I had so much frustration trying to find a good cloaker to protect my affiliate data.

Fortunately James Schramko told me about the affiliate link cloaker below.

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WordPress Security is Essential

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I’ve been searching for a simple, affordable web analytics service so I can monitor my sites easily.

I use Google Analytics, and often check the stats that my Hostgator account provides, but I’m never satisfied with the way that the data displays or the limitations for what those services scan.

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Chances are good that you’re reading this post because of what I learned on:

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Keeping your mind sharp and flexible can be challenging when you’re building an online business. Getting overwhelmed and bogged down with details is common and can be very fatiguing.

There is an endless supply of tips and techniques for boosting mental stamina.

But I’m not going to go over any of the mental and motivational exercises that people usually talk about (and are rather short lived).

Instead I’m going to tell you about something that might seem utterly strange to get the same effect much more easily with additional health benefits. It’s…

Healthy Fasting

TRANSLATION: not eating for an extended period from time to time intermittently

Yes, you can boost your mental stamina by NOT eating

Healthy fasting, otherwise known as intermittent fasting, has many health benefits that are backed up by properly conducted scientific experiments – not just anecdotal reports or corporate funded research. Fat loss is one of the most talked about benefits, but mental sharpness is also on the list.

Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon, MS

Is the BEST book I’ve read on healthy intermittent fasting

Eat Stop Eat is an ebook – you can download it and read it right after purchasing.

I found out about this book because I’ve been an avid health researcher for many years.  Intermittent fasting is something that works really well for me so I have done it in various forms for a long time.

Brad Pilon coined the term ‘Flexible Intermittent Fasting’ for his method because usually intermittent fasting is something that people do every second day which can be hard to stick with.

Intermittent fasting the ESE way  is FAR easier and can naturally fit into your life compared to what most other intermittent fasting advocates advise.

In fact I was doing it when I wrote this post – that was a fasting day for me. I can be a rather slow writer but I was having a really easy time writing because my mind was so with-it.

Fit, happy & mentally with-it Eat Stop Eat author Brad Pilon & his baby daughter

Choose the Package that Suits You Best

• If you only want to know the basics or plan on reading Brad’s blogs A LOT you might be fine with just the book

• If you don’t have time to visit Brad’s sites a lot and need more help to get going, I recommend the Deluxe or Advanced package – they both include Brad’s new book on protein and make the science and methodology even more clear

The mental clarity and energy on fasting days can be amazing, not to mention the benefits of fat loss, higher physical energy and preservation or even increase in muscle mass as long as some form of resistance training is done during the week.

This could make a huge difference for you, like it has for me, boosting your productivity, mood and improving your body composition.

~ Lillea Woodlyns

PS I don’t have anything negative to say about the book except that it doesn’t have enough information about how to make sure you eat in a balanced way in between fasts (but that is covered by the other packages Brad offers and his blogs so it’s hardly a concern).

PPS I’d love to hear from anyone who tries this!

I switched to a Mac recently after using PCs for many years.

Before the switch, I checked the internet marketing and design programs on my PC to see if they were Mac compatible or had Mac equivalents.

With the ones that weren’t going to work in the Mac OS, I discovered that I could run them by putting Windows on the Mac with  Parallels Desktop 5.0 . This has worked quite well, and has had better reviews and test results than it’s main competitor of late.

However, ideally programs are Mac compatible.

Popular Internet Marketing Software that Also Runs on Macs

1. Almost everything that is WordPress related (like plugins) will work on Macs because the software is usually uploaded to your site, not run from your computer. To learn how to use WordPress for marketing see:  WordPress-for-Internet-Marketers-Review

2. Market Samurai - fantastic keyword tool that gets better and better almost weekly

3. Skype - allows you to call your clients and cronies computer-to-computer for free, or for very low rates to phones.

4. Audacity - free audio editing and recording software to create podcasts, Mp3s, CDs and more. If you want a good microphone, my favorite USB microphone will work on Macs. See Best-Usb-Microphone

4. Mozilla FireFox is my favorite browser with GREAT add-ons for internet marketers.

See: Best-Browser-and-7-Simple-Add-Ons

5. FileZilla is a free FTP software for uploading and managing files on websites

6. RoboForm - doesn’t run on the Mac computers, but it DOES run on iPhone or IPod Touch so that’s handy. This program securely automates online password entering and form filling. No need to remember your passwords again! If you have several websites/blogs, belong to forums, or do anything that requires a password online and you want security, this is super.

7. GetResponse - my autoresponder. Like most autoresponder services, it’s managed online so there is need to download anything. Read Best-Autoresponder-Review

8. Camtasia Studio - the Mac version was released recently for a great price. It’s cheaper than the PC version! This is popular screen recording software that is often used for software tutorials.

9. VLC player - great multi- media player that allows you to play many different file types. Great on both PCs and Macs!

~ Lillea Woodlyns

If you aren’t using the popular, award winning browser Mozilla Firefox to surf the net, give it a try. 

(if you’re already using Firefox, skip to ‘7 Free Add-ons I recommend‘ later in this post)

I’ve been using Firefox for at least 4 years and can’t imagine using anything else

Free, fast & flexible  – it runs on Windows, Mac and Linux – Firefox is easy to install and optimize.

It’s also very secure (tired of all of those IE security updates?)

How to import bookmarks from your current browser into Firefox:

Firefox: Importing Bookmarks FAQs

And make Firefox your default browser

Make Firefox the Default Browser

7 Free Firefox Add-Ons I Recommend

Add-ons make Firefox go from great to amazing. They’re simple to install.

1. Roboform

One of my all-time favorite internet tools. Incredible time saver.

Roboform automates online password entering and form filling. If you enter online contests, have several websites/blogs, belong to forums, or do anything that requires having a password online, this tool can make a HUGE difference. It’s more flexible and secure than the feature that comes with Firefox by default.

You can get the free Roboform Firefox Toolbar here:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/750

Eventually I upgraded to the paid version, RoboForm Pro. I had collected too many passwords for the free version. If you experience the same thing, don’t worry. The price is fair considering what this software can do.

2. PDF Downloader

This is also available for Internet Explorer.  With this add-on you can easily choose how PDF files are handled by Firefox (download, open, convert to HTML web page for quicker viewing). You can even convert HTML web pages to PDF.

3. Any Color

There are many free ‘skins’ that you can download that allow you to change the look of Firefox – but I haven’t had much success with them. AnyColor allows me to keep things simple by only changing the colors in Firefox. I often start with Pink! or Bright Sky Blue and dabble from there.

4. DownThemAll!

Another great time saver. This add-on allows you to download all the links, images, etc. on a particular webpage at once. This saves you the hassle of right-clicking and selecting ‘save as’ for everything one by one.

5. UrlbarExt

This gives you many cool powers, such as the ability to unblock a filtered website, surf anonymously and shorten long urls with tinyurl.

6. Internet Explorer Tab for Firefox

Is a site not displaying properly in Firefox? For the rare time that happens, this add-on allows you to quickly switch to Internet Explorer within Firefox instead of loading it separately.

7. Web Developer

Programmers, designers and marketers will appreciate this one. There are many useful features for the average surfer too. You can decide which cookies Firefox accepts, check color codes on sites (great if you want to duplicate them for your own site design), edit code, hide images on pages (this can improve the readability of some sites tremendously! Try it and see) and much more.

Bonus recommendation: Firefox Portable Edition

This isn’t an add-on technically, but I’m including it as a bonus.  I haven’t used it yet, but it’s ready and waiting on my desktop.

Firefox Portable Edition allows you to store Firefox on a USB device (the small keychain ones are handy).  This means that you’ll be able to bring your bookmarks wherever you go so you can access them on other computers. It’s very secure; it leaves no personal information on the machine you access it on. This is a particularly handy if you’re using public computers in places like libraries (which may be tracking everything you do).

What are your favorite add-ons and enhancements for Firefox?

~ Lillea Woodlyns

I focus on WordPress so often in my posts, but I want everyone who reads this to know that one of the reasons I’m online like this is because of web design software that I bought.

I used to think that building a professional looking website was a specialized skill and very expensive.

I’m not a programmer. I figured if I wanted a shot at it I’d have to learn HTML, PHP, etc. and struggle for months trying to understand complex graphics programs.  Because of this, the only online presence I had for years was as a moderator for a free Yahoo group!

Somewhere, somehow I heard about the best website software for beginners (and beyond) -  software that helped people create truly professional looking websites easily.

It also:

• optimized the sites for search engines
• had LOTS of attractive, pro looking templates (not just the usual clunky package you get with other programs)
• had a very friendly support forum
• wasn’t expensive.

I figured this was too good to be true. But after some careful research (I am the careful research queen – lol) AND lots of reading on the friendly forum, it was clear that it was true so I bought it:

XSitePro Website Design Software

Best Web Design Software

After watching several video tutorials, I put up a site for a grass roots political party within a few days.

It was amazing to have a tool that allowed me to do that without knowing HTML. I worked with HTML a little bit, but it wasn’t difficult because XSitePro simplified things so much and tutorials told me what to do.

I also invested in

XSitePro Cheat Sheet

XSite Pro Cheat Sheet

The author, James Schramko, reveals ‘secret’ tweaks and techniques that will give your sites an even better edge in the search engines than the default settings in XSite Pro.

James has numerous posts on the XSite Pro forum, and other marketing forums. He has a lot of integrity and brilliance. You’ll see me mention him from time to time.

XSitePro website design software is great for beginners like I was and anyone who wants to put up a professional looking website fairy quickly.

XSitePro has a special focus on SEO and makes it easy to monetize sites with things like Adsense, affiliate links, etc. But if you just want to put up an artsy site it work for that beautifully too.

Is there anything I don’t like about it? I don’t care for most of the free templates it comes with, but I’m fussy and I can edit the templates fairly easily or create my own so that isn’t a big deal.

I recommend XSite Pro and it’s cool companion, XSite Pro Cheat Sheet. They are a beginner’s dream, and beyond. Thank you very much, creators of XSite Pro and James Schramko, for helping me get online in a serious (yet fun) way.

~ Lillea Woodlyns

I was wasting a lot of time with trial & error before I read WordPress for Internet Marketers by Leanne King – a treasure trove of excellent tools and techniques that can help you transform your blog into something attractive and profitable.  It’s also one of the best resources I’ve found for information on reliable plugins!

Note: Many of the plugins below are free and recommended by Leanne King

1. Platinum SEO Pack is often cited as being better than the very popular All in One SEO plugin. It can greatly improves how your blog is indexed in search engines and is a must-have, unless you are using a premium theme that is already properly SEOd (and regularly updated to keep current with what search engines like).

2. OptinPop allows you to easily add a customized opt-in box that you can connect with one of the top 2 autoresponders I reviewed in my post Autoresponder Review – Top 2 Choices

However, I am far more keen on Robert Plank’s Popup Software which I’m using on this blog.

3. WP-SpamFree is a popular spam blocker that is easy to configure. If that isn’t enough to stop spam comments, considering adding SI Captcha.

4. Theme Tester is handy because having a great theme for your business blog is essential and you will probably end up switching themes more than once. With this plugin you can test different themes without affecting what your visitors see until you’re ready to make the change official.

5. Robots Meta is awesomely helpful. It allows you to  easily change which pages  in your blog are indexed in search engines (you don’t want download pages indexed, for example) and whether links in a post or on a page should be dofollow or nofollow.

6. Frame Busterthwarts attempts to load your site in a frame.

7. WP Database Backup helps you to backup your blog as often as you like. Backing up  regularly is wise for everyone, but it can be all the more critical if your blog is a source of income. This plugin makes it easy, allowing you to set how often the backup runs and where to send the file for safekeeping. You can read more about backing up WordPress here

8. Google XML Sitemapgenerates a special XML sitemap that helps search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask.com to index your blog.

9. TESTITmakes it possible to split test different posts within WordPress. You can write two versions of any post and see from within the WP Admin which post generated more clicks or which blog post inspires the most people to click through to other pages on your blog, other categories, other posts, what you have in your sidebar, etc.

10. Podcasting is a great way to get your message out. This plugin takes a file from your site or another site and adds it to an iTunes-based feed. It also includes a player so visitors can tune in on your blog. Having a good microphone is important.

11. Auto Social Poster Gold will auto bookmark your blog posts to over 30 bookmarking websites as soon as you click Publish. It also has a random submission option if you want to avoid being slapped for submitting to too many sites at once. This works far better than software like Web2Submitter in my opinion. I learned about this product from James Schramko.

Note: to learn about the best free and paid security plugins to protect your blog from malicious hackers, buy WP Defender

~ Lillea