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Butternut Squash Recipe Mood:
party time! Topic: Wedding
Butternut Squash is delicious and a wonderful addition to our holiday dinners. Courtesy of the Food Network and Todd English, here is a delicious recipe for "Tortellini of Butternut Squash with Brown Butter." I have altered certain portions of the original recipe to reflect my personal tastes. Additional kitchen utensils you will need for this recipe are a food processor with a metal blade and a pasta machine (for the tortellini).
Butternut Squash Filling
* 2 TBSP butter * 1 large or 2 small butternut squash, peeled and diced * 1/2 CUP ground amaretto cookies * 1/2 CUP bread crumbs * 1/4 CUP grated Parmesan cheese * 1/4 TSP ground nutmeg * 1 1/2 TSP salt * 1/4 TSP black pepper * Filtered water
The Dough
* 2-2 1/2 CUPS flour * 1 TSP salt * 2 large eggs * 3 large egg yolks
The Brown Butter
* 2 sticks butter * 1 TBSP chopped sage leaves * 1 TSP salt * 1/2 TSP black pepper
Prepare the Butternut Squash Filling
Melt the butter over medium heat and add the butternut squash. Cook about 10 minutes, or until the squash is golden grown. Cover the squash with water and cook for 20 minutes, until squash is tender. Drain and put the squash in a food processor with the rest of the Butternut Squash Filling ingredients and blend until smooth.
Prepare the Dough and Tortellini
Flour a large cutting board. Put 2 CUPS of flour and the salt in the center of the board and make a wide well with it. Drop the eggs and egg yolks into the well. With a fork, follow the perimeter of the well and bring small amounts of the flour in until most of the flour is absorbed. Add up to 1/2 CUP of the remaining flour as needed. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and then put it into the pasta machine. Fold the dough into halves and reinsert 15-20 times to knead it, continuing until the dough is paper-thin. Lay out the sheets of dough and cut into 4-inch squares. There should be about 40-42 squares. Place 1 heaping TBSP of the Butternut Squash Filling on one corner of ea. square. Fold the squares and press down around the filling. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the tortellini and cook for 3 minutes or until tender.
Prepare the Brown Butter and Serve
Melt the butter in a large skillet and cook 4 min. Add sage, salt, and pepper. Cook 3 minutes. Toss the tortellini with the brown butter and parmesan. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Just reading the recipe makes me drool! Hope you enjoy it as well!
How to succeed online Mood:
happy Topic: Create + Promote Blogs These are some tips for your internet marketing success culled from an article by Jill Whalen, co-founder of Search Creative LLC. They provide a nice summary of points I have made over the last several months.
1) Don't buy a new domain unless you have to Google is notoriously slow about updating such things, as are the other search engines.
2) Optimize for your audience, not the search engines If you want quality traffic that will return to visit your site, don't play to the machine. You want people to see the site you've worked so hard on, and the search engine spiders tend to recognize when they're being played and will give you lower search rankings.
3) Research your keywords Think very carefully about what you want as your keywords, then do a Google search for them. The more specific, the better. Look at what results you get and check the Adsense ads next to the the results to get a better idea of what you should use as your keywords.
4) Set up your site to reflect your keywords Basically, make sure your site is easy to navigate. I.e., if people were looking for, say, sofas, on a site devoted to furniture could click on a link toward the top left of the page that led directly to a page devoted to sofas. Likewise for other furniture items.
5) Make your site "crawler-friendly" Search engine spiders are stupid creatures. They can't read forms; they don't do Java, Flash, or graphics; they don't do drop-down menus; and they can't search your site. What they can do, and do very well, is follow HTML links from your main page and from those subpages.
6) Label text links Anchor text (i.e., in the following bogus link < a href="http://mygroovysite.com > My Site < /a>, My Site is the anchor text) is not only what your visitors see, but the search engines too. Try to be as descriptive as possible. In the preceding example, a better anchor text might be "Jason's furniture store has comfortable sofas" (to build on the sofa example). Use your keywords in the text links.
7) Write good copy for the main pages of your site based on the keywords This goes almost without saying, but make sure your copy is clear enough so that the search engines can classify your site correctly. Remember, they are stupid creatures. Don't put them in graphics or flash, although the visual appeal is stunning. Only use keyword phrases when appropriate, and don't just list them at the top of the page. If you need any assistance or pointers with your copy, just email me at randyinternetmarketing4.us.
8) Use your keyword phrases in each page's Title tag Search engines like Title tags, and people searching for your keywords will find the title of your page.
9) Link-worthiness Much is made of how search engines rank pages based on links. Make sure that your site is good enough that others would want to link to it. Also, don't have a link on your site to just any old site; make sure that site is of high of quality as yours. Linking to lousy sites is a bad reflection on yours as well.
10) Don't get hung up on a keyword phrase or rankings If you do the things I advise in this tutorial, you will naturally see an increase in traffic. If you want to add new content, consider usefulness.
Free Items and money Mood:
happy Topic: Make Money with Your Blog
In the last post, I gave links to several sites where you can make money from surveys. I received some really good feedback, so as a follow-up, tonight I will give links to several sites where you can pick up free items, win prizes, or get free money. Sometimes you have to refer some friends to receive your items, other times you just have to fill in your name an address. Please click at least one of the following that interests you and follow the directions on the screen. Thanks a lot and enjoy your freebies!
WomenFreebies.com - Win a Sterling Silver Pendant and Earring Set! Glittering with golden stones. Pierced earrings have French wires. Color: Champaign.
Make Money from Surveys Mood:
happy Topic: Make Money with Your Blog
If you enjoy taking online surveys, join the following sites. They are all free to join and frequently reward you with cash and/or prizes. Please click and join the following - you'll be glad you did!
Organic Marketing Mood:
surprised Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Today we're taking some notes from our old friend Brad Callen on organic marketing.
What is Organic Marketing?
Well, we're not talking gardening, that's for sure. Well, not exactly. Like a real-world garden, your marketing efforts are going to take some time to show some fruition. I've said it before, but it bears repeating that there are no quick-fixes, no "give me $25 and I'll deliver a million visitors" in the real world. You'll just lose $25 and maybe get a lot of visitors who don't speak English, so they pay no attention to your site. As a garden needs multiple sources of nutrition (sun, water, fertilizer), even so your website needs multiple sources of traffic. Don't rely on Google alone.
Also a garden can provide quality and value to your life by beautifying your house or, if you have a vegetable garden, by providing you with nutritious food. Likewise, provide your visitors with quality and value in your website; they'll return and tell their friends about your site, thereby creating even more traffic.
Other Sources of Traffic
Some other places to look for traffic other than search engines are link exchanges (I've had mixed results with these), articles (there are a number of places you can post articles that will help develop your reputation in your area of expertise), participating in forums and blog discussions. Some people enjoy using chat rooms to post links to their site as well, but I find this is an ineffective way to get quality visitors.
Skills Required of an SEM Mood:
happy Topic: Make Money with Your Blog
If you are as intrigued about the ever-changing world of search-engine marketing (SEM) as I am, here are 8 tips culled from Jim Hedger, StepForthNews Editoe, StepForth Placement Inc. Please click on any of the ads that interest you in between the points.
1) Knowledge of how computers operate. Basically, you need to be able to wear many hats since most SEM firms are small operations. You need to know not only about SEM but also file-server maintenance, troubleshooting, networking, intranet and internet connectivity, etc.
2) Software knowledge, ranging from spreadsheets to client management software to specialized search engine software. The knowledge should be more intuitive than learned.
3) Proficiency in the English language. Despite the growing number of non-english sites (see some of the non-english search engines listed at Pingoat), English is the unofficial language of global commerce and the internet. Well-written page content is always in demand.
4) Great interpersonal skills. You need to be able to simplify, explain, educate, gently correct and comfort clients.
5) Knowledge of how ISPs work. You have to be able to assess the host server and how the site is set up. You have to know how to talk tech with the client’s ISP when you need them to install software or modify the client’s account in one way or another.
6) Web design skills. This is a no-brainer, but should not be overlooked. You need to be comfortable in a wide array of platforms, languages, styles, and designs.
7) Basic to advanced knowledge of traditional marketing and sales. Even though the internet has "levelled the playing field," to coin a metaphor, these basic skills are the basis of any profitable organization.
8) Strong research skills. You may need to become an instant expert in any number of fields, depending on your client's interests.
How to Avoid Spam Robots Mood:
happy Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
When you begin to enjoy some success with internet marketing, you probably will begin seeing your inbox bulging with spam, in spite of the illegality of using robots to harvest emails. Spammers use software spiders to grab email addresses anywhere they might be on the internet.
Here's some tips from Jim Edwards, sent my way via Kurt Inman.
1) Simply put, don't put your email address anywhere on your site. Instead of
YOURNAME@YOURDOMAIN.com, use YOURNAME (AT) YOURDOMAIN.com (replace AT with @)
This will discourage most spam robots.
2) Spiders can't read from images. If you must put your email address on your page, type it into your favorite graphics program and save it as a gif or jpeg file. Then post the image on your page.
How to Avoid Black Hat SEO Mood:
chillin' Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Black Hat SEO refers to practices and/or techniques that are immoral, unethical, and potentially illegal to receive more hits to your blog or higher search rankings. An Internet Marketing Tutorial for the rest of us wants you to get traffic in legit ways, because these will lead to your continued online success.
These should be avoided at all costs, as they will not only reflect badly on your business, but also banned from certain search engines.
1) Don't stuff your keywords. Some sites are simply long lists of keywords. As discussed earlier, integrate your keywords into the content of your site. Your marketing efforts will go much further.
2) Don't use invisible text. Don't put your keywords lists in white against a white background.
3) Don't use doorway pages. These are "fake" pages that users never see. It's a trick to try to get search engine spiders to give higher rankings but should never be used.
4) Don't spam the search engines. There are several services available (such as Addme.com) that allow you to submit your website to multiple search engines. If you feel you must use a service like this (the Blog and Ping method described in earlier posts does the same within 3 days that takes the search engines 3 months or more), mark your calendar with a certain day each month that you will submit to the search engines and don't deviate. Else you may find yourself banned from these as well.
5) Don't believe the hype about "guaranteed top ten placement in Google." These companies just want to take your money, use several of the Black Hat SEO techniques, and leave you and your site banned from the top search engines. Getting top placement takes time, ingenuity, creativity, and a lot of patience. Nothing worthwhile ever comes overnight. Even babies need 9 months to develop and sometimes a day of labor.
Keep reading this blog for even more tips. Add us to your My Yahoo or My MSN by clicking their buttons above. The RSS feed that you can use in your favorite news aggregator is on the right.
How to Design a Search-Engine Friendly Site Mood:
energetic Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Welcome to An Internet Marketing Tutorial for the rest of us!
Mary Anne Donovan recently posted the following tips on
How to Design
A Search-
Engine
Friendly Site
1) Don't use Flash
No matter how much you like how it looks, search engines get lost in the maze of code needed for Flash, so just don't use it!
2) Make sure all your links work
Also, make them text links that contain your keywords.
3) If you use image maps, make sure you can navigate via text links as well.
4) Pay special attention to your Title tag, Description tag, Header tags, and body text. Use keywords in a relevant way. Don't try to manipulate search engines with your keywords.
Obviously, we all can improve in all these areas.
While you are improving your blog/site, please click on the following, fill out the small form and get a free night at the movies!
How to Use RSS on your Site Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
How to Use
RSS on Your
Site
RSS (Really Simple Synidication) allows you to deliver your content to any interested parties.
RSS comes automatically with most free blogs. Let's see what we can do with this technology.
1) Place headlines on your site
Feedburner displays headlines from RSS feeds with links on your site.
2) Place other content from a feed
RSSDigest creates source code you can put on your pages in a viriety of formats. Keep in mind, though, that search engines don't read javascript.
These are two great ways to put relevant, insightful information on your site that is updated on a (usually) regular basis. If you find really old posts (few weeks or months), find another feed.
If you are uncertain what sort of RSS feeds to put on your site, go to Yahoo search, and in the search box type
+"rss feed" +free +{keyword}
Of course, replace {keyword} with the key word for your site. The quotations make Yahoo search for the phrase "rss feed" and the plus signs tell Yahoo those words must be included. I always put +free in there because there are a few unscupulous individuals who actually want to charge for their RSS feeds.