There is nothing that will make you lose the respect of your co-workers, or even worse your subordinates, than a memo full of typos and misspelled words. Even with the Internet, using proper grammar while writing is important. Writing for the Internet, and especially blogs, is often conversational styled writing, so if you use perfect or at least decent grammar when you speak, most of the grammar in your writing should be OK. Although, you will still need to work on the punctuation.

The problem most people have with punctuation is with commas. I used to write great papers in school, that would always come back covered in red ink, because of the mysterious comma splice. I have written a few posts about the comma splice. I have also made repeated posts about grammar and linked to fun resources for learning and improving grammar.

That may all be well and good, but if you don’t want to bother with learning grammar here are some alternatives. The first one is to pay someone else to write your articles for you. It is easy to find writers online and there are many resources for writing services such as Odesk and Textbroker. When I first began publishing on the Internet, I wanted to develop a quality team of writers and I found a lot of people by going to writing forums and posting jobs.

The second method is using software to flag and correct improper grammar and punctuation. I have had limited success with this. Microsoft Word has a grammar function and after running it you will likely end up with more errors than you had when you started. Another software choice is White Smoke which is a software program that is supposed to help with correcting grammar and punctuation. This software may be helpful if English is your second language or your grammar is really bad, but I have had limited success with it.

If you have something that needs to be written by you and in your own voice and it also needs perfect grammar, having someone who knows what they are doing read and edit it, would be your best bet. Unfortunately, we don’t all have access to an instant English Professor or a retired editor sitting at our beck and call. That is why a great option is an online proofreading service. With a service like this you can get your document proof read and corrected, without ever leaving your home.

All of these options can help if you just don’t want to bother learning proper grammar. Some are more effective than others and they all have a cost. In spite of the title of this article, I still feel it is in your best interest to take the time and learn the grammar rules and apply them in your writing. Written communication is something you will be using your entire life and knowing how to write properly is almost as important as knowing what to say.

Fortunately, Bank of America came to their senses and realized that all of these petty fees will hurt their business. Even though they decided to cancel the debit fee charge they have made some increases to their fee structure. Although, not everyone will be affected by the new fee increases. I will continue banking with them, just because it is so convenient. Their online banking and bill pay is so convenient and being in California, Bank of America ATMs are abundant and ubiquitous.

That being said, when it comes to things like getting a personalized loan or looking for the best mortgage deals these large banks aren’t the first place most savvy consumers will turn to. Banking with a big bank has it’s perks, but it is also a large bureaucracy that can be difficult to deal with. Fortunately, we are free to bank where we please and use large and small banking options to best suit our needs.

Now they announced at the beginning of next year they will start charging customers who pay with their debit cards, $5 a month. Many people’s immediate reaction is, “those greedy banks, now what are they trying to bilk us for?” The problem is that when banks started encouraging everyone to use debit cards they had every intention of making a profit, not losing money. The simple way to do that was to charge the merchants fees. Some merchants generously pay these fees and others pay them by charging us, but the banks are not charging us fees for the use of the debit cards.

With the enactment of the Dodd-Frank bill, banks will now be limited to charging merchants 21 cents, which is less than half of what they charge now. Since they can’t continue to charge fees to the merchants they have to make up the difference somehow, and that is how the $5 fee comes into play.  So maybe we should at least put blame where it is due. This is another result of shortsighted laws passed by regulation happy liberal lawmakers.

If you happen to be someone who voted for these folks, then you should shoulder the responsibility too. It matters who we vote for and what those people stand for. I wish everyone would take the time to open their minds and get informed and look at the big picture, when they go to the voting booth. It really does make a difference in our lives and especially our pocket books.  I found this great editorial on Investors Business Daily that explains things really well. Take the time to check it out and make sure that who you vote for is actually in alignment with your real values.

What this means is it is a mobile device that is fast for streaming media and Internet browsing. Instead of downloading a low resolution image, with the power of the cloud, Silk users should be able to have fast loading high resolution images. Couple this with all of the multi media benefits of Amazon Prime Streaming Media, and we have a fast, capable, portable, media device. If you are a nerd like me;  you can learn about Silk from the other nerds at Amazon.

1. Use a comma when two independent clauses (clause that can stand by itself) are linked by a conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
2. Use a comma to separate a list of three or more items.
3. Use a comma when using two or more adjectives to describe someone or something.
4. Use a comma when a dependent clause comes before an independent clause.
5. Use commas when giving extra information in the middle of a sentence, which is called an adjective clause.
6. Use a comma before a direct quote.
7. Use a comma before and after a name to get someone’s attention.
8. Use a comma when using a transition word (therefore, consequently).

You would think after all of those years of Saturday morning School House Rock we would all have these rules down, yet they seem to trip up the best of us.

If any of you have ever done any writing for online services, such as Textbroker you know they can be very strict when it comes to commas. In fact, instead of being frustrated and thinking some editor wouldn’t know good writing if it bit them, it just might be better to learn the rules and go with it. Here is an informative comma article by a Textbroker editor.

• Comma Trauma

Also if you would like a larger list of transition word, which apply to rule number 8, here is a comprehensive list.

• Transition Words

The best way to conquer English Grammar and proper writing and punctuation is to work on small sections at a time. There are tons of great resources available online and in the library or bookstore. Here is a glossary of English Grammar Terms that could keep most of us busy for a long time.

• Glossary of English Grammar Terms

Then I forgot about it. One day I was checking my Amazon stats and that lonely little neglected Kindle site sitting on my server made $300 in one month. I was like what’s going on, that site hasn’t made anything? With a little research I discovered that Oprah had featured the Kindle (first generation) on her show, and that was all it took for my little neglected site to suddenly appear to Kindle searchers. Now I was pumped about my Kindle site and started doing research and creating content in hopes of making even more.

About this time the Kindle 2 was introduced and I pre-ordered one and my site was growing I was even getting natural links because people saw me as an authority on the Kindle. My site continued to make a few hundred a month and even got up to about $700. Someone even ordered 12 designer cases at once, which gave me a hefty commission. I ended up selling that site for $5000, which seemed like quite a deal at the time. Although in retrospect I know I could have gotten much more out of the site if I had hung onto it.

My Mom is now the owner of that first Kindle 2, but Kindles will always have a warm place in my heart. In fact, my only regret with the Kindle is I didn’t have the time to lay in a hammock, or sit on a park bench, or on the beach, and read it like it deserved to be read, but then that wasn’t the Kindle’s fault.

Today Amazon announced the Kindle Fire which is a 7″ color touch display with Wi-Fi. It is similar to the Barnes & Noble Nook, but it is priced at only $199 and it has the power of Amazon behind it. There are no storage issues because you get free access to the Amazon cloud and with Amazon Prime there is free instant streaming of movies and TV shows. It has a fast dual-core processor and Amazon Silk for ultra-fast web browsing.

You can pre-order the Kindle Fire now for pre-release on November 15. I am pretty sure these will sell out and will be big money makers on eBay in December. Besides the new Kindle Fire Amazon has also released some new Kindles with amazing price points. The regular Kindle is now only $79, the Kindle Touch is $99, and the Kindle Touch 3G is $149. The Kindle Keyboard is $99 and the Kindle Keyboard 3G is $139. There has never been a cheaper time to purchase a Kindle. But if you ask me the Kindle Fire is the one to get, just for coolness factor alone.

In case you are wondering, Amazon and the state of California have come to an agreement and I expect my Amazon Associates account to be reinstated any day now. So I still plan on having an Amazon Christmas. But that doesn’t mean I’ll stop using VigLink. Especially now that they have opened up Link Insertion to everyone.  VigLink is an affiliate program that is affiliated with Amazon, eBay, Commission Junction and many of the other top affiliate companies.

If you want to know if a specific merchant is affiliated with VigLink, you can use the Merchant Coverage tool, which allows you to insert the url of the affiliate product and check whether it is affiliated or not. Some advantages of using VigLink is that they are a big top tier affiliate, which means that they get the top commission, whereas a small affiliate may get 4% from Amazon while Viglink will get 8%. Because many affiliates pay percentages based on sales volume. Viglink will take out 25% of your commissions so you need to do the math to decide if this is viable for you.

What makes VigLink really useful is the ease of use. To enable VigLink on a site all you have to do is copy the VigLink code and paste it before the closing </body> tag on your site. In WordPress this would be in footer.php. Once you have the code installed all you have to do is link to any item that VigLink has an affiliated relationship with and when the user clicks on it VigLink will give you credit for that click. You don’t actually have to insert any affiliate code in the link. Just a plain old text link and you are affiliated.

VigLink has two great features that you can enable before you install your code which will make VigLink even more useful. The first one is Affiliation, which enables VigLink to override links that are already affiliated. This was really useful for me when I was switching my Amazon links to VigLink. Instead of redoing all of my Amazon links all I had to do was check the VigLink Affiliation button and VigLink automatically reaffiliated my Amazon links to VigLink Amazon links. When my Amazon Associates account is restored I will just deselect the reaffiliate button and then my Amazon links will back to my associates account.

But I won’t be removing the VigLink code because it is great for links that aren’t affiliated. Before this gets too confusing let me clear things up. By affiliated we mean that the link has affiliate code in it, so that as the publisher we get credit when a site visitor clicks on a link. If your site is full of your own affiliate links you can still use VigLink because it won’t touch those links already affiliated. It will only add affiliate links to products and services that don’t have an affiliations.

If you choose to use the reaffiliate function it currently only works on Amazon and eBay links. But this is great for people who have sites that are heavily monetized with Amazon or eBay and for some reason don’t have those affiliate accounts anymore. The coolest new feature of VigLink is the Link Insertion program. When you enable link insertion you don’t even have to create links. VigLink will automatically create links for products and services that they are affiliated with when they are mentioned on your site.

Just think of how convenient this would be for forum owners or someone who has a large guest post site that is not monetized. Normally I don’t want to share my commissions with another company, but VigLink can be a great addition to anyone’s affiliate arsenal.

All My Children aired for 41 years and I was along for the ride for almost 30 of those years. The one thing that always kept me coming back to the show was the well written script and how it was filled with a lot of humor. No matter how wacky or outrageous the story line was there were always subtle little twists and comments that were hilarious, if you were a regular viewer and knew the characters and previous plot twists. Agnes Nixon, the show’s creator was a true visionary, and it always warmed my heart when she would make little cameo appearances.

Throughout the years people lost their patience for cliffhangers, at least ones that were as drawn out as they were in the original soaps, and All My Children adapted. In fact, in the last year most cliff hangers on the show, lasted only one or two episodes, a far cry from months of waiting to find out; who the kidnapper was or the outcome of the trial. One thing that stayed consistent on the show were the characters and the main families. Even though some actors and characters would come and go, many actors spent the entire 40 years on the show, and many who went away would come back years later.

This week is a historical week because it is the end of a show that many people have grown up with. Even though there are plans to continue the show on the Internet or possibly on a cable network this week is the final week of a 41 year old show. Good bye All My Children. You were silly and fun and it was great watching you evolve over the years.

The problem is that the default WordPress posts page only shows about 20 posts at a time. So bulk deleting a thousand posts would be very tedious and time consuming. I have actually spent a considerable amount of time doing manual bulk deletes, then I realized there has got to be an easier way. My first inclination was to go into phpMyAdmin and do a bulk delete of the posts. Fortunately, I discovered there is a much easier way.

Instead of manually doing bulk deletes, 20 posts at a time, all we have to do is go into screen options and change the number of posts showing from 20 to 999 or some other large increment appropriate for the amount of posts we wish to delete. Just remember, if you use the title check box to select all of the posts to delete, deselect any posts that you may want to keep. Also, keep in mind that the screen option menu is contextual, so the show posts number option is under screen options when you are in the all posts screen.

If you are concerned about broken links from deleting the old posts you could use some type of redirect plugin such as link juice keeper. With the current push towards better quality sites, cleaning up and revising old posts can be a good way to give your site a lift.

What shared hosting actually means is that it is a shared server that has several different accounts on it. Shared hosting is more affordable because servers are expensive, but by having several different accounts on one server the cost and resources are shared, usually making it possible for hosting companies to offer shared hosting at an affordable price.

You still get your own account and can set up your own domain and your own website. In fact, many shared hosting accounts allow you to set up multiple domains on one shared hosting account. This is a great way to have multiple websites at a very affordable price.

If you have a small business, or you are a hobbyist, you definitely need your own website. Having a personal site is a great way to promote yourself to peers and associates. It can even be put on your resume. It can also be therapeutic to have a personal site or blog, where you can write about your interests or your life in general. You can also use your website to sale items, promote your offline business, or make a little extra cash with advertising or affiliate offers.

No matter what you need a hosting account for, shared hosting is an affordable way to your own your site. This a much better option, than risking losing your work and intellectual property on some free blogging site.

Even though, I have had shared hosting in the past, I usually stick to reseller accounts now. A reseller account is similar to shared hosting, but you get more resources and you can have multiple accounts. Many reseller accounts use WHM and cPanel software. The WHM is a control panel for the entire reseller account. The cPanel accounts are created within the WHM and are used to set up individual hosting accounts.

Just like the name says, when you have reseller hosting you can actually sell some of the server space from your  account. So that others can host their sites on your account. These accounts are great for web developers who want to offer a full fledged solution for their customers. They can set up the account, create and manage the site, and host the account. They can be a one stop shop for their web customers.

Plus, it is easier to have control over the type of hosting, when you are creating and managing a site. With competition ever present, and many businesses wanting to offer more. There are one stop shop web design sites, that will create and host your site and even manage it. From upgrades, and backups, to SEO services, with a reseller account you can offer your customers everything they will need to have  successful site.

Another great use of a reseller account is for individuals who have many websites and would like to put each site on it’s own separate cPanel account. This offers many advantages such as ease of use and security by keeping all of your sites separate. If one site gets hacked, it is a lot easier to fix, than restoring several sites, with add on domains on one account.

Having every site on it’s own account also makes selling, transferring, and moving sites, much easier. If you sell a site on an auction site like Flippa, instead of going through the hassle of trying to move the site. You can just give the buyer all of the account passwords and they or their hosting company can download and transfer the files they need. Then when everything is all set up on their server you just delete the entire cPanel account, and use the resources for your next site.

If you want to run a web business or be in control of your online presence both of these shared hosting and reseller hosting accounts are great options. The one you choose will depend on your individual needs and your budget. Once you have hosting you will still need a website so check out this great deal Affordable Custom Small Business Websites.

Please let me know the size of the header or banner, and any text, and any preferred graphics or colors. If you have a specific design idea in mind, please let me know. Otherwise, I will create something to fit your needs. I am willing to make one or two minor changes, but complete revisions will be an additional charge. For website headers please give me the URL of the site so that I can match the header to the existing colors of your theme.

Banner Portfolio:

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Header Portfolio:

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If you are interested please contact me using the form below. Please leave as much detailed information as you can and I will get back to you as soon as possible. There may be some delays on weekends or holidays.

Header installation is an additional charge.