You Can Learn Series -- Self Improvement at Your Fingertips

Bluff Spring Fen Illinois Nature Preserve

Thu, 08 Aug 2012 12:27:02 GMT

I was looking at Google maps the other day and I noticed a green area near my home. Upon closer examination I discovered there was an Illinois Nature Preserve only 5 miles from my house. The name of the Nature Preserve is Bluff Spring Fen an Illinois Nature Preserve.

An Interview with Mystery Writer, Hiker and Author Joan H Young

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 12:27:02 GMT

I had the opportunity this weekend to ask some questions of author, Joan H Young. She has just published book 3 in the Anastasia Raven Mystery series, Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp. I believe Joan can do anything, but one of the things she does well is mystery writing.

Best School for Your Children

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:27:02 GMT

My Brother, Doctor Dave Brown has recently published his third book. This newest book contains his thoughts and research on why our American public schools are the best places for your children.

How to Succeed in Life

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:27:02 GMT

Okay, there is a title that over promises. How to succeed in life. Wow. How can anyone promise that? Well, I was listening to some old cassette tapes (yes cassette tapes) and I was listening to E. James Rohn. I think he has some great ideas on living a balanced life. He talks about working hard but also remembering why you are working so hard.

Five Fun and Easy Things to Do in One Day in Tucson Arizona

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:27:02 GMT

On a recent trip to Arizona, my wife and I had the pleasure of spending a day in Tucson, Arizona. We planned out a day that would be fun for us, but wouldn't beat us up by trying to do too much in one day. I think we found the perfect mix of culture, hiking and historical fun things to do in one day in Tucson.

How to Advertise Your Blog

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 9:27:02 GMT

What are some steps you can take to advertise your blog? As bloggers, many times we are so busy blogging we forget to find people to read what we write. I am fond of saying a blog without any visitors is only a diary. What have you tried in the past to get new readers? Do you even know where to begin when you are anxious to find readers to your blog?

Business Lessons Learned from Experience

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:27:02 GMT

When we are young we act impulsively and are so excited to be in the game that we sometimes make bad decisions. We spend money impulsively and don't save enough for a rainy day. If we want to start a business or grow a business then we need to keep our money. What would experienced business people tell us about succeeding?

Who do you go to When you have a tough decision to make? Do you talk with your grandfather or dad? Do you have a mentor that can help you noodle out the right choice?

Five Hundred Thousand Page Views for 2008

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:27:02 GMT

I almost missed it. I was so busy working on a new project that I hadn't been spending much time looking at my stats pages. I knew it was coming. I had calculated toward the end of July that somewhere mid-way through the month of August I was going to go over the halfway goal for the year.

Officially, On August 7th, 2008 I achieved the distinction of having 500,000 Page Views for the year. Yahoo!!! Here is a brief rundown of my numbers.

Former Google Employees Start New Search Engine

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:27:02 GMT

A new search engine is open for business. If you are tired of Page Rank, bullying and excessive fees for advertising with Google, then Cuil (pronounced COOL) is the search engine for you. Cuil founders claim they have indexed 120 billion web pages. This is 3 times more than any other search engine.

Visual differences include search engine results in columns. Images attached to each result. More relevant data in the search results rather than just the results that have the most money or best SEO techniques.

Drop Your Bounce Rate Quick and Easy

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:27:02 GMT

Entrecard speed droppers raise your bounce rate and COST YOU MONEY. This cutting edge technique promises to reduce your bounce rate before the weekend. Here are proven tactics to increase visits to other pages within your own blog.

One of the bad things about Entrecard is the skyrocketing increase in bounce rates that it causes. This shouldn't surprise you since there are 12,000 Entrecard members each trying to visit 300 pages everyday. What can you do to decrease bounce rates or at the very least get your blog visitors to go to more than one page?

How to Harness the Power of Testimonials and Social Proof

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:27:02 GMT

Why do testimonials work so well? Find out what the great copywriters of all time have to say about testimonials later in this article. You might ask, who are the great copywriters? Read more as we take you on a journey into the most powerful tool at a copywriters disposal.

I received an email recently from AWeber about a new chicklet they are offering to their customers that show the number of subscribers to your email subscription program. Why is that so important? This article will tell you how to create winning testimonials that help people make the decision to say yes to buying your product or service.

How to Overcome Failure and Become a Success

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:27:02 GMT

How to Overcome Failure and Become a Success. Research that has been done on successful individuals has shown a few points of interest. You might believe that the successful person has no problems and once they decided to do something - success just happened. How Robo Basho and Non-alcoholic Wine can help you succeed.

Time to Get to the Gym

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:27:02 GMT

It's time to get back in the gym. Maybe you gained a couple of pounds or maybe a lot of pounds during December. It is easy to do.

Your Personal Bell Curve Score

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:27:02 GMT

Are You a Member of the Cutting Edge? What type of person are you? Are you cutting edge? Do you strive to be the first to see first run movies? Are you just waiting for the 2009 cars to come out so you can trade in your 2008? Are you looking at fuel cell cars? Have you already installed IE8 or FireFox 3?

Your Blogging Purpose or Why Did You Start Blogging?

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:27:02 GMT

What's the purpose of your web site or blog? Is it to entertain, educate, vent, practice your writing, or what?

There are times when you need to stand back from your blogging and re-evaluate your goal for blogging. Whether you started blogging a week ago, two months ago or 5 years ago, self assessment is important to your success. Did you start out with the goal to educate visitors on a certain subject; but, now you are only venting about things you don't like? Were you interested in practicing your writing, but you fall back into the same old habits you started with 4 years ago?

Printed Newspapers are Dying and How You Can Profit

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:27:02 GMT

I was listening to the radio yesterday as my favorite radio personalities interviewed Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune. They were talking about online publishing (ie blogging) and how the printed newspapers were drying up and dying. Clarence Page said, You know our business model hasn't changed much since Gutenberg invented the printing press.

Even the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers are going online. But, they all are finding they can't make the same amount of money online as they do printing newspapers. It is very clear that they are continually losing market share for the printed paper. People are finding the information they want and need on the internet.

Now this is both good and bad for you.

Google Trends Web Measurement Tool

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:27:02 GMT

Are you dissatisfied with the information available from Alexa as far as viewing web traffic for blogs? I certainly know I am very dissatisfied with Alexa. Well, there is a new sherrif in town and Alexa should be scared. The new 800 pound gorilla is none other than Google, which has just released their new Google Trends for Websites.

Why should you care? It's backed by Google and it's free. Now you can compare your web site or blog with your favorite competitor. How does your make money blog compare to John Chow, John Cow or Problogger? Who has the most traffic? Google has an answer.

The Google Trends for Websites is still in discovery mode. It is part of Google Labs and as such will probably change over time. But, it has some cool features including, a graph with your traffic or if you type in multiple domain names you can graph you and your competitor's traffic side by side. Along with the graph you will find a list of regions where your visitors come from, websites your visitors also visited and some other search terms.

The data that is displayed comes from ...

How to Buy a Plant from the Internet

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:27:02 GMT

Have you ever bought a plant for your yard or garden over the internet or even by mail order? Does it scare you to try? It is actually very easy and if you follow these simple steps you will be very happy with the beautiful bouquet of sweet smelling flowers each summer. Here are some things to watch for to make sure your transaction is a happy and successful one.

Flowering Crabapple | Beautiful Spring Flowers

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:27:02 GMT

Are you looking for some color and fragrance in early spring? Then the Flowering Crabapple tree may be right for you. This tree makes an excellent specimen plant. You can get cultivars that produce small fruit that won't mess up your yard. Today's crabapple trees come with more disease resistance. This plant is cherished for the abundant flowers produced in spring time.

Consilience, Branding and the Advertising Rule of 7

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:27:02 GMT

Consilience is the linking together of principles from different disciplines especially when forming a comprehensive theory.

I first learned about this word reading an article about advertising and marketing. At the time I was searching for information on branding and the advertising "rule of 7". My searching brought me to this article, Advertising Rules - No Rules found on the Consilience and the Business of Persuasion web site.

Three Day 12 Exercise Circuit Training with Free Weights Workout

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:27:02 GMT

If you have committed to toning up and losing weight then this workout is for you. You are in control of this workout and it doesn't require a full gym. Just some free weights and you are getting the body in shape for your summer swim suit, fall basketball or winter sports.

Sentinel Dome Hike

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:27:02 GMT

If you are looking for a great little adventure while visiting Yosemite National Park, then you want to take the hiking trail to Sentinel Dome. It is not a long walk, maybe a mile from the parking lot to the top of the Dome.

How to Drive Traffic with Entrecard

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 07:27:02 GMT

This is a little how to on how you can get more traffic from using the service known as Entrecard. For the purposes of this discussion I am going to assume you already know what Entrecard is all about and you are just looking to drive more traffic to your site.

The first thing you need to realize is that not all traffic is the same. In the Entrecard community you have many different dropping techniques and everyone thinks their technique is the best. I am not naive enough to think these are the only methodologies, just some good things to think about.

Here are some dropping techniques:

Changes To CAN-SPAM Act Might Affect Your Blog

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:27:02 GMT

I received an email from the ExactTarget company this week that details new changes coming from the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. These changes could affect your blog right now.

Time to Visit the Entrecard Forum for the First Time Again

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:27:02 GMT

Have you been to the Entrecard Forums recently? It is time to take another look if it has been a while. There is a new forum that Entrecard Founder Graham has been posting articles pretty regularly called Entrecard Economy. Here Graham and the Entrecard Members discuss ad pricing and drop values and more.

My Recommendation for a New NBA Logo

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:27:02 GMT

A group of us were talking basketball at work on friday and we began discussing the NBA logo. One of the guys, Jeff, said it was based upon the famous, Jerry West poster. He forwarded the photo and the logo and you can definitely see the similarities. But, if the logo was reworked today would it be ....

Seth Godin Action Figure

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 08:27:02 GMT

I got a good laugh the other day when I was reading a blog entry and someone said they received a Seth Godin action figure from their father.

Let's face it, you have made it to the big time when you have your very own action figure. How good of a marketing person do you have to be to make it profitable to have your own action figure?

How to Beat a Genius - Work Habits of the Successful Web Entrepreneur

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:27:02 GMT

Are you focused? "Focused on what," you might ask? Are you focused on what you are planning on eating for supper tonight? Focused on what is on TV? Focused on what your spouse is saying to you right now?

I think the comment is designed to help you realize that the people who succeed in life are not all super geniuses that you and I could never match up with. We all have innate talents and abilities. If we learn to harvest that ability then we can succeed.

Holly is an Evergreen Plant with Red Berries

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:27:02 GMT

Are you looking for a partial shade plant? Try out the Holly in your partial sun or partial shade portion of your yard. The Holly adds interest to your yard in many different ways. It is an evergreen plant and thus will show green leaves throughout the year. This makes it interesting in winter as a backdrop to snow covered lawns and landscapes. The female plant will produce little red berries that show off a little color during the winter months and makes for food for winter birds and small mammals.

Landscape Design for Holly, Coral Bells and Yews

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:27:02 GMT

This Holly, Coral Bells and Yew Landscape Design can work wonders on the eastern side of your home. This design is simple yet really adds flavor to your yard. It can handle a shady area or partial shade. The plants work together without a lot of flash and magic. The muted greens and maroons send a subtle message of warmth throughout the year.

May 2008 Traffic Results

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:27:02 GMT

May was my best month ever in the 5 year history of the You Can Learn Series web site. Here is a quick summary.