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Do new gadgets make you drool?

Let’s face it – most of you visiting this site probably love your gadgets. Laptops, computer accessories, electronic games, blackberries and high tech mobile phones. I know I do!

I enjoy hearing about new gadgets and trying to keep up with all the changes that are constantly going on. Some gadgets make me drool like my dog does when I offer her a treat … even if there’s no way I can afford any new electronic toys – at least not when they first come out. Better to wait until the prices come down and I can justify the need – or at least that’s what I tell myself.

Here’s some interesting videos about the latest gadgets coming out on the market. I’m sure you’ll find some of them pretty interesting and maybe one or two will even make you drool too.

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

by Tricia

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!

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