Internet Marketing Tips and Freebies

This Weeks Freebies are Website or Blog Translation tools. 

With people from all over the world visiting your site and blog doesn’t it make sense for them to be able to translate your site into their native language easily?

With any of the tools mentioned below, your site or blog visitors can translate your content into their native language by clicking on the flag that belongs to their country.

Remember that the translations are done by machine and are not always perfect. Expect online translators to give the gist of the translated text but not a quality translation. To improve your translations use proper grammar. Avoid long and complex sentences, slang, misspelled words, or improper punctuation.

Google Easy Translation Tools

The easy way for visitors to translate your site or blog is with the Google toolbar. Offer a download or link to the Google Tools Page on your site or make it easy add the Google Gadget to your site (see below).

1.  You can add your native language button to the tool bar. When you want to translate the web page you click the button.

2.  Translation with no clicks using the Toolbar. You just pause over an English word, and the Word Translator displays that word's meaning in the visitor’s own language (You can translate from English to Chinese, Traditional and Simplified, Japanese, Korean, French, Italian, German, and Spanish).

3.  Add a Google Gadget to your Website or blog.    

Just visit the tool link and copy and past the code into your blog or web page and your visitor can select the translation language from a drop down list in the gadget.

Not in Love with Google? Use a Widget or other tool

Widgets typically use country flags to indicate translation options. A visitor clicks on the flag of their native language and the page or blog is translated.

It is easy to add the tools and widgets to your site by cutting and pasting in the code provided. No excuse now for not translating your site or blog!

Widgetbox offers a Google Widget If you have an older version of WordPress you will want to upgrade because the content will not appear in IE7. Upgeading to the latest WordPress will solve the problem.

Other tools and other Widgets such as Babblefish (now merged with Yahoo) and many others including one that translates into 18 languages with a pull down menu.

I found a nice looking translation tool from the UK that you might like but it offers translation into ten different languages. The tool is customizable so you can use it vertically or horizontally and you can specify the background color.

Global Translations offers two options for translation. The offer a banner, which offers flags with the country, names under each flag (12 language options). They also offer a drop down menu like the Google menu I mentioned above.

These are just a few ways to add the global audience to your blogs and web sites.

If you don’t want to Ad’s for other sites on yours

You can use the code (PHP, Java Script and html or a combination) with images and link to the translation pages provided by Google.

If you want to see it work. You can go to my real estate site (under development) and see it in action. http://homes.carynwebb.com/

If you want help adding Ad free translation e-mail me at

Caryn@CDWebbDesign.com

Watch for more Freebies Next Week.

Warmly, Caryn

FREE Stuff to Back up Your Data

I have spent the last day or so trying to repair a failing laptop hard drive for a client of mine, enough to recover data from it. This is expensive, slow and painful process for everyone.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about some FREE back up options.

The very first thing about Backing up is to do it, do it now.  Now because the next time you turn on your computer it might not boot up.  Ever had that feeling of shear panic knowing it is your fault you don’t have a copy of your most important data.

There are a lot of ways to back up your data.

You can just use removable media such as CD’ or DVD’s or thumb dives. You can get FREE software or buy software to create an image of your hard drive, as it exists now (including system files and settings) and store you data on an external hard drive.

FREEBIES INCLUDE:

FREE Drive imaging software:

Drive imagining software allows you to back up your data, operating system, settings and data files.  Make an exact replica of your hard drive as is exists today.  A real time saver when your drive fails.  Catch is you need to use it regularly!  Here are some free ways to do it.

GoodSync:  GoodSync automatically Backs Up (1-Way) or Synchronizes (2-Way) your emails, photos, financial documents, MP3s and all other important files between desktops, laptops, servers, and external drives.

DriveImage XMLL: Easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up logical drive and partitions, view and extract files, restore to the same of different drive, copy from drive to drive, auto back up.

HDClone3.2: Free Edition: The free version is fully functional and allows for cloning of one disk to another. 

My choice, and what I use, is Acronis True Image

Acronis True Image:  is not free but they do have a fully functional FREE trial.

Using this software I have been able to make a recovery CD, clone the failing drive to an external drive and recover an back up data, photos and music files.  This software is worth the price many times over.  Cost is $49.99/per license. 

FREE on-line data storage services

Lots of services are cropping up and finding the right one for you will require a little research.  Services such as Yahoo (briefcase) and AOL (My storage) are some of the solutions becoming available and Google is working on a new solution as we speak.  Though you can access files from any computer you will be dealing with fees and upload times.  Storage and File sharing between users are advantages of the Yahoo, AOL, and many of the ones services listed below.

Right now I am not recommending any of these services just letting you know they exist.  If you want to try them let me know what you like and don’t like about them.  I recommend you do a search and read the existing reviews on these services from trusted sources like PC Magazine.

FREE on-line data storage services

Streamload: 25 GB of FREE Storage Space.  Streamload, gives you a private and secure place to upload, store, access, and share your personal videos, photos, movies, music, and files.

I Drive – 2GB of FREE Storage Space.  $4.95 a month unlimited storage space.

FlipDrive:  FREE on-line storage, file and photo sharing. Read the Privacy Policy

My Net Storage – 5GB of FREE storage $4.99/month or $3.99 if paid for a year.

Go Daddy – 50 MB of Storage Space - $6.99/year

Mozy – 2GB of Storage Space for Home users Free.  $4.95 a month unlimited space.

Mozy seems to get the best reviews but look closely at this.  They do require you to download and install software that runs in the background.  Mozy doesn't offer a 'Backup this file' option when an item is right-clicked inside Windows Explorer.  It also does not except FTP file transfer.

Carbonite On Line Back up – 15-day FREE trial and $49.95 a year for unlimited back up after the trial is finished.

Do your homework before using any of these services and make sure that you have another back up of your data.  Servers go down, companies go out of business and your data is your data period and it is your responsibility to keep it safe.

Free Open Source Web Site Designs – 2080 designs to choose from.

Yes, you read it right.  Free open source web site designs, 2080 designs to choose from, download and customize.

This site is a wonderful resource for custom blogs, photo gallery’s and website designs of all types.  

Most of the designs are by freelance designers who just want the world to see their work.  Sometimes they request you leave a link to their site on the template. 

However, a surprising number of them don’t care.  This is design for the sake and pleasure of design and the best I have found.  The fact that they are free to download and customize is just icing on the cake.

The site does have all kinds of fun tools that are easy to use like buttonator - where you can custom make buttons from templates on line.  

Here is the link that will give you some of the most downloaded designs.

Some of the designs like Flower Tree are just beautiful to look at.

Take some time and poke around the site it is worth it.

Feast your eyes and save some cash! 

FREE contact management system that is designed for Real Estate Professionals and I like what I see!  I think you owe it to yourself to take a look at this.

It is called RealFutureCRM 2.0. Find it here: http://www.realfuturecrm.com/public/

I have not finished evaluating all the features thoroughly but I am going out on a limb early and saying I like what I see!

This product was designed for Real Estate! "Since RealFutureCRM is designed specifically for real estate there are no weird fields, terminology, or strange processes to work around."

Super FAST, Internet based application of the newest Web 2.0 programming techniques.

Internet based, no software to download and install, your data is always available, even from your PDA or phone.  You don't have to worry about data storage (hard drive space) or data back up and no extra features that you don't need.

Features include:

Easy intuitive navigation using a side bar navigation and Dashboard system that makes finding what you want to do easy.  Contact Management, Drip e-mail marketing, task scheduling, calendar, To Do, and client database (data mining), Text alerts, Web Leads, and Fast Edits. 

Features  http://www.realfuturecrm.com/public/article.jsp?page=description&article=_what_you_can_do

FREE VERSION

Management of 500 contacts, 15 contact groups, 20 drip marketing campaigns, 150 reusable tasks (Activity Plans).

Easy to import you existing contacts, mailing pieces can be plan text or html with field inserted.  Synchronizes contact and calendar data to Outlook, and to your PDA through Outlook.  For more specific information visit this page of the site

http://www.realfuturecrm.com/public/article.jsp?page=pricing

Pulse, you can't beat the price!  

If you need to handle a greater client volume or want to use it in an office setting, there is a reasonably priced paid version as well.