Online Colleges

I put off starting a blog for a long time because I thought it would be hard. I thought it would be technical. I thought I'd have to install scripts and tear my hair out getting them to work. At that point, most of what I'd read about blogs and RSS was just so much geek-speak.

Was I ever wrong!

When I finally got the courage to give it a go, I went to blogger.com and signed up for an account. To my amazement, I had a blog set up in about 5 minutes. My first post was uploaded to my site about 10 minutes later.

The only thing even remotely technical I was required to do was enter the FTP settings for the website my blog would be published on. But even that wasn't a requirement. With Blogger, you can set up a blog on their site, Blogspot, and not even worry about FTP settings.

Since then, I've started 3 Blogger blogs on different sites. Blogger remains one of the most popular blog applications in the world simply because it is so simple to use and set up. If you're a technophobe or don't have the time to learn something completely new, I would urge you to drop by Blogger.com and take a look. You could be blogging - and enjoying the benefits - almost immediately.

Another very simple blogging tool is Wordpress. This blog is my first Wordpress blog, and I'm very impressed with how powerful it is - as well as simple.

Wordpress is installed on your own website, but don't let that stop you. Most hosts that have Cpanel already have Wordpress ready for you to install. Look in your Cpanel for the Fantastico application, click it open, and then choose Wordpress to install. It will automatically install it on your site for you, and you can start blogging right away.

If your host doesn't already include Wordpress in the scripts on your server, you can still pick it up at:

http://wordpress.org/

Then go to the Wordpress Wiki for instructions on how to install it in 5 minutes:

http://wiki.wordpress.org/?pagename=5MinuteInstallation

Wordpress is free, open-source software. It is very simple to install, even for technophobes, and has a lot of online documentation. There are also many sites with free Wordpress add-ons and templates. I'm using a template for this blog that I picked up at Alex King's site:

http://www.alexking.org/index.php?content=software/wordpress/styles.php

The Wordpress Wiki is a wealth of information on all things Wordpress, including installation instructions, help files, a long list of template sites, and all kinds of hacks and extras you can use to modify your blog and make it original.

If you're a Wordpress user, another place to visit is the Wordpress discussion forum:

http://wordpress.org/support/

If you're a new blogger, both Wordpress and Blogger are very user friendly. There isn't a long learning curve. And you won't have to learn any new technical tricks. Why not give one of them a try?

For more tips and ideas on how to make money blogging, be sure to visit my "Why Marketers Should Blog" weblog at (what else) http://www.WhyMarketersShouldBlog.com

Interested in taking some online surveys for money? It's a great business to get into as the profit potential is great and the work involved is so simple even a caveman could do it! You see, large corporations doing market research need our input on whether their new ideas are going to be a hit or fail miserably, this will save them many millions of dollars and thus they are willing to dish out millions for this intel. The survey sites act as the middleman in this all and offer us a share in the profits, it's as simple as that! So now that you have a quick overview, here are some extra tips to keep in mind.

if looking to take online surveys for money, always be cautious with who you sign up with. There are some scam sites out there that you need to stay clear of and one way of determining if a site is worth listening to is by paying attention to who they deal with. In my experience, the companies who have dealings with Fortune 500 companies have been pretty decent survey sites with quality support and good service. Pay attention to see if the site mentions who their clients are. If they are big names like Walmart, Ebay or Nike, you'll have more of a reason to listen to what they have to say.

Another thing you'll want to ask yourself if you want to take online surveys for money is how long has the company been in business. Now this can be a double edged sword because there are companies that have been in business for 8 years but the quality of service has dropped over the years and then there are new start-ups that are eager to please that are providing exceptional service and money making opportunities. You have to use your discretion here and pay attention to the vibe you're getting from the site. Does it look like they've spent a great deal of time and effort into the design of the webpage or does it look like it's outdated and in need of an update? These first impressions really do count for something.

Did you know you can get paid big time with paid surveys on line? To find out how to earn a guaranteed $135 per day, check out: Online Survey Reviews