Thursday, December 8, 2011

Best Motivational Sayings in Life

Famous motivational sayings to help discover yourself every morning. Hand picked and quoted to give the fresh burst of motivation.

If you keep pursuing your dream and not give up, you will ultimately find your destination. Inspiration often comes when you seek it, more often from the deepest of your heart.

Dream big and dream daily, be seized by the passion of the moment and you'll surely reach the shores of success.

Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.
Bernice Johnson Reagon

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
Les Brown

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
Dale Carnegie

Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man; but sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.
Vince Lombardi

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.
Zig Ziglar

The difference between a mountain and a molehill is your perspective.
Al Neuharth

Change your thoughts and you change your world.
Norman Vincent Peale

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill

A great many people seem to end up over the hill without ever having actually climbed it!
Anonymous

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.
Anthony J. D'Angelo

You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.
Zig Ziglar

When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live.
Greg Anderson

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Confucious

Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.
Napoleon Hill

If you believe your best days are ahead of you, they are.
Jurine Lewis

If you could find out what the most successful people did in any area and then you did the same thing over and over, you’d eventually get the same results they do.
Brian Tracy

Sunday, November 27, 2011

5 Power Self Belief Quotations

The significance of a man is not in what he attains but in what he longs to attain.
Kahlil Gibran

We are what we believe we are.
Benjamin N. Cardozo

We attract hearts by the qualities we display: we retain them by the qualities we possess.
Suard

We all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.
Thomas Edison

Stimulate the heart of love and the mind to be early accurate; and all other virtues will rise of their own accord, and all vices will be thrown out.
Coleridge

Authoritative Search Engine Resources

Best sites I recommend for anyone seriously interested in understanding search engine optimization, search news and trends.

Search Marketing and Search Engine News
Searchengineland is steered by Danny Sullivan , an authority on search. Search news, webcasts and conferences are the highlights.

Search News and Trends
The thoughts of John Battelle, author of The Search. More than 145K subscribe to his posts.

Search Marketing Tips and Search News
Searchenginewatch is one of the most authoritative sources of information on search engines. Has a good forum.

Seo Tools
Headed by Rand Fishkin, Seomoz offers a number of tools and resources

Search Engine News
Edited by Loren Baker, a search marketing veteran.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

15 Positive Life Quotes

Staying positive in life is the springboard to happiness and richness in life. Read these short positive quotations and follow them in life to achieve success and peace.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
Winston Churchill

If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.
Andrew Carnegie

Just remember that once you're over he hill you begin to pick up speed.
Arthur Schopenhauer

The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.
Ben Stein

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
Maria Robinson

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
Maya Angelou

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.
Mike Tyson

Be sure you put your feet in the right place then stand firm.
Abraham Lincoln

My goal in life is to be half the person my dog thinks I am.
Anonymous

You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must take it.
Charles Buxton

It's always to soon to quit.
Norman Vincent Peale

The secret of like is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for the rest of your life.
Henry Moore

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can drea it, you can become it.
William Arthur Ward

Aspire to be a hero than just act like one.
Baltasar Gracian

Difficulties come when you don't pay attention to life's whisper. Life always whispers to you first, but if you ignore the whisper, sooner or later you'll get a scream.
Oprah Winfrey

Most folks are as happy as they make up mind to be.
Abraham Lincoln

Thursday, November 10, 2011

FREE Search Engine Optimization PDF Downloads

I gathered these SEO PDFs over the years. I’ve read each one of them and improved my traffic, page rank and SEO strategies. Go ahead and download if you’re beginning to build a blog or learning the SEO basics.

Highly recommended. This is the Official Google Search Engine Optimization guide. Basic SEO tips. Fundamental for beginners.

Details the basics of domain name, keywords, analysis and linking.

SEO expert tips to bring SEO in-house

Broad level Search strategies by Aaron Wall

Easy to implement search tips for starters with an exhaustive SEO glossary at the end.

Brad Callen’s guide to SEO , with examples and screenshots.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Why Prayers are Important in Today's World of Uncertainties?

Why prayers important in this age of uncertainties and how it helps people manage their lives better. Pastor Eric Johnston, Associate Pastor, Christian Prayer Center, answers in an interview with Rajasekar Raju KS.

Prayer is such an important part of our lives in this digital age and I think with people spending more time on the internet and phone, there's really a need to emotionally connect to each other. What are your thoughts?

Yes, absolutely. People are working harder these days, and often don't have the time to go to church every week. By finding fellowship online, and bringing their prayer requests(http://www.christianprayercenter.com) before thousands of people, they can acheive the same spiritual connection they might find at their local church. Just like we've seen on many current social networking sites, people do not necessarily have to meet face to face in order to find meaninging relationships.



Doesn't prayer work better when you do it for others? The law of Karma works, right!

Prayer is a certainly a give and take, yes. At the Christian Prayer Center, people have an opportunity not only to post prayer requests of their own, but they are also encouraged to read and comment on what other's have prayed for. This two way communication is very important, and forms a lasting connection between the prayer community.

Can you share a personal story of prayers that worked for someone.

It's hard to think of anyone praise report that stands out against others. Each day we receive blessed stories of people who have used prayer to rise them up from their lows. Prayer has helped people repair fractured relationships, find new financial opportunities, and strengthen their relationship with God.

What does the Bible say about prayers?

The Bible says that prayer is our way of communicating our needs and our thoughts to God. When we have faith, God shows us His love by answering our prayers.

Prayer is a crucial part of our daily lives, how do you help people realize that?

It's sometimes difficult to know when God has truly heard our prayers. With faith, we know that he has, but at the Christian Prayer Center, we are able to show immediate results to people. Once a prayer request is posted, people can immediately start praying for them, and commenting on their request to show their support. It's very comforting. We do our best to provide a means for people to use prayer to enrich their lives.

Can you suggest a way for busy people to have periods of silence and reflection in everyday life?

Whether you are having a good day or a bad day, it's always important to remember that life is a gift. I tell people that in their moments of pain, grief, and joy, we should always remember that God has a plan for us, and that God put us on Earth for a reason.

We were made to be social and therefore should we not give a thought to the underprivileged and the disadvantaged in society? How does the Christian Prayer Center help in this?

We do our very best to teach and comfort people from every country around the world. We operate a fully staffed prayer support center that offers guidance and prayer to those with specialized needs. In many circumstances, we've been able to provide support to the disenfranchized individuals with nobody or nowhere else to go. As long as you can find a computer at a public library, or elsewhere, we are there to help. For those who host regular bible studies, and look for mentorship in starting their own churches, we also provide online ordination. (http://www.ministerregistration.org/)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

25 Short Positive Quotes

Here are 25 great positive quotations from wise men who teach us ways to be positive and happy in Life. Turn your life around by applying the messages.

Often the difference between happiness and despair is our thinking. The way we see things and our ability to challenge life's situations and dare to overcome them is what separates ordinary folks from achievers. The never give up spirit coupled with an urge to do brings us success and happiness.

Just see things positively and do things with confidence and you'll see change. Plenty of change. Almost magical results await you.

The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.
Chinese Proverb

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.
Robert Louis Stevenson

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
Dr Wayne Dyer

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
St. Francis of Assis

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
Anonymous

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
Albert Einstein

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results.
Willie Nelson

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.
Anonymous

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.
Napoleon Hill

Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Forget mistakes. Forget failure. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it. Today is your lucky day.
Will Durant

Do what you fear and fear disappears.
David Schwartz

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you.
Brain Tracy

If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes.
John Wooden

Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you're going to live your life.
Joel Osteen

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we took so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened up for us.
Helen Keller

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.
Anthony J. D'Angelo

Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.
Les Brown

Don’t feed your mind with negative thoughts. If you do, you will come to believe them.
Catherine Pulsifer

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.
Mary Engelbreit

All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don’t discover why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.
Danny Thomas

A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes.
Mahatma Gandhi

Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.
Zig Ziglar

The secret to productive goal setting is in establishing clearly defined goals, writing them down and then focusing on them several times a day with words, pictures and emotions as if we've already achieved them.
Denis Waitley

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
Jimmy Dean

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
C. S. Lewis

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
Winston Churchill

The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.
Anonymous

Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong.
Ella Fitzgerald

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.
Mary Engelbreit

All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don’t discover why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.
Danny Thomas

A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes.
Mahatma Gandhi

Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.
Zig Ziglar

The secret to productive goal setting is in establishing clearly defined goals, writing them down and then focusing on them several times a day with words, pictures and emotions as if we've already achieved them.
Denis Waitley

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
Jimmy Dean

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
C. S. Lewis

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
Winston Churchill

The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.
Anonymous

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Why Linking to Other Sites is Good Karma

To link or Not? My answer is Google loves outbound links that offer value to users. It’s Google’s way of understanding what users think of the other sites.

Link out to relevant and good quality content. Readers always love authorities who refer the right resources. They like to read more about a subject they are currently browsing. Outlinking Tip: Linking is like a respected professor recommending some books to his students. Obviously, the professor won’t risk his reputation by recommending the irrelevant, low quality or unethical books.

Outlinks should be part of your strategy to develop authority on the subject. Links are a vote for the content, relevancy and quality of the other site. You can build your credibility by letting users know that you read the latest on the subject and are interested in keeping them updated by recommending relevant and good articles to browse.

Linking Karma
Another advantage of linking to quality sites is that by sending visitors to other sites and blogs, webmasters who track traffic to their sites will find out and probably recommend your site in return. A mutually beneficial strategy in the long run.

Don’t link out to spammy sites
Spammy sites are those that are illegal. Sites that use black hat search engine optimization techniques to draw visitors are also spam sites. They sell links to all and sundry including porn and illegal sites. Sites that obtain data about users and share them with other sites, without user permission are also spam sites. Excessive exchange of links is also considered spam. They may be downloading a virus or malware when you visit the site.

Selling outbound links affect Page Rank?
It’s not wrong to sell links. But if outbound links on a page are there because you have taken a payment, users must be informed. Remember, how Google shows paid ads as “Sponsored Links”. And you must use a "no follow" so that it's clear that it's a paid link. Page rank juice should never be passed on to an ad link.

Passing page rank to the outbound link page is not ethical. Kindly use rel="nofollow" when you sell links. This way you inform search engines that you are not passing page rank.

Linking out Does Not Affect your Site Traffic
Many webmasters and bloggers fear that outlinks will drive away visitors from their site or blog. That’s not true. Users will check out the other site, if it’s good they’ll respect your judgement. They’ll come back to your site for more. Wikipedia is the best example of relevant, quality outbound linking that helps create authority on the subject. Which is why users love Wikipedia, and Google shows Wikipedia pages for many search terms.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Snap Deal Frustrates Users with Bad Design

Snap Deal, one of the hot deal sites in India, recently introduced a Splash Screen to grab email ids of visitors.

This was perhaps thought to be an innovative idea to gather data and engage visitors. But it actually turns out to be frustrating users on the site.

For one, the designer has been very clever in keeping the close button rather small, indistinct and on the edge of the box curve (see pic 1)



When you hit the CONTINUE button, it says: Please enter a valid email address.

This is frustrating for users who want to continue browsing information on the site. If they can’t find the close button, they will most likely exit from the site (Snap Deal, I hope you’re listening).

On some browsers, even the small, indistinct close button is not visible, leading to further frustration.

I hope someone at Snap Deal will check their analytics and see the page exits; and quickly correct this - to offer users a choice to browse the site without submitting their email ids (see pic 2).



Let users do what they want to and if they find the site useful, they will come back. And do business with you.

Remember, it costs a lot of money and effort to bring frustrated users back to the site.

First Impressions are very important not just for people, but brands too.

Update: Life sometimes throws great surprises at you. Within minutes of reading this post, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, who lead the Snap Deal team, responded "We appreciate your spending time on Snapdeal and encouraging us to keep improving. It is definitely something that we noticed too. and realized that it isn’t the best experience from a user standpoint. The design of this page is changing soon. We are always open to getting better at what we do."

I must say I was surprised at the openness and speed of response. That is what you expect from nimble e-commerce sites that are customer friendly. Good Luck, Snap Deal, the hottest deal site in India.

Note: Only parts of the response have been shared with readers. A shining new UI is what we can expect soon, they said.

Rajasekar Raju KS
You may reach the author at rajasekar (DOT) india (AT) yahoo (DOT) com.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Seth Godin Motivational Quotes

Inspiring quotations by Seth Godin, an influential marketer, who has been challenging traditional marketing thinking for decades.

I'm just not willing to believe we're as stupid as we pretend to be.

If the rice isn't right, it really doesn't matter what else you do, you're not going to be able to serve great sushi.

If you're not willing to face the abyss of choice, you will almost certainly not spend enough time dancing with opportunity.

The best way to be the next Mark Zuckerberg is to make difficult choices.

Everyone, apparently, is just like us, but lying about it.

There are more mirrors available than ever. Sometimes, though, what's missing is the willingness to take a look.

Everyone is capable of being missed.

Tell us how to do something.

Driving with your eyes on the rear view mirror is exhausting.

Just because there are no firestorms on the porch doesn't mean you're doing okay.

Don't set the clock when you're tired, set it when you are planning your day.

We repeatedly underestimate how important a story is to help us make sense of the world.

The shortcut to success is this: why not always act as if the other guy is doing the favor?

Discernment is the hardest part of marketing--seeing the world as it is, instead of how you experience it.

If you want people to speak up, be clear and mean it. If you don't, don't pretend.

If you do a job where someone tells you exactly what to do, they will find someone cheaper than you to do it.

The thing to remember about the short-term is that we'll almost certainly be around when the long-term shows up.

You'd be amazed at how far you can go, if you commit to doing it, not merely talking about it.

If you're going to waste time (and I hope you will) the least you can do is do it well.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Never Give Up without Trying one more time

Why should you give up when you want something badly. Try, try and with practice and perseverance you will succeed.

There's a never give up story I read about Muhammad Ali, the boxing legend. He said when he was knocked down once, he thought: "And I thought, OK. What’s next?

It dawned upon him that when you don’t get up there’s no way you can win. And he knew that getting knocked down is part of being in the business. It’s inevitable. But once you know you can get up, no matter what, you become stronger and resilient.

I urge you to be like him. Don't think of giving up, when in fact you may just be on the verge of winning.

The other never give up story that comes to my mind is that of Thomas Alva Edison.

It is popularly said that he failed 9999 times while attempting to invent the electric bulb. He nearly killed his associates when the equipment in the lab blew up. But he persisted telling them that he has discovered that he had failed another time. And was determined to give another try. And, the 10000th time, it was history.

He brought light into this world.

So don't give up Try one more time. It's your dream to win. Never give up.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

5 Ways to Get Kids to Do Chores

Simple techniques to get children to do chores at home. This could make them confident, independent and successful in Life.

A duty which becomes a desire will ultimately become a delight
- George Gritter

Lucky are those parents who need not tell the child to clean the bicycle every Sunday, look after the younger sister while at play, or take a bath before going to school. These children are responsible. They know their duties.

Later life they’ll turn out to be confident, independent and successful persons. But what about those who shirk responsibilities, argue, complain and seek excuses. Well. Don’t be upset with this. It’s normal with most growing up children.

And, the fact is.. you could easily change this situation.

Don't Sermonize, Set Eaxmples
The best way to make your child responsible is to first set examples. Parents must execute their responsibilities and let the child see it. The example sets the right pattern in him. Later, trust him with responsibility. Without giving him stern instructions. Tell him to clean his bicycle so that he can take a ride to the park in the evening. Trust him to do his work. Find out how he’s shaping up. No comments or criticisms.

Be prepared for disappointments. He may never do the job.

Do it with your child
If he hasn’t done it, sit along with him and show him how to do it. Teach him the joy of a duty. Make him experience the satisfaction of executing a task. Stand beside him. Let him know you’re there just in case he needs your help.

Identify areas of responsibility
Can you identify activities where he needs to be responsible? Baby-sitting, household chores or running an errand. Then work on that by doing it a few times along with him. Teach him how to do it. Do not blame or reprimand him when things go wrong. Tell him there’s always another time. Give him the time to learn.

Right way to compliment
Point to his shortcomings but relate it to the job entrusted. Not to his qualities or character. “Can we do it this way? is better than “You’re a lazy, good for nothing fellow who can’t execute a small task? Avoid doing what your dad did to you.
No duty in life should go unrewarded. A pat on the back or a compliment serves as a tonic to repeat the responsible behaviour. Sometimes it may be necessary to reward things with an ice cream, movie, or a new toy.

No overpraises please
Caution: do not over-praise responsible behaviour. If he has only dusted his bicycle, instead of cleaning it, don’t say “great job child”. Not only is it insincere but it will limit his sense of responsibility. He may begin to think that this is enough to satisfy any parents.

Note: The carrot stick policy may fetch rewards sometimes, but it’s advisable to make him savor the joy of doing things. Be patient and gentle. But be persistent. The rewards will definitely show up.

Action Result
Execute your responsibility See him learn
Trust him with duty Watch him grow
Don’t comment or criticize He’ll enjoy his work
Reward a good job well done He’ll feel proud
Join him as he executes Its not work any longer, its fun
Overpraise He’ll slow down work
Punishment for not executing task Builds resistance in him
Patience and persistence The rewards will show up

Friday, September 30, 2011

Best of Gandhi Quotes PPT

Inspiring quotations from Mahatma Gandhi. Motivating and life changing messages from the great soul.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 9

An inspiring Zen story about how fears stunt our thinking and prevent us from realizing our potential and above all understanding the truth. This Zen story about understanding fears is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.

The Great Waves

Many centuries ago there lived a wrestler named, O-nami , meaning the Great Waves. He was so strong, so graceful a wrestler and so good in this sport that he defeated even his master.

All this he could do in private. But when he appeared before the public he seemed to panic. He would lose to inferior wrestlers from the neighboring village. Try as he might he could not overcome the fear of wrestling before the crowds.

Having heard of a Zen master, Hakuju, who was camping in the village, O-nami went to meet him.

After listening to O-nami’s peculiar problem, the Zen master asked him to stay with him for the night. O-nami did as told.

At night after dinner, Hakuju met O-nami. “You are the Great Waves, you must think like the great waves. You are powerful and strong live the waves. Think about sweeping away all those before you. Just forget that you’re O-nami and think that you’re the Great Waves that you see over here in the sea.”

The Zen master left after saying this. And O-nami kept looking at the waves.
Soon he began thinking as the master said that he was the great waves. He kept thinking all night and by dawn, he saw the waves rising higher and higher and them come ashore and wash away many boats the fishermen had left by the shore.

The master realising what had happened said to O-nami, “Now go and fight the best wrestlers. But think you’re the Great Waves.”

O-nami thanked the master and left.

After this he fought many wrestlers from near and far and defeated all of them. He became the most feared and most respected wrestler in the whole kingdom. Villagers narrated his heroism to their grandchildren by the fireside.

Notes: Fear is a very negative emotion that stunts our growth. If we need to realize our potential we need to understand our fears and overcome them. And you can do this with just a positive seed of thought.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Positive TV Watching with Children and How They Can Stimulate Thinking?

Select television programs that stimulate curiosity, provoke the child's thoughts, enhance understanding of science and life, enrich knowledge and shape the kid's character. Can you decide what your child should see on the idiot box? You can, depending upon school, tuitions and playtime, schedule a time for TV.

Answer the Child's Curiosity
Other than cartoons and probably serials for children, you must be present by his side asking questions, analyzing what is being shown and teaching him important lessons. And of course, you must first answer his questions, why did Adrian’s mother scold him? Was it right for Katie to steal from her friend’s pencil box? Mustn’t we all take care of trees like Mike’s family did? Well, such analysis and comments helps mould a child’s values.

Why Kids Watch TV for Hours Together
The Psychology of Seeing TV

Psychologists say that every child has a lot of pent-up feelings, fears, frustrations etc, which are dissipated on seeing TV. It helps the child identify himself with other children and feel normal about such feelings, but they warn that too much violence or typical adult programs could leave a scar on their brittle psychology.

Parental Guide is Necessary
Hence parental guide is vital to the developing child while watching programs the child can’t easily comprehend. The better route being to avoid such programs in the presence of your child.

If we do a little survey about our television watching habits, we’ll quickly realize that we’re hooked to it so much that we spend hours before it, many a time because we have nothing else to do. Most of us would be shocked to discover that sometimes we kill time before the ‘idiot box’ watching programs we can’t recall ten minutes later, leave alone benefiting from it.

This explains the grip television has over our lives. But, we must admit that all of us, including children, need to relax, entertain and laugh our tensions away. We can do this if we can control what we watch. There are Discovery and National Geographic channels to stir the curiosity of your child. Cartoon Network will see your child laugh and fall off his chair. Then there’s Splash and news-based program. Not to forget ESPN and Sky Sports. There are interesting television serials for children too.

Caution: follow the rules you draw for your child, with regard to watching TV. Watch your words when children are around. Avoid the TV when you’re at lunch or dinner as extreme reactions to the scenes on TV effect your digestion. Keep away from TV when exams are around. Above all keep your promises.

What should you child watch on television?

Points to ponder
a. Control the amount of time you spend before the TV.
b. TV curtails creativity.
c Guide your children while watching TV.
d. Select the programs children should see.
e. Above all, keep your promises about letting him watch his cartoon serial if he finishes his homework.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Uncle Anant Pai Google Doodle



Google has honored Anant Pai, the creator of the most popular comic book series for Indians, Amar Chitra Katha. Since inception, it has been published in over 20 languages and sold 100 million copies.

He died in February this year.

Bloggers Guide to Basic SEO

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Art of Group Work and Group Discussions at School

For most people studying is an isolated act, confined to a book or notes being perused in the corner of a room at night or early morning. While we have to acknowledge that solitary reading and preparation is a must during examinations, and a pleasure if one is reading a novel, it has some serious flaws.

Acquiring information is just one part of learning, one needs to understand, assess, compare, contrast, debate and then come to a conclusion. And this is better done in a group. Moreover, it is dull and boring to read alone. One will soon notice that the interest wanes after the initial period.

If the teacher teaches and the students just listen, they will not be able to absorb much of the subject. There has to be active participation, through question-answer sessions, group discussions or interaction with the teacher and classmates. This ensures that you listen to the opinion of others, learn to accommodate, adjust, improve and contribute to the discussion. In short, it is a personality development exercise.

We all have to survive and succeed in a social setting and early participation in a democratic exercise lends students the right perspective of life. Teachers should do well to remember that learning is retained better if it is debated, discussed and understood well. Such knowledge is retained for life. Further, when students grow up, they are all going to be in a family, work with a group at office, be members of a club or association and live in a neighbourhood, where co-existence with other individuals and groups ensure peace and success.

Hence, teachers must engage students in group work and group discussion as often as possible. But before they do they must spell out the rules.

Rules for Group Work and Group Discussions at School
1. The group should be small enough to manage and offer adequate opportunity to each member to air his views. This not only ensures diverse opinions but also a certain equilibrium.
2. All members must take turns to speak and no one should be allowed to dominate the discussion.
3. There should be a balance of weak and intelligent students to maintain harmony in the group.
4. A leader ought to be elected to conduct the proceedings in a free and fair manner.
5. Everyone should be encouraged to air this opinion, without fear. The elected leader must solicit the opinion of even average students.
6. The teacher should be at hand to oversee and steer the discussion in the right path.

A number of methods to ensure active participation exist. Try some of them noted below, but by no means should they stifle your creativity to engineer more novel methods suited to your class.

1. The lecture
The teacher speaks on a subject for about half an hour or so and follows it up with a doubt clearing session at the end of it. This helps the teacher evaluate the understanding capabilities of students, besides provoking students to think of different views they would have missed otherwise.
2. The lecture discussion
Here the teacher throws open a discussion on the subject just taught. This leads to better participation, newer ideas, better understanding and retention.
3. The seminar.
This is a more focused activity where students prepare for a particular theme, research and presents their views and supporting facts. A stimulating exercise pushing learning to higher levels.
4. The panel discussion
The advantage of this lies in the expertise available on the panel, which discusses and arrives at a conclusion with active participation of the audience.
5. Informal discussion
This could be done anytime with topics at short notice of five minutes. Helps students think on their feet and learn to grapple with sudden situations.

Advantages of group work
1. It makes learning much more interesting and lively.
2. Helps slow learners keep pace with the intelligent guys, thereby improving their standard.
3. Allows for exchange of new ideas. Its not necessary for everyone to know everything. Hence its an opportunity to see things in a new perspective.
4. Makes students accept other’s opinions, and adjust to a group, respect fellow students views and enhances conflict management abilities in them.
5. Group work results in better synergy and the output is usually better than the sum of individual efforts.
6. Problems are solved faster because many minds work in many directions.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 8

This Zen story about human nature, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.

Nature of Things

Long ago in China two monks were sitting by the stream and washing vessels.

One monk noticed a scorpion fall into the river and struggle. So he picked it up and put it on the banks so that it could move to safety.

As he did so the scorpion stung him in the hand.

A few minutes later, it crawled into the waters again.

The monk put it back on the banks once again. And yet again it stung the monk.

“Why do you want to save the scorpion when you know it’s his nature to sting?” asked the other monk.

“Because it’s my nature to save,” said the monk.

Notes: While it’s true that inherent bad nature can’t be changed easily, you shouldn’t forget that you must relentlessly pursue your own goodness. Ultimately the rewards will come. The evil will realize the futility of being evil. It will know the power and peace of goodness. It will change.


Page Rank 10 Websites

The comprehensive list of Page Rank 10 sites for SEO professionals to feast upon.

A few highly ranked pages on Google with PR 10, in recent times have moved to page rank 9. Many .gov sites are constantly seen in the Page Rank 10 list. But, the fact is .gov or .edu domains do not get any preferential treatment from Google’s algorithms.

Page rank changes of one or two are normal with new updates from Google. Sometimes page rank changes one sees could be temporary and one should not panic. While looking at page rank as an indicator of the value of a site is healthy, undue obsession about Google’s page rank is not necessary.

Facebook - Social Networking site
135,000 backlinks to this site
Facebook is the first social networking site to grab the famed Google Page Rank 10, considered the holy grail of search. For those new to SEO, it just means that the site is a lot more SEO compliant and has been pointed to by a lot of relevant and highly ranked sites, has fresh content every minute, has a huge traffic driven of course by 400+ million users, is bookmarked heavily by users, and has a ton of online PR that talks about the usefulness of Facebook.

Zimbra - Open source email collaborator
1,890 backlinks to this site

IFLA - The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
3,330

Addthis - The popular bookmarking and sharing services site
159, 000 backlinks to this site

G08 – Group of eight site
1,180 backlinks to this site

Sciencedirect - Showcases 9.5 million articles/chapters from scientific journals, 2,500 peer-reviewed journals and more than 11,000 books
8210 backlinks to this site

CNN - (same as http://www.bozkurtihsan.co.uk/ ) The news site
47,800 backlinks to this site

University of California - University of California
4,140 backlinks to this site

Adobe Reader - The trusted Adobe reader download
458,000 backlinks to this site

W3 - The World Wide Web Consortium
33,600 backlinks to this site

USA Govt Site - Official portal of the United States Government
30,100 backlinks to this site

EUA – The European University Association
3,210 backlinks to this site

Google - The world’s popular search engine
149,000 backlinks to this site

Indian Govt - The official site of the Govt of India
2,360 backlinks to this site

Europeana - showcases Europe’s cultural heritage with links to 6 million pieces of unique information.
5,160 backlinks to this site

Miibeian - Ministry of Information Industry Records in China
54,800 backlinks to this site.

HHS (same as www.dhhs.gov) - The United States Department of Health and Human Sciences
36,200 backlinks to this site.

Universitas21 - Network for Higher Education
1,140 backlinks to this site

Saturday, September 3, 2011

SEO Tips to Optimize your Titles and H1 Tags

The secret to optimizing titles and tags is to write copy naturally with relevant keywords that visitors use to search for your content. Write for humans and not search engine bots.



Don’t be obsessed with keywords. Write titles and tags as a user would search on Google. For this you can use Google trends and Google keyword tools. Try keeping them in the order of words that visitors might type, although search engines do take into consideration variations in the order of keywords.



The H1 tags you create in your post (which means your headings and sub headings) to indicate to users the important or key content in that section, must be written naturally. The keywords here must reflect the core of the content in that section. You should never try to use keywords that are meant to cheat search engines into believing that the content is different. Write titles and tags that reflect the content following them. Be ETHICAL.



Example: If you are doing a post on the new drug testing for skin cancer, then the correct H1 tag is: New drug for Skin Cancer being tested and not: Treatment for Skin Cancer Found



You shouldn’t use the second tag just because you know people are searching for “treatment for skin cancer.” Search engines’ algorithms are very intelligent and will easily find out that the content is different from the title given. And will not give you benefits. Rather, you could be penalized if it finds that you do this once too often.



Tip: Write titles and tags naturally as users would use them. Don’t overdo or use non relevant keywords to optimize. Search engines are smarter than you think they are.



Remember that the job of search engines like Google is to serve useful and relevant content to searchers. So they’ll find your content anyway if it’s good enough. Focus on writing good content, use ethical SEO techniques and the traffic will come.



Try not to stuff keywords into the title, tags or body. This will result in a negative experience for users and Google will penalize your ranking for those pages or keywords.



Always attempt to give rich information to visitors.



Use keywords that are relevant.



Place them in the order that user would use while searching for your information.



And you are on your way to a better page rank, user satisfaction and loads of traffic.

Short Stories of Jataka Tales 3

This Buddha story about treating others with respect, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.



The Brahmin who abused the Buddha



One day the rich Brahmin Bharadvaja invited the Buddha to his home for lunch.



When the Buddha arrived, Brahmin Bharadvaja instead of welcoming Buddha hurled abuses at him.



The Buddha listened quietly.



When Brahmin Bharadvaja stopped his abuses, Buddha asked, “Brahmin Bharadvaja, what do you do when guests come to your home?”



“I offer them alms and food,” replied the Brahmin.



“And what do you do when the guest refuses to receive the alms?” asked Buddha.



“We gladly partake that ourselves,” replied Brahmin Bharadvaja.



“Then I’m refusing to take the alms you just gave me. Please take them back, they belong to you,” said the Buddha.



Notes: Always give others what you’d gladly receive. The power of wealth often makes one heady and leads to a downfall. Beware of that. And treat others with humility and respect.



Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 7

This Zen story, Which is the Way?, about experiencing the present, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.



Which is the Way?



A young disciple asked the Zen master, “Which is the Way?”



“Oh! Look at the mountain, it’s so beautiful. Can you see it”



“I did not ask about the mountain master. I asked about the Way,” said the disciple.



“As long you cannot see beyond the mountain, you’ll never reach the way,” replied the Zen master.



Notes: Experiencing the present is everything in Zen. Needless searching for truth leads one no where. Be in the present and enjoy the truth.



Tuesday, August 23, 2011

SEO tips to make blogs accessible to Google and users

Getting Google to index and crawl through your blog content easily will mean more traffic for bloggers like you. The SEO trick here is to understand how search engines like Google read web content. I’m letting you in on some simple and easy to implement secrets of search engines.



How do users reach your blog content? How do search engine crawlers arrive at your blog?

Well users and Google arrive on your blog by navigating through hyperlinks somewhere on the internet. These can be links on another blog or site, forum, social media, delicious, digg, directory and the like. From there they click (or crawl) to land up on your blog post. So if you’re a webmaster or blogger, your hyperlinks must be neat and navigable.



Important content on your blog is better placed via simple static html links, than the Ajax, Flash or Javascript. Google can crawl html hyperlinks easily, then the above technologies. People use different browsers and HTML text is compatible and accessible by all of them. So it’s important that you link all critical blog content via html hyperlinks.



To make content useful to readers and search engine bots, publish them as html documents. Use less of scripts and make it easy to navigate to your articles.



Making images indexable, accessible

Images, Photos, Pictures, Graphics must all either have alt and title tags that explain the content and context. The titles and alt tags must be useful, meaningful and relevant to the content on the page. The context of the picture to the page content is important for ranking it better. Otherwise they turn useless from the point of view of search. You can also write some content on what is there in the images to help users and crawlers identify and understand the content. This helps Google to rank your pages better. And assign a better quality point to your content.



Clean up broken links, duplicate content

Broken links, empty pages, duplicate content, affiliate articles with no value aditions and 404 errors – all interfere with indexing your site or blog. Avoid all these by checking and publishing unique, fresh, value added and useful content for readers and crawlers.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Nothing can change destiny - Short Motivating Story

This story about positive thinking is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.



In 17th century Japan, a General was leading his soldiers to war. He was confident of winning it but some of his soldiers were in doubt.



On the way they stopped to pray at a Buddhist temple.



Here the General, taking a coin from his coat pocket, addressed his men, “I’m tossing this coin. If it’s heads we’ll win, if it’s tails we’ll lose the war.”



He tossed the coin and it was heads. The soldiers were delighted and marched forth with confidence.



And won the war.



“Nothing can change destiny,” said the Lieutenant to the General.



“Yes indeed,” replied the General showing the coin with heads on both sides.



Notes: Success or failure is in the mind. Starting with a positive thought is quite often decisive in winning. Think positive and the battle is half won.



Sunday, August 21, 2011

Everyone has a Problem, short motivational story

This short motivating story about perceptions that only we have problems, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.



A beautiful lady visited a psychiatrist. She was ushered into his consulting room.



She sat down before him.



“Please come closer,” said the psychiatrist.



The women moved closer to the psychiatrist.



At once he jumped from his seat, hugged and kissed the beautiful lady.



She was nevertheless shocked.



“Now this takes care of my problem. Tell me, what’s your problem?” asked the psychiatrist.



Often we think that we are the only ones troubled by a multitude of problems. And think others are enjoying their lives. We forget that everyone has a fair share of their own problems. And, perhaps, many are in a much worse state than us. If only we’re able to realize that we’d feel a lot better. And we’d spend our energies in doing positive things than sulking about our misfortunes.



Note: It’s human frailty to think that only we in the world are burdened by problems. And everyone else is happy and problem free. You have to understand that often millions out there are in dire need of help. Take control of yourself and you’ll succeed.



Saturday, August 20, 2011

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 6

This Zen story, A Moment of Enlightenment, about living in the moment, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.



A Moment of Enlightenment



P'an-shan was a Chinese Zen master who lived in the 8th century. It is said that he once walked through a busy market in a far flung Chinese province and overheard a customer ask a butcher:



“Give some good meat.”



“Here look, there’s no meat other than good meat,” replied the butcher as he showed the customer a large piece of meat.



Zen master P'an-shan felt enlightened. He looked around him. Everything seems beautiful. He looked at the people in the market, everyone seemed to be happy. He looked at the sky, it looked good too.



He smiled and walked on.



Notes: Zen is not about some complex philosophy, it’s about everyday experiences. We see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. If we start looking at people and things fresh each time, everything will be fine.



Friday, August 19, 2011

Short Stories of Jataka Tales 2

This Buddhist Jataka story, The Bandit Who Threatened the Buddha, about the uselessness of might, is part of an eBook 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.



The Bandit Who Threatened the Buddha



It is said that once when Buddha was walking through a forest he was threatened by a bandit, Angulimal.



“Give me all you have or I’ll slit your throat,” threatened the bandit.



“I don’t have anything with me,” replied Buddha.



“Then be prepared to face my sword,” said Angulimal.



“Can you fulfill my dying wish?” asked Buddha.



“Tell me, what it is?” asked the bandit.



“Can you cut off a branch of that tree?” asked Buddha, pointing to a tree close by.



In a swift action of the bandit’s sword, the branch was cut.



“Done, what next?” asked Angulimal.



“Now, fix it back,” said Buddha.



“Don’t be an idiot, no one can put it back together,” said the bandit.



“You are the idiot, its child’s play to cut the tree, but only the mighty and wise know how to create things and heal,” said Buddha.



Angulimal fell silent.



Notes: Humans are always in awe of power and might; and falsely believe that it makes them powerful. It’s very easy by an act of foolishness to destroy something. But it’s very difficult to create something. Creation is powerful and positive. Those who seek to destroy don’t realize that it’s themselves that they actually destruct.



SEO For Blog

While blogging implement best practices in whitehat SEO for blogs. Here are ethical SEO tips to rank your blog higher on Google.

Optimizing the domain name for your blog
It’s very important for bloggers to operate with an own domain name and use a good blogging platform and paid hosting. Or buy a domain name and map them to your existing blog on blogspot, wordpress or other blogging platforms. Having your own name tells search engines your intention and commitment to give users good content. The period for which you book a domain name also speaks about your long term blogging plans. If it’s booked for a short period, it could also reveal that you may be a fly by night operator looking to make a quick buck.

Tips for Domain names
Domain names must reveal the core of your blog’s theme – example: caps.com (if you were selling caps), starsigns.com (if you were blogging on star signs), or yoga4weightloss.com (if you were running a blog on this theme).
No long domain names
No domain names that don’t instantly connect to the audience. For example, Impact.com and you are talking about fishing.
Preferred domain extensions are .com, .net, .biz, .info, edu and country extensions.

SEO friendly niche content for Blogs
Search engines rank sites higher if they have focused content on a particular subject. Choose a theme for your blog, preferably in niche areas, not in broad domains. For example, if you look at “Gifts”, it will be difficult to get a lot of traffic and rank higher on search engines like Google, since competition will be very high from establishes sites that have a lot of content and money to promote the site.

Instead look at Gifts for New Borns or Gifts for ex-boyfriends, gifts for schoolmates, gifts for older people. Here you need to build your authority on the subject by writing a series of articles on different themes – gifts for various occasions, worst gifts to give, personalizing gifts, special gifts, gadget gifts, wrapping gifts, gift notes, re-gifting, when to send gifts, best gifts, etc.

About 300 to 500 pages of top quality original and fresh content will do wonders for your weblog.

Keywords relevancy to blog post’s topic
When you write a post on any subject, always think of how the user would search for such content. What words would they type into Google, Yahoo, MSN or other search engines. Your title should reflect the core subject with words that users will type to search for the content. Like my title for this post - SEO for Blog

Tips for Bloggers and Blogs – SEO. Google for your content and see the top results in different search engines to get a fair understanding of what keywords to use in your title.

And your text should have a variation of the relevant keywords. This is to guide the search engine bot to understand the content. So if it’s on gifting to girlfriends, you may use a sprinkling of the words – gifts, gifting, presents, love, romantic, gift ideas, girls, women, wrapping, cute, gifts for her, cool gifts etc.

SEO tips for keyword rich content
Your title should have the important keywords for the blog post
The heading should reflect them
The tags of your post must contain the keywords
The alt tags – the title of you pictures on that blog page
The anchor text – keyword phrases text that link out to the complete post or to some other article outside your site

All the above should not be repetitive, but be variations of the important keywords

Tip: The keywords written must be natural and meaningful. It’s should be overloaded for search engine rankings. Use just enough for users to find the content engrossing.

Blog navigation
The design of your blog should be simple. And the navigation ie., the links on your site should be placed in vantage points to allow user to easily find information on your site. All posts should be categorized well. This is a key SEO advice that you must follow. This allows users looking for a particular topic to quickly head to the relevant content and continue reading your blog posts.

Do not place ads, images or widgets in odd places and interfere with the user experience. Let users quickly go and read what they are interested in.

Tags and categories
Most blogging softwares today have the facility of tagging and categorization. Use the most relevant keywords to tag your post and categorise each blog article well. Do not use too many tags, nor too many general keywords in the tags. Use caetgory names that users generally search for. And limit the number of categories to manageable levels.

Connect to users with interactive tools
I’m sure some of you are familiar with feeds. Kindly give the feed links on your blog. It helps users who have liked your content to keep in touch with your blog. Don’t forget to have a search bar while blogging. This makes for more page views since readers are looking for some content at that point in time, and if you have it served via search, you are only getting them to spend more time reading on your blog. Allow comments to come from usres – they tell you what’s right or wrong with the blog content. Comments are used by search engines like Google to understand whether people liked your blog or not. And they also build your brand.

Using an analytics tool to build traffic
Bloggers must use an analytics tool, like Google Analytics, which is free anyway, to understand user behaviour on site. How search engines like Google are treating your blog’s content is revealed in your blog. What keywords do people use to come upon your blog. Using this you can build more content on such keyword phrases, which are relevant to your webblog.

They also tell you the top content on your blog. Find out why Google is ranking them well and do more of the same. Where do users come from, keywords they used to land on your blog, which are your top landing pages, which page did they go to next – all this and more is revealed by an analytics tool. They help you in mapping user behaviour. And help in building traffic to your blog. Sign up right away for Google Analytics.

These simple search engine optimization tips should help you begin blogging and building a base of loyal users.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Short Stories of Jataka Tales 1

This Buddhist Jataka story, The Buddha and his Disciple, about the value of old things, is part of an eBook 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.



The Buddha and his Disciple



As Buddha opened his eyes after a long period of meditation, he saw a disciple standing before him.



“My lord, why don’t you stop meditating for world peace and do something to help yourself and your disciples?” said the disciple.



The Buddha smiled, “Tell me what can I do for you?”



“My clothes are worn out and I’d like to have new clothes,” said the disciple.



Buddha looked at the disciple’s clothes and found holes here and there. He asked a senior disciple to fetch new clothes. Giving it to him, Buddha asked, “Is there anything else I could do?”



“Thanks, my lord, I have no need for anything else,” replied the disciple.



In the evening, Buddha went to the disciple’s room.



“Are you clothes comfortable?” enquired Buddha.



“Yes,” nodded the disciple.



“What did you do to the old clothes?” asked Buddha.



“I use them as a bedspread,” said he.



“And what about the old bedspread?” asked Buddha.



“I turned it into a curtain for the window,” said the disciple.



“What did you do to the curtain that was there on the window?” asked Buddha.



“It was quite old and I use it in the kitchen for getting hot vessels off the stove,” he said.



“And what about the old cloth that was used in the kitchen?” asked Buddha.



“Out of them I made small wicks for the lamps,” said the disciple.



The Buddha smiled and returned.



Notes: There’s nothing old or waste on this earth. Everything has some value, just that we need to realize this. When we do this, we will become contented and happy.



Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 5

This Zen story, It's his Problem, about egos is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.



It's his problem



Once a Zen master was walking along with a student in a busy marketplace.



Out of nowhere a man running on the road runs into the Zen master.



The Zen master falls down. But he gets up dusts his clothes and moves on, unruffled.



The student is shocked by the master’s behavior.



“Master, why did you not react to the man’s wild push? Are you not bothered? Who he is and why he did this?” said the student.



“That’s his problem, not mine,” replied the master continuing the journey as if nothing had happened.



Note: Often the ego, our exaggerated sense of self importance, causes us to react to situations. And heap misery on oneself. To the man who is humble and egoless, it’s futile to react or worry about why someone said or did something. That’s best left to idle and ignorant minds. There are better things to do in life.



Monday, August 15, 2011

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 4

This Zen story, Stop Comparing, about the futility of comparisons, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.



Having heard of the wisdom of a Zen master in the neighborhood, a Samurai (Japanese warrior) called upon the Zen master.



As he entered the Zen master’s home where a class was in progress, the proud Samurai felt a sense of smallness. He met the Zen master and queried, “I’m a proud warrior, but when I entered your home, I felt very inferior. I couldn’t understand the change.”



“Wait till the day is over and I’ll tell you,” replied the master.



The Samurai continued to wait till sunset and yet there was no sign of the master’s answer.



Then as if the master had read his mind, “Come, let’s go outside,” invited the master.



Once they stepped out, the master pointing to two trees in front of his home, said, “You see there are two trees here, a big one and a small one.”



“Yes sir,” replied the Samurai.



“They have been here for as long as I can remember. But not a single day have I heard them say “I’m big, you’re small” or “how come you are so big,” continued the master.



The Samurai listened quietly.



“Can you say why?” asked the master.



“Because they can’t compare,” replied the Samurai.



“There you have the answer to your own question,” said the Zen master.



Notes: Comparison often breeds contempt. You are always to be measured by your own actions. And not with anybody since each person is differently made. The “I” in you needs to be understood. It should not be allowed to seize your mind or it could bring you endless trouble.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 3

This Zen story, Only One Eye on the Goal about doing things rather than bothering about the time it takes, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.



A young man walked up to a Zen master and enquired.



“How long would it take for me to master Zen, if I worked very hard?”



“Ten years,” replied the Zen master.



“What if I put in a lot of effort and worked very hard. How long would it take?” he asked.



“Twenty years,” smiled the Zen master.



“And what if I put in 200% effort in learning,” asked the young man.



“It would take you 30 years,” replied the master.



The young man was angry: “How can it take longer when I’m going to work harder and harder? I don’t understand.”



“When you have only one eye on the goal, it’s going to take you longer to get there,” replied the Zen master.



Notes: There are many in this world like the young man, thinking about doing rather than getting down to doing it. And like the young man, many don’t see the goal clearly. And are clouded with doubts. One eye on the goal and one eye on the path will take us nowhere.

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 2

This Zen story, Simple Miracles about the simplicity of life and present, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.



Bankei was a renowned Japanese Zen master who was honoured with the title of “national teacher” after his death.



One day the disciple of another master met him and enquired, “My master can perform many miracles. He can walk on water. When his disciples stand on one river bank with a sheet of paper, he can write on it standing on the other bank. What can you do?”

“Here we don’t do much. When we’re hungry, we eat. When we’re thirsty, we drink. When sleepy, we sleep. That’s all. No Miracles,” replied Bankei.



Notes: All miracles have no use. They are just maya or illusions. It’s just make believe, it tricks the mind. The simple things in life are the most profound. Simplicity without the complexities of knowledge, conditionings and beliefs is what man needs to understand and be one with nature. One has to free himself of these to attain realization. And that is Zen.



Friday, August 12, 2011

How to Begin Blog Writing

How to begin blog posts? It’s good to start with a subject you are passionate about – be it pet care, art or travel. Find out ways to pull traffic with your content.



Where to start is a question that bothers millions of bloggers and site owners?

Tip: Check out if the theme you choose has a lot of products or services around it (and that there’s a need for it in the market). That’s an indication of the money earning opportunity. The higher the value of the services or products, the better your chances of making a lot of money online. Most bloggers and webmasters tend to forget this and build sites that don’t present a chance to earn. After the hard work you put in, you need to make some dollars too, right.



Research for Content Topics

Do a bit of research on the net on your chosen topic. Put down a list of themes to begin writing. Initially, begin writing articles where you have the knowledge. Since it’ll be easy to start here and the passion will convince users.



All of wonder if we are worth writing something. Surprisingly, when we honestly write about what we love or are passionate about, we can almost write a book. Many online newbies have surprised themselves when they begin writing and find that they can’t stop. You know to play the guitar well, write a beginners guide to it. teach people to play it. Or are you a foodie? Write about organic recipes, diet for obesity, healthy juices, low calorie breakfasts and the like.



Think. Think. I’m sure you find some skill you have that you can write about.



Do not worry about your writing skills. 99% of all those online writers are at the same stage. But you need to positively write. As you pen a few dozen pieces of original content, you’ll see your writing skills improve. Be simple, people love to read stuff that’s easy to understand.



Writing Blog Posts of Personal Experiences

Many a time people love to read stuff that’s written based on personal experiences. Use your experiences to tell online users the story. Human beings are always curious about other people’s experiences – failures and successes. This way you can connect to readers of your blog or site.



Research and write quality blog posts

After you have exhausted topics you know, do research on the net, go to forums, see videos, read up experts on the subject and find more interesting subjects to continue producing posts for your blog or site. 400 to 500 words is good for each post.



Make the matter useful to readers. Give tips. Bring out your perspective. Guide them if you are an expert on something. Give them a solid reason to revisit your site.



Seo4google.org Tip II: Soon you must become an authority on the chosen theme. And there’ll be no looking back, friend.



How many posts a week?

Initially, plan atleast one post a week and later move to two a week. Fresh and original content and regular posts will get you the visitors you want onto your site faster.



But, sustaining the interest to write is important. 99% of bloggers stop writing within six months. I wish you are not one of them. Keep at it and you’ll find success.



After choosing a theme for your blog or website, only original and quality content on your area of interest will fetch you the traffic. And help you succeed as a online marketer. Keep me posted about your blog progress. Best wishes.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Write Useful Articles for Blog Readers

Want plenty of traffic to your blog? Get them by writing good articles that users are looking for. That’s the simple SEO secret to get prospective customers onto your site.

I keep coming back to good content. Why? Because without quality content on your blog, users won’t find a reason to come back. And if you keep losing readers who land up on site, then you can’t build a loyal base of subscribers or readers.

It’s easier to wow your existing user with top quality articles and retain him, than to get new users all the time.

Blogging Tip: When more users come back to your blog, they indicate to the search engines that your blog or website has good quality content. And search engines like google, yahoo, msn, ask, aol will then send more traffic to your site.

Creating Content based on User Problems
In your chosen domain think about what problems users face, what content they find difficult to find on the internet. Research and write about such subjects. Soon, you’ll get a ton of users to read your stuff.

Choose niche topics to write on. Golf accessories for left handers. Alternative treatment for migraine. Lessons you can learn from a monkey. Making money from your mobile site. Where to buy shoes for diabetics? How to make noiseless generators?

Become a Subject Matter Expertise
You must slowly look to become subject matter experts in what you write. Be it yoga, alternate diet for obesity, wall hangings from waste stuff, domain name resale or whatever.

Write for users, not search engines. Search engines don’t like or rate articles too well when written for the sake of better search rankings. They love to pick and show content written for online readers.

Blogging Tip: Use the language of common users when you post an article on your blog. Because readers are going to use similar language to search for content on the net. And when Google sees them on your article, they’ll send users to your page.

Ask yourself a question? Will I find this article useful, if I wanted it. If the answer is yes, publish it on your blog or website. Or else, begin to write a better article.

Connect to users with content that they find useful, enjoyable, readable and beneficial. And they will love your site. They will spread the word around. Link to your blog, dig or stumble it, bookmark it. And that’s a vote for your site.

Why Quality Content is key for Search Engines and Online Users?

In order to pull traffic from search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask and AOL, fresh and new content is needed on a site or blog. How much to write, find out.

Many people across the world blog on a variety of subjects. As a website owner or blogger you must write or get someone else to produce good quality content. The content should be focused on a particular subject. Let’s say for example, you are running a site or blog on pet care, you must produce content on pets, the general health problems, care for pets, pet diet, cleaning cats and dogs, when you should take them to the vet etc.

How much is enough, we always wonder.
My suggestion is look to write about 400 to 500 word articles articles on any relevant theme. This length is enough to cover aspects of theme you’ve focused on, indicates to Google and other search engines that the site provides useful information to the users. The quality content clearly states to search engines and users your commitment to provide enriching and meaningful articles.

500 pages of content over a period of two to four years. And is bound to pull traffic in droves, especially if it’s focused on a niche, is good quality, and written to benefit users. However, 100 pages of solid content is a good starting point to building traffic on your site.

Millions of people use search engines to look for content on different subjects of interest to them. You stand a good chance to attract visitors on the internet if you produce top quality content.

Never compromise on content, because that’s what visitors come for to any site. Build websites and blogs for online users, not for search engines.

Frequency of Blog Content
Post content regularly on your site. Atleast twice a week. This is very important. Don’t be sporadic, posting an article daily for a month and then not posting for the next two months. Users who come back to site and don’t find fresh content will not come back again. And you’d have lost the chance to build a loyal user base on your site or blog.

Write Original Content
Original content is what you aim for, that’s what everyone loves. And that’s what search engines are always looking for – new content to give their searchers.

No matter what tools, technologies, techniques you employ, you need great content on site to delight users. Just get that clear. And you are on the way to building a good online business through a blog or website.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 1

This Zen story about egos is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.

The Ego is a Dead Mouse

A bird was once carrying a dead mouse and flying back to its nest.

To his shock he saw many birds flying behind him. He was scared, “What have I done. I’m just carrying a dead mouse to serve as my meal for the day.”

The birds came and banged into his wings. Fearing that he’d be hurt, he dropped the bird. The moment he did so, they left him.

Flying to the safety of a nearby tree, he rested for some time thinking why the birds were after him.

He realized that they were not after him to harm him, but were rather after the dead mouse. Just as he was behind the dead mouse.

Notes: So if some people are trying to hurt your reputation or you, drop you dead mouse (the ego) and sit back and watch. They will all forget you in a moment and go away. By letting go of the ego, you can resolve many problems of having to keep up your reputation, image and name intact. There really exists none, and

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Why You Should Get to Know Your Child's Friend

When Christina received a call from a lifeguard on the local beach, she could hardly believe her ears. Her son, Robert, had been rescued from the clutches of the sea. She assumed he’d be at the Local Club. And he wasn’t.

“That incident really shook me up”, says she. A new friend popped up that morning and Robert left with him on the bicycle. And Christina didn’t even ask the child where he was heading. “ I forgot the basics", she said.

"Had I enquired it might have been a different story, “ feels Christina.

Be Aware of your Kids Activities
Not knowing your child’s activities might spell disaster sometimes. As a parent you must establish trust in your child and encourage him to reveal all his activities, without being judgemental. Keep yourself aware of his extracurricular activities. Check out his cricket ground or pool parlour. You can even propose to drop him there on a Sunday morning and cheer him at play. Don’t encroach on his freedom. Do it matter-of-factly.



Interact with his friends
That’s the best way to keep your son out of trouble. Invite them over for lunch or tea. Get to know them better and if you feel someone’s bad company for your child, put that across to your child. Tell him why you think so. But don’t ever be harsh or stern, lest it make him rebel. This may backfire and lead to just what you fear. Infact, buzzing the parents and keeping in touch is good too. Once the two families are friendly, the chances of children going astray are slim.

Spend time with children
Take a walk, get jogging or go to the movies. There must be necessarily be a time for kids. It helps bond your ties. Give him your love, respect his views and cherish his values. Earn his trust and he’ll always express his hopes, fears and secrets with you. That’s the power of love. If he’s comfortable in your company, he’ll be on the right path. Your doubts about friends can be cleared through casual talks. In case you find something amiss, probe further, but most importantly without interfering with his freedom.

Help Kids Distinguish Good from Bad
Above all teach you child to identify good traits in others. And to keep off from bad kids. Make him responsible and you won’t have to rue. It’s wise to equip him to handle these relationships carefully.

Monday, August 1, 2011

SEO Link Building Expert – Eric Ward

Eric Edward is not the typical Search Engine Optimizer or strategist. He insists on building quality links through Press Releases, seeking links from niche resources and webmasters/ bloggers who are passionate about their subjects. Quite simply, he began link building links when search engines were in their early stages. So he used traditional link building strategies that looked at quality of content rather than page rank.

He targets rich content sites, library sites and sites that instruct beginners on a subject. More importantly, he targets niche, fairly unknown sites and creatively works to get links.

Erc Ward suggests building creative content, strategies to get social media and influencers in a domain to review and link to your site. Not from the point of view of search engines, but human users who want good content and very good related content. And from a trustworthy source.

He believes that each of us trying to build links must act as if we worked for Google. Check out Eric Ward’s Link Building Site. http://www.ericward.com/

Best of Eric Ward’s Link Building Interviews

Linking interview

Wordtracket Interview

Audio Link Building Interviews

Traffic Pulling Link Tips

The Search Engine Guide’s Interview

Social Media Linking Discussion

Link Building Challenges

Link Building Myths

Gaining Link Popularity interview on Marketing Sherpa

Linking Strategy Podcasts

Friday, July 29, 2011

Free Short Motivational Quotes of the Day 3

If you’re looking for motivation right now, read these pearls of wisdom from the masters. A selection of quotations to inspire all.

When one is truly ready for a thing it puts in its appearance.
Napoleon Hill

You can’t hire someone else to do your push-ups for you
Jim Rohn

You can do it if you believe you can
Napoleon Hill

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
Abraham Lincoln

Render more service than that for which you are paid and you will soon be paid for more than you render. The law of ‘increasing returns’ takes care of this.
Napoleon Hill

You must learn from the mistake of others. You can’t possible live long enough to make them all yourself.
Sam Levenson

Without self-awareness we are like babes in the cradles.
Virginia Wolf

If you cannot do great things yourself, remember that you may do small things in a great way.
Napoleon Hill

Whatever you think about continuously emerges in your reality.
Brian Tracy

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

How Not to Praise Your Kids

Some parents in their enthusiasm to make the child happy praise more than the child deserves. This could result in two things. Either the child feels what he’s doing is enough. And consequently may not apply more effort to improve. Or the child could begin feeling that he doesn’t deserve it or feels indirect pressure by parents to do better.

Don’t be reserved when you praise a kid, but don’t overdo it too, I heard my grandmother tell a neighbor when I was about seven or eight. How true!

Some parents think that good words of appreciation should be limited to great achievements only. Sadly mistaken. A kid deserves (even looks forward to) a pat even when he runs an errand, lends a hand in cleaning the house or draws a cute cat in his notebook. Praise motivates like nothing else. It’s a healthy tonic. Invigorating, comfortable, spirit-lifting and positive. Makes one feel worthy.

Praise must always be proportionate to the achievement. Vow! Great. Fantastic. All will sound hollow if you’re telling this to your daughter who’s scored 60 percent in math. Doesn’t sound genuine, don’t you agree?

Everybody wants their effort to be rewarded. So always appreciate the work, act or service. Not the individual. Don’t be too judgmental, evaluating his character. This could put him in the defensive mode. ‘Job well done. You’ve made the home dust-free. I can already breathe a lot better now’.

Sounds genuine. There’s warmth in what you say. And he’ll feel good.
Make it a little physical. Caress, pat or put a hand on the shoulder. ‘ Stroking’ leaves a positive impact.

No ifs and buts please
Be clear and straightforward in your approbation. Don’t stick another condition at the end of it. ‘Great sonny. You’ve given ‘Roger’ a good bath. He’s fresher than before. But, you haven’t cleaned the ticks. Next time don’t forget that. No use of a bath till then’.

You son would feel better if you didn’t open your mouth. So keep the rest for another day. For now, just praise the work done.

Don’t pressure your kid
Never praise your daughter so that she’ll live up to it. Chances are that stress and anxiety could slow down her performance. Avoid ‘playing games’ with them.

Take the Praise Quiz
1. When your child wins a competition, do you
a. Secretly admire the neighbors praising your child
b. Play down the achievement
c. Pat your son and tell him how much you love

2. If your child shows you a picture he’s just drawn, do you
a. Tell him its not the time to draw
b. Tell the kid he can draw better
c. Cuddle him and compliment the details of the picture

3. Do you praise so that
a. Your son will perform better next time
b. He will feel encouraged
c. Your neighbor will feel proud of you

4. Do you compliment with
a. Words only
b. Pat, caress and say a few words
c. Hardly compliment

5. When people praise your child for making a toy car model, you say
a. Ah! This is just the beginning
b. He must concentrate on studies
c. He’s very passionate about car modeling and reads a lot on the subject

Answers:
1. c
2. c
3. b
4. b
5. c