Archive for the ‘Blogging for Business’ Category

WordPress has come a long way in the last couple of years.  One of the improvements I like best is the ease with which you can now add images to a blog post.  Now that it is so easy, there is almost no excuse to not add an image for every post… provided you have an appropriate one available!  Needless to say, most of my business posts aren’t going to have pretty pictures!

On the other hand, I do have posts where images would be appropriate, such as when I write about my vintage cookbooks.  It’s now very easy to add an image of the cookbook cover.  What would be even nicer, would be to be able to pretty up those images.  However, there hasn’t been an easy way to do that, until now…

Thomas is one of my favorite online friends. Part of it is the fact the he has a graphic design degree AND a programming degree… which make for an unlikely, but powerful combination.

His most recent project is a handy dandy little program the makes it VERY easy to dress up web graphics.

Called Tiger Web Graphics, this program allows you to import a web ready image and — in just a few mouse clicks — give it rounded corners, or make it look like a film strip, or a polaroid, or give it the serrated edge of a postage stamp.

It will also manipulate the image to give it perspective, add a reflection, or give it a drop shadow…

I use CorelDraw and CorelPhotoPaint for most of my work, simply because I need the powerful options that these programs offer, but, truth be told, I have only taken the time to learn what I need to do for the technical drawing and other applications I need.  I know that they will do many other wonderful things… but I simply can’t justify the time needed to learn how to do those things.

But now I don’t need to learn to do a lot of them!  Thomas has done the work for me!

One of the other reasons I like Thomas so much is because he understands the importance of providing good reference materials.  Tiger Web Graphics comes with an excellent 45 page PDF help file, explaining what you need to know to get started immediately.

Here is a link to check out the sales page.  Amazingly enough, this wonderful program is only $14.95!

Tiger Web Graphics

Let me be clear… this software is NOT designed to be photo editing software.  You need to start with an image that is already the proper size and has been prepared for the Web.  However, if you have that, you can add these wonderful effects in seconds.

If you look below, I took screenshots showing the three steps needed to access the help file. I played a little bit and added a different effect to each of the three images.

Tiger Web Graphics is a very powerful tool at a very small price!  I think you owe it to yourself to check out.

Thomas was kind enough to offer a 100% affiliate program for this software.  That means if you use my affiliate link, I get the money! This means that the PayPal payment is made directly to me, so don’t be confused when you see my name on the payment screen!

My affiliate link

I do realize that there are people online who prefer not to use affiliate links, but this program is so wonderful I don’t want to leave them out of the loop, so here is a a non-affiliate link.

Non-affiliate link

Which ever link you use, I think you will find this a very handy program.

Here are the images showing how to access the Help File:

Step 1 - Open the program and click on the Graphic Icon

Step 2 - Double click on the Miscellaneous Tab

Step 3 - Doubleclick on the Help Icon and the Help Manual PDF will open

Let me take a moment to add that Tiger Web Graphics would work great for Business Bloggers, (it’s not just for hobby bloggers)  and the images can actually be used on any web site. In fact, I plan to use them to add interest to the images in my next Survival Guide!

Sharing the Road to Success!

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I am quite excited because I am seeing more and more folks using blogging in new and creative ways to promote their businesses. Here are TWO innovative and engaging examples:

Example ONE

This weekend, I discovered a new author, Vivki Petersson. I read her first novel, The Scent of Shadows and enjoyed it thoroughly. The opening scene involves a blind date from H**L… to raise interest, Vicki had a Blind Date from H**L contest on her blog:

http://vpettersson.livejournal.com/

What works – Her publisher is bringing out the frst and second book (a series) backto back in successive months… I am already waiting breathlessly for the second book. If there had been a long wait between the two, I would not have been nearly as involved. As it is, I plan to play hooky for the afternoon it will take to read the next one!

What doesn’t work – She needs her own blog with her name in the domain, hosted with her own hosting company… she needs complete control and needs a WordPress blog that has been tweaked for the search engines. As it stands now, I found her blog by following a reference to her in another blog… NOT good!

Example TWO

Joan Hawley, of Lazy Girl Designs, a friend of mine, has just started a 12 day event called the Day Z Dozen Blog Hop. Here is the event, described in Joan’s own words.

http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/blog/

What is the Day Z Dozen blog hop? It’s a ’show’ of new projects from a number of designers. ’Hop’ online each day to see a new project and hear the story of the design, as told by the designer.

Is there a theme for the Day Z Dozen blog hop? Yes! A few months ago I had the chance to play with the new ‘DayZ Deux’ fabric collection from LakeHouse Dry Goods (floral fabric shown below).That was before the fabric was widely available. Now, however, it is available. The fabric is shipping to stores or already in stock. So Holly (LakeHouse) and I called the girls (see below) and told them we would like to have a little show of the projects we made a few months ago.

How does the Day Z Dozen blog hop work? ’Hop’ online and visit our blog each day from March 5 – 16, 2007, as we share a new project as told by the designer.

What projects are in the Day Z Dozen blog hop? Hey, that’s a secret! You’ll have to tune in each day to see what’s new.

Who is participating? We have dubbed ourselves the ‘Day Z Dozen’, and you’ll have a chance to meet all of these fabulous Lazies, oops – DayZies, and hear the story behind their beautiful creations.

I am sooo excited to see these creative thinkers using blogs in new and different ways!

Sharing the Road to Success!
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