Sandy's Wanderings

Giannoula's Spanikopita

2009-12-31T20:04:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

1 box of Filo leaves
2 10z bags of fresh spinach
6 eggs
2 boxes of cream cheese
1 lb feta cheese
7 scallions or green onions
1/2 tsp. of dill (to taste)
1/2 tsp of parsley
garlic cloves (to taste)
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions:

Butter the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.
Mix eggs, cheeses, and spices all together.
Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil.
When onions/garlic have lightly browned, add spinach, and saute until wilted.
Pour the onions/garlic/spinach into the mixing bowl with the eggs/cheeses/spices and mix well.
Layer Filo leaves with mixture, basting leaves with melted butter each layer.
Bake until brown.
Eat until full.

Jolly Holly Popcorn

2009-12-27T20:35:00.002-05:00

Ingredients:

4 cups of popped corn
6 medium sized candy canes, crushed
1/4 cup of butter
1/2 tsp of peppermint extract

Instructions:

In a pan, melt the butter and add the peppermint extract.
In a bowl, mix the candy canes and popcorn together.
When the melted butter has cooled, drizzle it over the popcorn and mix well.

Delicous Caramel Candy Apple Popcorn

2009-12-27T20:33:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

4 cups of popped corn
24 caramels
2 tbsps of hot water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 cups of dried apple pieces

Instructions:

Place the pieces of caramel and two tbsps of hot water in the top pot of a double boiler. Melt them over a very low flame.
Stir in the nutmeg and cinammon.
Mix the dried apple pieces and popped corn together in a bowl.
Gently pour the melted caramel over the popcorn and mix thoroughly.

Red Hot in a Hurry

2009-12-27T20:29:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

2 tsps of sugar
1 pinch of cinnamon
1 cup warm but not boiling milk
1 small pat of butter
Candy Red Hots

Instructions:

Mix the sugar and the cinammon together in a mug. Pour on the warm milk. Stir well. Drop in some red hots. Top with the butter. Wait until the butter melts a little.

Coconut Stuff

2009-12-27T20:26:00.000-05:00

Instructions:

Combine 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of raisins, and 1/2 cup of honey in a bowl. Add one teaspoon of vanilla, and mix it all up well. Spread 1 1/2 cups of coconut (shredded) on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture and roll into balls. Chill the candy for a few hours.

Orange Yogurt Dreamsicles

2009-12-27T20:24:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups orange juice
2 cups plain yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 orange sliced into thin, round slices

Instructions:

Place one orange slice in the bottom of each paper cup. In a large bowl mix together the orange juice, yogurt, and vanilla. Pour into paper cups, cover tops with plastic wrap, insert sticks, and freeze.

We're Pudding-You-On Popsicles

2009-12-27T20:22:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

1 package regular or instant vanilla or chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

Follow driections on package of pudding. Divide 1/2 cup of chocolate chips into equal amounts and sprinkle some into each cup. Add the vanilla or chocolate pudding, the wrap, the sticks, and freeze.

Twice as Ice Cola Pops

2009-12-27T20:20:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

1 large bottle of your favorite cola
1/2 cup lemonade
1/2 cup cherry syrup

Instructions:

Divide the bottle of cola in half and pour into two large bowls. Add 1/2 cup lemonade to one of the bowls and stir. Add 1/2 cup cherry syrup to the othe bowl of cola and stir. Pour into paper cups, cover with wrap, insert sticks, and freeze. Makes six of one kind and six of the other.

Mighty Vine Melon Ice

2009-12-27T20:18:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

4 cups watermelon chunks without rind or seeds
1/2 cup powdered sugar
A few drops of red food coloring

Instructions:

Pour 2 cups watermelon chunks into a blender and blend at high speed until smooth. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and red food coloring. Blend for 10 seconds. Add remaining 2 cups of watermelon chunks and blend until smooth. Pour into paper cups, cover with wrap, insert sticks, and freeze.

Popsicles with a Punch

2009-12-27T20:16:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

1 small can fruit cocktail
1 12/ cups red fruit punch

Instructions:

Mix fruit cocktail and fruit punch together. Pour into cups. Cover with plastic wrap. Insert a popsicle stick in each one and place in freezer.

Spanikopita

2009-12-27T20:14:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

1 box of Filo leaves
1 frozen box of spinach
2 eggs
8 oz cottage cheese
1 lb feta cheese
1 pack green onions

Instructions:

Mix spinach, eggs, cheeses, and onions all together.
Put some butter on bottom of pan so it won't stick.
Layer Filo leaves with mixture, basting leaves with butter each layer.
Bake until brown.
Eat until full.

Fish You Were Here

2009-12-27T20:12:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

4 hamburger rolls
1 can tuna fish
1/4 cup Russian salad dressing
1 large pickle, chopped
1 tomato
4 slices of cheese

Instructions:

Mix the tuna fish, salad dressing, and the chopped pickle together. Spread the mixture onto the hamburger rolls. Top each sandwich off with a slice of cheese, tomato, and the other half of the roll. Wrap the sandwiches in aluminum foil and place on the gril. Cook until the cheese melts - about 15 minutes.

Fill It to the Rim

2009-12-27T20:10:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

Fillings of your choice
Basic cookie dough

Instructions:

Instead of flat cookies, these cookies will look like little cups. Prepare dough. After it has been chilled and sliced into rounds, place each round into a slightly greased muffin tin. Bake cookies in a 400 degree oven for about 8 minutes. After cookies are cool, remove them from the muffin tin. Be careful handling them because they might crumble. Fill your cookie with anyt toppings, pudding, jelly, or anything you can think of. Eat and enjoy!

A Cookie Jam-Boree!

2009-12-27T19:14:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

2 cups of your favorite jam
Basic cookie dough (see Super Simple Scrumptious Cookies recipe)

Instructions:

Make the dough for the basic cookies.
On a piece of waxed paper, and with a rolling pin, roll the dough into the shape of a rectangle about 11x7 inches.
Before you roll it up and refrigerate, spread the jam on the rectangle.
Roll up the dough tightly, beginning at the wide side. Pinch the edge to seal it.
Wrap the roll in waxed paper and chill for several hours.
Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Slice the dough into rounds and place the cookies on a slightly greased cookie sheet.
Cook for 6 to 8 minutes.
Wait until cooled before removing them from sheet.

Super Simple Scrumptious Cookies

2009-12-27T19:08:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

1 cup margarine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Instructions:

Mix butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour and baking soda, and mix the dry ingredients together with your hands. Press and mold mix into a roll about 2 1/2 inch wide. Wrap in wax paper and stick in refrigerator for a couple of hours. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake sliced cookies for 6 to 8 minutes.

More-Than-An-Instant Chocolate Pudding

2009-12-27T19:04:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

2 cups milk in large pan (separate from the other ingredients)
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
1/2 cup milk (separate from other milk)
5 tbsp. cocoa powder

Instructions:

Heat the two cups of milk in the pan over a low flame.
Mix the cornstarch, sugar, salt, and 1/4 cup milk in a mixing bowl. Mix these ingredients together until there are NO lumps (important!).
When the two cups of milk are hot, add the five tablespoons of cocoa (cocoa won't mix with cold milk). Stir until cocoa and milk are mixed.
Add the ingredients from the mixing bowl to the hot milk and cocoa.
Keep everything over a low flame. Stir, stir, stir! Don't let any cocoa stick to the bottom of the pan. When the milk is hot enough, your pudding will thicken.
Pour thickened pudding into bowls, and put the bowls in the refrigerator.
Eat when cool!

Chocolate Leaves

2009-12-27T18:59:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

1 tsp. butter
2 oz. baker's chocolate (either sweet or semi-sweet)
20 real leaves (don't use dead leaves)

Instructions:

Put the butter and baker's chocolate into the top of a double boiler and melt them, mixing them together into a paste.
Wash your leaves under cold water. Dry them between two paper towels. Put them on a cookie sheet.
Using a butter knife, spread the chocolate paste onto the bottoms of the leaves, about 1/4 inch thick or thicker. Put the chocolate leaves back on the cookie sheet, chocolate side up.
Put the tray in the refrigerator or freezer. When the chocolate is hard, take them out and carefully peel the leaves away from the chocolate.
Your chocolate leaves can either be eaten as a candy, or used as terrific cake decorations.

Pizza Pop-Ins

2009-12-27T18:56:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

5 slices of bread
1 cup pizza sauce
1 cup grated mozzerella cheese
1/4 cup salad oil

Instructions:

Remove crust from bread and roll each slide flat.
Spread each slice with pizza sauce.
Sprinkle cheese on top and roll slice up like a jelly roll.
Brush each roll with salad oil and chill for an hour.
Remove from refrigerator and cut each roll into bit-size slices.
Pop the pieces into toaster oven set to 325 degrees for 10 minutes or until brown.

You're Full of Beans!

2009-12-27T18:54:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

4 large peppers
1 can of chili

Instructions:
Cut off tops of peppers so that they look like cups. Carefully clean out the insides. Pour the chili into each pepper cup.

Wrap each one in aluminum foil. Just before you are ready to eat, place the peppers on the charcoal grill and heat them for twenty minutes.

Muscle Power Punch

2009-12-27T18:53:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups orange juice (you can also use apple juice)
1 1/2 cups club soda or water
1/3 cup sugar
Juice of one or two lemons
2 tbsp. maraschino cherry juice

Instructions:

Stir together and pour over ice.

Berry Cool Cooler

2009-12-27T18:52:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

1 cup strawberries
1/4 cup honey
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
2 cups cold milk

Instructions:

Blend strawberries and honey first. Then mix in the ice cream, and one cup of the milk. Finally, add the remaining milk and give it one last whirl.

Slow Mint Fizz Refresher

2009-12-27T18:50:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

1 tbsp molasses
1/2 cup cold milk
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
Club soda
Peppermint stick

Instructions:
Mix molasses, milk, and ice cream. Add enough club soda to fill glass and stir with peppermint stick.

Summertime Blues (serves 2)

2009-12-27T18:49:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 banana
1 cup cold milk
2 scoops vanilla ice cream

Mix everything at high speed.

Super-Easy Never-Fail Chocolate Cake

2009-12-27T18:47:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups water
2/3 cup veggie oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. white vinegar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put all dry ingredients in large bowl. Mix well.
Add all other ingredients to same bowl. Mix very well.
Pour batter into 9x13 pan (you don't need to grease it).
Pop pan in oven, and bake for 30 minutes.
When done, let it cool for 20 minutes, cut and eat!

Pretzels

2009-12-27T18:44:00.001-05:00

Ingredients:

1 package of dry yeast
1 1/2 cups of warm water
1 tbsp. sugar
4 cups of flour
1 large egg

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Stir in the sugar, and gradually stir in the flour. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes.

Make the shapes you want, line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, and place the pretzels on it. Beat the egg and brush some on top of each pretzel. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Enjoy!

2009-01-05T22:26:00.001-05:00

Highlight today was my team's ad lib skit on what it's like to be a leader in the federal gov today. We really had fun piling on the issues!

2009-01-03T23:16:00.001-05:00

Getting a bit nervous about being away for a whole month... Leaving tomorrow morning for Federal Executive Institute aka FEI!!!

2008-12-30T00:44:00.001-05:00

...planning the menu with Meryl for New Years! yummmy caviar!

2008-12-12T22:53:00.001-05:00

just got home from night out with andrew... stinky w cigar smoke but the dirty martinis were primo.

2008-11-28T01:39:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and I just wanted to say how grateful I am that you are in this world.

2008-11-25T01:44:00.001-05:00

Checking out the Secretary of ED on the news talking about college.gov! Woo hoo! http://ping.fm/1Ywxi

2008-11-24T00:17:00.001-05:00

Vince Tan is closing down his firesale early. Last chance to add some great products to your arsenal. Check it out: http://budurl.com/wpma

2008-11-22T23:46:00.001-05:00

so soooooo cozy with the heat back on!

2008-11-22T00:23:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone, plz spread the word! Need an awesome place to live? My rental house is just 4 blocks from the DC metro: http://budurl.com/qlmu

2008-11-21T23:56:00.001-05:00

Been w/o heat for a few days... yes brrrrr! Heating guy just fixed the boiler and installed new thermostat. Happy as a sunbathing clam.

2008-11-21T23:30:00.001-05:00

trying out the new magpie service. twitterers post magpie tweets among their tweets and get paid for it. now, that's a neat idea! http://budurl.com/5hah

Pssst... here's a sneak preview of the Biggest Firesale I have ever seen...

2008-11-11T19:55:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! I just got to take a sneak preview of the BiggestFiresale.com package, and I have to say... it looks amazingly INCREDIBLE!

I am blown away -- seriously. I never would have expected to see expensive products in there like...

Well, see for yourself:

==> http://biggestfiresale.com/sneakpreview.php?a=1163

In case you have not yet heard, BiggestFiresale.com is a package of over TOP products that are for sale (and selling every day) online.

When I say, "top products" I mean TOP! -- all from over 100 of the Internet marketing elite. This historical event is going live on November 18th and I even heard that there will be extremely valuable bonuses too!

In the mean time, grab a peek at what is waiting for you on the 18th
because I don't know how long this link will be live!

==> http://biggestfiresale.com/sneakpreview.php?a=1163

Sandy

ps: Remember to set your alarm clock and calendars for November 18th :) I really don't think you'll want to miss out on this offer and bonuses.

================================

2008-11-03T13:36:00.001-05:00

Feeling emotionally and physically exhausted from all the incredible experiences at my NM retreat.

2008-11-01T09:30:00.001-04:00

Now I'm in Albuquerque at my annual meditation retreat - time to oooommmmmmm

2008-11-01T09:29:00.001-04:00

My web 2.0 presentation at the FSA conference was a big hit - Thanks everyone! And the conference rocked - congrats to the Red Shirts!

2008-10-29T13:27:00.001-04:00

And I'm getting ready for my presentation tomorrow. It's on the use of Web 2.0 and Security/Privacy challenges, esp. for gov websites.

2008-10-29T13:24:00.001-04:00

In Dallas at our Federal Student Aid conference. The Under Secretary and Tina/Holly gave stellar speech on college.gov. You are rockstars!!!

2008-10-26T17:02:00.001-04:00

Making a big pot 'o apple crisp in the slow cooker... this will satisfy a long-time curiosity about whether it can be as good as oven-baked.

2008-10-26T11:45:00.001-04:00

Just realized these new 8 GB dual layer DVD+Rs don't work on a TV... Anyone need coasters? They're shiny and pretty!

2008-10-23T22:50:00.001-04:00

Upcoming firesale giveaway! Joint venture partners are invited to participate: http://budurl.com/8fc4

Biggest Firesale in Internet Marketing History...

2008-10-22T21:23:00.002-04:00

Sandy here. I literally just got wind of something earthshakingly big, and I thought you would want to know about it.

Vince Tan is at it again. (!)

Have you ever heard of Vince Tan? Let me share.

Vince is the guy that pulled off one of the biggest firesales of 2007, doing $69,000 in sales in a mere 7 days.

Out of nowhere.

Yes, he came out of nowhere and racked up the kind of sales that some never accomplish after years of being online.

He proved that it you WANT it you can do it. In fact, Vince became quite the inspiration for many a marketer who never thought this kind of fast online success to be possible.

So, here's why we're talking about this now, in 2008. you see, Vince is going to do it again, this time shooting for 6 or even SEVEN figures with NO out of pocket expenses!

Vince has made it his personal goal to show that ANYONE that wants to accomplish this kind of success online can do it, regardless of how much money they have OR don't have to start with.

Vince's firesale will go live on 18th November, BUT for now, you stand a chance to win the complete firesale package plus some other extra stuff worth $1,500 (or more!) by going to the site below and guessing the total value of the firesale package!

Remember, that's 100+ top IM products that are currently selling in the market Today!

Of course, I've already put in my guess ;)

http://biggestfiresale.com/

Vince has already managed to get over 100 Top Marketers to join forces on this, again, without spending any of his own money, so you really should follow this closely, and be on the lookout for the official launch on November 18th, 2008.

Here's that URL again - check it out!

http://biggestfiresale.com/

StomperNET Just Added Crazy-Awesome Bonuses

2008-09-11T18:48:00.003-04:00

Did you see the video StomperNet released yesterday? It's so clear they really want people to try this free first issue of "The Net Effect" monthly journal of theirs, because they've got more high-end bonuses than I've ever seen before.

Grab the Stomping the Search Engines DVD course right now .

Hmmmm. That little monthly publication has got to be INCREDIBLY good for them to bet on so many people sticking with it after the free trial month. I hope so, because I know I ordered it!

On top of them GIVING you the "Stomping the Search Engines 2" DVD course for FREE just to
check out "The Net Effect" - they also called in some heavy, heavy hitters.

Here's a summary they just sent me:

Jeff Johnson: Over 7 hours of SEO video training from the "Underground Training Lab". Some people people paid as much as $5,000 to get this training live. People have paid $997 for the DVDs - you get the BEST 7 hours, 54 minutes, and 54 seconds FREE.

Eben Pagan: Get "Advanced Persuasion and Copywriting Training" from one of the most successful sales copywriters and info marketers teaching today. To get this same information, people have had to pay from $1,500 to $5,000 or MORE with Eben's company. You get it FREE.

Ed Dale: Get 1 FREE month of membership to the "Immediate Edge" membership program. Learn advanced NEW marketing strategies AS THEY ARE DISCOVERED - before ANYONE else. A $97 value, yours FREE.

Brad Callen: The creator of many of the most widely used traffic generation tools ever used offers you his "Article Submitter Gold" Software. Publish your unique articles instantly to hundreds of websites and get tons of one-way backlinks to your site. (Google LOVES it) - Sold elsewhere from $67 to $97 - yours FREE.

Trey Smith: Get your copy of this Never-sold-before launch automation software! Auto-Launcher 2: Create automated launches using your existing email list. Create automatic countdown and sales pages that run completely on autopilot. Unavailable ANYWHERE - yours FREE.

Shawn Casey: Learn the Secret Affiliate Story - super-affiliate strategies Shawn Casey and Tellman Knudson used to win a Ferrari AND make the most sales for a recent mega-launch (and how you can leave other affiliate marketers in the dust, too). Even learn how to attract super-affiliates to promote your OWN products. Valued from $697 to $2000 - yours FREE.

Yanik Silver: Get TWO Special Private Reports from Yanik's "Underground Secret Society" Newsletter, PLUS an additional unannounced SECRET bonus. These back-issues are not available ANYWHERE. Over $250 in Value - yours FREE.

Mike Filsaime: Another bonus not for sale ANYWHERE - Get the presentation of the "7 Figure Code" Launch Case Study - The Step by step blueprint used to generate $1 Million in sales in just a week! Get the "making of" a Million Dollar Launch - Unavailable ANYWHERE else - Yours FREE.

Paul Colligan: You get the "New Media UberPack" Webinar Series - 6 pre-recorded webinars from a StomperNet faculty member on how to use the power of Web 2.0 to gain an exponentially growing source of leads + one LIVE webinar "The New Media Mindset" with Paul IN PERSON. These webinars have never been offered before in a single package - ALL Yours - FREE.

Jeff Mulligan: Gives you FOUR "Best of" Quickie Profit Lessons - implement these conversion boosting tricks (they take less than an hour) and start making more money from your website TODAY. Jeff has shared these previously with our $800 a month members at a LIVE Event - Yours FREE!

Jeff Walker: The guy behind the "Product Launch" concept - has never sold ANYTHING of his for less than $999. You get a teleseminar series on how to execute launches successfully in your niche markets PLUS, learn how to become the "guru" of your own niche - it's EASY with Jeff's secret methods. Unavailable ANYWHERE else - Yours FREE.

Rich Schefren: "Guru to the Gurus" - Rich wants you to have Exclusive Trial Membership to his "Business Growth System" for only $1 - AND StomperNet will REBATE your $1! So you get to try the same business growth coaching program that Brad Fallon, Mike Filsaime, Joel Comm and MORE have taken and revolutionized their businesses - yours FREE.

Wow. Just amazing! There's no other word for it. And EVERYONE gets those bonuses - those aren't affiliate teasers. EVERYBODY gets it.

Well - not EVERYBODY. You have to buy before Monday, September 15. Those big-dogs aren't going to leave their goodies on the table for FREE for very long.

Grab the Stomping the Search Engines DVD course right now .

You need to go check this out now. StomperNet's video will give you the full details on the bonuses, the full details on the offer, and you can sign up TODAY on the same page - to get it ALL FREE - just pay shipping and handling. (Mine was less than $10).

Nothing more to say. If you're going to get this, get it now. If you're NOT going to get this - WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!? :-)

Grab the Stomping the Search Engines DVD course right now .

Check it out now and just try it!

Stomping the Search Engines 2 is Now Available for Free!

2008-09-05T14:47:00.003-04:00

Do you need help with understanding how you can increase your placement in Google organic search results, without having to spend money on Adwords?

Stompernet is known for exceptionally high quaility products - I am a huge fan of their stuff.

Stomping the Search Engines 2 is a set of DVDs on how to get top Google results that retails for $497 that they are offering for free (well, the cost of shipping and handling) during this promotion. This promotion launched last night.

The catch is that they sign you up on a trial subscription to their new magazine and the first issue is free, you just have to call and cancel if you don't want to continue it. They also will present some up-sell products at a big discount so you can look and see if those would be a worthwhile investment to you.

Cheers,Sandy

https://member.stompernet.net/?r=200694&i=68

Who? Stomping The Search Engines 2 (Not StomperNet 2, this is different!) is a new physical product released by Brad Fallon, Andy Jenkins, and crew - the same people responsible for the insanely high quality StomperNet membership site and products, as well as Stomping The Search Engines 1. StSE 2 is even BETTER that what they've released before!

What? Stomping the Search Engines 2 is a physical product that retails for $497. But, you will NOT have to pay for it at that price if you click through the link on this blog post! (Kind of like a StomperNet/Stomping The Search Engines coupon!)

And want to know what the price is? You're going to be REALLY excited when you find out - it's FREE! Yep, free! You don't have to pay $497 for StSE 2 - You get all that incredible information for $0.

https://member.stompernet.net/?r=200694&i=68

Here is a listing of what all comes in the Modules on StSE 2:

Module 1: Introduction
Benefits of SEO
Short Term Tactics: Spam & Deception
Short Term Strategies: Low-Value Sites
The Stomper Way: Aggressive White Hat

Module 2: How Search Engines Work
Meet the Players
Understanding the SERPs
Search Engine Tech - Crawling
Search Engine Tech - SERPS
Search Engine Ranking Recipes

Module 3: Keyword & Content Strategy
Keyword Strategy Concepts
Keyword Research & Discovery
Mapping Keywords to Content
Competitive Research
Tools

Module 4: Site Structure
Site Structure Concepts
Designing for Crawlability
Anchor Text & Link Reputation
Canonicalization & Duplicate Content
Using Redirects
Improving Your Indexing
Review & Takeaways

Module 5: Optimizing Content
On Page SEO Introduction
Getting Your HEAD Together
Optimizing Page Structure
Get Your BODY In Shape
Creating Unique Content
Robots.txt Tutorial

Module 6: Link Building & Promotion
Link Building Concepts
Assessing Your Position
Vertical & General Directories
Link Targets & Link Bait
Marketing & Promotion

Module 7: Improving Results
What To Measure
How To Measure
Planning & Processes
Review & Resources

Why? Well, aside from the HUGE amounts of quality training and tools from inside StSE2, you get a free month subscription of The Net Effect, StomperNet's new magazine that is FULL of HUGE information about how to dominate the search results in any niche, all written by the StomperNet faculty.

https://member.stompernet.net/?r=200694&i=68

Is Stomping The Search Engines really free?
Yes, it's really free. There is a shipping and handling charge, but it's minimal. $10-15 for shipping inside the USA, and $20-25 for outside the USA. But, considering that the whole package was going to cost OVER $500, that shipping and handling is a pittance.

There is a recurring billing cost added if you choose to keep receiving The Net Effect, but really, the information in the magazine is WELL WORTH the $39.97/month they're charging.

How hard is it to cancel?
But, to make it SUPER easy for you, they're putting the power to cancel your subscription in YOUR hands! That means that you can follow a few easy steps and your subscription is cancelled. No hassle, no problems, no questions. It's as simple as that.

However, I will say that I'm going to keep my subscription indefinitely! The information I got from one of the articles in the first issue alone is going to we worth thousands of dollars to me, so if I can make a few grand from tips in every issue, I'm going to be doing pretty well, considering the $39.97 investment.

How good is it?
I'm a big fan of what the guys at StomperNet are doing, but Stomping the Search Engines 2 blew my mind at the HUGE value they're giving away for free.

If I had to rate this product on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd try to find a way to move the scale to 11.

https://member.stompernet.net/?r=200694&i=68

The Importance of Optimizing Your Images

2008-07-27T13:22:00.003-04:00

Did you know that a large portion of the web's population is still running on dial up connections? As of July 2008, 25% of homes in the U.S. that subscribe to some type of Internet service provider are still using dial up.

It is therefore unwise to count these users out of the equation when you're designing your website! Making your website load fast is still an effective tactic to maximizing your exposure to the largest audience of people.

Ususally, the text on your website is loaded in a very short time, even on a dial up connection. Large images and photos are typically the culprit of slow-loading websites. What you want to do, therefore, is strike a delicate balance between using just enough images to attract your users and not to bog down the overall loading time of your site.

Compress and Optimize Your Images

Your nest step is to optimize every image on your site to make sure it loads in the least time possible. You'll need to use image editing software such as Photoshop or Fireworks to remove "unnecessary" information in your images, which effectively reduces the file size of your image without affecting its appearance too much.

If you own Photoshop, when you save an image as a JPEG file, you will notice that a dialog box appears which lets you choose the "quality" of the JPEG image. Normally, a setting of 8 to 10 is good enough to preserve the quality of your image while reducing its file size. If you do not have Photoshop, you can search for freeware or shareware image compressors online that you can download and use to reduce your image's file size.

The Alphabet Soup of Graphic Formats: GIF, JPEG, or PNG?

Choose the GIF format for graphics with lots of solid colors and lines (for instance, clip art graphics and graphics with lots of text). In the GIF format, your image editing software clips away all the color information that is not being used in your image, giving you the smallest file size possible. However, saving in GIF format can compromise the appearance of your image, so do a quick comparison with JPEG to see which one looks best and yields the best file size.

Choose the JPEG format for photos and graphics with photographic elements embedded within them. This format does the best job of compressing realistic photography and keeping the file sizes low.

To optimize your images and photos, you may save your images in the web-friendly PNG format to achieve a combination of high quality compression and smallest file size.

To get started, try compressing your image/graphic in all of the three types of formats and see which one looks the best and offers the optimum file size.

Using Good Design Sense

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Your website is where your business resides -- it's the headquarters of your company! Given that, it is especially important to practice good design principles. One, you want to make sure your site reaches out to the maximum number of visitors. Two, if you sell products, you want your site to make as many sells to as many people as possible.

Make sure that the navigation on your website is clear and easy to use. The navigation menu should be uncluttered, be grouped in logical categories (logical to the user) and concise, so that visitors know how to navigate around your website without confusion or having to make too many clicks to find what they are seeking.

One thing you could consider is reducing the number of images on your website. If you have too many graphics, it can make it look cluttered and unprofessional. The graphics and photos that you use should be tasteful, add value to your image, and have a clean layout. Graphics and photos can also make your site load very slowly.

More often than not, the images on your site are probably not very unnecessary. If you think any image is essential on your site, make sure you optimize them using image editing programs so that they have a minimum file size.

Keep your text paragraphs at a shorter length than you think you need. If a paragraph is too long, try splitting it into seperate paragraphs so that the text blocks will not be too big. This is important because people don't read huge blocks of text online. They tend to skim through to find the main points and move quickly on to the next thing. Keep it simple, keep it short!

Make sure your website complies to web standards at www.w3.org and make sure your coding and scripts are cross-browser compatible. If your website looks great in Internet Explorer but breaks horribly in Firefox and Opera, you may lose out on a lot of prospective visitors out of frustration or annoyance.

Unless you are using them for a very functional and sound reason, try to avoid using scripting languages on your site. Use scripting languages to handle or manipulate data, not to create visual effects on your website. Heavy scripts will slow down the loading time of your site and even crash some browsers. Also, scripts are not supported across all browsers, so some visitors might miss important information.

Use CSS to style your page content - CSS stylesheets save alot of work by styling all elements on your website in one place. If you want to make changes to the color, size, or type of font, or change the positioning, you only have to change it in your CSS stylesheet and the changes are applied to your whole site. Presto!

Turn Your Website into Cash Streams

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With a well-planned and properly executed website design, you will be able to create a site that can generate multiple streams of revenue for you. In fact, may websites turn into online wasteland because they are not well planned and do not get much site visits. Gradually, you may even lose interest in keeping it updated - don't let it turn into a wasted cyberspace.

The whole point of putting effort into properly planning your site is so that you can optimize it for revenue. First, consider various ways in which you generate income from your site.

Create a Meaningful Information Architecture (aka Navigation Menu)

Divide your site into major blocks, ordered by themes, and start building new pages and subsections in those blocks. For example, you might have a "food" section, an "accomodation" section and an "entertainment" section for a tourism site.

Create and Publish Meaningful Content

In each of these sections, you can then write and publish relevant articles to attract people looking for relevant information.

Incorporate Ways to Generate Revenue

When you have a broader, better-defined scope of themes for your website, you can sell space on your pages to people interested in advertising on your page. You can also earn from programs like Google's Adsense and Yahoo! Search Marketing if people surf to those themed pages and click on the ads. For this very reason, the advertisement blocks on your pages need to be relevant to the content, so a themed page fits that criteria perfectly.

As Internet becomes more widespread, advertising on the Internet is bringing in more results than on magazines or offline media. Start tapping in on this lucrative stream of profit right away by sharing your knowledge and opinions with the world!

Getting Started? Some Technical Considerations

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Websites have become a necessity to almost everyone. Businesses, organizations, individuals, and even young adults have created a variety of websites for an even greater variety of reasons - to make money, to collaborate, to discuss interesting issues, to share their knowledge and talents, and to entertain.

Planning

It's the key to success in everything we do. You've decided you want a website. You need a website. So let's get started!

First things first. Before you create your website, let's think through a few things, such as the cost, maintenance, purpose, and web hosting.

Site Purpose

What's the purpose of your website? What content do you want to put on it? Think through how you'd like to see the content organized - what will your high-level navigation look like? The more planning you can do before you actually start developing, the better.

Hosting Provider

Your first task is to look for an affordable host - one that offers great customer service and a lot of features for your money. A web host provides you with space on their server, and the ability to manage your website through an administrative console.

If you are just starting out, you probably won't need a lot of storage space or features, and you can always upgrade, so I would suggest getting the entry level package. You can always upgrade to a more professional package as your needs grow.

A cheap hosting company may or may not be a reliable service, so it pays to do your research. However, in this day and age, you can find several reliable, entry-level hosting packages for just dollars a month. I'll post more blogs about how to search and select the right hosting provider soon.

Hosting Platform

While you're looking for a hosting package, you'll be offered a choice between Linux/Unix and Windows. It's time to make a decision - on which platform do you want to host your site?

What programming languages do you want to use (e.g. ASP, JSP, PHP, Ruby on Rails, etc.)? There are advantages and disadvantages to using a certain language over another. ASP is generally easier for people who don't have a technical background, but you're likely to find a lot more free tools and code you can use on your website if you go with PHP. JSP tends to be more complicated for newbies, but there are performance advantages to using it (which is really only important if you think your website will have huge audience and lots of complicated transactions).

Make your choice wisely! Once you start developing in a specific language, in order to move to a different platform, you might need to totally rewrite all of your code, and that would really bite.

If you are planning to just code in HTML and client-side scripts, then choosing your platform isn't that big of a deal, because you can easily move HTML pages from one platform to another without breaking your site. You'll only get locked in to a platform when you start using a database, feedback/contact forms, or other server-side coding.

Do you need a database? You might not need one when you're first starting out, but it is usually a good idea to get a package that offers at least one database. I'm sure you'll find ways to use it. We'll get to that point more in future posts!

Domain Names

You'll also need to get a domain name, sometimes called the URL. For example, www.sandyengland.com. The domain name ends with .com, .net, .org, etc. The most common extension is .com, but it can sometimes be tough to find a good name that hasn't already been taken. But there are tricks for that too (more to come!). Traditionally, only non-profits should be applying for domain names with the .org extension, and only hosting providers should procure domain names with .net.

Getting the right domain name for you website is one of the most important of all tasks, so take your time, do as much research as you need. Registering and keeping a domain name is prety inexpensive - you shouldn't have to pay more than $15 a year, and there are places where you can get them even cheaper. I remember when I first started out (in 1996), registering your domain name cost at least $70!

Hiring a Pro

Are you going to do the coding yourself, or do you want to hire a professional? For simple websites, we could always do the coding ourselves, or even use scripts readily available across the web, as it is relatively simple, and it's fun to learn. Ha ha. If you don't like sleeping!

When your website requires complex coding, such as creating elaborate functionality, hiring a developer is probably your best bet. Not just to help implement some cool and interesting designs, but to help make sure your website is secure - if you plan to have a database or use e-commerce in any way.