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• How to Write an eBook that People Will Actually Read
• 40+ Impressive Website Footers for Your Inspiration
• 5 Commenting Platforms to Make Your Blog Less Boring

How to Write an eBook that People Will Actually Read Posted: 27 Feb 2012 01:00 PM PST Are you looking for new ways to deliver in-depth content on a topic specific to your website? If so, ebooks are a great way to take your audience deeper into some aspect of your subject matter. Through the advancement of technology it’s easier than ever before in history for you to become an author by writing an ebook. With that said, there are things you should do to ensure your ebook is read by as many people as possible. In this article we are going to uncover the benefits of writing an ebook, provide tips for writing a successful ebook, and discuss how you can streamline the Ebook writing process. Benefits of Writing an Ebook Having a blog on your website is an absolute must. That said, blog articles serve a specific purpose. A best practice for blogging is to provide content in easily digestible chunks that readers can find, read, understand, and share all within a few minutes. An ebook allows you to expand on topics that you write about on your blog. Writing an ebook allows you to go more in depth on a given subject. Those of you who decide that writing an ebook makes sense as a content marketing tactic for your brand will uncover a number of benefits from your efforts. Here are a few benefits of writing an ebook: Positions you as an thought-leader on the subject that you write about Allows you to collect email newsletter subscribers during the ebook download process More searchable content that attracts new visitors to your website Generates buzz on social media tools like Facebook and Twitter Can lead to more business, news coverage, etc. for you Adds more value to you current audience and helps to form even deeper relationships with those folks The list above is simply the biggest benefits you’ll receive if you write an ebook that people actually read. There are a number of secondary benefits that you will also receive by taking the time to write an ebook. If this has convinced you that writing an ebook might be worth your time, then let’s dig into the components of a successful ebook. Components of a Successful Ebook As we alluded to earlier in the article, the advancement of technology has made it easier than ever before for all of us to become authors of ebooks. With that said, just because it’s easier to write and publish an ebook, doesn’t mean you’re going to be good at it. The main goal of writing an ebook is for people to actually read it. The next goal is for the ebook to be valuable enough that the people who do read it will then share it with friends. So, how do you write an ebook that people actually read? Let’s dive into some of the main components of a successful ebook: Trendy topic – Don’t write about something that’s been written about a lot in the past. If you do pick a saturated topic, be sure to take the conversation in a different direction than most have done in the past. Research – Be sure to do your homework during the ebook planning phase of the process. You want your facts to be accurate and backed up with links. Outline – Start by creating an outline of the main topic areas that you’d like to write about in your ebook. This will keep you focused during the writing process. Design – Be sure to add imagery throughout your ebook and come up with a ebook design template that includes your branding elements. Table of Contents – Include a Table of Contents up front so readers know what to expect when reading your ebook. Ebook Length – If possible, keep your ebook short. Anywhere from 15 – 25 pages makes for a great length. Readers can get through it in an hour or so. Proofread – Be sure to edit your ebook for format and proofread your copy before publishing. The internet opens you up to many great things, but it also provides a channel for everyone to nitpick. Don’t give them a reason to. Promotion – Promote the “you know what” out of your ebook. Submit it to free ebook publishing sites. Use social media. Promote your ebook on your website. Get local media coverage. Ask for reviews from leaders in the topic area that you’re writing about. You know the deal… If you are sure to include all of the components above you will have done more than most ebook authors. Following the steps above will position your ebook for success. Ebook Writing Tips   Now that we understand the benefits of writing an ebook and the components of a successful ebook, let’s review a few writing-specific tips. Writing an ebook can seem like a daunting task for first-time authors. It doesn’t have to be. Here are a few tips to keep you on track during the writing process. Stick to your outline as this will keep you on track Carve out a few hours in your schedule where you can sit down and write Reduce distractions during writing time Get a first draft written before worrying about editing or tweaking your format. Getting caught up in minor details during the writing process can lead to a number of unnecessary issues. Once your first draft is finished take a break and come back to do your review with fresh ideas Have someone you respect review it and provide you with feedback Writing an ebook doesn’t have to be difficult. It really all comes down to staying on task. During the writing process you can get caught up in the details. Don’t let that happen to you. Get that first draft down and then go back and tweak. Once you have your ebook content ready, it’s time finalize your ebook format. 5 Ebook Formatting Tools Before you can submit your ebook to some of ebook publishing sites like Amazon, Lulu, and others, you have to properly format it so it will be accepted by those sites. You need to convert your ebook into an ePub, so that it can be read on major eReaders like iPad, Nook, and Kindle. Here are a few tools to help you get started: Mobi Pocket – This ebook formatting tool is free and lets you create an eBook from HTML, Word, and image files. Scrivener - Scrivener is a content-generation tool which allows writers to format ebooks and other long documents. Calibre – Calibre is another FREE ebook formatting tool. You can create an eBook for the major eReaders like Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc. The one negative we have found is that it does not support Microsoft Word files. iBook - Use iBook from Apple to convert your ebook into an ePub so that it functions beautifully on the iPad. This app is extremely easy to use. You can convert your ebooks into ePub files in minutes. BookGlutton: BookGlutton is a free ebook conversion tool which lets you turn HTML books into ePub files for use on various ebook readers. Now that your ebook is formatted properly, it’s time to publish it! Ebook Publisher Websites As we mentioned above, there are a lot of ways to get people to read your ebook. One of the best things to do is to submit your ebook to ebook publishing websites. Here is a list of some of the best ebook publishing websites that you should consider publishing your ebook to: Lulu.com is a self publishing website whereby you can even sell your ebook online BooksOnBoard.com allows you to publish your ebook, offer it for free, or sell it online Createspace.com offers free distribution of your ebook Ebookscorporation.com is a leading supplier of books to libraries and retailers worldwide DigitalPoint.com is a new ebook marketplace for you to take advantage of These are just a few of the many ebook publish websites. Just do a simple Google search on “publish my ebook” and you’ll see all of the great ebook publishing websites out there for you to publish your ebook to. Can You Write an Ebook People Actually Read? YES! The answer is yes. That said, will you write an ebook that people actually read? Please share your comments below and tell us if you think writing an ebook is worth your time and if you plan to do so. For those of you who HAVE written an ebook in the past, please share with us any feedback that you think might benefit those of us who are taking it on for the first time. We appreciate you taking the time to leave your comments below.

40+ Impressive Website Footers for Your Inspiration Posted: 27 Feb 2012 08:00 AM PST Designing a creative and appealing footer is crucial if you want to make each element of your web design as successful and efficient as possible. Although the footer of a web design appears at the end of the page yet it cannot be neglected. With an effective footer design, you can create a long-lasting impression on your visitors. Through a well designed footer, you can certainly grab the visitors' attention. We have previously posted many collections about Website Footers Designs as well but at the moment, we are presenting the most innovative and amazing examples of websites showing impressive footers. These footer designs prove that you can effectively utilize a website footer to provide that extra bit of improvement in the user's experience. We hope you will like this collection. Do let us know your opinion about this compilation. 1. Rubbik This is one of the best footer designs you would ever see as it contains the required information as well as it provides a comprehensive list of links that help you keep your visitors on your site. 2. 43 folders This footer design takes the creativity to the next level by simply combining different fundamental aspects of Web design: 3. BimbiSicuramente A simple and uncluttered footer design that showcases a beautiful and visually appealing graphics. 4. Yuru Inspires This creatively designed artistic footer design not only fulfills the visual requirements of a web design but also makes navigating the website easier. 5. Mecannical This one is simply outstanding, an original and creative footer design that will surely impress your target audience. 6. Split Da Diz This footer design makes use of color scheme quite smartly and the subtle uses of white inserted into the black definitely look great. 7. Green Woods Country Club in Winsted This is another amazing example of impressive footer design that demonstrates how you can incorporate loads of information in an effective manner. 8. Thepixel In this footer design, notice how the overall look of a website can be improved solely by its footer design without compromising on the usability of the site. 9. Grzegorz Kozak Here you will notice how far a designer's creativity can take us. Simply awesome. 10. Dandelionpath This sleek design of footer makes use of a beautiful image along with the desired information. 11. Midnighters Club This is a beautifully designed and creative footer design that brings to lights the importance of simplicity and elegance. The design has been created with a straightforward approach. 12. Volll This footer design shows the use of loads of colorful images eye-catching illustration to grab the visitors' attention. 13. Seesparkbox The website offer two different versions of its footer design that you can switch by simply clicking on the link presented at the end of the page. 14. Meomi This footer design shows that you can also utilize your footer design to completely portray your creative thinking as well as can make your web design look stunning. 15. Bits & Pixels This is another excellent example of a creative and artistically designed footer. Through this footer design, the designer has successfully communicated the name as well as the meaning behind this website. 16. Mom and popcorn Large images and bold typography are used here in order to draw the users' attention and make them take the required action 17. Nuevo Aurich Here you will notice a very creative footer design that is simple yet very attractive. This design carries a straight-to-the-point approach that grabs the attention. 18. Launch Mind This footer design also presents just the adequate information to assist the visitors in navigating the website properly as well as presents a beautiful image as a visual treat. 19. Carsonified Such a beautiful and unique way to separate the footer of a website from rest of the web design. 20. Bristol Archive Records With this visually alluring footer design, the website attracts loads of visitors while providing them with loads of valuable information. 21. McClanahan Studio Quite impressive and remarkable use of creativity in this footer design. Simply outstanding, innovative and wonderfully designed footer. 22. Duplos This is another brilliant work done by the designer that speaks volume about itself. The creativity and originality of this footer design is simply above the par. 23. Rainbow walk This footer design strokes out mainly because of its appealing illustration and classy color palette that grabs the attention of the onlookers. 24. Twither This footer design has attention-grabbing, large and appealing graphics and colorful elements that hold the visitors' attention. 25. Story Pixel Here, designer successfully collaborate different design elements and color palette of the footer with the overall layout of the website. That makes it look visually appealing. 26. Tapbots Notice how you can effectively incorporate important functionality such as twitter updates into your footer design and make it look visually alluring and enticing. 27. Urban Pie This design is somewhat simple as compared to others seeing that it only contains a family of appetizing pie on top of a search box. 28. Ultra web studio This footer design shows that you can certainly incorporate loads of information and different elements into your footer design without making it look too clumsy. 29. Helmy-bern Notice how effectively the designer has taken advantage of simple and eye-catching illustrations to grab the attention of target audience, and then moving them to the right direction. 30. Ecoki This footer design makes use of a different approach that stands this footer design apart from other ordinary footer designs. 31. Jason Santa Maria This footer design together with its nice and catchy colors and attractive element makes this website a visual treat. 32. Outdoor italia This is somewhat unusual design for website footer but this one truly stands out from the rest of the footer designs because of its natural and subtle look. 33. R.U.4 Children In this footer design, you will notice how you can design a beautiful and visually appealing footer design while keeping it simple and uncluttered. 34. Code my concept Against a dark background, the footer successfully provides all the relevant and necessary information that help visitors navigate the site in a better way. 35. Noupe Noupe add a little bit of extra oomph in its footer design by using eye-catching texture that makes the footer design hard to forget. 36. Word Refuge Another example of simple but attractive footer design that does not provide loads of information rather just provide the necessary information that help visitors in navigating the site. 37. Duirwaigh Although the footer design more or less is analogous to the general layout yet it looks quite appealing and artistic. 38. Me & Oli With the help of this understated design, Me & Oli keeps their footer design creative and simple and focuses only on the information. 39. Web4Biz This is a skillfully designed footer that is unique and creative in its own way and highlights the importance of simplicity and elegance. 40. Blogsolid Simple and minimal footer design with only required information in it. Simply beautiful! 41. Groovy web design With loads of eye catching and colorful elements, this footer design makes its place in our collection of worth watching footer designs. 42. Biowind Simple and soothing footer design that somewhat resembles with the overall design layout. On the whole, it is quite impressive and appealing. 43. Snailbird Quite unusual color combination and an absolutely brilliant approach have been incorporated into this footer design. 44. Grzegorz kozak The footer has been designed as a part of the overall web design but beautifully sets itself apart from the overall web design and provides the link to its contact form. 45. Tulsa Tough Quite a standard design for the website footer yet stands apart mainly because of its beautiful color selection and sufficient information. 46. Tvrdek Here is another beautiful example of a subtle footer design. Tvrdek uses dark brownish shade for its footer design that truly stands out from the overall design color. 47. Zagreb Fever This footer design brings warm and inviting colors into play in order to engage their visitors. The color scheme works well and makes it stand out.

5 Commenting Platforms to Make Your Blog Less Boring Posted: 27 Feb 2012 02:00 AM PST As bloggers, we all are aware of the importance of comments. While it is true that some blogs/websites tend to disable comments entirely, those are special instances where the websites do not essentially require comments. However, in general, comments form an integral part of any blog, be it a personal one or a magazine site. After all, what good is any info unless it provokes a healthy discussion? All blogging platforms (including WordPress) come with native support for some sort of comment mechanism which seems to suffice for most bloggers. But sometimes, users may require some dedicated or specialized comment mechanism. This is where third-party commenting systems come in handy. In this article, we will take a look at some of the major third-party commenting mechanisms. But before going any further, let us assess the pros and cons of using or not using such third-party commenting systems. Why Should You Use Third Party Commenting Platforms? The advantages of using a third-party commenting system are many, and now we shall take a look at some of the major ones. The foremost advantage of using a third-party comment system is the support for social networking sites. Almost all third-party comment systems offer excellent integration with social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, and some even go to the limits of carving their own user base along the lines of a social network. This enables users to seamlessly share their comments and the articles they read on their social networking profiles, thereby spreading the word and driving more visitors to your website. Third party comment mechanisms also offer real-time updates and email alerts, good RSS support allowing users to keep track of their comments and take part in discussions in a more organized manner. Furthermore, most such platforms support a single sign-in with many IDs, such as Facebook, LinkedIn or OpenID. Naturally, this helps in getting comments from different types of users, as well as wards off spam quite effectively. And lastly, most such systems allow readers to rate the comments too – you can give a ‘Thumbs Up’ or ‘Thumbs Down’ to comments you like or dislike respectively, and you can flag comments and mark them as spam. Obviously, such ‘community recognition’ of comments goes a long way in helping users take the discussions more seriously. Why Should You Use the Default Comment Mechanism? At times, we simply don’t need (or don’t want) the third-party commenting facilities. For starters, the default commenting facility blends well with the design (irrespective of whether we use a free theme for our blog or a premium one, the default system for comments doesn’t really look out-of-place). Often times, third-party commenting systems are notorious for increasing the load time. While they do not really take AGES to load, they do slow down the load time, in comparison to the native commenting mechanism. The reason for this is that third-party systems are not integrated within the blog’s design base. Next, in order to get the maximum out of third-party systems, your users should essentially have an account. Yes, such systems do allow the users to comment anonymously, but if they are to get the optimum out of the mechanism, an account is necessary (this applies most emphatically to Livefyre). While such accounts do help in killing spam, they are often a deterrent. A native commenting system, on the other, requires at the most an email address – you can let Akismet take care of the spam comments! Lastly, the in-built comments system is hosted, well, as part of your own website. It is not dependent on a third-party server, and you don’t have to worry about their server being slow to respond, and so on. With the advantages and disadvantages out-of-the-way, we shall now take a look at the major third-party commenting systems. Disqus Disqus is a comments platform built along a community model. It is one of the most popularly used comment mechanisms and is backed by numerous addons. Disqus Major Features: Disqus supports realtime comments in a fast and intuitive interface. You can even get email notifications for follow-up comments (and reply to the responses by replying to that email). It is well-integrated with services such as YouTube and Flickr, and you can easily embed or attach media such as photos or videos to your comments. You can login, like and share stuff using social networking services like Facebook and Twitter. In fact, the USP of Disqus lies in its integration with social networks as well as its own community model, wherein users can keep track of their comments and share things they like in an easy manner. Disqus also comes with moderation tools and an in-house anti-spam technology that ensures that your site is safe from spammers. You can restrict certain keywords within comments and add blacklists or whitelists as and when need be! Finally, Disqus offers good support for mobile devices, has been internationalized well and comes with plugins/modules for WordPress, Drupal and easy integration for Blogger, Tumblr and many other platforms. Disqus is used by the likes of CNN, Time Magazine, Fox News and Engadget. IntenseDebate IntenseDebate is a commenting platform from the stable of Automattic, the good folks behind WordPress. It is a wonderful commenting system, that has several good features. IntenseDebate Major Features: IntenseDebate provides a decent set of community tools, including integration with services such as Facebook Connect and OpenID. It supports nested comments, email notifications and reply-by-email. Just like Disqus, users can have their own profiles with full social networking integration. You can moderate comments, use blacklists or whitelists, and even assign other admins for the task. Spam protection, of course, is provided by Akismet. IntenseDebate is supported on services such as WordPress, TypePad, Blogger, and many others. It is used by websites such as Infectious Creed and ScreenCrave. Obviously, the user base is not as impressive as that of Disqus, but IntenseDebate is rising at a good (though still not ‘great’) pace. Livefyre Livefyre is a real-time conversation platform, that aims to "turn your content into a catalyst for meaningful live conversations." Ok, that’s good use of English, if nothing else! Livefyre Major Features: Livefyre, just like its competitors, offers good integration with social networking services. When you comment, you can tag your Facebook friends right away, and thereby bring more people into the conversation. Comments are published in real-time, and it also shows a live stat of both those commenting and listening. Livefyre comments are SEO-friendly and this helps you increase your page rank. Users can create their profiles on Livefyre, and gain additional features, such as the frequency of email responses, linkbacks and credit points on their comments. Just like Disqus and IntenseDebate, Livefyre also offers powerful moderation tools and anti-spam measures. The USP of Livefyre, arguably, lies in its eye-candy element. It has a beautiful interface, and new comments, for example, are shown as a bubble pop-up at the bottom. For general usage, Livefyre is free. But can get a Custom Solution if you need additional features such as developer support, on-page branding, guaranteed SLA Uptime, emails via custom domains and page views over 2 million per month. Among major websites that use Livefyre, the most noteworthy ones are The Sun, The New York Times, Tennis.com, AOL, M Tv and Bloguin. Clearly, Livefyre caters to some of the biggest names. ECHO ECHO, formerly known as JS-KIT, is another real-time commenting system, that offers several Premium features. Strictly speaking, ECHO is a complete real-time web platform, inclusive of forums, polls, real-time sharing and comments, among other things. ECHO Major Features: Just like most other platforms, ECHO too supports real-time comments with no need to refresh the page in order to display new comments. ECHO comes with in-line sharing, enabling users to post their comments to social networks at the same time. You can sync comments from platforms such as Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter conversations and (soon to be added) Google+ – all in a side stream or even a separate tab. ECHO also provides wonderful moderation and analytics’ tools. Plus, it is fully customizable. However, ECHO is more of an enterprise solution and you can’t simply ‘download’ it for free and start using it. Their website doesn’t actually talk about any pricing, but it does have a Contact Formwhere you can get in touch to learn more. Major users of ECHO include The Washington Post and ESPN, among others. Facebook Comment Box If you tend to engage your blog users with Facebook in particular, you can try using Facebook Comments Box plugin for your blog. While this clearly does not beat Disqus or Livefyre in terms of features, it has certain unique benefits of its own. Facebook Comments' Box Major Features: FB Comments Box plugin sorts comments on the basis of relevance. Comments or topics that have received preference from friends (and friends of friends) are ordered first, while comments marked as spam are hidden from view. Users can easily share comments on Facebook by leaving the ‘Post to Facebook’ tick box checked. Naturally, since FB itself is a huge social network, this can drive new visitors to your website. The plugin also provides certain moderation tools, grammar filters, mobile version and support for third-party login. Currently, only Yahoo! AOL and Windows Live accounts are supported, as per the documentation. On the downside, FB Comments Box plugin is rendered as an iframe, and many search engines do not crawl content within an iframe. So this plugin might not give you the SEO boost that you’re expecting from the user comments. With that, we come to the end of this round-up. Which comment system do you use for your blog? How is your experience with it? Feel free to let us know!

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