This should have been posted from last month, but I can’t find any time to mess around with my photography hobby. Actually, that was not my only problem. I have bad memories of that day; while I was busy taking photos with my Nikon D40, a pick pocket was taking advantage of the thick crowd and stealing my new Sony Ericsson cellphone, a gift from my brother.

Anyway, the Jamaican athletes were treated to a massive welcome in Falmouth, Trelawny on October 7, 2008. Trelawny was chosen as we had by far the most representatives of any parish. Trelawnyites Usain Bolt, Marvin Anderson, Michael Frater, Ricardo Chambers, Veronica Campbell and Rosemarie Whyte were all present. Some elder residents of Falmouth remarked that it was the first time they were seeing the Falmouth square full to capacity. Asafa Powell, Melanie Walker, Shelly Ann Frasier, Kerone Stewart and the rest of the team were all also there.

Usain Bolt returned to his home parish as a king and reveled in the attention and adoration. The tie of his alma mater William Knibb Memorial High School (which was just a mile and a half away), was wrapped around his head and another was around his neck. The athletes spent about an hour signing autographs until they were ready to leave. Here are photos from this memorable occasion.

When is the best time to start your blog? If you are asking yourself this question, you had better get cracking. Anyone who starts before you will have an advantage over you, as age is one of the factors involved in getting your blog recognition. The longer the blog is online, the higher it is ranked by search engines. Of course there are other factors such as in-links and uniqueness of content among others, but the earlier you get in, the better.

Why haven’t you started as yet?

I am passionate about something and I just love to read about it: What about your personal expression on the subject?  Trust me, no matter what your interest, there will be millions of people interested to read your side of the story.

It is too difficult: It is quite simple to start a blog, just go to WordPress.com and try it; a simple point and click process.

Don’t have the time: you can write posts according to your schedule. The length of the post depends on you. Once you get started, you only need a few minutes to post.

I just love Social Networking. I can’t get myself away from Facebook, MySpace, etc.: Social Networking sites are now some of the best sources of traffic for blogs. I use Facebook to highlight my latest posts and generate interest in my blogs. Post your blog link to these sites and get free traffic.

Don’t need a blog, I use email to communicate with lots of friends: This is another huge source of traffic. Start a blog and notify friends. Put a Signature in each email so that each subsequent person you communicate with can see the link to your blog. You can use the email and notify friends of new posts. You will now get traffic from your friends and the rest of the world.

Why WordPress? It is the most popular blogging software and has a thousand other advantages I can’t list in this post. The hundreds of free plugins and inherent adaptability of WordPress means it can be used for almost any type of site from blogging to membership sites to web stores. the possibilities are almost endless.

I started my first self-hosted WordPress blog in March 2008. I decided to start with my favorite hobby: photography. The site Amateur Photoblogger got (and is still getting) lots of views. In July, I started Blog To The World and it has done extremely well. Since then my list of WordPress sites has grown. The diverse uses for WordPress can be seen in my list of self-hosted sites :

• AmateurPhotoblogger.com - Photoblog
• Blog To The World - Blog
• Find Your Web Host - Hosting Store
• Right Price Camera - Digital Camera & Accessories Store
• Tips 2 Make Money - Make Money Online Blog
• WiseOffers.com - Online Coupons
• OfferReview - Review site for promotional offers
• Healthy-Natural-Weight.com - Weight Loss Blog
• Caralluma Supplements - Caralluma Appetite Suppressant

You may want to read my previous article: Which is better, self hosted WordPress or Wordpress.com?
If you make the wise choice and choose self-hosted WordPress (you cannot use ads to make money with a free WordPress.com site), you can get hosting from Blue Host. They have one click install of WordPress and one of the highest customer satisfaction of any web host.

If you want to start with a bang using step by step training and tips you can’t get for free, do like me and get Super Affiliate Blogger. It will break down the process as simple as A-B-C.

What are you waiting for? Start blogging! Now is the best time to start your own WordPress blog.

This is a review of another one of the tools I personally use to get ahead online:

As time goes by and more people get online, search engines are getting more demanding of content providers. Not long ago, a reciprocal link (you link my site and I will link your site) was highly respected by the search engines. Now, it is all about 1 way links. Getting links into your site is a sure way to improve your page rank and generate more traffic to your site . The websites with more quality, one way links are typically the sites that rank
the highest, without a doubt.

With that said, there are several websites directory submission programs on the market. The best and easiest to use is a new program created by Brad Callen, called Directory Submitter.

The software currently allows you to submit your sites to over 1500 website directories, all free. It is what I used on Tips 2 Make Money to give it a Page Rank 2, even though it has only a few posts and I hardly update it. Yet, it has the respect of the search engines and the few articles get relatively high search engine rankings.

Getting 1 Way links using Directory Submitter is a simple, 2 step process:

1. Input your website details (i.e. title, description, URL, etc.) into the
software

2. Click on the directory you want to submit to

The program will automatically fill in your website details. Then, you simply click the submit button and your website is instantly submitted to the directory. Then, you can move to the next directory, go through the list, and by the time you’re finished you’ll have roughly 1500 one way links pointing to your website.

It is best to input several different titles and descriptions so the search engines don’t think you are spamming and penalize you. they get picky if you submit too many links in a short period of time.

The process could not be simpler and the result as I have proven, will shoot your site up the search engine rankings and raise your Page Rank above the dreaded 0 mark.

The software is constantly being updated as there is an incredible community of users established with the aim of constantly working together to make the software better and better; so you are assured of getting great value for your money.

For more details on this outstanding software, check out Directory Submitter.

The Acai Berry is a fruit that is native to the Amazon rain forest in Brazil. It has been harvested by Brazilians for hundreds of years as a food staple known primarily for their rejuvenating and detoxifying properties.

It is a pleasant tasting fruit and has such high nutritional values that it joins a very selected few by being named a “Super Food“, which means that we should make it a consistent part of our eating routine in an effort to enjoy a healthier, balanced lifestyle. Dr. Nicholas Perricone lists Acaii as one of his top 10 Super Foods at Oprah’s Web site. As a matter of fact, he lists it as the #1 Super Food in the World! The best benefits are gained from eating the fruit, but it is primarily marketed in the USA as a powder, drink or more often than not, as a supplement. Here are some of the benefits of using Acai Berry Supplement:

Acai has a high concentration of antioxidants that combat premature aging. It has 10 times the antioxidants that red grapes have, and as much as 30 times the anthocyanins of red wine. Anthocyanins may have antioxidant effects, possibly fighting cancer, diabetes, and bacterial infections, to name a few.

Healthy monounsaturated fats, dietary fiber and phytosterols together help promote cardiovascular and digestive health.

An amino acid complex in conjunction with valuable trace minerals, help with muscular health.

Excellent for Detoxifying (Cleansing) the body.

Balances pH for optimal performance of immune system.

Contains essential Vitamins and minerals including Vitamins B,C and E along with Iron, Fiber and Calcium.

With these properties, Acai Berry helps you lose weight by flushing your body of trapped waste, it increases your metabolism, increases your energy levels, balances pH for efficient body function, and is even reported by some to increase their sexual performance! It is primarily being marketed as a weight loss supplement, but it has so many varying health benefits as the list above shows, that everyone can benefit from using it.

You can get a free trial of Acai Berry Supplement by choosing from the offers below:

Read the rest of this entry »

I made my first post to Blog To The World on the 12th of July 2008. In the relatively short time since starting, I have learned about writing for guests as well as for the all important search engines. Most of my posts are now on the first page of search engines and several are number one for some popular keywords. This article features 10 of the strategies I use to get top rankings on the search engines.

1. Keyword Research - Use a keyword tool to find a keyword related to your blog’s niche or category. For example, if you have a blog based on Green Tea, do a keyword search for Green Tea and find a keyword on which you could write an article. Make a search on one of the major search engines and see if it is saturated with articles based on your keyword. If there are too many articles, you may search for another keyword that is not too competitive. This way, you will be assured that when you write a post, you can eventually become #1 for your chosen keyword.
2. Keywords - Ensure that you use your chosen keywords in the article and repeat it several times. Use several other related keywords in the article to ensure your post is indexed for more than one keywords. Keywords are of utmost importance because that is what guests input into the search engines when they are making a query. If your article gets a high enough ranking, your article will be featured for them to view.
3. Relevance - There must be a high degree of relevance between your keywords, blog title, url and article. Search engines place high emphasis on relevance as they want searchers to find exactly what they are looking for, which will keep them satisfied and hopefully continue to use the search engine.
4. The 4th strategy to get #1 search engine rankings for your blog is to Write Original Content. For the sake of time and convenience, it is tempting to just make a search for a keyword, then cut and paste from different articles to make a post. Many people do it, but if you want a high ranking, please don’t. The search engines use algorithms for comparing articles and will penalize you for duplicate content. You will get a low search ranking and you may find that your blog is struggling to get any first page ranking at all.
5. Post must be Informative - Search engines make money by disseminating information. The more informative your blog is, the higher it will be ranked by both search engines and guests alike. If guests know they can get some really good information from your blog, they will keep coming back to your blog.
6. Keyword Filled Topic - Try to fill your topic with the major keyword and any minor keywords you can fill in. I like to use longer, keyword filled topics (like “Strategies to get #1 Search Engine Rankings for your Blog Posts”) to ensure that one post gets ranking for not only the major keyword, bot several others.
7. Categories and Tags - Make sure both are highly relevant to your article. Note that the quantity of tags used does not necessarily improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) efforts. They have to be highly relevant and unique to each post. Using the same tags over and over for different articles may actually be read as duplicate content by the search engines. 5 highly relevant, unique tags are better than 20 general, over-used ones.
8. Post Revision - After completing the post, do a revision and search for errors and omissions. then, this is what I do. I revise my list of keywords and start editing the article, stocking it with more keywords while at the same time ensuring that it still sounds interesting.
9. Trackback - use Technorati to find other blog posts on the topic and use the WordPress trackback feature. This ensures that you get a link to the post, which is a good way to start working on your post’s ranking.
10. Finally, use Social Networking Sites to boost your post’s popularity and provide precious one way links into your post. Technorati is a must! When you use the service, about fifteen minutes after posting, your article will appear on their site for all to see.  If you can get your article stumbled at StumbleUpon.com, you will get several free hits. The success of my number one post (Buying A DSLR Camera) is owed primarily to it being stumbled. I get stumbles for it every day since writing it on 4th August, 2008. Other valuable services include Facebook, MySpace, Blog Catalog, MyblogLog, DeliCious, Twitter and Digg. There are many others, but these have proven to be the most popular.

This has nothing to do with writing, but it is extremely important for your permalink structure to include the name of your blog post. WordPress comes with the following default permalink structure: “http://www.dejagib.com/blog/?p=123”

This does not allow the name of the post to be in the URL, which is not a good thing for your search engine rankings. You will want it to be something like: “http://www.dejagib.com/blog/2008/11/25/sample-post/” or "http://www.dejagib.com/blog/sample-post/“.
When the keyword is in the URL, it increases the relevance of the article to the search engines. The best case scenario is keyword in category, title, post and URL.

You should have done this before you made any posts on your blog, but if you wish, it may be changed by going to Admin–Settings–Permalinks. Note that if you change it after you have made posts, those posts will become brand new posts to the search engines as they will still be following the old permalinks. They will look on the posts under the new structure as new posts so in effect, you will be starting over your SEO efforts.

Those are some of the strategies I use to get high search engine rankings and ensure that many free visitors will come daily to my blog.

A related post plugin can do wonders for your WordPress blog. It works by using tags, content, title, category and other similar variables to calculate posts that closely match each other. It produces a list that is usually placed under a post or as a widget in the sidebar.

If someone lands on your page and your article is not exactly what they are looking for, chances are they might find a related article that interests them. It is particularly handy if you drive search engine traffic to your site and in that case, can potentially increase your sales. It also allows people to stay longer on your site as they are surrounded with similar articles that interest them and it is also a great way to showcase old posts that were no longer getting viewed.

I have tried several such plugins, but only one of them stand out, and that is Yet Another Related Postws Plugin (YARPP). It is FREE, simple to install and configure. just upload the plugin, activate it and change your user preferences if needed. You do not need to know any coding or adjust CSS like some of the other related posts plugin. You can also use the included widget to have your related posts in your sidebar.

To get the best results (the best possible related matches), use plenty of tags that are relevant to each post.

As admin, you may choose to see the match scores that guests cannot see. this gives you a percentage figure as to how closely the posts match. The higher number meaning a closer match.

It is highly customizable via the menu driven interface. You also have the added option of adding YARPP to your RSS feed.

I use Yet Another Related Posts Plugin on ALL my blogs. You may see it in action at the foot of this post if you are viewing this as a single post. You can see how it groups related posts, both old and new.

Find out more about YARPP or download it from the plugin homepage.

On Tuesday, November 25th 2008, the Jamaican parliament will undertake a historic conscience vote as to whether to keep the current death penalty law or abolish it.

Although Jamaica currently has the death penalty for capital murder, no one has been executed since 1988. In 1993, the UK Privy Council (in the case of Ear Pratt and Ivan Morgan vs The Attorney General of jamaica) held that where the time period between the imposition of a sentence of death and execution exceeds five years, it shall be presumed
that execution would amount to inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment, contrary to the Jamaican Constitution.. With Jamaica’s current system it is almost impossible to conclude a death penalty case within that time period.

With the spiraling murder rate that has placed Jamaica consistently in the top 3 per capita in the world, the citizens of the country have become restive and are calling for the resumption of hanging. Prime minister Bruce Golding has called for a conscience vote where (for a change)  Members of Parliament should not vote on party lines, but as individual representatives of the people (as they should do at all times but don’t).

Now the nation waits with bated breath as the parliamentarians prepare for the vote. It is expected that the vote will pass, but it seems that we will not go back to the barbarous days of hanging when the judge would pass the sentence: “You will hang from the neck until you are dead.” The Lawmakers are proposing a US style Lethal Injection and or Electric Chair. They would also have to amend the law to deal with the 5 year custody problem.

Opponents of the death penalty say that it will not be a deterrent to murderers, but I beg to differ. One of the reasons there are so many murders is because there are little or no deterrents. The current system doesn’t work. We now have more than our fair share of serial murderers. If thoe guys knew they stood a chance of facing the executioner and one of their cronies was already executed, a lot of them would think twice.

On with the vote. I only hope it represents what the citizens want. This post will be updated after the vote on Tuesday.

Hoodia Diet Review
The herb Hoodia gordonii (or just “Hoodia”) has gained recent attention as an aid for weight loss, due to its appetite suppressing actions. The plant grows in African desert regions, and has been used by the Kalahari San Bushmen for many hundreds of years.

Studies at Brown University indicate that Hoodia appears to work by interrupting or stopping the hunger mechanism in the brain.

Much of the hype about hoodia started after 60 Minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl and crew traveled to Africa in 2004 to try hoodia. They hired a local Bushman to go with them into the desert and track down some hoodia. Stahl ate it, describing it as “cucumbery in texture, but not bad.” She reported that she lost the desire to eat or drink the entire day. She also said she didn’t experience any immediate side effects, such as indigestion or heart palpitations.

That caught everyone’s attention and influenced a whole new product line of herbal weight loss pills, powder, liquids and teas. Since then, hoodia has been featured on CBS 60 Minutes, ABC, NBC Today, BBC, CNN, in Oprah’s “O” Magazine and in other major media.

Hoodia Diet Review at http://hoodiasite.net gives you the A-Z on hoodia gordonii. It has everything you need to know about this amazing plant.

Read the Hoodia Diet Review. There is no doubt that an effective weight loss diet can be significantly enhanced by a safe appetite suppressant like hoodia.

Syndicate Kahuna
Time is precious, and it is even more so online, especially if you are in some make money online business. You may be extremely busy and have little time to spend blogging or better yet, you may have several blogs and not enough time to post to each one regularly. At times you may get lazy or demotivated. Whatever the reason the service I am about to describe can really come in handy.

I had those problems until I came upon a free service from Syndicate Kahuna that allows automatic posting of fresh content to blogs. You tell them what content you want and they will start sending posts in as little as 2 minutes after a quick setup. You have the option of having it auto-posted or saved as a draft in your blog admin. This way you can edit the article before posting.

How does it work?
It all begins with a simple process of adding a file to the root of your blog (It only works for self-hosted blogs) and then adding your blog(s) to Syndicate Kahuna. You can then choose up to 10 Categories from which to get content. Next you can choose up to 10 Keywords with the added features of being able to exclude specific keywords and URL’s. You can then specify how many posts you require per day (maximum of 10).

A few minutes after submitting this information, you will see your posts coming in. Are these posts 100% unique? No, but they are unique enough to be accepted as original content by the search engines. The articles are run through some kind of article submitter software that changes up some of the words so they can pass off as original. There may be a few grammatical errors, which is why it is a good idea to proof read before publishing.

A neat feature is the ‘Sites Needed’ link on the homepage. These are articles available at Syndicate Kahuna but with little or no demand. You could start a blog and be one of the few persons in that niche. You can also apply to contribute YOUR articles to Syndicate Kahuna.

Getting Paid
Finally, and most importantly, you may earn money from the service. Once you refer someone to join Syndicate Kahuna, they may want to submit content to the Syndicate Kahuna network. When they do and sign up as a paid member, you will receive a 50% commission every month.

Also, if anyone who you refer decides to join Syndicate Kahuna’s big sister (called Traffic Kahuna), you get paid every month on that as well. To make things even more exciting, they are introducing a few more (paid) services in the next few months. If anyone who you refer to Syndicate Kahuna decides to join any of these upcoming services, you get paid every month as a result!

This service is so convenient, you’ll soon be wondering how you ever lived without it. The best thing is: It is totally FREE! Try Syndicate Kahuna.

Super Affiliate Blogger

If writing is an art, then, blogging is one way of using words to come up with an art. This is because people who are into blogging are the ones who are artistic in their own sense; carefully choosing words that would best describe their feelings, sentiments, wishes, desires, and everything.

Basically, blogs were first introduced as weblogs that refer to a “server’s log file.” It was created when web logging hit the virtual market. Since its inception in the mid-1990s, web logging gradually saturated the virtual community making the Internet a viable source of greater information.

However, with web logging, you still need a web site and domain names, but with blogging, you do not need anything just an account with blog providers. In most cases, these kinds of blogs are free of charge.

With the onset of blogging in the industry, personal journalism had been a common ground for people who wish to be known all over the world. Generally, blogs are created for personal use. Like a journal, people can write their daily adventures, sentiments, and whatever ideas they want to express online.

Nevertheless, with the advent of the online businesses, blogs had gradually taken the limelight in providing businesses a chance to boost their productivity online. This is where the business blogs have taken the limelight.

Business blogs are, basically, created to advertise the services or products of a certain web site or online business in order to increase online sales. Moreover, business blogs are also one way of promoting the company so that the other readers will know that a certain company exists online. With blogs, entrepreneurs are able to establish a name in the virtual market through articles that can be very useful in the reader’s life. From there, you can make money out of blogs by simply syndicating it to your business’ web site. This can be done through the RSS technology.

So, if you are thinking to create a blog, whether for business or for pleasure, you need to know some tips that could help you get through and make your blog one of the interesting blogs online. Super Affiliate Blogger

Here’s how:

1. Consider your audience

Even if your blog is generally personal, still, it would be better to consider the minds of your readers. You have to think of something that would interest them.

After all, people who write blogs are not at all confined to their own personal motives. Most of them would love to be “heard” (or read) and would love to be known, in some way or another, even for just a minute. Hence, it is very important to come with a write up that everybody can understand, not necessarily that these people can relate to it but they can understand it.

2. Pictures speaks a thousand words

To make your blogging worth the browsing effort of your readers, it would be extremely nice if you will put some pictures in it. It does not necessarily mean you have to place a picture of yourself. Any photographs will do as long as it does not pose danger or insult to anyone who will be reading your blog.

3. Make constructive and beneficial blogs

Even if you are free to write anything you wan to say to the world, still, it would be better to create some write-ups that would be beneficial to your readers. After all, its information technology that you have there so it is better to be inclined to provide information rather than sheer quirky entertainment.

4. Avoid making multifaceted and complicated blogs

In order to have an interesting blog, try not to use some highly technical and highfalutin words. After all, it is not a science discourse or a debate that you are making, so better stick to simple facts and short blogs.

Bear in mind that most people who use the Internet usually do more scanning than scrutinizing each site word for word. Therefore, it would be better to come with blogs that will not bore your readers just because you have these lengthy articles.

5. Make it interactive

As much as possible and if your capacity will allow it, make your blog interactive. You can do this by placing some video or audio clips in your blog. You can even place an area for comments or for some feedback. In this way, you can get some impressions or reactions of other people. Who knows, you might even gain some friends just by making them feel at home in your blog site.

Indeed, blogs are not created just for the mere fun of it. It also has its own purpose in the world of the Internet.

Therefore, for people who wish to harness their craft, as far as writing is concerned, blogs are the best way to do it. As they say, blogging is the contemporary term of creative and commercial writing.