4 Wordpress Plugins to Make Your Blog a Fast Mean Machine

Blogging Tips For the Fastest Blog on the Racecourse

Wordpress Plugins and FireFox Add-Ons

This blog is always a work-in-progress.  Since I switched to Wordpress, I’ve become plug-in happy – there are so many Wordpress plugins that can enhance a site’s performance.

If you’re thinking of starting a blog (or perhaps are already an established blogger) and may be wondering whether you should be using Blogger or Wordpress – Trisha and Kim from Top Mom Blogger offer a great explanation of the differences.

Should you make the decision to switch to Wordpress – be sure to sign up for the Wordpress Orientation Classes offered by Kelly McCausey.

I’d like to share a few plug-ins that I’ve recently added, that make my blog a smooth-running machine (usually.)

1) WordPress Gzip – This is a plugin that essentially compresses and zips the text on your pages.  If you’re familiar with Microsoft Word, I make use of the “shrink to fit” button quite often when I’m preparing documents.  It allows me to fit that last sentence or two onto one page.

Find at: GZIP

From the site:

I’ve found that letting WordPress gzip pages significantly improves performance, typically slashing the size of the text to a fourth. For my home page, that’s a 30% reduction of total page size—including images, ads, etc. A 30% reduction in bandwidth is nothing to sniff at.

2)  WP Super Cache saves your recently viewed pages, allowing them to be accessed more quickly by readers.  There’s also the ability for you to manually clear the cache, or to set functions as to when it should be cleared.

WP Super Cache is a static caching plugin for WordPress. It generates html files that are served directly by Apache without processing comparatively heavy PHP scripts. By using this plugin you will speed up your WordPress blog significantly.

Find at: WP Super Cache

3)  Link Cloaker – If you monetize your blog and have affiliate links of any type that aren’t cloaked, you may be losing out on affiliate commissions.  It’s happened to me in the past.   If you don’t cloak your links, they’ll show up in the URL whenever someone clicks over to your hop page.

This Wordpress plugin is an excellent add-on that not only cloaks your links, but tracks the click-throughs to see how each affiliate link is performing.

Find at: Link Cloaker

4) TTFTitles WordPress plugin enables me to have my own font listed on my post titles.  Right now, I’m using the Miama font, which matches the font on the header of Moomette’s Magnificents.

This plugin lets you use images to replace the titles of your posts, thus circumventing the problem of guessing what fonts your end-users might have installed.

Eve, from Designing With Eve clued me into this wp plug-in.  Eve, a fellow WAHM, has been designing websites since 1998 and has a degree in computer programming and design.   She recently opened up her new design services company and will be redesigning my recipe blog for me – Moomettesgram’s Favorite Recipes – so watch for my announcement when it’s up and running!  Be sure to check out Eve’s design porfolio!

Find at: TTFTitles

5)  WiseStamp – Lastly, this isn’t a Wordpress plugin tip – but be sure to check out the new Fire Fox browser addon that enables you to customize your email signature by adding your social networking buttons, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN and Friendfeed to it!

Hat Tip to: Blogging Basics 101

If you found these tips helpful, please let me know!  Happy Blogging!

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Twitter
@Moomettes

Hi, I see you're new here! You may want to want get eMail Updates to receive my Newsletter or RSS feed for the latest Work-At-Home Mom advice, Social Networking Tips, Giveaways, and Reviews. You can also sign up for my RSS feed by clicking the chicklet banner. If you're already a subscriber, thank you.

Blog Hop Time Again at Friday Follow

More Followers!

It’s the 4th Friday Follow Blog Hop going on!

Spread the word about Friday Follow by grabbing the button for your blog and come celebrate again every Friday.  Feel free to also send out a tweet, blog, stumble or share the news in your own special way!

On Fridays this meme is a great way to meet new friends and get more blog followers! Welcome to the second Follow Friday Celebration hosted by One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapades!   They invite you to join them every Friday to get more blog followers and to follow other interesting blogs. It is all about sharing and having fun.

• Link up your blog name and URL using the MckLinky below. Only need to add on one blog to be seen on all the blog hops.
• Follow the Friday Follow hostesses listed in the first 3 slots. They will follow you back.
• Follow as many blogs as you’d like to have followers
• Comment on the blogs telling them you’re from Friday Follow
• Follow back when you get a new follower through Friday Follow

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Twitter
@Moomettes

Pepsi Refresh Project: Giving Back to Community Projects

Help Make Communities Better

Pepsi can help make their – and your friends’ and families’ – ideas happen with the Pepsi Refresh Project.

Our family has always been pet-friendly.  We had a purebred Black Lab before the girls were born and as they were growing up.  Now I have a grand-dog, also a Black Labrador.

My own Lab was leash-trained, and didn’t roam freely, even in our own backyard.  The grand-dog, however, was trained off-leash, feels quite at ease responding to commands, and is quite social with other dogs and people.

Through combined efforts and donations, my town recently opened a dog park. Dog Parks are becoming more and more popular. Not only  are they fun for our dogs but , but are also a great place for humans to interact. They provide a place for dogs to run off leash and socialize with other dogs, as well as allowing for owners to socialize at the same time.

Unfortunately not all communities have Dog Parks available for our canine friends.

I’ve been asked to let you know that through the Pepsi Refresh Project, Pepsi will give away more than $20 million dollars to fund projects – both big and small – that help make communities better. The company invested significant resources, and opted not to advertise at the Superbowl this year, in order to support meaningful social engagement.

Through grass-roots community effort, our town has also upgraded a local playground to make it more handicapped accessible as well as added new lights for the football field at the high school.  Neighboring towns were able to build a skateboard park, and another one built new sports fields for youth lacrosse, baseball and football programs.

Pepsi wants to hear what needs they can help fulfill for you and your community.

Each month, you have the opportunity to submit a project in one of six categories:

• health
• arts & culture
• food & shelter
• the planet
• neighborhood
• education.

At the end of the month, Pepsi will post the top submissions on their website and let the public vote on who should win grants ranging from $5,000 to $250,000 (totaling up to $1.3 million dollars!)

Lauren Hebart, Mom and CMO of Sparking Brands at Pepsi was interviewed and states:

Why is Pepsi Refresh Unique?
The program is unique because it puts the power in the hands of the consumer. Individuals submit their ideas and then the nation votes on the idea that moves them the most. This is done in a very ground up way. Essentially, we’ve democratized the process.

As a Mom what types of lessons do you hope children learn by getting involved in community projects?
Parents want to instill good values in their children and encourage them to act on their ideas and beliefs. As a Mom myself, I’ve shared this program with other moms in my community and have found that it sparks a cord with everyone. I’ve also seen my own children get very excited about it. I think it just feels right to them

If you and your family have a fantastic idea for an improvement you’d like to see in your community, submit it for consideration for the March round of grants.

When I do drink soda, Pepsi is my beverage of choice.  You can connect with the Pepsi Refresh program via Twitter (@pepsi) or on Facebook

Vote for your favorite submissions for February’s grants at RefreshEverything.com

There are many creative, fun and unique meaningful ways to give back, and Mom Central thinks it’s fantastic that Pepsi wants to help.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Pepsi Refresh. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Twitter
@Moomettes

Land a Job With These 9 Job Search Tips

Career Choices

Each day news sites such as CNN, or MSNB, along with local and national print newspapers are featuring articles regarding unemployment figures in the USA.

You or a family member might even be out of work yourself.  We all know people who are unemployed or underemployed. Unless you already know absolutely what field you’d like to work in, do some research on the alternative career choices.

Start a list of potential career choices.  Explore the possibility of turning your hobby into a career.  Are you a wine connoisseur?  Recently I did a post about how I’m a new aficionado of Ice Wine that my brother helped me to discover.  You might look into wine jobs. Then thoroughly investigate each one and find out what the job tasks are and what training and/or skills are necessary.  You should be able to narrow your list down the more information you discover.

Searching for a new job is becoming a common occurrence these days what with all the layoffs from companies downsizing or going out of business.

However,  searching for a job doesn’t need to be as painful as you might envision it, and there are definitely things you can do to make it go smoother.  Here are some job searching tips:

Treat job hunting like a full time job.

Work on your search every day, just as you would a job.  Looking for a job is a full time job. If you need to, get dressed in work attire, sit down in your home office, and get to work making phone calls, searching online, networking, sending out your resume and cover letter, etc.

Don’t wait to find a job.

Even if you’ve been given a nice severance package, don’t procrastinate.  You don’t know how long it’ll take to find a job and you don’t want to run out of benefits before you nail a new position.  If you have experience in the beverage jobs field as a barista, research transferring those marketing talents into the coffee jobs field.

You might find that you need to take some courses at a local community college to get yourself up to speed in your industry, and the sooner you find this out in your job search, the better off you’ll be.

Create an e-resume.

If you make a master e-resume, then you can personalize and change it to match different job positions that you’re applying for. It’s easier to do if you can work off a master copy rather than recreate a new resume each time. Likewise, you can do the same for your cover letter.

Educate yourself.

Learn as much as you can about the company you’re applying to so you can showcase your knowledge and gear your resume and interview answers around the company’s mission statement, business direction,  and  philosophies.

Get online and offline help.

Don’t be afraid to use all the resources available to you such as resume posting services, headhunters, job search emails, job boards, career counselors, State Department of Labor, etc.

Have your reference info handy.

Have a paper with all pertinent facts – names of at least 3 references; the companies they’re employed by; their business titles; plus email addresses and phone numbers.  When you’re going through the interview process, give your references a heads-up that they may be contacted shortly.  That way they don’t get a phone call out of the blue and they’ll be prepared to speak to your strengths.

Research and target your market.

Find out where the jobs are in your market.  Is it a growing field with new opportunities that might interest you?  Is one company merging with another? Is the current CEO retiring?  Do your research and keep abreast of current events and go after the position you want.

Spread your net.

Tell everyone from friends, neighbors, past co-workers, to fellow church and organization members that you’re looking.  Use social media like LinkedIn to list your credentials and resume.  Network with LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.  Many people have found jobs via Twitter by simply tweeting what their area of expertise is and asking people to “retweet” their message.

Have a plan.

Start a spreadsheet to record what you’ve done and where you are with your searching.  That way you wont’ duplicate your efforts and you’ll  have a clear idea of what to do next.  Being proactive will help you from becoming too discouraged.

Searching for a new job after you’ve been let go sometimes feels like the end of the world, but there are ways you can speed up the process and become successful at finding the job you want.

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Twitter
@Moomettes

Smartphones To Network Your Way to a Better Job

Use Your Connections

It’s a fact that many of the prime jobs never get posted publicly and are filled quickly.  Yes, some of these are filled in-house by present employees who have been groomed for the job, but that’s not the case with all of them. Many are filled through informal networking paths.  It’s a fact that networking can play an important part in finding a good position.

Offline

When you think of networking, you probably picture informal face to face conversations and handshakes.  Traditionally, this is how it’s been done, and it still works today.

When it comes to looking for employment, consider all the people you know and all the relationships you have.

• fraternities and sororities

• civic organizations

• sports-related such as your bowling league

• college alumni association

• previous employers

• coworkers, past and present

• work-related organizations

• neighbors

• family

• fellow church members

• your kids’ friends’ parents

• your hair stylist, doctor, dentist, lawyer, accountant

Some possible paths to a new job are obvious, but the improbable happens too. Open up all lines of communication.

Online

Online there’s a whole networking world called social media at your fingertips.  This opens up so many more avenues for you, but if you’re not already involved in social media, it’ll require a little work and time to get set up and growing your networks.

The benefits are many; recruiters can find you, you can establish your brand, beneficial connections can be made, and those hiring can see you’re up to speed with technology.

LinkedIn is considered one of the best career networking tools online.  You create a profile with your professional accomplishments.  You find and get found by others you already know in business and then others who want to connect with you based on your profile.  You can see how your network web grows exponentially as your connection’s connections become your connections, and so on.

Twitter can be used as a business tool or a social tool, but it’s best not to mix them. Basically, you join; gather followers in your field of interest (the more the better if you’re job hunting), build relationships and send “tweets” or messages in 140 characters or less. It’s not a bad idea to let some of the better aspects of your personality show through, but know that anybody, including potential employers, can read your tweets. Be sure to tweet that you’re searching for a job.

Facebook is another social media tool that’s free to use. Again, it’s best not to use your profile for both business and personal. Create your profile as you would a resume, and consider that millions of people can potentially view it. Posting a picture of yourself is up to you. If you do, make it a professional head shot.

The basis of networking is building relationships that benefit both you and others.  It’s not a one way street. The best time to establish these relationships is before you’re looking for a job, but it can be done after the fact too.  Use networking, offline or online, to help you land that job before it gets posted to the public.

Smart phones today play an important part in helping us to keep up-to-date with our contacts.  Make it a New Year’s Resolution to check out a cell phone trade in and upgrade your existing phone to take advantage of all the applications that iPhones and Blackberry’s provide.  With the new applications, you’ll be able to access your e-mail, Facebook, LinkedIn Twitter and other social media networking sites accounts.

At Flipswap, you’ll be able to sell or trade in YOUR old cell phone and help to reduce eWaste on the planet.  You can also recycle or take advantage of a cell phone donation.  Flipswap offers fast and free shipping.

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Twitter
@Moomettes

Join the Carolers and Win: Carol-Oke and Help Toys for Tots

YouTube Caroling

Join the Carolers and Win!

This Holiday Season check out the “Carol-Oke” party going on at youtube.com/jointhecarolers. There you can upload a video of you singing your favorite holiday carol (maybe even one with an off-price twist!), to help T.J. Maxx and Marshalls raise money for Toys for Tots, and have the chance to win a shopping spree in the process!

Thanks to T.J. Maxx and Marshalls I was able to participate in a “Secret Santa” with my friends from the blogosphere.

I’ve been sent the name of my “Secret Santa” friend. Although I’ve been familiar with her blog for quite some time, and we’re following each other on Twitter, I’ve never met her in person.  I think I have a pretty good idea of what she’d like.

At Marshalls and T.J. Maxx, you’ll always find a selection of beauty products, fashion and Holiday accessories including Italian leather gloves, knit wool hats, cashmere scarves, oversized handbags and more, are all available to keep the people on your list fashionable and warm.

Also available are all the hottest toys that would make even Santa’s helpers jealous, including Transformers, Barbies, My Little Pony and Cars!

They feature everything from from MP3 accessories, electric razors and golf accessories to electronics to golf balls to gourmet food ingredients – chocolates and coffees and the Twilight series for that book lover – there’s something for everyone!

There’s still time to shop online in preparation for your upcoming Winter Vacation Getaway Travel!- cruise season is right around the corner!

Happy Holidays!

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Twitter
@Moomettes

How To Brand Your Twitter Profile and Monetize Your Tweets

Marketing Strategies

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Sponsored Tweets. All opinions are 100% mine.

Twitter profiles are a window into the life and business of each user. Without a proper and effective profile, jobs can be lost, money can be washed down the drain and clients can be swayed to another profile that provides more of what they’re looking for. A Twitter profile is just like a marketing campaign for a company – a proper Twitter profile should effectively provide a snapshot of your brand.

Twitter is just another tool to implement your marketing strategy on the web. As such, the same branding rules apply to your Twitter profile. Your profile doesn’t just include the wording on your Twitter account, but also the background on your Twitter page. There are applications you can use to develop free backgrounds for your Twitter account if you’re on a budget, but in order to properly brand yourself, spend the extra money and develop a personal background the same way you would for a blog or website. It’ll pay dividends in the end.

Here are a few tips to follow when creating your profile on Twitter to help develop your brand.

• Be Consistent – Keep your message steady

• Add Pictures – Many people want to see actual pictures of who they are talking to, not avatars or logos.

• Frequently Update – When you have something new, make sure you update your profile.

• Give Readily Available Contact Information – When branding yourself or your business on Twitter, one of the most important things is to make sure people know how to get in touch with you.

• Stick with Simplicity – While you only have 140 characters to develop your profile, treat it as though it were SEO copy.

• Value Time – Take your time.  Developing your brand on a new social media tool can be exciting and a lot of fun.

Branding your blog or business took time, possibly even months. Give your Twitter profile the same attention you did to the initial branding efforts and it’ll  pay off.

Once you have everything in your Twitter profile set up properly, it’ll be easier to monetize your twitter account and sign up for sponsored tweets.

SponsoredTweets.com is an online marketplace that allows you to connect directly with advertisers to engage in sponsored conversations through Twitter. Advertisers compensate you with cash in exchange for a sponsored tweet. This is a place were people big and small can make money tweeting. There’s also a referral program you can participate in.

You’ll be able to set your price and choose your offers. Tweeters remain in complete control of their accounts at all times.  Additionally, each and every tweet must be manually reviewed and approved by each tweeter. Izea Sponsored Tweets also adheres to a strict Code of Ethics, which includes complete transparency and Disclosure.

To provide for your safety, Sponsored Tweets authenticates through Twitter’s OAuth process and doesn’t collect or store your password.

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Twitter
@Moomettes

Charter High Speed Sweepstakes – Win a 2010 Camaro SS

Win A Camaro

My husband and I started dating when we were 18.  Over the course of these 35 years, he’s had many cars.  The one that we remember best is the one we had when we got married.

My then-boyfriend, now-husband had taken over the payments of his brother’s 1972 Camero.  It was a 2-door, brown standard.  I don’t think it had air conditioning, but it was so long ago, I don’t remember!  All I know is I can’t drive a standard well, and actually drove it only a few times.

I’m short, and the seats weren’t adjustable like they are now, so I really had a tough time reaching the pedals and the clutch.  When we left our reception, his friends had written “Just Married” all over it with shaving cream- papered it, and generally, just did a number on it.  We actually took it to the carwash while we were still in our tux and wedding gown before we left for the airport!

Several months ago I did a post about how Charter was giving away a laptop every day for two months.  Now Charter switched to giving away a brand new car – a Camaro! And not just any Camaro, the hard to get 2010 Camaro 2SS. (Sales Tax included in the prize)

The contest runs from September 15 through November 26 at noon.

In addition, you can get a $100 gift card when you buy 3 Charter services, $50 gift card for 2 services, and $25 gift card when you buy 1 Charter service!

Charter loves fast. And this new 426 hp Camaro is one of the fastest and hardest cars to get in North America, and they’re giving it away free.

Charter services have always brought your home to life, now they’re bringing your garage to life!

The Gift Cards Charter is giving away are from major retailers in clothing, home and accessories, restaurants and more!

Visit Camaro Sweepstakes to register today and to view the complete rules, specifications on the Camaro and more.

Charter continues to outpace the industry in creative and newsworthy contests from giving away an HDTV every day to Xbox 360s to a Hybrid Car last year.

Follow Charter on Twitter

Follow Charter on Facebook

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Twitter
@Moomettes

Will You Stay Or Will You Go? Find Missing Friends

Our country has become a very mobile and transient society.

Years ago, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to be born and live in the same town their entire life.  Nowadays people move from state-to-state at the drop of a hat.  Parents may be on one coast, and the kids and grandkids on another coast.

I’m one of those people who has lived in the same town my entire life.  I’ve watched my friends leave, one by one.  Some of my high school friends I’ve kept in contact with, while others have drifted away.

I did go away to college and had a roommate and friends from all over the country.  I often think I’d like to reconnect with my roommate and friends to find out what has transpired in those almost 40 years since we’ve first met.

Now there’s a site called MyLife where you can find everyone all in one place.  MyLife uses sources from Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr and other sites to try to locate everyone you knew at one point in your life.

I tried to locate my roommate from college, but would have had to have a membership to pursue the search further.

If there’s someone you’d like to connect with – a childhood friend, stray family member, college buddy, or the one that got away – give this site a try.

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Twitter
@Moomettes

Lands’ End FeelGood Donations and Twitter Party

Lands’ End

Upcoming FeelGood Twitter Party

Several years ago I was visiting my friend in New Hampshire, and as we spoke she was crocheting infant hats for the neo-natal unit at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital.  They were so cute – and didn’t use much yarn to make.  Several could easily be made in the course of a night while watching TV.

That whole winter I occupied my time making the hats for charity, and shared the pattern with my coworkers.  I sent up bags full for my friend to bring to Dartmouth.

I’d like to let you know about the Lands’ End FeelGood Campaign.  This initiative is a terrific way to shop and feel good about giving to homeless individuals and families across the country.  For every Lands’ End FeelGood sweater purchased, the company will donate signature FeelGood yarn to One Heart Foundation’s Warming Families, a nationwide knitting charity.  Lands’ End expects to donate thousands of pounds of yarn to the charity where volunteers plan to knit up to 25,000 hats and other items to warm the homeless and displaced.

One cone of FeelGood yarn is enough to make 28 hats.

Help us spread the word about the campaign and the FeelGood collection.  For every blog post  about the campaign from now until September 16th, we will donate a cone of FeelGood yarn to volunteer knitters at Warming Families.  One cone of FeelGood yarn is enough to make 28 hats to be donated to homeless individuals in communities across the country.

Embed Video – We’ve also created a knitting “how to” video you can embed featuring Vickie Howell, best-selling craft author and host of TV’s Knitty Gritty.  It can be found on the Lands’ End YouTube channel here: Lands End.

Send a Link – Once your post is complete, please send a copy to TwitterParty@landsend.com.  We will update everyone on how many cones of yarn were contributed as a result of your efforts at the FeelGood Twitter Party on September 16th.

Your Chance to Win
When you send your post to TwitterParty@landsend.com you will automatically be entered for a chance to win the FeelGood collection including two sweaters and coordinating accessories (valued at $200).  Three winners will be chosen at random and contacted on September 17th.

Join Lands’ End and Vickie Howell, host of TV’s Knitty Gritty for a Twitter Party to celebrate the kickoff of the FeelGood Campaign.  The party will feature more than 20 fun giveaways ranging from the FeelGood sweater and Vickie Howell’s books to Lands’ End Gift Cards and FeelGood yarn.

Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Time: 7pm until 9 pm CST

Location: #landsend

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Twitter
@Moomettes

Next Page »