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Triggit allows you to add links to Amazon, photos and video on the fly

Well I’m back from visiting Vegas.

I was really sick while I was in Vegas so I must say that I only went to Bl0gworld for two hours! However I did take in quite a bit of information during that time. I also attended part of P0stiecon (I was still sick and even missed my speaking engagement there!) and I learned quite a bit there as well.

At Blogworld I learned about a cool application/widget called Triggit. The site is in Beta right now and is only accepting people who are lucky enough to have an invitation a key. Of course I managed to get and I’m currently trying the system out.

Once you log into Triggit your given a code to put in your sites template just under the body tag. They’ve automated the system for Blogger and Typepad users, but as a WordPress user I had to manually add the coding to my site.

Once the code has been added to your site you can easily use the Triggit bookmark that can be dragged into your Firefox browsers tool bar to quickly add links to Amazon products, Commission Junction or add photos from Flickr, videos from Youtube or wine links from Wine Zap and Wine searcher directly into your posts.

As you know images often make a post a little more interesting so you can use the Triggit bookmarklet to add photos to your existing posts on the fly. Like any of the features all you have to do is click on the drop down list in the toolbar that is activated across the top of your page whenever you click on the Triggit bookmark when you are on a page with the Triggit coding and a list will appear which will allow you to pick which kind of link, image or video you’d like to add to your post.

In this case I tried adding a Flickr image. I clicked the Triggit drop down list and a Flicker search bar appeared. I typed in laptop computer and I was shown a number of thumbnails that had been tagged on Flickr with the word laptop. Once I picked a photo I clicked preview and I was then able to place the photo where I wanted it within the post. Once the photo is in the post you can move it around to align it as you wish.

I’ve mainly worked with Triggit adding Amazon links to some of my sites. All you need to do is pick Amazon from the drop down list, choose a word or phrase within your post that you’d like to create an Amazon link for and click search. Often a list of about 5 to 7 choices comes up and if I’m not totally satisfied with the choices I can always change the term to find a more appropriate link. Once I’ve found an Amazon item that I’d like to link to the word or phrase I select it and hit save. The next time I load the page the link is present within the post.

For example to link to an Amazon item for the word Ipod I followed the steps I’ve listed above and you should now see the word Ipod linked to an Amazon item. I also linked to a cool notebook accessory when I used the word laptop computer. Check it out.

I’m certain that you’ll enjoy Triggit.

I don’t have an invitations, but if you like the idea of the Triggit Tool, which is free to use BTW, go to the site and request and invite.

UPDATE: The folks at Triggit liked my post and the feedback I’ve been giving them and they granted me an access key to give you folks so you too can become Alpha testers of this great application:

I’ll tell you more about other interesting applications and companies that I discovered shortly!

12 Blog design tips to keep your visitors and advertisers happy

by Tricia

One of the forums I’m on has a discussion about best blogging practices. Here’s a few tips that I just added to the thread that you might consider for your own blog design. I’ve written these suggestions mainly with bloggers who write posts for which they get compensation by advertisers in mind, but I think these suggestions are good guidelines for most bloggers.

It’s nice when a blog design reflects your personal style or co-ordinates well with your niche topic.

If you are writing posts for compensation or selling ad space in you sidebar your blog should probably have a professional image. This doesn’t mean plain and boring.

1. If you are using a standard template that 1000’s of other bloggers are using personalize it in some way to reflect your blogs style. If you aren’t sure how to do this ask people on a web forum or hire someone to spruce up your site.

2. Avoid flashing buttons and images.

3. For the most part write your posts in one color of text and one font size. (There are some blogs with multicolored posts and I find them hard to read.)

4. Make sure that the font that you’ve chosen for your blog is easy to read and is of a color that can be read easily against the background color of your blog. Bright white text on dark or black backgrounds tires the eye quickly and is hard to read. If your blog has a dark background a light gray text seems to work best.

* In general I think dark blog backgrounds are frowned upon by quite a few bloggers (and possibly advertisers). Why? I’m not sure, but I think it’s mainly because they are often harder to read and as a result are thought of as not being well designed.

5. Avoid autoplay music! I think the majority of bloggers dislike autoplay music on blogs. If you want to have music on your site please have it in the off mode and let your visitors turn it on if they want to hear it.

You want your visitors to read your posts. It’s hard to concentrate sometimes when music is blaring at you, particularly if the visitor doesn’t like that style of music.

6. Avoid autoplay video. See above. Let your visitors turn the videos on if they want to view them. Anything autoplay is distracting.

7. Try to make sure that your visitors can navigate your site easily. You may actually see your traffic or page views increase if you follow some of these suggestions:

– Think about making your post titles clickable so visitors can easily read the comments that have been left on the post and possibly add their own.

– Likewise be sure that your visitors can see the comment link easily so that they can leave a comment if they want to.

– I’m sure advertisers love to see comments on posts, I know regular site visitors do, so do everything possible to make it easier for your visitors to leave you a comment. That includes not making your visitors register to your site just to leave a comment.

8. At the end of your main page, and possibly on your single posts, have navigation tags so that your visitors can easily move to the next page or next post.

9. If you like buttons or if you have very long blogrolls, categories, or archives think about moving them to pages rather than keeping them in your sidebar, or try drop down menus. Your sidebar will look less cluttered and your page might load faster.

10. Sites with only one post on the main page or dozens can be frustrating for visitors. If you have too many posts the site will load very slowly. If you only have one post your visitor might not click through to the next page to see what other fabulous posts you’ve written. New posts should probably be on your main page for a day or two, so gauge how many posts to include on the front page by how many you normally write on the average day. I think five to ten posts is probably a good amount to have on the main index page.

11. Using slang in your posts can be fun or even funny sometimes, but don’t over do it. It can make your posts harder to read and even understand, and if you are creating blog posts for advertisers they probably want you to use proper words. On that note, if you are writing a post in English don’t mix your native language into the post. It just makes it harder for English readers to follow and understand.

12. It’s also a good idea to spell and grammar check your posts before publishing. Most browsers have plugins or extensions that can be added to help you check spelling and grammar as you type.

Practicing some or all of these tips should keep your visitors happy and you might even start to see an increase in your traffic. Remember an increase in the quality of your site and in your traffic could enhance your ability to monetize your blog.

Good Luck!

Create your own social network with iScripts Socialware

by Tricia

I’m sure that everyone reading this has heard of social network sites such as Facebook and Myspace. If you haven’t heard of these sites you’re either brand spanking new to the internet or you haven’t been paying attention because these sites are wildly popular.

Wouldn’t it have been cool if you’d been the one to come up with the idea for Myspace or Facebook?

While you can’t recreate what’s already been created, you certainly can create your own social network site using iScripts SocialWare social network script. Think of the possibilities!

The iScripts Socialware software is a program that’s been developed in PHP/mySQL and it’s totally customizable. You can use it to create a stand alone social network, or perhaps create a social network that goes along with your existing personal or business website.

If you like the idea, but you realize that you don’t know that much about PHP or mySQL don’t worry. When you purchase the iScripts software you may request that the iScripts team set up and install the script for you on your web server. The company will upload all of the program files and images necessary to run your new social network, set up and configure the script and they’ll even test the installation to make sure that everything works as it should.

How’s that for service?

Naturally this installation service is not free, however it’s offered at the low price of $49.99 which I believe is a reasonable price for the peace of mind it will afford you when you see that your new social network is up and running and ready to accept new members within approximately 24 hours of your purchase.

iScripts even offers a full customization service that clients may chose inquire about if they want a truly unique social network.

You can also try a Demo of iScripts Socialware via the website. Just click on the Demo button at the top of the Socialware page and you can sign in to a demo version of the user or admin section and get a feel for the product.

If I were considering purchasing this product I would definitely take it for a test drive, as well as visit some of the sample sites that are listed in the right sidebar of the web page, and I’d also view screen shots of the user and admin panels which can be reached by clicking on the Screen shots button at the top of the page.

So how much does this cost? Only $149.95. I think this is a reasonable price for a product that could give your existing website quite a boost, as well as creating the potential to be the next Myspace or Facebook. You’ll get free support for one year, but you can purchase one to three years worth of additional support if you’d like.

If I were considering creating a social network site this would be a program that I’d look in to purchasing. I did a quick web search to see what other ready made social network programs were out there and I didn’t have much luck finding full featured stand alone social network software of this quality. Therefore I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a fairly unique social network product well worth considering if you are interested in setting up a social networking website.

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