‎"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me … Going to bed at night saying you've done something wonderful … that's what matters to me." - Wall Street Journal 1993

"You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." - Stanford commencement speech 2005

"That's been one of my mantras: focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains." - Business Week 1998

“Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do” - MACWorld Conference

"My position coming back to Apple was that our industry was in a coma. It reminded me of Detroit in the 70s, when American cars were boats on wheels." - Fortune magazine 2000

"The most compelling reason for most people to buy a computer for the home will be to link it to a nationwide communications network. We're just in the beginning stages of what will be a truly remarkable breakthrough for most people – as remarkable as the telephone." - Playboy 1985

"My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other's kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That's how I see business: great things in business are never done by one person, they're done by a team of people." - Interview with 60 Minutes, 2003

We also would like to share with you one of Steve's greatest speeches, the 2005 Stanford Commencement Address:

The button is currently being rolled out to all English-language searches on Google. Many major media outlets such as Mashable, Bloomberg and Huffington Post have already implemented the +1 button within their articles. If you're a webmaster, you can get the code for this button here. If you're using a CMS such as WordPress, Joomla or Drupal, you should expect plugin upgrades very soon.

After having failed to make any significant impact with Buzz and Wave, will Google finally succeed at being a serious competitor to Facebook & Twitter with this new initiative? Comment below...

1 - Widget Logic

This is a true jewel! This plugin gives every widget an extra control field called "Widget logic" that lets you control the pages/posts that the widget should appear on. The field lets you use WP's Conditional Tags, or any general PHP code. There is also an option to add a wordpress 'widget_content' filter -- this lets you tweak standard widgets to suit your theme without editing plugins and core code. This is an amazing plugin that makes your WordPress sidebar behave the way you want. The downside is that it requires some basic php/programming knowledge, but it is easy to learn.

Download Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/widget-logic/

2 - Register Plus Redux

Do you find the WordPress registration process boring and too basic? Register Plus Redux enables the user registration process to be customized in any way, big or small. Is there another field you want users to fill out when registering? Do you want to change the message your users receive after they register? Do you want users to have to verify their email address is legitimate? Do you want to queue up new users to be approved or denied by an administrator? Register Plus Redux can do all that and more.

Download Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/register-plus-redux/

3 - Theme Test Drive

How often did you want to test out new themes without affecting your current site? Theme Test Drive is here for you! This WordPress plugin allows you to safely test drive any theme on your blog as administrator, while visitors still use the default one. It happens in compete transparency and they will not even notice that you are running a different theme for yourself. Best part is you can even play with the theme options (if your theme has them) once again without affecting the main site.

Download Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/theme-test-drive/

4 - WP Maintenance Mode

If you need to make some serious changes to your WordPress Site, you might want to take the site offline for a few hours, while notifying your users that the website is under maintenance. This Plugins adds a maintenance-page to your blog that lets visitors know your blog is down for maintenance. You can set which users have rights to get full access to the blog including the frontend during that time, or keep it only for administrator. You can use a date with a countdown for informing the visitors on when the site will back online. You can also stylize and customize the look and feel of this maintenance page the way you want.

Download Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-maintenance-mode/

5 - Email Users

Last, but not least, Email Users is a wonderful plugin that lets you instantly email all users of your blog! Once you write your message, you can select which user group to send the message to (contributors, authors, subscribers, admins, or all!). You can also select which users can send personal emails to each other. Power users can email groups of users and even notify a group of users for new posts.

Download Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/email-users/

Advantages of Facebook Ads

• Targeting options. Being able to target profiles by age, location, martial status and interests is a major advantage. This comes in really handy for local ads. For example, if you want to promote a local event in New York City for singles over the age of 40, then Facebook Ads is definitely your best choice!
• Ability to show an image within your Ad. An image is worth a thousand words! Being able to upload a small image with your ad helps to draw attention to your message.
• Facebook Ad descriptions can be up to 135 characters long (while Google only lets you use up to 75 characters). More space for creativity!
• Depending on the niche, Facebook Ads can be much cheaper than Google Ads. This can be explained that Google Ads has been around for much longer and thus has much more companies competing for spots on the 1st page. PPC on Google can go over $50 per click in certain niches.

Advantages of Google Ads (Adwords)

• Facebook has 500 million customers. Google has the world! You obviously get a much wider reach by advertising on Google.
• Google users are more likely to be looking to purchase a product/service. Facebook users are most likely there just to hang out and socialize with their friends, so they are not necessarily in a "Shopping Mood".
• Extensive reporting and monitoring tools available. Over the years Google Adwords has improved by delivering more options, functionalities and stats. It is therefore much easier to monitor and optimize your campaigns on Google Adwords.

As you can see, it is important to know your product and target audience before making a decision on which platform to use. Finally, you should know that both Google and Facebook are offering free ad vouchers (with values ranging from $50 to $100) that can be used when signing up for the first time. This way you'll know which one gives you the best bang for your buck before investing real money in your campaign.

If you would like to know more or if you need help in managing your campaigns, you should know that we offer PPC Services for small, medium and large-scale companies. Our team has experience in managing and optimizing all kinds of budgets for various niche markets.

Unfortunately, a lot of small businesses still don't understand the importance of blogging. Launching a static website is no longer an option in 2010. Every website should be dynamic, and adding a Blog section is the easiest (and best way) to achieve that. You should not even be thinking about SEO or Social Media Marketing if you don't have a blog. Content is King.  Think Content first, then Marketing... Here are 5 reasons why you should have a Blog:

1. Web Presence: Having a Blog Gives You and Your an Business Online Presence, Especially if you can get a URL with all or part of your business name in it.
2. Talk About Your Services: most businesses have a static "Services" page that never changes. This is not the way to go in 2010. With a blog, you can continuously update your audience about new products/services or changes in your existing services or inform them of new promotions/giveaways. Also, you are creating internal backlinks to your services page which is excellent for SEO.
3. Position Yourself as an Expert: A Blog Allows you to position yourself as an expert year while letting customers and prospect customers learn more about you. By Creating helpful or informative posts on topics relating to your specialty, you are showing that you are a professional authority in your field. It's okay to let your personality shine through in your posts, but remember to keep your posts as professional as possible.
4. Helps with your SEO: this was already mentioned before, but it's worth mentioning again! Fresh Content being posted to your blog on a regular basis will skyrocket your SEO efforts. Google simply loves fresh content! To make the most out of it, try to add links to specific sections of your website (using relevant keywords) from your posts. Internal links are just as valuable as external links. This is something that a lot of people ignore.
5. Networking: Blogging provides a wonderful Opportunity for networking with potential clients. If you leave your commenting turned On (and you really should!), you will have the opportunity to "discuss" your posts with perspective clients and peers. If someone leaves a comment on your posts, not only do you Have the chance to answer them, but you can also visit their blog and get to "know" them a little better. Keep this trend going and you'll see a regular community of commenters always coming back to comment on your posts.

If you don't have a website yet but are thinking of launching one soon, we strongly suggest you incorporate a Blog section in it right from the start. WordPress is your best friend when it comes to setting up a blog. It has amazing blogging functionalities and tons of cool plugins to choose from. Check out our Web Development Services Section for website packages that include a WordPress Blog.

Millions of businesses have been investing in online advertising mediums such as Google Ads, Yahoo Search Marketing and other Pay Per Click Channels, but a lot of them are now looking at Social Networks such as Facebook and Twitter for laser-targeted advertising. In fact, one great thing about Facebook is that you can choose to target specific groups or segments of the population based on the information contained in their profiles or based on their age , location, sex, interests, hobbies or personal preferences. This gives you all the flexibility you need to target your potential buyers only. If a Facebook Ads Campaign is well set up, the Conversion Rate can be much higher than what you have experienced on Google or Yahoo ads.

For example, if you want to promote Sports Summer Camps, Facebook gives you the flexibility to only target Teenagers in the US who like sports, so when you're building your campaign, you can select your ad to appear only on those profiles who are aged between 13 and 18 years old, indicated Sports in their Interests list and are located in the United States. If you were to build a similar campaign on Google Adwords, you wouldn't have this flexibility and your ad will appear only based on the keywords, regardless of the age or interests of the person typing.

The Importance of Split-Testing...

One of the most important things for any advertiser, regardless of which Marketing Interface you're using, is to ensure that the advertisements you are running are the best that they can be and as eye-catchy as they could be for a potential client. Too often advertisers will launch a Facebook ad campaign and see that they just spend $100 and got little results and generalize that this must be the case for all campaigns on Facebook. The reality is that your ad campaign probably wasn’t performing well because your ad wasn’t great. The best marketers know that performance comes from testing things out.

One of the most important things to test out when you launch a Facebook Ads Campaign is the CPC vs CPM campaign types. CPC is the Cost Per Click, while CPM is the Cost Per Mille (Basically the cost for 1000 impressions). If your ad is well designed and eye-catchy enough, you might discover that the CPM model is more rewarding in the long-run as more people will notice your ad and click it, resulting in a lower CPC than if you would have used the CPC model right from the start.

Finally, if you don't have the time/or expertise to set up your own Facebook Ad Campaigns, our Facebook Marketing Services would be the best option for you. Our team has years of experience in building and maintaining successful Facebook Ad Campaigns for all kinds of businesses, ranging from the small corner store to the large corporation.

Google has unveiled its latest vision for the future of Search, on Wednesday, which now includes Instant, Real-Time and Predictive Search Results.

Sticker Gabriel, director of communications for Google, introduced this new upgrade by saying that the Search is, and has always been, "part art and a part science."

According to Marissa Mayer, Google vice president of search products and user experience, Google has now reached a total of one billion users per week on its network.

Google launched this new real-time Search not too long after upgrading their Google Translate system last week, making it also deliver translations in Real-Time and in a Predictive fashion.

The changes in the Search include correcting spelling mistakes, Mayer said, and "Questions and Answers, or Google Squared" is now also part of the core Web search.

But the real improvement of Google search is the need to constantly provide information to users more quickly.

Google Instant delivers results "instantly in a way that has never been done before," said Jonathan Effrat, Google product manager, in a video about Google Instant. "Now, results appear automatically as you type, with no need to hit enter or click the search button. as soon as you see what need predicted in gray text, you can stop typing, and just look down to find your results waiting...see results instantly lets you refine your search as you type — looking for a specific product? A map? A recipe? You'll know instantly if you're on the right track to finding what you want."

The new search approach will "save users 2 to 5 seconds per query," Mayer said. "That may not seem like a lot," but ultimately will save more than 3.5 billion seconds a day, or "11 hours a second."

Google Instant includes predictive search — "it's not quite psychic, but it is clever" said Othar Hansson, Google senior staff engineer — and "scroll for search."

To reassure users who may just want to continue typing in the search box normally without paying attention to the changes, Mayer said, Google "works seamlessly as it always has. All Google Instant does is speed you up."

Google's Upgrade is being made available immediately in the United States, and it is expected to roll out in coming weeks in other countries around the world, Mayer said. First up will be the U.K., France and Germany. Also, Google said it will make Instant available for mobile devices this fall.

Whether you're seeking to "visit Australia", "lose weight", "become financially independent" or simply "be happy", you can now track your progress along with other like-minded people. You can also ask for help from people who have achieved a particular life goal that you're struggling with. Don't forget to also give a few tips to people who are trying to achieve something that you already achieved. Good karma will come back your way!

"We cannot live only for ourselves.  A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men." ~Herman Melville

If you're running a WordPress Blog/Website, you should know that WP developers have been pretty quick at developing and launching plugins to allow the users to integrate this button to their blogs. We tested a few of them out, and here are our favorites:

• WP Tweet Button (from 0xTC) - with this plugin, you can implement this button automatically on all posts/pages and position it as you please. You can also style the button to your own taste in the settings page.
• Twitter Button (by  Svilen Popov) - also a nice plugin, lets you include Twitter Button in your blog using 3 methods: automatic, manual or by shortcode. Also lets you exclude it from pages where you don't want it to appear.
• WP Tweet (by Pete Mall) - lots of customization options available. For example, it lets you decide to display the number of tweets beside the button or not.

Happy Blogging!

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