“The story so far…”

My new online productivity tool, MacSpeech Dictate, arrived this morning; “Dictate” is, according to developer MacSpeech, “the premier speech recognition solution”.

The product borrows the speech recognition ‘engine’ from Dragon’s “Naturally Speaking” application, which runs on the Microsoft Windows operating system. For those of you running Windows, and wishing to explore speech recognition as a productivity tool, you should consider Dragon’s “Naturally Speaking”.

It seems to be running fairly smoothly so far, but time will tell as to how effective a blogging tool “Dictate” turns out to be for me. I’ve never been lightning quick when typing, and am certainly not the “professional typist” - even in my own imagination. However, I do tend to be fairly quick with at least two fingers on each hand!

But what’s the point?

My hope with “Dictate” though, is not necessarily to speed up the process, as much as to improve creativity in producing content online. If I can ‘chat’ my ideas onto the page, without too much ‘typo’ (’speak-o’) correction, then I believe it’ll serve its purpose in the area of creative freedom. Too often, I feel a bit stifled when typing, purely based on the fact that my thoughts run quicker than my fingers. More creativity, for me, should translate - or dictate even - into an increase in productivity.

Probably a good way to sum up, so far, is this - I’ll still be needing my hands! :o)

Okay, so show us…

Much of the text arrives on the page fairly accurately, though it’s proving to be far from fool proof. For example, let me just speak, and we can see how well my words translate in the next couple of sentences. I’ll leave the text unedited to allow you to judge for yourself:

“I’m sitting in the same room as my wife, who is currently working through a whole bunch of paper worked. There is music playing, I shared running now and then, so things are not altogether quiet.”

Now, that should’ve read as follows…

“I’m sitting in the same room as my wife, who is currently working through a whole bunch of paper work. There is music playing, a shredder running now and then, so things are not altogether quiet.”

So, as you can see, it’s a fairly accurate representation of the words as they’re spoken, though not 100% precise. I should say that I do have a Scottish accent, though not too broad! However, the last time I checked, we were still speaking English - which is consistent with the installed language file :o)

So…

For me, I’m very, very pleased with the product.

I had it in the back of my mind, that if I was unhappy with the product, then I could always return it to Amazon. I think I can safely say that I’ll be pressing on with my newfound verbal blogging tool.

In fact, that’s me from here on…

“The Verbal Blogger”.

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Re-visiting YouTube

Believe it or not, I haven’t popped into YouTube.com for some time now - I imagine it’s because we’ve been blessed in the UK with BBC’s iPlayer of late. The addictive pull of shows like “The Secret Millionaire”, “Dragon’s Den” and “Top Gear” has been little less than Televised Crack Cocaine… I imagine. (No really, it’s just in my imagination.)

Really!

I’ve just been shuffling things around here at AdIncomeOnline.com, specifically giving attention to the different Page Tabs which provide links to additional pages here at the blog. The Video Page still linked out to some very early YouTube content of ours and required updating, which is what took me back to YouTube.com for a browse.

The image included above, promoting added functionality, caught my eye and prompted me to explore further. I liked the look of the updates, and thought it worthwhile to draw attention to them here at the blog:

Video Annotations

At first, my excitement was verging on uncontainable, and I feared that I may re-enter that phase of life where wetting my pants was the norm. You see, the ability to post a video to YouTube, with links to my websites or affiliate programs, was too much for one man’s bladder to cope with… then I realised, my excitement short lived, that YouTube had saved me the need to cope with such ecstasy: it’s not possible to embed external links within our YouTube videos :o( But…

It is possible, however, to enhance your videos in other ways. In the words of the great YouTube:

Video Annotations are a new way for you to add interactive commentary to your videos! Use them to: 1) Add background information about the video. 2) Create stories with multiple possibilities (viewers click to choose the next scene). 3) Link to related YouTube videos, channels, or search results from within a video.

All of the above!

You control what the annotations say, where they appear on the video, and when they appear and disappear.

It basically means that, with regards to prompting our viewers to navigate elsewhere, we can drive extra traffic to specific YouTube videos that we may want to promote more than others; ie. Use high traffic content to highlight a video promoting a new site that you’ve launched, or an affiliate offer for example. Use your imagination! :o)

Visit YouTube’s “Interacting with Videos” Help Page for more info.

YouTube Insight

YouTube Insight is YouTube’s external facing analytics and reporting product that enables anyone with a YouTube account to view detailed statistics about the videos that they upload to the site.

It’s pretty much YouTube’s answer to Google Analytics - they ARE practically the same company.

This first version charts video views on an interactive timeline and map, allowing users to search different geographic regions and see the viewing activity in those regions over selected time periods. It also allows users to compare the relative popularity of their videos in a given region to all other videos in that region.

And how should you go about utilising ‘YouTube Insight’?

To see Insights on your own videos, log on to YouTube and click the “Insight” button under “Account” > “My Videos” > “Insight”.

Feel free to comment using the “Leave a Comment” box below!

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What do you do when you’re locked out of your Gmail account for no apparent reason? Google says that since it asks for so little personal information when you sign up, verifying ownership is difficult when they’ve locked down an account because it may have been compromised. But there’s one interesting tidbit they offer for quick account restoration you may not have known::

Head on over to Gina Trapani’s Lifehacker Blog via the link below to solve your potential problems.

Gmail Verification Number Proves Account Ownership [Gmail]

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I was just reading through some Blog feeds I’ve previously highlighted as Internet Marketing Gurus and came across a ‘real cracker’! It’s important for my own development to follow some of these guys who are consistently producing excellent blogging content, and I’m pretty much using NetNewsWire (Mac only) exclusively to track these RSS Feeds now - we previously used Google Reader, which is web based and therefore appropriate for either Windows or Mac platforms.

Anyway, whilst scanning a post at ShoeMoney, I linked out to a blog at SmmGuru.com which has some pretty unique insights into Social Media Marketing techniques. So, if you’re a fan of FaceBook and looking for ways to monetise (or if you’re just after a way to understand the potential of Social Media Marketing), then head on over and soak up the wisdom - SmmGuru.com

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Just messing around with WordPress MU tonight. Attempted to get it all launched around a week ago, which resulted in the post, “Has Anyone Ever Deleted Their Entire Hosting Account?” :o)

If you’re looking for a great post, awesome post even, on how to establish your own WordPress MU installation… Check out this post by Jerry Huang.

And you could stop by his blog and give him some Kudos for this post?!

And what’s the most important thing we should build into our workflow?

Backup, backup, backup!

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My thoughts this fine Scottish morning…

I’ve become aware in the past few weeks, of how significantly further forward a couple of products have projected me in my online business. Question: Are you shooting yourself in the foot, or wallet, by ’saving’ money when you should be spending ‘a little’?

“You can’t SELL me, I’m too smart…”

I can think of countless times where I’ve marveled at my infinite wisdom, and prided myself on my ability to see through sales-talk, exhibiting self-control the world can only dream of. And all the while denying myself access to countless e-books, CD Rom offers and DVD packages designed, I’m led to believe, to propel me forward in my Internet Marketing endeavors.

Do you think like me? And, do you respond to sales pages in the manner I have?

“Once bitten, twice shy…”

I think I’ve grown to operate this way online because I’ve been stung a few times already in purchasing “the next big thing”; a few times or more I might add. The natural reaction then is to become as ’savvy’ as possible in navigating the web, promising ourselves that we won’t be ’sold’ again. Sadly, in the process, we sever ties with those lines of insight and wisdom which have a price tag attached, and try to gain financial freedom by trawling the endless supply of free content.

“So I should spend, spend, spend…”

No.

An example: A 10yr old AUDI cost me £1,800 (just over $3,500 USD at the time). Given the choice, I’d buy the same car again every time when offered next to a brand new KIA. The point is this:

The price tag does NOT always reflect the true value of a product.

However, the AUDI wasn’t free, and never will be whilst it has value attached; ie. Whilst it remains roadworthy, safe, and drives well for whoever owns it.

So, we shouldn’t have to break the bank in gaining insight, but should also consider sowing another small seed into our Internet Marketing businesses, helping bring in a little more harvest.

Take action.

Cut yourself some slack in your online endeavors and invest today in something which will help you take a step forward. Maintain your awareness, turn on your savvy, exercise wisdom, but let’s not shoot ourselves in the wallet by keeping it closed!

*The product that’s helped me most of late?* Find it below…

“One Month Magnate” by Tony Shepherd is a tremendously honest, and worthwhile product. Check out the sales page and take a moment to figure out whether or not it’s for you. If you’re looking for a 30 day project to inject a few thousand into your PayPal account, then this just may be the next step for you.

Amongst other things in the next month, I’ll be putting these insights and principles into practice. I’ll be sure to update here with my progress and 30 day income report.

Best regards,

AddIncomeOnline.com

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This had been rumored for some time but now it’s official — Google is working on their own (open source) browser.

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Well, yes, I have…

As of 30 minutes ago, I had no blog to speak of any more, no site whatsoever, and it’s all down to the itchy trigger finger. I hit delete to remove an installation of WordPress MU (Multi User version), and became a little impatient. Hit it three times in the end.

First delete, whilst carried out in a slow and laid back manner, carried out the intended removal of said WordPress MU installation. Delete number 2, proceeded in the same laid back manner to delete the folder representing that particular domain. Delete 3, and here’s the biggy, proceeded in a laid back manner to delete the entire contents of my ‘public-html’ folder.

Picture the scene…

My wife next to me on the couch, watching YouTube videos of “Never Mind the Buzzcocks”, a UK panel quiz hosted by the talented Simon Amstell. I glance across to see Preston of the Ordinary Boys walking out on the show in disgust, and with him, my files have disappeared from my hosting account. Goodbye files, hello strange sickening feeling…

What should you do in the same situation?

You should, following in my own foot steps, firstly panic internally. Picture the swimming duck - slow, serene movement above the surface, and kicking its little legs like there’s no tomorrow under the surface. You should then attempt to find your hosting account equivalent of the ‘undo’ button - except, you won’t find one. There isn’t one. You should then make contact with your hosting company (I talked to John at BlueHost)  who will proceed in a calm voice to reassure you that there was probably a backup only yesterday. 20 minutes later, you’re back in business with a fully functioning hosting account.

Moral?

Backup. Backup. Backup. And only hit delete once…

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If you want to make money from your website or blog, then check out this huge list of alternatives to Google Adsense. Everything from CPM, CPA and CPC, to price comparison, affiliate marketing and pay per post…

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Well… What would you do?!

I read a great eBook this morning by Tony Shepherd of Laycock Publishing, literally detailing how to establish an Internet Marketing business in 30 days… genuinely!

One of the things that has caused me to be slow in breaking through is the tendency to run from one “great idea” to the next, without seeing the first project through to completion - and this is the sole reason I won’t be implementing Tony’s wisdom… until next month!

In Tony’s own words…

I can build a business from zero to monthly income in one month. So can you. Unless you’re an Internet Marketer yourself you’ll need to be shown how of course, but once I’ve shown you… well you know the old saying about teach a man to fish.

Given access to the internet and a dial-up or broadband connection, I can start from scratch and build a full time income in just thirty days…

I can do this without savings, without outlay and without fear of failure.

Nothing left out… really?!

Tony does state the following within his introduction:

I’m assuming you have some knowledge of how internet marketing works. If you come across something you don’t understand go look it up on the web… I’m not your mother, I won;t explain every little detail to you.

Well, we could describe Tony as “frank” to say the least :o) This really is a phenomenal resource, and one which will lead to significant breakthrough in the online endeavors of many fledgling marketers.

Did I mention Tony shows us how to earn upwards of £3,500 in 30 days (he’s in the UK), and does it all without establishing a website of his own?! - No website within the first 30 days anyway… (That would just be leaving money on the table!)

Where now?

Go pick up a copy of ‘One Month Magnate‘, by Tony Shepherd of the excellent Laycock Publishing!

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