Is Your WordPress Blog Secure?

Securing your blog is one of the most important things you could do. Producing content is essential, and so is promoting it, but if your blog is not secure, you could lose everything overnight (literally!). In this email I will share some security tips that you should apply in your blog. 1. Backup, Backup and Backup! In security circles people always say that if someone wants to break into your site, with enough time and determination eventually he will. In other words, no website can be made 100% secure. If that is the case, your first line of defense are your backups. With functional backups someone could erase everything in your server and you would be back online in a matter of hours. So remember to backup your blog often (preferable daily), and to have backups in at least two different physical locations (else a theft or fire could take both your site and the backup...). 2. Change The "Admin" User One of the most common methods to break into a website is the brute force one. That is, the malicious person will try to guess the name of the admin and, once he finds that out, he will use scripts to try thousands of password combinations with that user name. If the admin user in your blog is called "admin", well, you just facilitated things a lot. Luckily changing that is quite easy. Simply create a new user for your blog, and give it "Administrator" privileges. Then login with that user, and delete the "admin" user. If you have posts published with "admin" WordPress will ask you if you want to move those posts under a new user. 3. Obscure Your WordPress Version Another common saying among security geeks is "security through obscurity." This is related to the fact that the fewer things a malicious person knows about your blog or server, the harder it will be to break into it. By default WordPress broadcasts to the world the version that you are running, and this information can be used against you, because hackers know the security holes on each WordPress version. Hiding that information is not difficult though. First of all you want to disable the "generator" meta tag. You can do that by adding the following code to the functions.php file of your theme: function hide_wp_vers() { return ''; } add_filter('the_generator','hide_wp_vers'); There is another place where hackers can find the version of your WordPress, and most people forget to deal with that. It is the readme file that comes with all WordPress installs. Simply access your server via FTP to delete that file. 4. Disable Folder Browsing Another thing that you should obscure in your site is the content of your folders. If people can browser your folders, they will be able to collect a lot of information, including what plugins you are running, what themes you have installed and so on. Needless to say that such information can be used to find security holes in your site. If your web hosting is based on Linux, you can easily disable folder browser with a .htaccess file placed at the root of your server. Either create that file or open the existing one and add the following line: Options -Indexes That is it. If your hosting is not based on Linux, you can still protect the content of your folders by uploading a blank index.html page inside each folder. 5. Always Update WordPress is an open source software, so its source code is public, and anyone can have access to it. This means that hackers can scrutinize the code looking for security holes. Sometimes they find them, but the WordPress community usually responds quickly and releases an updated version protected against the new threats. If you always run the latest WordPress version, therefore, you will be minimizing the chances of having problems.

Optimizing your site for the search engines

One of the questions I'm most often asked is how to do search engine optimization properly. Very soon, I will be revealing our turnkey solution that you have been waiting for. But in the meantime there is something very simple you can do if you blog on Wordpress.  This is especially powerful if you use the Socrates Theme, but it works great for all themes. While we have optimized the Socrates layout for better indexing, there's a lot more to SEO than just the layout. First of all, there is a free plugin for Wordpress called the "All In One SEO Pack". This helps you add a title, keywords and description to every post.  It's a free plugin that gets you started with optimizing your site. You can download it via the Plugins section of your dashboard. It's one of the most popular plugins ever. But if you really want to ramp up the likelihood of ranking in the search engines for your blog, I recommend a plugin called "SEO Pressor".    This plugin takes search engine optimization to a whole new level.   Our customers have been raving about it for months. = > http://bit.ly/fub8mA It analyzes your site and gives you suggestions on improving your tags, keyword density, image tags, keyword placement and more. It even "grades" your site and teaches you about SEO on the fly. Let's face it there's no simpler way to generate long term organic traffic to your site then making sure your article content is perfectly optimized for the search engines.  Socrates does its part with site structure, but SEO Pressor will optimize all your articles and posts. The best analogy for SEO Pressor is that it's like having your own SEO consultant working for you full time, who shows you step by step what to do . It's being used on over 500,000 Wordpress sites. Check it out here: = > http://bit.ly/fub8mA You can use both of these plugins together, or individually. Stay tuned for more info on how we can help you get traffic to your site and optimize your site for the search engines.

8 Tips for Building a REAL Online Business

Despite what the doomsayers would have you believe, there is plenty of opportunity to conduct business online. However, there is a big difference between trying to make money online and running a business online. The make money online pitch has unfortunately become synonymous with "get rich quick." The mentality is that you simply create a product and make money selling it. That's NOT building a business. That's trying to make a few bucks. Maybe it succeeds. More likely it fails. Either way, you don't have a business. If you are wanting to build a real business online, here are some things you will want to pay attention to in order to have a better shot at sustainable success. Click this link to read the eight tips... http://bit.ly/euo5fO Be sure to leave your comments and questions!

Here's a social network that makes sense!

One of the most common complaints from online marketers is information overload.  Let's face it, every day you're bombarded with information, tips, tricks and tutorials. You're constantly searching the web looking for information to help you improve your life and business. You've probably got hundreds of bookmarks that are totally disorganized, unread pdfs, unwatched videos and random scratchpads with bits of info collecting dust somewhere. (But hopefully you have consumed the products you have received from me!) But chances are.. you just forgot some valuable nugget of info you learned a month ago but forgot to write down. Think back and remember how much time you've spent looking for information you once had at your fingertips, but let it go into nothingness.  What is the sum of that forgotten knowledge worth?   It's a lot right? If you're anything like me, you're learning so much on a daily basis it's virtually impossible to keep track of all that knowledge. At least it was until Dan Nickerson presented me with one of the simplest social networking concepts I've ever seen. It's called Pagellan and it allows you to create your own personal knowledge base.  It's kind of like Twitter except you can categorize, tag and archive your posts forever.  http://bit.ly/g5sePX You can keep your posts totally private or make them public and share them with the world.  Users can comment on the public posts. When you have a piece of knowledge, info or wisdom you wish to save you just post, tag and categorize it.  Then whenever you need it again you can find it via the search tool in seconds.  On other social networks this information gets lost after a few weeks, or is impossible to find. There's no spam or self promotion allowed in the public post system. Those users get their posts set to private only, or just get them deleted. However, you can follow others to see their public knowledge streams or search the complete knowledge base to learn more about any topic. Like many of Dan's ideas, it's really clever.  That why he is the V.P. of Ideas at my company.  (Isn't that an awesome title?) Best of all there's no cost to use it. However, I am going to give you an affiliate link because Pagellan has an advertising model that many of you will want to take advantage of fast. Advertisers can exclusively sponsor keyword tags in the Pagellan system.  For a low monthly fee you can get an exclusive keyword backlink and 250x250 advertising space on a tag result page. I have grabbed some tags that are perfect for me.  As you can imagine, you will want to claim the tags you want first.  That will get you a targeted backlink on the site. You can learn all about Pagellan at: =>  http://bit.ly/g5sePX Check it and register free today.  At the very least it's a great bookmark as the knowledgebase continue to grows daily.

My stuff is on sale at Amazon!

I was just checking out my catalogue of books at Amazon and see that they have placed really great discounts on my books and DVDs! Here's a great opportunity to get some of my best-selling materials for a song.  I will provide you with links to each one below. *** Twitter Power 2.0 *** Still the world's best-selling book on how to use Twitter to grow your business and influence others.  It's now been translated into six foreign languages, but you can get the English version now for 41% off! http://amzn.to/bDpfBy *** KaChing! *** My most recent title, this one shows you the opportunity that exists online, helps you define the perfect market for you, and then demonstrates five easy ways you can profit from your passion. You can get this now for 34% off! http://amzn.to/b4hjOB *** Click Here to Order *** How does 35% off the definitive history of Internet marketing sound?  If you read this book, you will be inspired.  That's my personal guarantee.  Just go get a copy right now. http://amzn.to/fz3LhC *** The Next Internet Millionaire DVD Box Set *** Yes, this is the one and only DVD box set from the award-winning reality show.  It contains all 13 episodes along with a bonus DVD featuring behind-the-scenes of the show and some great outtakes! Amazon's price is $99.95, but you can but it NEW from another selling on the site for $19.95!  This is a great opportunity to pick up a set.  http://amzn.to/eQwhbP I would imagine you could also get Kindle versions of all the books. So pick and choose, or get them all.  I hope you enjoy them as much as my other readers.

I don't recommend many people...

You know that I am very careful about who I recommend. But when I do recommend someone, you can be assured that the recommendation is legit and worthwhile! I met Jen Groover a few years back at an event.  In the time I have known her, I have come to admire her ability to build businesses and inspire others to do likewise. Jen is about to share her personal and professional wisdom on a special live webcast and I don't want you to miss it. I know she can have a positive impact on your life too. She recorded a video for my friends here- you view it now by just clicking here. http://www.NewLeaderSummit.com/37VIP.html Jen tells you all you need to know on the video. All the important information is in the video or on the page. What I wanted you to know is that I give Jen my highest personal recommendation. And I'd suggest you get to know her by enrolling in the live webcast she offers in the video. It's all very easy and will not cost you a thing if you enroll now. Go ahead and check her out here http://www.NewLeaderSummit.com/37VIP.html

attn: WordPress bloggers - Important News!

Do you have a blog? If so, odds are you using Wordpress to do your blogging. After all, Wordpress is the leading publishing platform for bloggers around the world. It is so powerful that many users have a number of blogs. It's not uncommon to find bloggers with more than a few Wordpress blogs. So what's the biggest problem that these bloggers face? Having to log into each blog separately to manage their blogs! What if there was a way to manage ALL your Wordpress blogs from ONE place? Now there is! WP Unite is the world's FIRST Wordpress management tool that allows you to manage multiple blogs from one website. http://www.WPUnite.com With one login, you can: - Write and post to multiple blogs - Moderate comments across all blogs - Keep track of your page views, bounce rate, popular posts and more. - See all your analytics and AdSense revenue on all your blogs in one easy to navigate interface. And what's the best part? You can try WP Unite now for FREE with up to two of your own blogs. No charge! This is the Wordpress tool that bloggers around the world have been waiting for. Go ahead and try it now. You'll see why this is going to be such a hot item. http://www.WPUnite.com

Try this #1 WordPress Theme for FREE!

Can you imagine using the word "blog" ten years ago? Very few people would have had any idea what you were talking about. The word doesn't really roll of your tongue. Today, almost everyone knows what a blog is. And millions of people have their own blog. Blogging is a great form of self-expression. But it's also a great way to generate some revenue online. The biggest problem many bloggers have is getting started with a theme that suits their needs. That's why Dan Nickerson and I developed the Socrates Theme. Now you can try it out for FREE!  Click below to check it out... http://bit.ly/gCkGjf

Is Your Marketing Failing?

I don't know about you, but I get emails promising to put me on the front page of Google. I also hear from people who tell me they have spent thousands of dollars on a website only to discover that it wasn't what they needed. Let's face it.  There is a LOT of frustration out there when it comes to marketing online. I've been doing business online for over FIFTEEN years.  In that time I have done it all. Site conceptualization, branding, design, SEO, marketing, social media strategies, book publishing, public speaking, mobile marketing, application development... How many people do you know that can say they've done all that? After many great successes, I am now putting my team to work for others who want to accomplish great things with their online business. Would you like the opportunity to work with me and my team to grow your business? This is your chance. To determine if my your needs are a good fit for working with my company, fill out the form on this page.  http://infomediainc.com/business-survey/ Please be as specific as possible.  If we believe we can help you achieve your goals, you will hear from us soon!