This new authentication method uses the Twitter API so that your blog now becomes a Twitter App and you have to go through a whole process to create the app. So many of us have done all the required steps, and still the plugin doesn’t work. In my case, I get no error message, my posts just don’t get tweeted like they used to. I don’t think the problems with this plugin are because Alex King, the developer messed up. I think the problems are on Twitter’s end.

So, until Twitter gets its act together, it looks like I’ll be manually posting tweets, which kind of sucks. If any of you can shed some light on getting Twitter apps working on their blogs, please add your feedback.

Update: I’m testing this thing once more using a suggestion someone sent me and I’ll report back shortly.

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Here are some things to consider in order to help you make your decision:

First of all, you should determine the reasons why your business needs a website. There was a time when a small business could get by with no internet presence but those days have since passed. Consumers like having the ability to search for products and services in the comfort of their own home and at a time that is convenient for them. They also like to be able to centrally compare among the different competitors for a product or service. A professionally-designed website helps to establish your brand identity and company image plus it communicates volumes about your small business.

The next thing you might consider is can you just build a website yourself? The answer is ‘yes’, but unless you know what you are doing, you are probably better off hiring a web designer or web development company to do it for you. Even if you know what you are doing, you must also ask yourself if you have the time for such an endeavor. For example, there is more to having a website than just creating pages. You must also go through the process of establishing links to your site from other reputable sites so that people can find you, among other things. If no one can find your site, then your website will be ineffective.

Finally, you say that you don’t have the budget to hire a web design company? Professional website designers know that not everyone has the same budget or the same requirements for their site. Your website can be created with a simple five-page design that gives contact and product information so that your internet presence will be established. Then, as you expand, your website can also grow accordingly. The best way to handle a phased approach to a website design is to have a plan for today and the future. That way as the web designer builds for each phase, he or she always has the future plan in mind.

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While we enjoy summer here in North America, in Australia it is winter and the flu season is well under way. The health authorities there have been urging people to get their flu shots, as usual, pimping Big Pharma’s chemical toxic cocktails that have made several children go into convulsions, and one kid is in a coma!

Finally, Australia banned flu vaccines for children. Hello? It’s about time! Read the rest of the story here.

My advice, for what it’s worth: say no to flu shots and yes to lots of Vitamin C-rich foods or supplements. Oh, and wash your hands!

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Twitter Tools is just one of many of Crowd Favorite’s WordPress plugins. They continue to contribute so much to the WordPress community and they also have many other premium services to offer, as well as a small selection of quality WordPress themes, most of which are free. Let me know what you think.

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• to get the website indexed quickly/found by major search engines and
• to increase the number of backlinks which will improve the rankings of their website.

Yes, it’s true that directory links are no longer as effective as they used to be years ago, but they are still beneficial if done properly. It would not be profitable if you do this yourself because of the amount of time required, so the solution is to hire someone like a student in your local area or use a directory submission service to take care of this for you. The cost is very low so there’s really no reason why you can’t get this done for your website.

Before paying for any submission services you need to know a few things:

1. Keyword Research – You should know what your target keyword phrases are because by having the keywords in the title of your website, which will appear as links in web directories, will improve the rankings. You don’t want to use the same title for all directories so be sure to let your directory submitter service contact know about this. Depending on how many directories you’re submitting to, using a unique title and description for every 50 directories is a good rule of thumb. The links will appear more natural to the search engines.

2. Submit to Quality Directories – There are millions of web directories on the net and more are being added each day. Most of these directories are either brand new or have been spammed to death, which means Google has discounted their voting power. Submitting your website to these directories may not harm you but they certainly won’t give you any benefits either – so just avoid them. If you are using a submission service, contact them to ask for a full list of directories that they will submit your website to. If they can’t provide this information, my advice is move on to the next one. There are plenty of these services on the net. Also, make sure they provide a report after the submission, this way you can check the links.

3. Check Your Website Content – Make sure the content on your website is professional-looking and well written. This is important as all the quality directories are human-managed, which means a real person will look at your website before approving it. If your website looks like a template cookie cutter, “Built for Adsense” or advertisement, then they will delete the listing. So making your website look professional and unique will improve the acceptance rate. I’ve seen people try to submit websites that are not even finished (just a holding page) and then they complained about the acceptance rate of a so and so submission service in forums. Don’t make the same mistake!

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It validates as XHTML strict and is easy to customize. For a nominal fee, you can remove any webmaster branding on this template.

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I also wanted to point out that there are a lot of WordPress courses out there, some good, some bad, some over-priced. But did you know that WordPress lessons are free for the taking? Yes, right from the developers of WordPress at the WordPress Codex. Where else are you going to get the most up-to-date info about WordPress, than from the developers themselves?

Don’t get me wrong, some people who need more help with specific areas of WordPress, or who for whatever reason, choose not to teach themsleves more than the ability to create blog posts, would benefit greatly from various WordPress courses, or coaching. Just be careful what you pay for. Before you invest any money on courses or coaching, ask if the course or coaching sessions are going to be teaching you about the most current version of WordPress. After all, why should you pay for outdated information?

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He who hesitates is a damned fool.

Mae West

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