system (CMS) with design and development skills (such as HTML, CSS, and graphic design programs) gives you the tools you need to create unique and dynamic Web sites.
Finding WordPress Resources and Tools
If you use WordPress as the platform for your blog or website, you can use any or all of the many tools WordPress offers. The following list helps you find some of these helpful resources.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| WordPress Plugin Directory |
Find thousands of plugins to download that let you do almost anything you can imagine — and you can imagine quite a lot, can’t you? |
| Themes Directory |
Choose from hundreds of themes to manage the look and functionality of your home page. |
| WordPress Codex | Try the Codex page to tap into the encyclopedia of WordPress knowledge. |
| WordPress News and Updates |
Get the latest news and notes on all things WordPress. |
| WordPress Support forums |
Post your questions and obtain answers from the vast WordPress community for users of the WordPress software. |
Basic HTML and CSS Markup for WordPress Themes
When you work with WordPress themes to create web designs, you use basic HTML, combined with CSS styling, to accomplish the formatting and styling you desire for your website. Here’s a rundown of some basic HTML and CSS markup.
| Name | Description | HTML Markup Example | CSS Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| <head> </head> |
Indicates the header portion of a web page that contains invisible, but vital, information about the page, such as the title and keywords. |
<head> <title>My Web Site</title> </head> |
N/A |
| <body> </body> |
Defines the content area of your web page that’s visible in your visitor’s browser window. |
<body> <p>This is my content</p> </body> |
body {background: white; color:black} |
| <a href=”..”> </a> |
Inserts a hyperlink for either a word or an image. | <a href=”http://google.com”>Google </a> |
a {color:blue} |
| <img src=”..”> | Inserts an image in a web page. | <img src= “http://yourdomain.com/image. jpg” /> |
img {padding 4px; border: 1px solid silver} |
| <p> </p> |
Defines groupings of text in paragraphs. | <p>This text is treated as a paragraph</p> | p {margin: 1.2em; line-height: 1.2em; color: red} |
| <h1> </h1> |
Defines a first-level heading, usually a title or menu heading. You can also use h2, h3, h4, h5, and h6. |
<h1>This is a title</h1> | h1 {font-size: 18px; color: blue; margin: 10px 0;} |
Image-Editing Software for WordPress Web Design
When you work with graphics (including digital photographs) for Web design, you work with two file types: raster and vector. When you create, edit, or manipulate those files, you use graphic- or photo-editing software to accomplish the job. Here’s a list of some software that you may want to consider.
| Software Program | File Types |
|---|---|
| Adobe Photoshop |
Raster-based image-editing program used to create PSD layout files and to work with raster image file types and photography |
| Adobe Illustrator |
Vector-based image creation and editing used to edit vector image files, such as AI and EPS files |
Corel PaintShop Pro |
Raster image and photography editing program |
CorelDRAW |
Vector image creation and editing for AI, EPS, and CDR file types |
Atoms and Molecules
By Jisha Jamal
Sugar is sweet and the sugar granules are small. Can we cut the smaller sugar granules? Yes! we can. Imagine the size of the smallest sugar particle that can retain the sweetness when you cut it. If you keep cutting, you will reach a particle that cannot be divided again without losing sweetness. That smallest particle of the sugar that retains all the qualities of sugar is the molecule of sugar. The sugar molecule again can be divided, but it will not be sugar again. Dividing molecules again into smaller particles is possible. The smallest particle of matter when we divide molecule is known as an atom. That means molecules are formed by the bonding of two or more atoms. Thus atoms are the building blocks of molecules. Sugar molecule contains 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms and 11 oxygen atoms. Many such sugar molecules join together to form a sugar granule.
Before moving to know how these atoms are joined, we will understand what elements like oxygen, hydrogen, carbon etc are. In order to learn it, we should realize one more thing: an atom is made up of subatomic particles namely protons, neutrons and electrons. Each atom has a positively charged nucleus that keeps attracting negatively charged electrons. The nucleus is the permanent seat of protons and neutrons, whereas electrons keep revolving around the nucleus. An atom with only one electron and one proton is hydrogen(H) and Atom with 2 electrons and 2 protons is helium(He), 3 each with Lithium(Li), 4 each with Beryllium(Be) and son.Thus, atoms are differentiated on the basis of the number of subatomic particles. In that way carbon has 6 electrons and oxygen has 8.
Formation of molecules
Electrons are like small children. They do revolve around the nucleus in various shells and energy levels. These energy levels are called sub shells and are denoted by the letters s, p, d and f. The S subshell has the capacity to hold 2 electrons. If we are considering the formation of hydrogen molecule by hydrogen atoms, the only one electron of hydrogen atom is filled in the first S sub shell. Filling one electron in a subshell where 2 electrons can be kept creates imbalance and thus the atom looks to share its electron with another atom. So, it undergoes a mutual sharing of electrons with another hydrogen atom to form a hydrogen molecule.
Electrons thus are really like small children. They develop stress within the home and find friendship with neighboring electrons to become happy and stable! Isn’t it fun. This fun behavior of electrons is the reason for all the development we see around us. Learning about it also is really fun!
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jisha_Jamal/2553088
Why Not-for-Profits Benefit from Web-Based Membership Functionality
If you look around the non-profit world, you might have noticed some significant changes over the past 5 to 10 years around how organizations are acquiring, maintaining and strengthening their membership bases.
Something that The Red Cross, The Humane Society and many other non-profits have in common is their successful online membership programs. They have all built global customer bases by creating a form of online communities among their members, and the potential is limitless.
Now, once they have these successful membership programs, they need a convenient and visually attractive way of presenting these programs on their website.
This creates a hub: a central space for admin and staff to access members’ information and showcase their offerings
The time, energy and resources non-profits are saving by having their membership programs on their website is significant. They’re easy to access, paperwork is not scattered across multiple laptops or offices and making updates is easy.
This is something that is often overlooked among the non-profit sector, when it really shouldn’t be. It’s vital for online membership programs to stay organized. By doing this, their members, donors and social impact will remain strong.
Here are more benefits for non-profits who add an online membership program to their website:
One significant benefit of a membership website for non-profits is they can grant their members access to areas of the organization that most people would never normally see. For example, The Council To Reduce Elder Abuse allows members access to meeting recordings, reports and even grant proposals.
Everyone wants to be in the know, and to understand what is happening within all these seemingly secretive organizations we interact with. This works so well for CREA, one of our clients who helps their donors understand where their money is going.
This saves the back-and forth communication staff might have to go through on these topics as info is displayed prominently on their website.
I think we can all agree on the phrase “Give credit where credit is due”, and that is exactly what the BC Farmers’ Institute is doing through their innovative way of creating a non-profit website.
All the members are growers around the province of British Columbia, and there is a special section on their website that highlights where the growers are located, a blurb about them and their unique logo.
This provides much-needed marketing for these growers in a hyper-competitive market, while also showing all visitors to BCFI’s website just how many farmers the Institute is supporting.
This provides a significant amount of credibility when you have 20+ farms featured. Also, having all your members visually displayed like this creates organization and cohesion like none other.
Content Creators Websites for non-profits are hard to maintain, and we understand how resources can be stretched thin most days.
Finding content that is fresh, exciting and industry-relevant to keep your website up to date can be a struggle. So, wouldn’t it make sense for your members to give you a helping hand on your website?
That’s exactly what Abbotsford-based FarmWest has achieved. With news and updates on their website that members can contribute to, they generate a very community-based feel about their non-profit online membership, as well as sharing an interesting website!
Members will feel like they are genuinely contributing to their industry and that goes a long way for the reputation of a non-profit. Not to mention, it’s a lot less maintenance for the hard-working employees.
READ: Competitive Positioning for Nonprofits Competitive Positioning for Nonprofits
Does your nonprofit have a positioning statement? It’s an important question every organization must ask themselves: what sets you apart from the competition?
Competitive positioning for nonprofits is more focused on the “why”: what is your mission? Your product is the good you’re doing.
Read this article for tips on how to create a non-profit positioning statement for your organization.
Read more on our website.
Saves Everyone’s Time
Do you ever feel like you spend a lot of time on the phone explaining the same benefits over and over to curious callers? Wouldn’t you save a lot of time with a beautiful website section that shows and describes all the benefits of joining your membership program?
The Music Therapy Association has an excellent introduction of its benefits for members in their information section, with clear and concise paragraphs to represent their information.
External links give a more in-depth picture and contact information is given for those questions that go above and beyond what’s on the site. So, you’re saving your members’ and your own time!
A searchable directory is also included with members ‘information, to show just how qualified their members are. Overall, they provide a compelling online advertisement for their credibility.
Music Therapy Association members directory
The non-profit industry is slowly becoming more and more competitive. From 2006 to 2016, the number of non-profit organizations registered with the IRS rose from 1.48 million to 1.54 million, an increase of 4.5 percent.
It’s time for each and every non-profit to be finding ways to remain competitive in the online space, just like every for-profit company is shifting towards. Building online communities, saving time and resources—while solidifying impact—are all goals non-profits should be working towards
These unique sections within a non-profit’s website are vital for organizations and maintaining the brand image each organization has worked hard to build. Do yourself, your employees and the non-profit a favour and see how this can benefit you today.
eVision Media has long-lasting success with integrating online non-profit membership programs into our clients’ websites for long-lasting results. Don’t hesitate to reach out to take your website to the next level!
To your business success, Susan Friesen
Your Retirement Can Be Enhanced By Technology
By J M Conner
Your retirement can be enhanced by technology. There is no better time to be retired and part of the reason is the increased capability brought about by the technology that is all around us. One of the ways to keep your mind sharp in retirement is to learn new skills and you can’t find a better subject than learning about all of the technological advances being made every day. If you can master the internet, a computer or a smartphone, you can open up your world in a way that would have been impossible just a decade ago.
The pandemic the world has struggled through has shone a spotlight on the advances that have been made with video technology and faster broadband speeds. It has also highlighted one of the ways that retirement and technology are perfect for each other. There are dozens of applications that will enable you to have not just a phone conversation, but an onscreen chat with just about any person in the world. It has been a blessing during this time of social distancing, but it has also brought a new focus on how important it is to keep up with technological advances.
Video conferences have been around a few years but, up until about three years ago, they were more of a problem than a solution. Long delays, poor sound quality and people speaking over each other marred the experience and, in some cases, resulted in a complete waste of time. Recent advances and better broadband capability have helped resolve these problems and it has not just helped the business world but has added greater fulfillment to the lives of many seniors.
If you’ve watched television lately, nearly every show now has a guest who is speaking from a remote location and, while there are occasional glitches, the technology has become amazing. If you have relatives halfway around the world you can basically do the same kind of connection and have them appear on the screen before you. Is it the same as being there? Of course not, but it can be a wonderful experience just the same and it can help you keep track of your grandchildren by checking in more often.
With the higher internet speeds, we’ve also seen the content available on the internet go forward by leaps and bounds. Almost any topic you can name and any course you ever wanted to take is now available somewhere. Virtual tours of cities and landmarks are quite easy to find, and you can find a tutorial for learning any skill you ever thought of developing. Do you want to learn how to bake bread or fix a leaky faucet? A quick search on the internet will give you all the information you need to get started.
And, if you’re not sure how to use the internet to its fullest capability, taking the time to learn is one of the smartest things you can do because it can literally change your world and how you get your information. There are courses for that as well but one of the most enjoyable ways to learn these skills is through the eyes of a young person. It’s especially rewarding if it’s one of your grandchildren but a child from the neighborhood will probably be more than happy to give you a quick course on the internet and upgrading the technology in your home. Technology can provide enhanced experiences that are so amazing you’ll wonder why you didn’t act sooner. It’s a great way to learn something new, expand your social circles and to make sure you continue to Enjoy Retired Life.
J M Conner is a writer and publisher who specializes in online information marketing. Newly retired, his most recent articles are on the art of enjoying Retired Life to the fullest. Areas of specialization are guiding future, new and seasoned retirees onto a path of emotional fulfillment and financial reward and making the most of their retired years. You can visit his website at https://www.EnjoyRetiredLife.com.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/J_M_Conner/103607
http://EzineArticles.com/?Your-Retirement-Can-Be-Enhanced-By-Technology&id=10427094
Happiness Frequency
Just allowing credit for the YouTube video that I am using on the home page of my website. I also put an embedded version so you can hear the music – Serotonin, Dopamine, Endorphin Release Music, Release Negativity.
Jason Stephenson – Chakra Healing Music
I also wanted to share my Patreon website at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=23737311&fan_landing=true
And finally from https://getpocket.com/ which I frequently read, these days we’re all about things being faster. That’s why this advice is invaluable: When you really need to remember something, concentrate on it for at least 8 seconds. That can seem like a long time when you’re running around trying to get a million things done, but it is worth it. Studies have shown that 8 seconds is the minimum amount of time it takes for a piece of information to go from your short-term memory to your long-term memory.
In addition, we’ve all walked into a room and suddenly realized we can’t remember why we needed to be there in the first place. Don’t worry, you’re not getting more forgetful—chances are it was the act of walking through a doorway that made you go completely blank. Researchers found that participants in both virtual and real-world studies were far more likely to forget what object they had just placed in a container if they were asked right after walking through a doorway than if they carried the object the same distance in a single room. Scientists have yet to figure out why, but something about entering a new place seems to restart our memory.
Life as an Oxymoron
Well, as a web developer/web designer with the name Curt Long (“O’ShortTallernus“), I have to agree with the following article about life as an Oxymoron.
From: https://www.metanexus.net/united-states-your-life-oxymoron/
“An oxymoron is a phrase consisting of two words that contradict each other or at least seem to pose interesting inconsistencies. There are degrees of oxymoronicity. A circular square is physically impossible, and is therefore a strongly oxymoronic term. That we can even entertain the concept of a circular square proves that the mind can imagine impossible things. “I have a dream” should never be taken as evidence that something is possible. We can dream of all sorts of impossible things.
Some oxymorons only sound self-contradictory. Take “ jumbo shrimp .” It sounds oxymoronic, but there’s nothing truly self-contradictory about it. In the world of the shrimpy, the one-ounce shrimp is jumbo. Jumbo shrimp is no stranger than the clothing sizes children’s XL or adult small.
Oxymorons like jumbo shrimp reveal the hierarchy of thought. We define an upper-level category called “shrimp,” and then, below that level–that is, within the category “shrimp”–we define some shrimp as jumbo. Shrimp is a reference on one level; jumbo is a reference on another. Only if we ignore the hierarchy and juxtapose the words as though they operated on the same level do we find the term “jumbo shrimp” amusing.
Likewise, the oxymoron “ found missing ” makes perfect sense when we recognize that the two words are operating on different logical levels. Missing refers to the absence itself and found refers to your discovery of or about that absence. In general, prepositions (about, within, around, under) are traffic signals for managing the hierarchies of thought.
Some oxymorons are neither physical impossibilities nor merely amusing if read wrong. Some pose dynamic paradoxes that lead to perpetual unsettledness.
I’m a proud citizen of the United States , a country whose name is one such oxymoron. States are separate, individual things. United means a unified whole. The United States is a one-many, so which is it? That question has been the source of our nation’s lively debates about federal versus states’ rights, the Democratic (states’ rights) and Republican (union rights) political parties, a civil war that killed 600,000, and, one could argue, our vitality.
It’s easy to relate to the unsettledness of being the united states . As individuals, we’re each like that. I am one united entity and a loose constellation of independent states of mind.
Pairs of us can relate to being united states too. In partnerships, we live out the ambiguity of being both one united entity and two separate entities. And likewise in our affiliations to larger entities–our employer, our religion, our team–the united/state ambiguity plays out. When am I part of “we,” and when am I me alone?
We answer that question, in part, with schedules. When you show up for work, you lose yourself, becoming united with your client, patient, company, or organization. When you drive home, you become independent again. When you get home, you become as one with your spouse, roommates, or dog. The days of your life are a perpetual square dance with uniteds and states coming and going.
Within the simplifying formality of a schedule you have micro shifts as your affinities and independences flit and shift in instant, automatic, imperceptible ways. In a tedious meeting you drift into your own little world. At home, your partner speaks to you coldly and in an instant you drop out of “united” into your separate defended self-state.
Someone delightful you meet for the first time is especially kind to you and for a spell, and under that spell, you forget yourself in union.
Over the course of a lifetime, you get macro shifts to your scheduled configuration of unions and states: for example, when you change jobs, marry, divorce, join the army and get no time to yourself, or leave the army and spend three years living alone to make up for it.
The micro shifts shape the macro shifts. If, too often, you find yourself just not feeling your job, you’ll quit and go unite with some other form of employment. Likewise with friends and lovers, to be in it but not feeling it makes you want to get out of it. Or conversely to be out on your own, too often feeling out of the loop, eventually you want to unite with someone.
Whether it’s a macro or a micro shift, I count three main ways we get popped in and out of unions:
- A more alluring union presents itself. Leaving a partnership because a better partner comes along is the macro version of it. Being preoccupied with a consuming question from work and as a result drifting out of union with your partner in conversation is a micro version of it.
- A conflict within the union. A civil war makes the union weaker relative to constant alternatives. If you fight with your partner often enough, alternatives to the partnership that have always been there start to look a lot more attractive. If your partner insults you, the sting shifts you instantly out of “us” and into “me,” even though me was there all along.
- Either party in the union can change directions independent of the competition with or conflict within the relationship. You alone, independent of your partner or the alternatives available to you, can have a change of mind that makes you want out. Your company can decide to let you go, independent of its alternatives to, or conflicts with you.
But how can an individual have an independent change of mind? It can because it too is an us. An individual is internally, a union of states. You alone comprise multiple states, and the states can shift in relation to each other. The corporation you have bonded with in secure employment is also a union of states–of departments, transactions, employees, and habits that can shift in relation to each other.
When you’re trying to figure out what broke up a union that mattered to you, or when your union-mate accuses you of no longer caring, any or all three of these dynamics might be in play. Maybe something better came along, maybe something worse arose between you, or maybe either one of you had a change of heart, a shifting of internal values. It could be outside of you both, between you both, or within one or the other of you.
We could simplify United States the way we simplified jumbo shrimp. The United States is a union to the outside world made up of states within. Like jumbo shrimp, united states operates on two logical levels–an outside and an inside, an upper and a lower. It’s a new nation conceived in liberty . . . and dedicated to the prepositions inside and outside.
When the United States joins in alliances with other countries it operates at three levels, a member of the alliance, a country unto itself, and a bunch of individual states. And the levels just keep going down. You’re inside one of the states, and within you are all manner of other states. All of life operates across these hierarchical levels. Within, without, and throughout, it’s all jumbo shrimp.”
When Words Become Numbers
In this article, I will take you on a fascinating journey to understand how search engines work. This isn’t your typical description of web bots (or spiders) and how they crawl websites, but how they process content. Before moving on, let me explain why this is important for you and your career as a search marketer.
Why every search marketer should read this article
Many Digital Marketers, Social Media Managers, and SEOs do not have a technical background and know nothing about computer science. We all manage to do our jobs and have been more or less successful without knowing any of this jargon.
So far, you may have been comfortable with your job and probably don’t feel the need to know anything about computer programming or computer science.
Yet I believe we, as search marketers, should make an effort to understand what goes on inside a search engine. A few years back, I decided that my learning journey should include (some) computer programming. It was challenging but well worth the effort.
It is essential to stay at the forefront of developments and thrive as professionals to avoid commoditization. I can see how the search landscape is rapidly changing. By keeping on the cutting edge, you’ll maintain and increase your competitive advantage.
I trust this article will be inspirational and ignite your ambitions.
I’ve decided to share these insights to tickle your curiosity and reflect on where you are in your professional journey. This article will shed new light on SEO and hopefully trigger thoughts about your future.
This article will open a door on an unknown universe where Words and Language meet the Binary world of Bits & Bytes. What you will read in this article is a description of what I refer to, perhaps inappropriately, as real cyberspace, where code is poetry, where machines understand man and vice-versa. My ambition is to set you off on a very personal and essential journey.
I encourage you to undertake this journey and embrace the turmoil it may cause. Change is always challenging. No pain, no gain.
We live in a world where success is a combination of your will to adapt to situations and overcome adverse events and circumstances:
Adapt and Overcome (Cit. The Sniper Mind – David Amerland P. 217)
Good Luck.
What you will learn from this article
This article is a qualitative and very rudimental description of the search engine indexing process. I will describe and how you how words become numbers. It’s more of a discovery than anything else.
I’m not a computer scientist; I’m a Search Marketer like your yourself. I do not have the background nor the experience to explain the science or the technology in detail. My objective is to show you how the transformation occurs and share considerations on the implications.
Modern Search Engines: from full-text to natural language
Web Search engines have been online right from the start of the commercial usage of the Internet. There was an immediate need for tools to find data, news and gather information online. Many of you weren’t born yet in 1993 when I got my first coax cable connection at ESTEC and surfed the pre-historic web. It was the “Internet”. In those days, the Internet was a “loose” interconnection of networks. A typical online session would consist of point-to-point navigation between sites: you had to know where you were going.
The first attempt to organize resources online was the development of Gophers. Gophers consisted of curated collections of Internet URLs arranged in a menu format.
There was a rapid evolution of librarian flavoured taxonomy, in an attempt to create a catalogue of World Wide Web (WWW) resources. A flurry of other transitional technologies came about, lasting an Internet heartbeat: Archie, Veronica, Jughead. It was 1994 when the Internet welcomed its first successful full-text search engine: WebCrawler.
WebCrawler is the beginning of modern-day web search technology. It was a pivotal moment that has shaped the future generations of Search in general. Until then, a select clique of experts would access online services such as DIALOG or LEXIS-NEXIS.
Neither WebCrawler, nor other search engines that followed, took advantage of the stable and robust technologies used by the services as mentioned earlier and the extensive subject classification taxonomies which had evolved in over a century.
Web search engines had the vocation to serve the casual searcher, unfamiliar with the sophisticated rules and features such as Boolean or Regular Expressions. That vocation to serve the casual server has evolved into the objective to understand people who use their “natural” language to find data, information, goods and services.
The search engines have moved from a simple full-text search to understanding Natural Language. This is a radical shift in technology with a direct impact on SEO procedures and methods.
In 26 years, search technology has delivered progress at exponential growth rates. SEO was much easier back then.
It would be silly for us to understand, or even worse, attempt to emulate in any way these technologies and know-how which are driven by thousands of PHDs worldwide. However, we can understand the process and extrapolate some order-of-magnitude considerations.
Computers don’t understand Language.
Computers understand numbers. An average computer can crunch more numbers in a minute that an army of people in a lifetime, however, they don’t understand Languages. Yet modern search engines not only understand Languages but also extract useful information based on the needs expressed by the user through a query.
Languages are systems of communication.
Language plays an essential role in our lives. People have conventional ways and attribute traditional meanings to words related to their culture. Languages are a complex system of rules (structure and grammar). There are many dimensions in a language. For example, languages are characterised by:
- Domain-specificity: a shared understanding of words. Terminology and attributes of particular terms which are part of a culture or a profession.
- Context-dependence: everything we say or write depends on the context of the discussion, the document or book we are reading.
The Web is a messy place.
The web is the living image of ourselves and our lives: it’s chaotic. I would guess more than 90% of the content online lacks structure. Web pages are written in sub-standard HTML and often in poor Language, with many domain-specific and contextual words and phrases. Computer science can make sense of our content with Natural Language Processing (NLP). NLP is the technology used to “teach” computers a Language. But first we need to feed computers with words.
Feeding words to a computer
Our first step in this fascinating journey is feeding words to a computer.
Let’s consider a typical web page. First of all, a search engine or user must download and save the page. For those interested in the process of downloading content from the web, there is an excellent tutorial by Steve Pitchford on how to download a website with python.
Once downloaded, we need to “clean” things up. Just to give you an idea, here is a short-list of activities required to split a document into finite “bits” a computer can understand:
- Extract content from the markup language where it is embedded. In the previous paragraph, we mentioned downloading a Web Page. We must extract the content from the supporting HTML markup needed to position content (including images, video, and other elements).
- Remove all punctuation and symbols which are unnecessary, such as emoticons and other irrelevant elements.
- Remove “stop words”. Stop words are: the, in, at, that, which, and, on, or and the like. They are words which do not contribute to providing the meaning of the text.
- Create a vocabulary of terms which are present on our document. A vocabulary is not a simple inventory of words, but an extract of all the words present after performing Stemming and Lemmatization. Stemming is the process of combining words with similar meaning. Lemmatization, in linguistics, is the process of grouping the different forms of a word so they can be treated as a single term.
As you can imagine, Natural Language Processing is articulated, complex and comes with a lot of data scrubbing. You cannot process dirty data. Remember, the Web is a messy place.
It is well beyond the scope of this article to delve into the details of the programming and technology. You don’t need to know how it was developed, but understand how to use it 
So let’s let’s do it! Consider the following three phrases:
- Majestic is a link intelligence platform
- Find backlinks to your website with Majestic
- Sante is a Majestic Brand Ambassador
Let’s see how the three sentences become numbers and how the transformation occurs.
Start with the vocabulary
We must create our vocabulary, consisting of all the words used in the phrases. Our vocabulary is:
{‘ambassador’, ‘backlinks’, ‘brand’, ‘find’, ‘intelligence’, ‘link’, ‘majestic’, ‘platform’, ‘sante’, ‘website’}
For the sake of simplicity and clarity, this is our vocabulary. We have removed typical stop words. Our vocabulary consists of ten words.
Pay attention now, because this is where the magic happens.
Let’s organize the three sentences on separate rows and the words of our vocabulary in columns like so:
You can do this with any piece of content do it right now.
- Choose a set of phrases
- Remove stop words
- Draw a table and place a 1 in correspondence of a word in the phrase and 0 elsewhere
- repeat the process for each phrase.
Let’s take a closer look at this table of zeros and 1s: it’s a Matrix!
We have a Vector Space Model of our content:
Our words have become numbers
Now, we can apply linear algebra to the matrix. We can compare sentences which are now Vectors. We can perform numerous analyses. For example, we can determine the similarity of phrases in our document. We can also run keyword counts, sentiment analysis and much much more.
As Search Marketers, we need not to know all the science, but understand the principles and master the means to perform the analysis.
Conclusions
In this article, I illustrated how words become numbers – the very first step every search engine takes in the process to understand web pages. If you have done the previous exercise, look at the phrases and then look at the table of numbers. There is nothing we can relate to as humans. This consideration changed the way I see content, how I compile editorial guidelines and how I perform on-page optimisation.
The complexity of this task becomes even more evident if you have even minimal coding skills. Writing elementary algorithms in python or a computer language of your choice, reveals how much effort is required to “talk” to a computer and have it perform tasks on our behalf.
Ultimately this process has taught me to pay attention to even the smallest details in writing copy. At times even small, apparently insignificant, changes can have a significant impact on organic performance. What may seem like a small change to us is a variation in the position of those 1s and 0s in the matrix, making it something completely different. There is nobody on the other end (in the computer) who is going to interpret and correct any misinterpretations.
And finally, remember the technology is not perfect and it’s evolving: we know how it should work, but the results aren’t always what we expect and would like.
Search Marketing Specialist at Achille. Sante J. Achille
Sante Lives and works in Italy out of L’Aquila, a small medieval town close to Rome.
He has an engineering degree, has worked for major aerospace organizations including the European Space Agency (Noordwijk – Netherlands), and has been working on the web since the very beginning of the commercial World Wide Web in 1994.
With 25 years of hands on experience, Sante has reviewed and optimized hundreds of websites and successfully cooperated with small local companies and large multi-national corporations, offering a wide spectrum of expertise essential to the success of a project.
Sante is a seasoned bi-lingual SEO & web marketing consultant offering services in organic placement, paid search, and content creation, in both English and Italian.
Sante regularly attends and speaks at search marketing conferences and teaches, and offers SEO related courses. Sante is the Majestic Brand Ambassador to Italy.
More information on Sante:
Twitter: @sjachille
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjachille/
He has an engineering degree, has worked for major aerospace organizations including the European Space Agency (Noordwijk – Netherlands), and has been working on the web since the very beginning of the commercial World Wide Web in 1994.
With 25 years of hands on experience, Sante has reviewed and optimized hundreds of websites and successfully cooperated with small local companies and large multi-national corporations, offering a wide spectrum of expertise essential to the success of a project.
Sante is a seasoned bi-lingual SEO & web marketing consultant offering services in organic placement, paid search, and content creation, in both English and Italian.
Sante regularly attends and speaks at search marketing conferences and teaches, and offers SEO related courses. Sante is the Majestic Brand Ambassador to Italy.
More information on Sante:
Twitter: @sjachille
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjachille/
My Worth
I happened upon this article and started thinking…
The 10 most in-demand tech jobs for 2020 — and how to hire for them
From security pros to developers to analysts, the battle for the best IT talent wages. Here’s what to look for (and what to offer) when hiring for the 10 most in-demand jobs for 2021.
From: https://www.cio.com/article/3235944/hiring-the-most-in-demand-tech-jobs-for-2018.html
“As companies scramble to adapt to a tight IT job market, they’re doing whatever they can to attract top tech talent. For some that means getting a head start in filling this year’s most in-demand roles, which range from data-focused to security-related positions, according to Robert Half Technology’s 2021 IT salary report. The survey also reveals the average salaries for each role based on experience.
While Robert Half Technology acknowledges a lot will impact a company’s starting salary, including competition, location, corporate culture, and budgets, there are certain things you can look for to make sure you land the talent you want. Here are 10 jobs expected to be in demand for 2021, the skills and experience you should look for and the average salary you’ll want to pay to stay competitive.
The 10 most in-demand tech jobs for 2021
- 25th percentile: entry-level workers or those in industries with less competition
- 50th percentile: “average experience,” a job with “average complexity,” or work in industry with moderate competition
- 75th percentile: above average experience, strong skills, certifications, a more complex role or work in a “fairly competitive” industry
- 95th percentile: significant experience, certifications, specializations, high level of expertise, work in a strategic and highly complex role or in a highly competitive industry for talent
Security professional (data, information, network, systems, cloud)
Data, information, systems, network, and cloud security professionals are in demand as businesses increasingly rely on data for everyday business operations. These IT professionals ensure that enterprise IT initiatives remain safe from potential threats inside and outside the organization. They’re also tasked with keeping on top of industry compliance regulations and future security trends, and ensuring the business’s hardware, software, and networks remain secure.
Skills and experience to look for:
- Ability to communicate and implement security policies and procedures
- Managing security audits, threats, and vulnerabilities
- Experience with security systems and documenting failures and other incidents
- Knowledge of compliance laws and regulations for the industry
Cloud architect
Cloud architects oversee the company’s cloud computing strategy and are responsible for deploying, managing, and supporting cloud applications. Cloud architects typically have a strong understanding of multiple operating systems in addition to networking, programming, and security skills. Businesses should look for individuals with a strong knowledge of cloud services such as Amazon Web Services, as well as experience with ITSM, I&O, governance, automation, and vendor management.
Skills and experience to look for:
- Knowledge of state-of-the-art cloud technologies and architectural principles
- Experience with scaling cloud applications
- Understanding of cost, performance, and architecture of cloud systems
- Collaboration and communication skills
Database administrator
A database administrator (DBA) is responsible for maintaining the software used to manage a database and ensuring the data is easily accessible to those who need it. DBAs ensure that servers remain efficient and operational while overseeing data security, implementation, replication, backup, storage, access, and partitions. You’ll want to hire someone who can not only monitor your servers, but who will also be able to optimize performance and who can be on call in case of emergency.
RECOMMENDED WHITEPAPERS
-
How to Ready Your Business for a Fundamental Shift in B2B Sales Processes
-
Document Scanning Helps Speed Digital Transformation for Higher Education
Skills and experience to look for:
- Bachelor’s degree in CS or an associate’s degree in database administration
- Background in IT work or database administration
- Oracle, Linux, and SQL skills
- Data analysis and management and reporting skills
Programmer analyst
A programmer analyst is responsible for designing, coding, and testing new programs along with providing detailed documentation of the process using flowcharts and diagrams. These IT pros are tasked with designing programs based on client requirements and determining how much it will cost to build, while working closely with project managers. Programmer analysts also handle debugging and troubleshooting information systems and application programs. You’ll want to look for someone with experience as a systems analyst and computer programmer because the role of programmer analyst is a combination of the two.
- Bachelor’s degree in CS, IT, or relevant field
- Experience in programming
- Knowledge of programming languages such as Java, Java Script, C, C++, and .NET
- Communication and interpersonal skills to work with departments and vendors
Systems analyst
Systems analysts design techniques to help solve business problems by analyzing IT systems in the organization. They’re responsible for investigating issues and problems and fixing them as efficiently and in a cost-effective manner. Systems analysts need to test programs and databases to make sure they’re working efficiently, and they also need to run security audits and create and maintain documentation on systems in the organization. You’ll want to look for candidates who can think creatively and who have strong communication and problem-solving skills.
- Bachelor’s degree in CS, IT, engineering, or IS
- Analytical and problem-solving skills
- Data analysis and programming skills
- Experience with business and technical analysis as well as project management
Mobile applications developer
Developing mobile applications requires extensive knowledge of the various mobile platforms currently available and how to develop applications that will work on Android, iOS, Windows, and other operating systems. Mobile applications developers typically have experience in programming, UX design, troubleshooting and debugging programs, and development. You’ll want a candidate who can design mobile applications with a user-friendly interface and who can collaborate across departments to design, test, release, and support mobile applications.
- Bachelor’s degree in CS or relevant field
- Some experience in mobile development
- Analytical and problem-solving skills
- Knowledge of iOS, Android, Objective C, HTML, XML, JavaScript
Network administrator
Network administrators are responsible for handling LAN/WAN protocol, software, and hardware. This position involves a lot of time spent troubleshooting, and network administrators typically need to be on call in case of an emergency or failure. What you look for in experience will depend on how extensive your network needs are, but there are certain skills and certifications that can help you find the most qualified workers.
Skills and experience to look for:
- Troubleshooting and communication skills
- Analytic and diagnostic skills
- A willingness to be on call after hours
- Professional certifications
Software developer
Software developers are responsible for designing, developing, installing, testing, and maintaining software systems. The job requires coding, designing, and building applications, websites, or mobile apps, working with multiple programming languages such as C#, C++, HTML, Java, Microsoft .NET, and SQL Server. Developers need to be able to understand client requirements and be able to provide recommendations for improving web, software, and mobile applications to ensure they meet user needs.
Skills and experience to look for:
- Knowledge of multiple programming languages
- Analytical and technical skills
- Strong communication skills
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science
- Two-year associate degree with certifications, bootcamps, and prior work experience
DevOps engineer
DevOps practices encourage faster code deployment with fewer deployment failures, so more companies are hiring engineers with DevOps experience to oversee coding, scripting, and processes development. DevOps engineers often manage IT infrastructure, provision resources, oversee software testing, and monitor performance after release. These workers help simplify code updates, enabling companies to continuously tweak and improve processes in the organization for maximum efficiency.
Skills and experience to look for:
- Coding and scripting skills
- Automation, data management, and IT operations skills
- Deep understanding of DevOps best practices
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
Help desk and desktop support professionals
For customer-facing businesses, the help desk is an important part of running an efficient business. As the first line of defense for customer service and troubleshooting, help desk workers need to have the right technical and soft skills for the job. Robert Half Technology breaks out the role of help desk technician into three tiers, given that the job description and requirements can vary significantly based on the business.
Skills and experience to look for:
- Tier 1: for entry-level positions that require less than two years of experience, an associate degree, or coursework at a technical school
- Tier 2: for positions requiring two to four years of experience, a two-year or bachelor’s degree, and relevant work experience
- Tier 3: four or more years of experience in a help desk setting, bachelor’s degree in a related field, and professional certifications
WordPress Help
After reading the following article, I need all to know that I have done work for these freelance agencies and have decided to just become an independent helper that costs less. My schedule is currently light so if I where you, I would save some money, solve my WordPress issues quickly, and bookmark this website to use again in the future. Use THIS LINK to my contact form and other information instead of the links in the article below (from Themeisle: https://themeisle.com/blog/hire-wordpress-freelancers/).
“Six top platforms to hire WordPress freelancers
There are a lot of platforms where you can hire WordPress freelancers online. However, these six websites excel when it comes to finding talented, professional workers. Let’s review what makes each a standout option.
1. Codeable
Codeable is one of our favorite platforms because it’s all about WordPress. Every freelancer who makes it onto the site is carefully vetted and there are workers available for every type of WordPress job. That includes web design, plugin and custom theme development, and much more.
Pros:
- Only the best WordPress freelancers are accepted.
- The focus is entirely on WordPress, so finding experienced freelancers is simple.
Cons:
- The platform sets its base rate at $70 per hour, so you need deep pockets if you have a lengthy project in mind.
Overall, Codeable is an excellent choice if you’re looking to hire top talent at professional rates. If you just need to make a few tweaks to your site, however, you can probably find what you need elsewhere at lower prices.
2. Toptal
Toptal is a platform that prides itself on hiring only the very best. In fact, it proudly proclaims that it only accepts 3% of freelance applicants. Unlike Codeable, this platform isn’t exclusive to WordPress. But it does offer tons of freelancers that can help you with just about anything you need.
Pros:
- Like Codeable, each freelancer is carefully vetted before being allowed into Toptal.
- The platform displays a lot of information about each freelancer’s talents, so you know exactly who you’re hiring.
Cons:
- Just like our previous pick, Toptal prices start at $60 per hour, which can be a stretch for many smaller sites’ budgets.
This is another platform where you’ll need to make a decent investment if you want to hire someone. However, if you need the very best talent you can find, you’ll almost certainly find what you’re looking for.
3. WPMU DEV
WPMU DEV isn’t merely a job platform site. But in addition to its collection of premium plugins and themes, useful WordPress tools, WPMU DEV also features its own jobs board.
Pros:
- You get access to an extensive collection of WordPress enthusiasts.
- It’s more laid back than other job platforms.
Cons:
- You need to arrange payments directly with your freelancers.
- You need to be a member to post a job, though you can get a 30-day free trial.
WPMU DEV is a great place to find professionals for small to medium-sized projects. It’s particularly attractive if you don’t like dealing with intermediary platforms, such as our previous two options.
4. Upwork
Upwork is one of the largest freelance platforms available online. The quality of its talent varies, but its sheer size means you can find some fantastic WordPress freelancers if you don’t mind looking around.
Pros:
- The platform provides access to a gigantic pool of freelancers.
- It’s often cheaper than similar sites.
Cons:
- There are a lot of subpar freelancers to wade through since the platform doesn’t vet every new applicant.
Upwork can be a useful platform if you have a modest budget and the patience to spend time searching for the right candidate. Overall, it’s a decent option for projects of all types, not just WordPress. Just be aware that you often get what you pay for, so don’t necessarily jump for the lowest bid.
Note; we actually used Upwork to get these awesome WordPress comics made.
5. WPRiders
Unlike the previous platforms, WPRiders doesn’t enable you to look for specific freelancers. Instead, it’s an agency that specializes in providing custom WordPress services such as development, design, updates, or website speed optimization.
The agency has a 14-year experience in working with WordPress, during which it made more than 1000 clients happy.
Pros:
- You have the opportunity to work with a team of experts who know WordPress inside out.
- You can easily establish a long-term professional relationship for future WordPress projects.
Cons:
- This site is not multi-purpose like Upwork or Toptal (you can’t submit jobs or look for freelancers). You can just hire the agency if their services and skills match your WordPress needs.
If solid WordPress background and high reliability are the aspects that you think are the most important when working with freelancers, WPRiders will deliver. If the quality meets your standards, an agency is also a good place to return to.
6. WPHired
Similarly to WPRiders, WPHired doesn’t come with a database where you can look for specific freelancers. Instead, it’s a jobs board where you can submit listings for full and part-time positions, regarding both in-person and remote work.
Pros:
- It’s easier to find freelancers for long-term work arrangements.
- Posting a job is free, although there are premium packages available that offer more exposure.
Cons:
- You don’t get as many applicants as on other platforms, and most users are looking for full-time positions.
If you want an ongoing work relationship with your freelancer, WPHired is the place for you. A lot of its job listings are for on-site work, so remote offers in particular get tons of attention.
Conclusion
Finding the perfect WordPress freelancers doesn’t have to be hard. You just need to know what to look for and where to search for the best candidates. For instance, if you want some help with usability, then Toptal will be a good place to start. Every freelance platform is different and knowing the pros and cons of each can help you conduct your search more efficiently.
Here are six of our favorite platforms where you can hire WordPress freelancers:
- Codeable: This is a premium platform offering top freelancers.
- Toptal: On this site, you can be sure that each freelancer has been carefully vetted.
- WPMU DEV: This jobs board enables you to connect with WordPress pros directly.
- Upwork: You can find lots of WordPress freelancers here if you have the time to vet them carefully.
- WPRiders: You can work with a team of WordPress experts for site tweaks and maintenance.
- WPHired: Check out this jobs board if you’re looking to establish long-term work relationships.”
or 7. Curt D. Long: Instead of headaches and high costs, get everything you need or want with me.
40 CMS Vendors from Gartner Market Guide
Traditional CMS tools typically require the use of specific frameworks and languages, whereas headless CMS tools let developers use whichever framework they are comfortable with. … A headless CMS is flexible and future-proof, allowing it to power other platforms even if they are not in your current product roadmap.
| Vendor | Product name | Category |
|---|---|---|
|
Drupal Cloud
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Adobe Experience Manager
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Dynamic Content
|
Headless CMS
|
|
|
WordPress VIP
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Bloomreach Experience Manager (brXM)
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Brightspot CMS
|
Traditional
|
|
|
ButterCMS
|
Headless CMS
|
|
|
Contentful
|
Headless CMS
|
|
|
Contentstack
|
Headless CMS
|
|
|
CoreMedia Content Cloud
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Crafter CMS
|
Headless CMS
|
|
|
Crownpeak DXM
|
Traditional
|
|
|
DatoCMS
|
Headless CMS
|
|
|
Evoq Content
|
Traditional
|
|
|
dotCMS
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Content Studio
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Episerver Content Cloud
|
Traditional
|
|
|
FirstSpirit
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Cascade CMS
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Hubspot CMS
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Ibexa (formerly eZ Systems)
|
eZ Platform
|
Traditional
|
|
Ingeniux CMS Experience Platform
|
Traditional
|
|
|
jContent
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Kentico Kontent
|
Headless CMS
|
|
|
Magnolia
|
Traditional
|
|
|
OU Campus
|
Traditional
|
|
|
OpenText TeamSite
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Oracle Content and Experience Cloud
|
Headless CMS
|
|
|
Pimcore Open Source WCM
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Sitefinity CMS
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Salesforce CMS
|
Traditional
|
|
|
SDL Tridion Sites
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Experience Manager
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Squiz Matrix
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Strapi
|
Headless CMS
|
|
|
Digital Engagement and Web Development Platform
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Arc Publishing
|
Headless CMS
|
|
|
Umbraco CMS
|
Traditional
|
|
|
WP Engine
|
Traditional
|
|
|
Zesty.io
|
Headless CMS
|
Market Recommendations
Application leaders transforming WCM should:-
Mitigate the difficulty of selecting vendors by including selection criteria that are more extensive than solely for the web channel.
-
Replace their legacy project- and program-based approaches to WCM by adopting a blended approach of traditional and new methods aligned to the business strategy.
-
Plan to include interactive evaluation techniques, such as demonstrations and proofs of concept, in the evaluation of WCM technology to mitigate the difficulty of selecting vendors purely based on functionality checklists.
-
Recalibrate their strategies for deploying and managing content by using the “2020 Strategic Roadmap for Web Content Management” framework.
-
Check customer references and speak to them about “softer” selection criteria such as cultural fit, ease of working with vendor, geographical coverage, partner network and availability of experts
-
Evaluate the extent to which WCM requirements can be provided by other types of technologies they may already have in place.
-
Define their long-term digital experience strategy and how a WCM (or DXP) would fit into their current and planned technology portfolio, as well as what adjacent technologies they will need to integrate with.
-
Utilize the WCM technology selection best practices as highlighted in “How to Shortlist WCM Vendors for Your Digital Business Strategy.”
Note: Representative Vendor Selection
The vendors named in this guide were selected as representative vendors. We list the vendors in which Gartner has received the most client interest (searches on Gartner.com and inquiry).
Evidence
The 2019 Gartner Strategy Survey covered 342 respondents from six countries and eight industry groups, with enterprises ranging in size from $250 million in revenue to over $10 billion. Qualified respondents were senior executives who are involved in making decisions on business strategy, including both CIOs and non-IT roles. The primary research was conducted online from July through August 2019. The study was developed collaboratively by Gartner analysts and the Research Data and Analytics team.
Blog Software For All Your Blogging Needs
Today anyone who has writing ability or is dreaming to be a writer has written a blog in the net. There are blog soft wares that are simple and easy to use and a technically inclined and challenged individuals can easily acquire a blog online.
For some individuals, blogs are their projects of every day living, as they talk about their daily episodes as well as make tribute to friends and family. Furthermore, blogs assume a profound meaning written to compose and assemble political statements, endorse a product, supply information on research, and even offer tutorials. Any subject that are of your interests, you can be sure that someone has written a blog about it.
Blogs are now being written by musicians, politicians, sports figures, novelists, newscasters as well as other known figures. It is this blog fever that has raised controversy. The fact that anyone can compose and regarding any subject matter under the sun, complaints about certain write-ups are an issue. In a lot of blogs, names are being mentioned; do bear in mind that although you are entitled to write anything that interests you in a blog, you have to be very careful and take in a lot of responsibility. Do not make any statements which can become controversial; or else, be very prepared.
Why a Blog?
1. For personal acquaintances, relationships and hobby. A person can write a blog about his daily activities, whats going on with his life as his way of telling his family and friends the things that goes on in his life. Likewise, one may also write a blog just so he can express what he feels about himself, or about a certain subject matter that is of interest to him.
2. Topical. Some blogs are committed to a precise topic, like computer hardware or politics. These are frequently read like magazines.
3. For marketing. Corporations are too, into blogging; when well written and implemented, this kind of blog can be a powerful instrument for business communications, forming eagerness and anticipation regarding their products and services offered, or used as tool within the company, keeping employees well informed about company issues and news.
Why someone else’s software?
A lot of Web designer and creators will laugh at the belief and idea of utilizing the software of someone else. This is can be correct especially when each software greatly differs from the particular requirements that a client may have. Yet on the other hand, when it refers to a Weblog software, there is no reason for apprehension in the use of a package that is pre-written, as most packages were developed through years of study; not just knocked together over a couple of days.
In addition, one may study its feature set. For a developer, it would take a lot of time and effort to write and compose from nothing at all every single feature in the Weblog software packages of today. For most people, a blog is there for the main reason that chooses to publish or make known your literature and texts on the Web, so you want to spend your time more on writing than coding.
Hosted Services
If one wishes to start broadcasting on the Web, yet does not have web hosting, one can consider looking into a hosted service, which includes Blogger, TypePad, Live Journal, and more.
These services are operated or handled for an individual, so there is no need to concern one about technical upkeep of ones Weblog; instead, one can concentrate on his blog’s appearance and content. In just minutes, after signing for an account, one can readily start his own blog. Many such services are offered free, such as blogger. TypePad charges a minimal amount for monthly service fee.
Self-Hosted
When one has Web hosting on hand, or is eager to buy hosting, in which one feesl that the advantage will prevail over the problems of keeping up your own blog connection and installation, then you may want to take into account a package that is self-hosted, which includes Movable Type, Textpattern and WordPress.
Other hosting companies did construct the process of installation easier, permitting installation with just a click from a control panel that is browser-based. It is important that you check with a hosting company so you can view if this function is offered. Similar to hosted services, some self hosted packages are made available either for free or for a certain fee which is dependent on the type of package that you choose as well as the basis why you are using it.
Wahm Blogs
Blogs are here to stay, and many Wahms are taking advantage of the trend. Making money with blogs is a popular choice for many work at home moms. Blogs are simple to set up, and relatively easy to update. This is especially true when you compare blogs to other types of websites. Within just a few minutes, you can set up a professional looking blog for free and start your Wahm blogging business.
A blog is an easy to update website that looks sort of like a journal. Entries are made at a minimum of each week, and the newest entries appear at the top. Entries are normally short articles of 200 to 500 words. Readers visit the blog or read the new blog entries through a blog reading program. Readers can also comment on entries and provide links between their own blogs and your blog.
With blogs, the opportunities are wide open. Choosing a blog topic is as easy as looking at your own life for inspiration. There are blogs about everything from celebrity news to bathroom cleaning tips. Before you start a blog, do some research on the Internet to see if people are interested in your possible blog topic. Your topic doesn’t have to be popular, but it does have to have a dedicated group of people who are interested in the topic.
When you pick a topic, make sure to stay within a fairly small niche. The term niche is used to describe a group of people who have a similar interest. There are big niches like working at home and small niches like tips for training your cat to sit on the toilet. Try to find a happy medium between a popular topic and a niche interest so your blog has plenty of readers. Some topics, like working at home or parenting, are too broad and have too much competition for readers.
You can set up your blog through a free blogging platform, like www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com. There are also a half dozen others to choose from. The blogging platform will walk you through making your first entry into your blog.
After you’ve made a few entries into your blog, its time to monetize your blog. This means you’ll be making specific changes to your blog in order to make money. One of the most popular ways to gain income from a blog is by using a contextual advertising program, like Google Adsense or Chitika. Contextual advertising pays you for each time a reader clicks on one of the advertising links on your page. The advertising program will scan your blog entries for keywords, and then place advertising on your page that relates to your page content.
For example, if you have a blog on children’s television and write an article about Sesame Street, the ads appearing next to that article will have to do with that program. They might be links to shopping for Sesame Street items, or an ad for vintage Sesame Street collectables selling on Ebay.
One thing to note with contextual advertising is that you won’t have to worry about placing the ads yourself each day. Once you enter the code on your blog, the program will automatically refresh the advertising when you make a new post. You will be paid several cents for each click. It doesn’t seem like a lot per click, but it sure does add up quickly.
Contextual advertising is just one way to make money from your Wahm blog. You can also make product recommendations and suggest information products (e-books) to your readers. Each time someone buys a product you recommend, you will get a commission. Many bloggers find that making gentle product recommendations throughout their blogs are a way to garner extra income.
Rss To Blog Pro – A 6-Month Review
Background
Search engines are particularly interested in websites with constantly updated, relevant content. Websites that appear static without a supply of fresh content may be viewed as dormant and in their drive to provide the latest, most relevant search results to users, search engines may rank such a website lower than a website that is updated regularly.
What Is It?
RSS to Blog Pro is a fully automated blog posting tool offering self-updating websites. It’s a PHP script that is installed on a single web hosting account. From this centralised installation, multiple blogs can be maintained with fresh content from various sources. Also available is an earlier, non-pro version, which has the same basic functionality, but requires a separate install for each blog it maintains.
What Problem Does It Solve?
Adding fresh – and importantly, relevant – content to websites can be a resource consuming task. Either you spend time finding and creating new content or you pay someone to do it for you. Without fresh content, your websites can appear stagnant and drop off the search engines radar. This impacts your website rankings in search results and ultimately has a detrimental effect on any free traffic coming from the search engines. If your websites rely on search engine traffic then this can mean their downfall.
What Are The Benefits?
RSS to Blog Pro tackles the problem of needing to regularly update website content by automating the whole process from finding relevant content based upon keywords that you provide through to posting content to your website blog. In the eyes of search engines, updating a website with irrelevant content isn’t nearly as good as having relevant content. The tighter your niche, the better chances you have of ranking higher as you’ll be competing with a smaller number of websites. Using a scattergun approach to website content can mean you end up competing with websites across a large number of niches.
If you’re building content websites with the aim of earning an AdSense income then you’ll know that the ads shown are dependant upon the surrounding content on your webpages. Irrelevant content results in ads that are irrelevant to your website visitors, which means they’ll have no interest in clicking on them and your generated income will be poor.
Features
* Supports multiple blog types including WordPress, Blogger Blogs, Movable Type, Type Pad, Live Journal and MSN Spaces.
* Keywords and RSS feeds can be specified for automatic content generation or you can supply your own content.
* Posting to your blogs can be scheduled at random intervals e.g. once or twice a day so that posting appears natural.
* There are no ‘footprints’ to identify the content as being automatically generated.
* Log records are kept so you can see exactly what has been posted and to where.
* Built-in ping functionality for blog and ping.
* A single installation will post to an unlimited number of blogs.
* Regular updates.
* User support forum.
* Two tier affiliate programme offering 40% commission to the top level and 10% for any sales from affiliates you recruit.
My Experience With RSS to Blog Pro
Since August 2005, I’ve been using RSS to Blog Pro on an increasing number of blogs in various niches. I’m pleased to be able to say that my income from AdSense has increased month upon month since then. With the software installed on my virtual private server (VPS), I currently manage around 50 blogs, posting relevant new content every day or two. I’d recommend that you don’t install RSS to Blog Pro onto a shared server because if you’re updating a large number of websites or you’re running the script frequently (every couple of minutes) then your host is likely to take a dim view on it. Considering how inexpensive and how much more reliable a VPS is to operate there just isn’t any reasonable justification for risking a shared server. A VPS is like having your own server, completely isolated from any other peoples websites so you can’t affect them and they can’t affect you. There is the exception of disk IO, but that isn’t something that should be of any real concern.
The issue of relevancy is really what makes the difference between an effective auto content generation tool and one that will never do anything for your bottom line. I can’t stress it enough; without relevant content, search engines won’t be able to categorise your niche and won’t be able to rank you fairly amongst your peers. That means you won’t do well in searches in your subject area. It also could mean your website will serve ads for tennis equipment when your niche is dog care. Visitors looking for information about dog care are highly unlikely to be interested in tennis equipment when they come to your website because it’s not something which is relevant to their needs at that time.
There’s no doubt that this helps to keep those websites looking fresh and my website stats show a constant stream of visits to my blog pages each month. And of course, lots of targetted visitors and lots of targetted content means a lot of clicks on targetted ads!
Support-wise, Michelle (creator of RSS to Blog Pro) has answered my email queries promptly and there’s an active user forum for peer support. Michelle also visits the forum to provide assistance although some queries can take a couple of days for a response, however the user base, support forum and software is mature enough to be able to cope with almost every common question a new user might have.
Fortunately, the software is easy to install and set-up so you can expect to be running within an hour or two.
One feature that I haven’t used is the ability to ping blog directories from within RSS to Blog Pro. The reason for this is that if I pinged these websites for every post made to each of my blogs then I’d actually end up pinging up to 50 times a day from the same domain (the domain on which RSS to Blog Pro is installed). Rather than risk being blacklisted for pinging too much and hogging the resources of the directories, I use the ping facility from with my WordPress blog software instead so that the individual pings come from the individual domains. Again, this will appear to be a lot more natural and it also helps RSS to Blog Pro to work more efficiently by decoupling some of the work away from it.
Conclusion
After 6 months of constant usage, I’m pretty happy with RSS to Blog Pro’s performance. and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is wanting to have self-updating websites that attract targetted traffic. Care needs to be taken when selecting a host for the script, but once installed, operation of the script is simple and reliable. An excellent script in the toolbox of AdSense earners and affiliate marketers alike.
Blogging with WordPress
WordPress is one of the many options available to bloggers who are looking for free software online which makes it incredibly easy to publish their own blog. This software is easy to use, provides a variety of templates and offer excellent support to bloggers. There are many options available to bloggers and other blogging programs may be better known and offer slightly different features but many bloggers are quite pleased with WordPress. This article will offer some useful information for bloggers who are considering starting a blog with WordPress such as reasons to choose WordPress, tips on starting a blog and information about the support offered by WordPress. Based on this information as well as their own research bloggers can decide whether WordPress is right for them or whether they should seek out a different blog network.
Reasons to Choose WordPress
There are many great reasons to choose WordPress to start a blog. Some of these reasons include a great variety of templates, the ability to categorize and tag posts easily, features such as spell check, previews and autosave, the ability to post text, audio files and video files, a variety of privacy options and the ability to track statistical data related to the blog in addition to other great features. Some of these features may be more important to some bloggers than others so deciding whether or not WordPress is right for you will largely be a matter of personal preference. For example bloggers with little or no programming experience may enjoy the myriad of templates available on WordPress while bloggers who are concerned about privacy issues may be more interested in the privacy options available through WordPress. Carefully investigating these features will help bloggers determine if they should start a blog with WordPress.
Starting a Blog with WordPress
Bloggers who opt to start a blog with WordPress will certainly not be disappointed by the amount of time it takes to start a blog. A blogger can literally start a blog with WordPress within minutes. This is tremendously important to bloggers who are eager to get started and do not want to deal with a long process to start a blog. The only requirements for starting a blog are a valid email address and a username. The blogger enters this information into the signup page and receives a password almost instantly. Next the blogger simply has to check his email, follow the activation link provided and use the password provided and the process is complete. The blogger can start blogging immediately.
Support Offered by WordPress
For many first time bloggers the type of support offered is very important. This is because first time bloggers may have quite a few questions about the process of starting a basic blog and once they establish a basic blog they may have additional questions about using advanced features and customizing the blog. WordPress offers a great deal of support for bloggers of all skill levels. The support offered by WordPress includes the ability to contact the support staff as well as the ability to receive support from other members through online forums. Although the support staff is incredibly responsive some bloggers enjoy the ability to communicate with other bloggers in forums. This is because the forums are active 24 hours a day and bloggers can find support from peers at any time.
PPPPP
Word count 562
The Right Blogging Platform For Your Needs
Choosing which blogging platform to use is one of the
most important decisions that you can make as a
blogger. The right platform can make blogging a
breeze, and the wrong platform can make blogging a
chore. Because the program that you use to blog with is
such a powerful part of your blogging experience, it is
well worth putting in the time to find a platform that
provides your ideal balance between a user-friendly
interface and a flexible framework that allows you to
make your blog look and feel unique. Finding the right
platform isn’t always easy, but with a little bit of
contemplation and a little bit of research, you will be on
your way to finding the perfect blogging platform.
Deciding what your priorities are in terms of ease of use
versus customization. Most highly customizable
blogging platforms, like moveable type, are a bit more
difficult to use than very automated platforms like
wordpress. If you are new to blogs and to internet
technology, you might want to sacrifice the ability to
create a custom background design or to integrate a
unique font into your template in order to find a
program that will be easy for you to use. On the other
hand, if you are a veteran web designer with knowledge
of html or javascript, you will probably find the
limitations of a user-friendly platform to be frustrating.
There is no such thing as a blogging platform that is
objectively the best platform, because every blogger has
unique needs. The blogging movement is very much
about individuality, so it makes plenty of sense that
there would be many different platforms available that
are designed to meet the needs of different kinds of
individuals undertaking different kinds of projects. This
diversity is a good thing, because it means that you will
almost certainly be able to find a program that suits
your level of technical aptitude.
However, the fact that no two bloggers need the same
thing from a blogging platform can make your search
for the right platform a bit tricky. When you are reading
reviews of different platforms, try to keep your
priorities in mind and do your best to take into account
the position that the reviewer is coming from. For
example, a negative review written by an accomplished
software designer who complains that a popular
platform is too limited may tell you that the platform in
question is ideal for a beginning blogger. There is no
such thing as the perfect platform for everybody, so
instead of looking for the “best” platform, look for the
best platform for your specific criteria.
(Word count 446)
PPPPP
7 Excellent Ways to Get New Customers
Building a healthy client list can seem like an overwhelming task. Try these 7 steps to help get more clients for your business.
I thought this was well written and correct.
As a business owner, you’re no doubt keenly aware that your client base is the lifeblood of your company. A steady stream of new customers allows you to grow your business and fulfill your company vision.
Former OPEN Forum community member Farzana Irani realizes the importance of a strong client base for all small businesses, including virtual ones, which is why the Web consultant with iAdControl.com/Fuzzworks UK recently asked the community: “what is your best approach in creating a client base for your online business?”
It turns out that a seven-step approach works best for attracting new clients.
1. Identify Your Ideal Client
It’s easier to look for customers if you know the type of consumers you seek. Without a composite of your ideal customer, you probably wouldn’t know where to start looking.
“Have a crystal clear picture in your head of exactly who you’re targeting,” says former OPEN Forum community member Nicole Beckett, president of Premier Content Source. “Think about what makes those types of people happy, sad, scared, relieved, and then think about how you can make their lives a little easier.”
Narrow down the focus of your ideal client and avoid making broad target market statements, such as every woman, every man or all baby boomers. Few products appeal to that vast of a group of people, and overstating your market will prevent you from developing viable targeted strategies for attracting clients.
2. Discover Where Your Customer Lives
With your targeted customers in mind, “identify those places where they are likely to be found (media, online, offline, mail, etc.), and then create messages for them,” says Jeff Motter, CEO and chief marketing officer of East Bay Marketing Group.
Where you look for customers will depend on the nature of your business. Some good online locations include forums and social media pages, including your own and those of similar or complementary businesses. Offline, you can meet plenty of potential customers at conferences and conventions in your industry.
3. Know Your Business Inside and Out
Thoroughly understanding your industry and having a firm knowledge of your product or service is critical to being able to attract interested clients. When you know your product backward and forward, that fact comes through. The people who would be interested in your offerings can see how knowledgeable you are and will seek your assistance.
4. Position Yourself as the Answer
Give potential clients you come into contact with a good reason to try your services, which is your first step to making them loyal customers, suggests Jason Reis owner and lead programmer for Flehx Corp.
“Provide value and establish yourself as having an in-depth understanding of the problems they are looking to solve,” he says. “This takes the form of creating content via webinars, blog posts, guest blogging, and getting out there and physically networking with people. From all this you will start to attract a following, and as long as you have a structured sales funnel setup, you will be able to convert the followers/fans into paying customers.”
5. Try Direct Response Marketing
Your best bet for reaching out and touching customers is to use tactics to encourage them to complete a specific action, such as opt into your email list or request more information.
Create messages directed at your target market, suggests Motter. “Learn to create ads that attract your ideal clients by giving them something of value for free to get them started in your funnel. Learn all you can about direct response marketing practices, because they will teach you to focus on results that matter. Create compelling messages that tell your ideal audience why they’d have to be a fool not to work with you. Show them you understand their pain, and can make it go away faster and cheaper than they could without you.”
6. Build Partnerships
Teaming up with businesses that offer complementary services offers you the opportunity to take advantage of synergy, which can be very effective in building a business. For instance, if you have a company that specializes in SEO, consider teaming up with a business that builds websites.
When all is said and done, nurturing relationships, either with other business owners or customers, helps you create a client base, Beckett suggests. “Focus on building human relationships. The stronger your relationships are, the more likely your customers will be to tell their friends about you. And, the more likely they’ll be to come back.”
7. Follow Up
After your efforts to bring in business, always remember to close the loop, suggests Josh Sprague, CEO of Orange Mud. “Remember to set follow up tasks (follow up to sample sent, etc.), and execute your plan. So many leads and great conversations are wasted because you forget to follow up.” Doing this simple step is sure to get your client base to grow.
Read more articles on marketing.