Q: Why do my clients get a security warning when someone is taken to the billing checkout page?

A: If you are using the 1Shopping Cart system (aka Practice Pay Solutions, Kickstart Cart, Easy Web Automation and more) and you receive security warnings when your checkout page comes up – there is an easy fix!

Most likely you are using the top or buttom html box to custom the look and feel (and if you are not, I highly recommend you do!). If you have not loaded your images, including a header graphic into your carts media center,  any browsers will display a warning message because it is trying to open a secure page (https) that contains un-secure media (somewhere on an unsecured server, ie www.yourwebsite.com/images).

This is something you do not want when trying to make a sale

This can be easily fixed by first uploading your media images  in the shopping carts media library – and then grabbing the url given for that image to use in your html code.

Hope that helps!

Amber

While I’m not sure about all of the url shorteners available right now, I can share with you the ones I use on a daily basis.

In the past, I always used tinyurl.com. They were the “original url shortener” and came around in 2002. They were for a while, the most known and widely used.  I personally do not use tinyurl anymore because  some of the other shorteners have come out with some great additional features – such as shorter urls (the whole point of a tiny url is that it is tiny!) and at the time of this post, they do not currently have a way to track your links for you. Tinyurl.com does provide a 301 redirect which is good. With a 301 redirect it tells the search engine that the url you requested to shorten has “permanently” moved to the original url – giving credit to the original url – not the shortened url.

As far which shortener I use for he majority of my clients? Well that would bit.ly.com and snipurl.com.  Both provide shorter characters in the urls created, offer tracking, support Tweetdeck, Twhirl and Twitterfeed and allow sharing.

I also prefer to use the custom options and actually give my shortened url a real name at the end – instead of allowing the program to create a random one for me. ie – www.bit.ly.com/amber compared to www.bit.ly.com/X23df. But that is just my preference. I think it looks nicer in emails

Is there another shortener that you just love? Share it with me here, I’d love to know!

To Your Delegating Success!

Amber Miller

There are several ways that you can use an autoresponder to your advantage, resulting in big money and more time for your business so you tend to other things or simply sit back and spend more time with your family.

Here are a few other ways you can make your autoresponders work for you

1. If you lack the room on your site to add your testimonials to your ad copy, you can add them to your autoresponder.  If you choose to add them to your responder you should always be sure to include all of them.  It will look more professional, and let others know more about your products.
2. You can also choose to use your entire website in autoresponder format.  Although this may sound silly to some, it’s actually an innovative idea that really works.  Not all visitors will have the time to read your website; often times having to leave before they can really read what you have to offer.  If you put your website in autoresponder format, you can email bits and pieces from your site to potential customers so they can continue to read when they have time.
3. Another innovative way to use your autoresponder is by including your terms and conditions.  Often times, potential customers and clients simply don’t have enough time to read through your terms and conditions.  The terms and conditions are very important, which is why it never hurts to include them with an email.  Your terms and conditions that you email could include the exact copy from your website, or detailed information about your return policies, purchases, refunds, and anything else you think a potential customer would like to know.

There are many other ways that you can use your autoresponder.  All you need to do is put a little bit of creativity and thought into it, and you’ll probably find yourself amazed with all the things you can do with autoresponders.  They are very popular with Internet marketing and online businesses these days, and for good reason.  If you’ve grown tired of having to manage every aspect of your online business – now is the time to invest in an autoresponder.  They are user friendly and very affordable – making them something that no business should ever be without.

To Your Online Success!

Amber

With the emergence of the RSS technology, you can patch up various websites in your blog. And when these sites get updated, it will all be reflected in your blog! A nice and easy way to add fresh information instantly!

How does this technology work? Here are some pieces of information regarding the collection of RSS feeds that are relevant to your web logs.

How do I start getting RSS feeds?

IN the same way that web browsers enable you to check web sites, an application will allow you to check updates on other’s website via RSS feeds. And that application happens to be an RSS Feed Reader.

What are the advantages of RSS feed readers?

RSS feed readers scan specified sites that you are subscribed to. When new articles or files are uploaded, the RSS feed reader will publish a list of new items.

Here is where the advantages set in. RSS feed users save time and effort in checking updates. Since new pieces of information are compiled, it takes smaller storage space. And you do not have to see the whole web site, or hop from site to site to get updated.

And in the field of blogging, one does not have to update blogs very often. If you know credible sites that offer wonderful information, you can just patch these sites to their blog. And voila! You now have instant contents.

All it takes is checking the list of updated information!

What are the commendable RSS readers to use?

- Pluck

Aside from being an RSS feed reader, it offers a lot of tools to make content searching, sharing, retrieving and organizing easier. But the nicest thing about Pluck is it is absolutely free!

- FeedDemon

FeedDemon is an independent RSS feed reader that can be purchased for just $29.95 dollars.

A trial version that can be used for 20 days can also be downloaded.

- Newsgator

Newsgator is an add-on feature to Microsoft Outlook. It enables users to organize news feeds like an email. This is available for $29.00. You can also try it, free of charge, for 14 days.

How do I choose RSS feeds for my blog?

Pieces of information that can be considered list-oriented are good options for RSS feeds.

You actually determine what pieces of information would be relevant to your blog site. Once you have determined what sites must be included in your blog site, all you have to do is to subscribe to that web site’s RSS feed.

One way to find RSS feeds would be checking out RSS directory sites:

- Sindic8

This has been acclaimed by SearchEngineWatch as a major RSS feeds directory.  This has been made possible by thousands of volunteers and contributors that provide RSS links to the database.

- Daypop

If you are looking for fresh information, then this is the RSS feed directory site that you have to go to. All items featured in the site are assured to be current events.

How do I subscribe to an RSS feed?

You will determine what web sites you will be subscribing to. It all depends in your desired content for your blog.

You can use the RSS feed reader tools to locate content providers for your site. Or you may also locate these RSS feeds in the content provider website. Usually, the RSS feed link is defined by an orange button, with XML or RSS tag.

You can also locate the XML data in your web browser, copy it in a clipboard, and add it in the RSS feed reader. (Just follow the instructions provided in your RSS feed reader on how to add RSS feed.) Once added, the RSS feed reader will check updates from that site regularly.

Now that you know the basics of collecting RSS feeds as well as some credible RSS feed resources and RSS feed reader, I am pretty sure that your web log will never be outdated!

These things never had to be a mystery. What follows are basic information regarding RSS, XML and Atom.

What is an XML?

- General Definition

XML stands for Extensive Markup Language. It is the standard markup language used to define various types of data. It is created to enable data sharing among various systems patched by the Internet. The language format is formalized, to allow modification and validation of files regardless of prior knowledge of the document form.

- XML Features

Before the birth of the XML files sharing files among different programs and platforms was difficult because of the use of binary system in encoding.

In an XML file, characters (the fundamental unit) are sequenced in an allowed serial pattern.

Word processors also made XML maintenance and authoring easier, since it will be dealing with characters, not bits.

- Uses of XML

1. XML is used to represent a lot of data, especially lists, records and trees- the basic forms of data structures.

2. It can also be used to communicate human languages that are written because of the Unicode support.

3. The XML format is also employed in data processing and storage.

- Pros and Cons

The XML format is a universally accepted format. It also does not depend on a specific platform for it to execute. It also employs a hierarchical code structure that is compatible with most of the document formats.

However, XML is limited by bandwidth. In the case of PDA and cellular phone technology that uses XML, files are compressed.

Now, what then is RSS?

- General Definition

RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, is a set of web feed formats that use XML to deliver information.

- What are the uses of RSS feeds?

RSS feeds are used to give updates to users regarding site contents without having to actually check the site. This can be done by delivering the full content of the update, or by sending a link, or by defining the metadata that composes the file.

A lot of sites like web logs, pod casts and news sites use RSS feeds.

- What are the benefits of RSS feeds?

The information that can be seen in RSS feeds is simpler than the source web site. That is why it is easier for users to view the important items.

Other files can also be automatically be downloaded without human intervention. Programs called aggregators can scan web sites and publish lists of updates in behalf of their user.

- RSS formats

The standard RSS formats are:

1. RSS 1 or RDF which includes the following versions: RSS 0.90 and 1.0
2. RSS 2 which includes RSS 0.91, 0.92-0.94 and 2.0.1

How about Atom?

Issues were raised regarding the RSS 2.0 format and its incompatibility problems. That is why a third standard of syndication was born.

The atom format started in June of 2003. It was adopted by the Internet Engineering task Force or IETF. This format was made to solve the shortcomings of the RSS versions that were released.

RFC 4287 states the proposition of Atom’s standardization.

- Strengths

Atom supporters claim that the strength of Atom relies on:

1.    Use of standard features of XML;
2.    The presence of a payload container capable of handling various content types.

With Atom, owners can actually monitor more sites in lesser time.

- Uses of Atom

Atom, like any other syndication formats, is used on sites that update periodically. These items include web logging, advertisement, marketing, news and bug reports.

- Atom and RSS: What’s the deal?

Atom included features that are not present or mandatory in RSS such as:

-    XML schema
-    auto discovery
-    XML name space
-    unique global ID
-    payload container
-    separate content and summary entities
-    openness to modification and standardization

Now that you know the definitions of XML, RSS and Atom, you will never have to wonder why these things are places in certain websites.