Did you know that with Google Apps you can now have an email address attached to your domain (you@yourdomain.com) and managed by Google?

I have been advising clients to use WP-DB-BACKUP plugin to schedule a weekly backup to be delivered to their mail, but just recently found a better solution

Free IDRIVE backup for WordPress (no affiliate link, my gift to [...]]]> Life is cooking!  Three free offerings from WordPress Academy in April:

1) The best WordPress backup solution is now free!

I have been advising clients to use WP-DB-BACKUP plugin to schedule a weekly backup to be delivered to their mail, but just recently found a better solution

Free IDRIVE backup for WordPress (no affiliate link, my gift to you)

It’s free for up to 5GB (I verified with the company and they assured me this was not a limited-time promotion), it backs up all your files (ie php files and database), it can be scheduled daily, and it does an incremental backup (minimizes file transfer and allows restore of archive by date).  No brainer.  Just download the plugin, open an account directly from Settings > IDrive, and do you first backup (Note: let the first backup complete in your browser, future backups should complete on their own)

2) Full RTMP streaming video for WordPress for pennies, using Amazon S3 / Cloudfront streaming service

Full streaming video (a technology called RTMP) allows you to save bandwidth and gives a better user experience, because of the ability to instantly reset the play time on a video, even a long one (such as one of my lectures!).  Now, with Amazon S3 and Cloudfront services, this technology is now available for pennies to the dollar, compared to what it used to cost.  See the video here:

http://wpwebsitenow.com/video

3) Free webinar Thursday April 14, 2pm EST: Migrating to Gmail / Google Apps and Insightly project management / CRM

Did you know that with Google Apps you can now have an email address attached to your domain (you@yourdomain.com) and managed by Google?  Well this again is a no-brainer:

• Your email stored on the web (accessible from multiple locations) but also managed from your mail client (Outlook) with IMAP (best of both worlds)
• Permanent record of your correspondence – email never deleted, instantly search your archive to find information
• Using a tool such as Gsyncit, sync your contacts and calendar with Google and maintain your contacts and calendar automatically across your desktop, the web, and your phone

And best of all, access the rich library of Google Apps productivity management applications, including Insightly Project management and CRM system

My project management “system” (and my desktop!) used to be a mess, but Insightly has changed my life:

• Manage all your tasks, projects, and leads (opportunities) from the web
• Tightly integrated with email: instantly create a new project, task or opportunity from an email received, and link that email to the project.
• Automatically create contacts from email and view all significant emails from that contact, either per project/task or globally
• Easily link contacts, projects, tasks and opportunities to each other – software is very powerful yet intuitive to use
• Full Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, track leads/opportunities through the sales cycle and set follow-ups in the future
• Implements some aspects of David Allen’s Getting Things Done system (empty your inbox and assign tasks)
• Free software — up to 100mb of storage!

In this webinar I will take a client through the process of migrating their mail to Google Apps / Gmail (there are some pitfalls along the way), and demonstrate how I use Insightly in my business, with detailed case scenarios.

This is a webinar that you can’t miss.  Note that it will not be rebroadcast (only available in the member’s area), however you will be able to view it later with a low-priced subscription to WordPress Academy (see below).

To attend, just make sure you are subscribed to our list and check your mail Monday morning for the webinar link

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT 1 – all of our WordPress training and internet productivity products will be available for a low-priced subscription model

Starting April 18, all of our training products (including the WordPress 101 and WordPress 102 course recordings) will be available via subscription.  I won’t disclose the price yet, just to say that you will fall off your chair when you find out.  Stay tuned for the official announcement.  (If you have already purchased any of our products, you are automatically subscribed for life, of course).

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT 2 – We are now offering WordPress hosting and support!

Are you aware that major hosting companies do NOT support WordPress?   Have you ever gotten your site hacked and told that you were on your own?  Do you have a question about a theme or a plugin and don’t know where to turn?  Or (even worse) has your site ever gone down with a PHP error (“just shoot me now”).

If so, it’s your lucky day.  Our new subscription model will include hosting and support for all your sites (WordPress and others), for a low monthly price just slightly higher than a regular, commercial hosting account!  Please stay tuned for the official announcement on April 18.  If you need hosting right away and can’t wait until then,  just write and I will tell you how to signup.

Rock on,

Marc Beneteau
http://wordpressacademy.org
”Websites, blogging, video, social media for busy people”

See instructions below for how to get access to the recording of these two sessions

I will cover installation and configuration of two popular WordPress membership plugins: the free S2member and Wishlist Member.  Also, how to turn your WordPress site into a fully [...]]]>  

See instructions below for how to get access to the recording of these two sessions

WordPress Membership sites & E-commerce plugins: Monday Feb. 21, 7pm EST (access info below)

I will cover installation and configuration of two popular WordPress membership plugins: the free S2member and Wishlist Member.  Also, how to turn your WordPress site into a fully functional store, whether you are selling just a few items or hundreds.  Merchant accounts and payment gateways.  Digital product delivery.  Paypal.  Appointment systems for professionals.  If you are wanting to get money flowing from your site, whether you are selling consulting services, ebooks, or physical products, this webinar is for you.

Professional WordPress websites in 1 hour: Thursday Feb. 24, 3pm EST.

We are repeating last month’s webinar that will show you how you can get a professional-looking WordPress site in 1 hour.  This is an excellent introduction to the WordPress platform including installation,  the visual editor, plugins and widgets, etc.  We will briefly cover places to find good themes and the difference between a theme and a theme framework.  If your site has been in a half-state of completion for some time, or you are wondering what all the hoopla is about WordPress, this webinar is for you.

Call-in information for the two free webinars

Point your browser to: http://wordpressacademy.org/c.  Choose the “Guest” login, enter your name and turn on your speakers.  Easy-peasy.  You can ask me question via the chat window.  It’s a powerful technology called Adobe Connect, which I use in all my courses.

How to get the recording

Signup as a member

Starting from an empty hosting account we’ll build a functional and attractive WordPress website (including a blog page) [...]]]> As an introduction to our upcoming WordPress 101 course (which starts Monday Jan. 17 for five weeks), we are doing a free webinar this coming Monday Jan 10, 7pm EST

Free webinar: Your first WordPress website in 1 hour

Starting from an empty hosting account we’ll build a functional and attractive WordPress website (including a blog page) in 1 hour.  We’ll cover how to:

• Install WordPress with cPanel hosting
• Configure WordPress for a static site, along with correct permalink and comment settings
• Using the Visual Editor
• Install a custom banner
• Install an essential plugin set, including a regular backup system and SEO plugins
• Setup navigation bar, widgets and sidebar
• Configure and install a free mailing list / autoresponder system
• Install social media / “follow me” icons
• Changing default colors and fonts

Is it possible to do this all in 1 hour?  You bet!  Come to this webinar to find out how.

Just point your browser at the appointed time:

Date: Monday Jan. 10, 7pm EST
Webinar link: http://wordpressacademy.org/c.  Sign-in as “guest” and turn on your speakers.

Can’t come to the live webinar but want the recording?

The recording will be available for the price of a Facebook share.  Here is how to get it:

1) Sign-up to our list (if you are not on it already – you will get the free eBook WordPress 101 Quick Start as well)

2) “Like our Facebook fan page (top left)

3) Add a “Facebook comment” below (say whatever you want, something like “Interesting free WordPress intro webinar”).  This will post to your profile and informs your friends about the webinar

4) Email me (marc@everymanmarketing.com) something like “I have done everything please send the recording!”

About the WordPress 101 course that begins January 17

After the Jan. 10th free webinar, I will take an extra 15-20 minutes to describe to you the format and content of our next course, the WordPress 101 training course.  Please stay on the call if you can, as I will cover a lot of things that you should know in order to produce a great WordPress website and market your business online.  I will also answer any questions you have about WordPress and small business marketing.

For more information about the course skip directly to this link:

http://wordpressacademy.org/2010/12/wordpress-101-webinar-scheduled-for-january-early-signup-bonus-inside/

Live webinar training is the fastest and most affordable way to make a website happen, or get control of your current site.  In this comprehensive, fast-paced course, we will cover the main skills of WordPress web design and many skills for WordPress-based marketing for small business.  Normally you will come to two sessions a week (a lecture and a practice workshop in which you will actually develop your site); but you can come to all three weekly session if you want.  We start from ground zero (no previous knowledge is necessary), but this is actually an intermediate-level course.  If you know a little WordPress already, but want a more solid grounding, this is your opportunity. 

This is going to be our best course ever

First, I have teamed up with leading WordPress author George Plumley (author of WordPress 24-Hour Trainer) to teach this course.  I wanted to give you the “best of the best” WordPress content, and I wanted to have some fun!  George is a great guy and I think you will enjoy him.  Come to the intro webinar on Jan. 10 and I will introduce him.

Second, we have added a 5th lecture on WordPress / Social Media integration and WordPress Membership sites.  Learn how to:

• Add social media share / follow buttons on your site and on all your posts; integrating facebook comments to your blog; and how to create a Facebook fan page and copy content to it from your blog
• Setup a WordPress membership site (either as a free bonus or as a paid service) using the most popular membership plugins.  We’ll show you in detail how to configure your site for Wishlist member and S2 member (free plugin)

To your success,

Marc Beneteau
”Websites, blogging, video, social media for busy people”

This webinar show you how to setup a Facebook fan page, and then covers all the popular ways to integrate your WordPress blog with Facebook and other social media sites. I will show you, in under an [...]]]> See below for how to get the replay of our free December webinar, “WordPress & Facebook social integration”.

This webinar show you how to setup a Facebook fan page, and then covers all the popular ways to integrate your WordPress blog with Facebook and other social media sites. I will show you, in under an hour, how to create a Facebook fan page and hook it into your WordPress website or blog.   You will be amazed at how easy this is!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 6 months, you probably already know that social media, and Facebook in particular, is the best free advertising on the planet. Your website or blog is simply not doing its job it it’s not fully integrated with social media.

The webinar will give step-by-step instructions on how to:

1) Allow visitors to your website to instantly “Like” your fan page. It looks like the image on the right, you put this in your sidebar, it allows visitors to “Like” your fan page, and shows any of their friends who also “Like” your page.
[Hint: strong incentive for them to “like” you, it’s called “Social Proof”].

2) Allow readers to “like” and comment your content on Facebook, It looks like the image on the right.
[Hint: if someone comments your post or page on Facebook, it shows up on their wall and so all their friends see it too.].

3) Use a single plugin that provides four different ways to add Facebook, Twitter and other social media “share” buttons to your site, including
(a) Facebook and Twitter buttons to the top right of your posts / pages

(b) Standard social media “follow” buttons in your sidebar

(c ) A right-justified “Follow” bar

(d) Share buttons below your post

4) Last but not least, I will guide you through my colleague Jo Barnes’ Free Fan Page Templates process to create your own Fan page list-building machine (fabulous resource).

To get the replay:

Signup as a Member

But [...]]]> I love the free image editing software Paint.Net.  It’s a serious competitor for Photoshop CS4 ($799!) in the do-it-yourself market.  Another (reputedly) more powerful, but harder to use free software is Gimp.  But Paint.Net does the job for me.  Here is a typical application: making a banner for a website.  Below is a step-by-step guide.

But first, here is the result:

And here is what you do:

1. Start Paint.Net.  Make sure the Tools window, the Layers window, and the Colors window are visible.  If not, enable them from the View menu.
   
2. Go to your favorite free stock photography site (Google “free stock photography” or check Stock.xchng), find the image you want for your logo, view it at the largest possible resolution, then Right-Click > Copy
3. Edit > Paste in to New Image
   
4. Click on Rectangle Select on the Tools Window (top left)  and use it to select the part of the image that you want.  Leave some space at the right to do the image fade-out (see below).
   
5. Do Image > Crop to Selection
   
6. Decide on the banner height: 150 pixels is a good height. Do Image > Resize and enter a Height of 150 and Ok.
   
7. Choose your width depending on the width of your website (normally either 800 or 1000 pixels).  Then Image > Canvas Size and put a a Width of 800.  Do not check Maintain Aspect Ratio
   
   Notice the right of the image has filled with empty or transparent pixels (the grey boxes indicate transparent pixels).
   If you are using a variable-width theme or template and using the image for the background image of the header area, you need to make it at least 1800 pixels (but be aware most browsers will only see the first 1000 or 1200 pixels of width)
8. Now let’s insert a background color / layer.  Do Layers > Add New Layer.  The Image will remain unchanged but note the Layers window now shows a new layer, “Layer 2”
   
9. Now we need to “digress” a bit and talk about layers.  First, for clarity sake, double click on “Layer 1” in the Layers Window and call it “Swan”.  Now double-click on “Layer 2” and call it “Background”
   
10. Now Uncheck the box next to “Swan” on the Layers Window.  This makes that layer not visible.  Now you only see the empty (transparent pixels) “Background” layer
    
    You need to understand layers: images show up in the layer order which is top-to-bottom unless there are transparent pixels on the upper layer(s).  The only reason the swan was showing at all (in the previous frame #7), given that “Background” is actually an upper layer, is becausee the “Background” layer is all empty (transparent) pixels.
11. Now let’s fill this background with a blue color to merge as closely as possible with the Swan background color.
    First, make the Swan layer visible again and the Background layer invisible. Then select the Color Picker on the Tools Window and click on a darker area of the swan picture.  Notice the Primary color on the Colors Window has changed to a dark blue / black
    
    You need to understand the Color window: The upper left box is the Primary color (the drawing color of all tools).  Just below is the Secondary color (the fill color of most tools).  To select a color for drawing, first select either the Primary or the Secondary color box.  Then, either click on a color from one of the palettes, or use the Color Picker tool and click anywhere on the image.
12. So now you have set the primary color to a dark blue.  Go back to your background layer (select it in the Layers Window), select the Paint Bucket Tool and click anywhere on the image.
    Oops!  The entire image goes dark blue!
    
    The reason (of course – if you have read above about layers) is that the “Background” layer is on top of the “Swan” layer.
13. So you just need to move the Background layer down below the Swan layer. Click on “Background” in the layers window and then the down arrow:
    
14. Now you see the swan and the background (remember that the right of the swan image is transparent pixels)
    
15. Next: fade-out the swan image right border using the Gradiant tool (transparency gradient) OR gaussian blur it.  (Instructions for this will be provided in a video later).  Here is what you get
    
16. Now use the Text tool to write your banner text. (Also will be demonstrated in a video)
    
17. You can insert any other image by following the same procedure: add a new layer, crop and resize.  Remember new layers won’t be visible unless they are on top.
    Hint #1: You can work with multiple images simultaneously inside Paint.Net.  Just Edit > Paste to New Image the new image, crop and resize, then Edit > Select All, Copy, select the image you are actually working on (ie. the banner in the example above) – see the open images on the top right — and Edit > Paste in to New Layer
    Hint #2: You can increase the screen resolution (visible size of your image) in the View menu, or else by putting your mouse over the image and Ctrl + move the mouse scroll bar.
18. First save the .pdn (Paint.Net file with all the layers) in case you want to work on it more later.  Then File > Save and save it as jpg and upload it to your website.

That’s it!

If you like this article, please comment.

Related (External) Posts

• Free Paint.Net graphics to make banner image (Youtube video) – illustrates another technique that may be more useful in certain situations, which is to use the Lasso tool to remove the background of the logo (swan) image
• Paint.Net tutorials Forum
• How to make a transparency gradient in Paint.net (used for fading out one image into another)
• How to make a banner in Paint.Net (also uses Lassoo tool)

Note: you don’t need to use screen-capture to capture images on websites.  Just right-click > Copy. You can also get the image dimension through right-click > Properties.

Download and install Cropper Run it.  An icon appears on your [...]]]> This is useful not just for capturing screen elements, but also for measuring the pixel-width of items on websites.

Note: you don’t need to use screen-capture to capture images on websites.  Just right-click > Copy. You can also get the image dimension through right-click > Properties.

1. Download and install Cropper
2. Run it.  An icon appears on your taskbar:
3. You must select your destination – either a file directory or the clipboard.  I use the clipboard.  Right-click on the cropper icon in the taskbar, then select Output > Clipboard. 
   Note: without this step it won’t work.
4. Now click on the Cropper icon.  A floating semi-transparent window appears on your desktop:
   
   Drag it so the top left is over the area you want to capture, and resize it using the handles at the bottom or right.  Note it gives the image dimensions at the top. 
5. Capture by double-click or Enter. 
6. Hide the window with right-click > Hide

The picture is now in your clipboard.  You can use it for whatever purposes such as editing it with the free Paint.net image editing software or including it in a blog post with Windows Live Writer.

A common problem is horizontal alignment of images and / or positioning new paragraphs after a left- or right-floating image.  See for example: