Microsoft’s new search engine Bing continued to sees gains in US searcher penetration and share of search result pages during the second week after its public launch, according to a follow-up study on its performance by comScore, Inc.

The qSearch analysis revealed that Microsoft Sites’ average daily penetration among US searchers reached 16.7% during the work week of June 8-12, up three percentage points from 13.8% during the May 25-29 work week prior to Bing’s introduction.

Microsoft’s share of search result pages in the US, a proxy for overall search intensity, increased to 12.1% during the period of June 8-12, and also climbed three percentage points from the work week of May 25-29, 2009.

An earlier comScore analysis conducted during the first week after Bing’s public launch found that the new search engine’s average daily penetration was 15.5% and its share of search result pages was 11.1% during the period of June 2-6, 2009.

“It appears that Microsoft Bing has continued to generate interest from the market for the second consecutive week,” said Mike Hurt, comScore SVP. “These early data reflect a continued positive market reaction to Bing in the initial stages of its launch.”

The New York Post reported that Bing’s early success has “rattled” Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who is said to be leading a team of top engineers in a quest to discover how Bing’s algorithm works and to complete performance upgrades to the Google system.

Originally  posted on Marketing charts

What is a gravatar?

A gravatar, or Globally Recognized AVATAR , simply an (avatar image)  that follows you from blog to blog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites. Avatars help identify your posts on web forums, so why not on blogs?

This is a really easy way to brand your company or self as you leave comments in forums and on blogs.

You guys know what an icon is RIGHT? well and avatar is pretty much the same thing.

How do I set up a gravatar?

Well,  you will either take a picture of your self or create an image.

Facebook Sample Gravatar

This is a great example of a very professional looking gravatar.

Personal Sample Gravatar

Here is a awesome example of using some abstract photography to make a gravatar.

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After choosing a photo, go to gravatar.com
Click sign up, it is located at the top of the page – really tiny text!

They will ask you to upload an image. The only thing you need to worry about is that the image is square.

If it is rectangle it makes it a bit more difficult to use their cropping  tool. After the image is uploaded the next screen will help you to crop the image, it will show what you uploaded and it will be slightly grayed out with a box over the top. Just grab the corners of that box to show what you want in the avatar. Once you are done hit the crop button everything else will be cut out and you will be left with your avatar.

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Why do I want a gravatar?

Well when ever you leave a comment on a blog you sign it with your email address. If you sign it with the email address connect to your Gravatar it will display that gravatar next to your comments.

Like I said before, it is a awesome way to brand yourself.

So get out there and do it.

Technorati Tags: avatar image, gravatar

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of writing guides out there. But in my opinion, none surpass the simple, direct advice of The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B.White. I was first introduced to them while in college. I had this really amazing but difficult instructor. She was very into the formal presentation of writing.

So when I came accross a writing guide written by Strunk and White that fit BLOG posting I figured I had better share it with you.

What a great way to start the new year than cleaning up the way you write in your blog.

Read the best parts of the book here

Below is a excerpt found on copyblogger.com

1. Put the reader first. The purpose of writing is clear, sometimes persuasive, communication. It is not about you or your clever ideas. If you write to impress, you will distract the reader from the content. Good writing is like a store window. It should be clean and clear, providing an unobstructed view of the contents within.
2. Organize your thoughts. You don’t need a detailed outline for most writing. But you do need to know what you want to say before you say it. If you’re comfortable with the sort of outline you learned in school, use it. Otherwise, simply jot down the important points you want to make and arrange them in the order you want to make them. Eliminate any ideas that are not directly related to these points.
3. Use short paragraphs. Look at any newspaper and notice how short the paragraphs are. That’s done to make reading easier since our brains take in information better when ideas are broken into small chunks. In ordinary writing, each paragraph develops one idea and includes many sentences. But in blogging, the style is less formal and paragraphs may be as short as a single sentence or even a single word.
4. Use short sentences. You should keep sentences short for the same reason you keep paragraphs short: they’re easier to read and understand. Each sentence should have one simple thought. More than that creates complexity and invites confusion.
5. Use simple words. Since your purpose is to communicate and not impress, simple words work better than big ones. Write “get” instead of “procure.” Write “use” rather than “utilize.” Use the longer words only if your meaning is so precise there is no simpler word to use.
6. Be specific. Don’t write “Many doctors recommend Brand X.” Write “97% of doctors recommend Brand X.” Don’t write “The Big Widget is offered in many colors.” Write “The Big Widget comes in red, green, blue, and white.” Get to the point. Say what you mean. Use specific nouns.
7. Write in a conversational style. There is a road sign often posted near construction sites that always irritates me. It reads, “Maintain present lane.” Why so formal? A more conversational style would be better: “Stay in your lane” or “Do not change lanes.” If you write as if you’re wearing a top hat and spats, you distance yourself from the reader and muddle the message.
8. Be clear. This may be the most important rule of all. Without clarity, your writing fails on every level. You achieve clarity when you accurately communicate the meaning in your head to the head of your reader. That’s difficult. Look at your writing with an objective eye. Consider what might be misunderstood and rewrite it. Find what is irrelevant and delete it. Notice what is missing and insert it.

When writing fails, it’s probably because you don’t have something to say, are too concerned with affecting a style, or both. Follow the suggestions here, and you will avoid these problems and many others. Plus you will find that your copy is more lively, more meaningful, and more profitable.

Thanks Copyblogger

Technorati Tags: elements of style, persuasive communication, strunk and white, william strunk jr

There are 2 main options to use.

First watch this You Tube video on how to use YouTube in a wordpress blog.

Next install a really Cool plugin Called Viper Video Quick Tags.

it is pretty self explanatory you just use the settings tab and click on video quick tags.
They allow videos from all of the major suppliers.

YouTube
Google Video
Daily Motion
Vimeo
Veoh
Viddler
MetaCafe
Blip.tv
Flikr
Spike
MySpace

Embed and enjoy!

Ohh Yea and check out our ad exchange program at exchangemyad.com

Feedburner by Google

What is this thing called burning a feed? Why do I need it? ohh yea and what is RSS really mean?

Well lets start at the begining.

Rss = Really Simple Syndication – it is basically a way to relay your blog entries to large news suppliers, also it is how people connect to your blog to receive a digital copy of your latest post. It is read through a reader such as newsgator, google reader and others.

What is Burning a feed? – this is a way to force sites like content feeds including USATODAY.com, BBC News Headlines, ABCNews, CNET, Yahoo!, Amazon.com. Read feedburning 101 here.

Why do I need it? well I guess you don’t if you would rather stand on the street corner and hand out printed versions of your blog. This is a simple way to start the ball rolling in telling the world about what you have to say.

Ways to help Burn your feed – if you are using wordpress you will need to use FeedBurner FeedSmith plugin

get the latest version here.

This is a simple install that will really help with getting your posts out where people will find it.

Happy Blogging

Technorati Tags: feedburner, news headlines, rss, syndication