Your Blog Questions

I just received a question from Nancy who asks:

How do I place a blog on an existing website?

This question comes from Robert:

Hey Paul…..What software are you using to make your videos?

Help me out and send me a link.

Hi Robert. The software that I like to use is a product from Techsmith called  Camtasia Studio.  In my opinion it is really the best screen recording utility out there.  I also use their video hosting service called Screencast.com.  If you combine the two products, I can’t imagine any easier way to create and share video tutorials on a blog or website

Now, I do have to warn you that these products aren’t cheap.  Camtasia Studio is currently selling for $299 and a basic account on Screencast.com is $70 a year (maybe that is why I don’t make any money) but if you create a lot of video tutorials for a lot of different websites (like me) than it is definitely worth it.  One alternative might be to try Jing.  Jing is a free program also offered by Techsmith.  It allows you to capture images, record video and share it online.  It is optimized to utilize Screencast.com (of course) but you could use your own host and server as well.  Jing might be limited in features but it far makes up for it in price ($0).  You can also get a free 60 day trial of Screencast.com.  Perhaps you could make enough money from creating tutorials in Jing in order to pay for the video hosting service.

Let me know if you want a video tutorial showing you how to make a video tutorial (?) I’ll be more than happy to help.

This question comes from Monika:

Paul, I have become an affiliate at Amazon.com. How do I place the affiliate link on my blog? Thanks for your help.

Hi Monika.  What you want to do is:

1) Sign-in to your associate account on amazon.com (http://affiliate-program.amazon.com)

2) Click on the “Build Links / Widget” located on the left sidebar.  Then look for “Classic Links”.

3) Click on “Product Links” to link to specific products in the Amazon catalog

4) Enter the product name or find the ISBN number of the product you are wanting to recommend and click “Go”

5) Click “Get HTML” next to the product that matches your search.

6. Paste this code into your webpage or blog post:

I have also created a short video tutorial showing you how to do this:

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Hi, I got a call tonight from Jordan wondering how to register a custom domain. I made a quick tutorial showing him how I registered the domain, “DigitalMappingBlog.com” I used the website domaintools.com and their partner spry.com. There are lots of places and sites to use for domain name registration. A lot of them have very similar features. A couple of popular ones are godaddy.com and networksolutions.com.

Enjoy the video tutorial and use the “leave comment” button to let me know about any further questions you have about how to register a domain name. Also, if you have any questions about blogging, please use the “ask me a question” link at the top of the page. Thanks.

I received a blogging question this evening from Monika who uses a self-hosted Wordpress platform for her blog.  Her question is:

Paul, when I place a URL in my page writing, it does not hyperlink. It needs to be cut and pasted by visitors, which is awkward. What do I need to do to make this a “workable, clickable” link? Thanks for your help.

Hi Monika!  In order to create “workable clickable” link you need to create a “hyperlink”.  Hyperlinks are really the backbone and foundation of the web.  One webpage linking to another webpage.  In order to do this we need to take ordinary text and turn it into a link. Please watch this tutorial below for a demonstration of how to do this using Wordpress.  If you have any other questions, please comment on this post and I’ll do my best to help.

This question comes from Jordan:

How do i put google ads on my website?

My friend Jordan is using a new free service called BlinkWeb to edit and publish his website.  Blinkweb is the creation of Matt and Brad Callen, two internet marketing masterminds.  They have made an amazing online webpage editor that makes it painfully easily to create your own webpages, sales page and blog.  Jordan, who is new to internet marketing, is interested in monetizing his newly published website.  I showed Jordan how to sign up for a Google Adsense account.  He received an email letting him know that his Adsense application has been approved and now he his wanting to know…well, what do I do know?

I’ve created a short tutorial showing Jordan how to find his publisher ID for his account and how to insert that into the Google Ad module for Blinkweb.

This question came from Monika:

Help! I added some more links and now the links look messed up on the bottom. Too much wording maybe? How do I edit my links and remove the description

Thanks for the question Monika. You can edit and change your links by going to Manage—>Links in your Wordpress admin section. There you will find all the options necessary for adding, deleting and modifying the links. Please watch this video tutorial for more information and feel free to comment on this post if you have any further questions.

This question comes from Jordan:

Paul, how do I make it so you can Google my website

Great question Jordan.

In order for Google to find your site, you have to submit your URL to Google. The URL is the website address of your website. It bascially a way of introducing your site to Google’s Index or list of sites. Not every site is known, so you have to add it. I’ve created a short tutorial showing you the fastest and quickest way to add your site to Google’s index.

Good luck Jordan.

This question comes from Brenda

Help! I was trying to change my wordpress password but somehow reset it or lost it! How do I change it or get it back?

Hi Brenda.

The best way to reset your password is to go to the Log-In page for your wordpress admin section and click the link that says, “help! I’ve lost my password” It will then send you a link to your email address to reset your password. You’ll have to check your email again for the new password.

I’ve created a tutorial showing you how to do that. Let me know if you have any other problems:

This question came from Monika.

How do I upload a file to my website using Scribefire?

First of all, scribefire is an extension for the internet browser firefox. With Scribefire you can blog directly to your site with a editor window that open at the bottom of your screen. The nice thing about Scribefire is that you can post to many different websites without having to login at the administrator section of the site. You have a full featured text and blogger editor right from within Firefox.

You can upload a file using Scribe by right clicking in the editor window.

Another dialog box will open where you can select the image file you are wanting to uplaod.

Hope that answers your question Monika!