Blogging 101 – How to Setup an Amazing WordPress Blog in Just a Couple of Hours

Posted by Assaf Avni on Sep 27, 2012 in Best of | 0 comments

In these step-by-step instructions and video tutorials, you’ll learn how to setup a WordPress blog in just a couple of hours – from buying a domain name (URL), setting up a hosting server, email forwards, WordPress installation and configuration, installing important plugins, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and a few additional tutorials on how to be an amazing blogger. Before we begin, here are two clips that will help you understand why you might want to set up your own blog: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ55f_svLuM httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYKqEqg9bgg Ready to start?   1. Purchasing a domain name + hosting service: Domain name is simply the URL you’ll be using (like YAHOO.com or CNN.com). When you buy a domain name you’re really buying the rights to use that name for a limited time. Hosting, on the other hand, means a physical space on someone’s hard-drive (server) where your blog’s/website’s files will be stored. To have a website or a blog you’ll need both. When visitors type your domain URL into their browser, they will be redirected to the files stored on your hosting service. You can purchase the domain name separately from the hosting but it’s not recommended since most hosting services (like Bluehost, 1&1, etc) will give you 1, 2 or 3 free domains with your hosting service (GoDaddy, for example, do no give free domain with their hosting so you’ll have to pay for both if you want a domain as well). My personal choice for hosting/domain provider is Bluehost. I’m sure you’ve heard of GoDaddy but I find Bluehost to have way better page-load–time, customer service, prices, features and overall experience.  1&1 offers a month-by-month payment package (which can be a plus if you just need hosting/domain for a few months) but be aware that the month-by-month plan is more expensive long-term. Their customer support is ok once you manage to get a hold of them on the phone (which I found challenging at times). I’m not a big fan of GoDaddy even though they are probably the most well known provider. They are more expensive overall, you get less for your $$$, and their customer service is bad in my experience. Here’s a detailed comparison between the three: Before choosing a domain name, think about YOU as a BRAND. What would you like people to know about you? How would you like others to perceive you? To identify your self-branding goals, you can use...

20+ Tips for Writing A Remarkable Resume in Today’s Creative World

Posted by Assaf Avni on Oct 22, 2011 in Best of | Comments Off on 20+ Tips for Writing A Remarkable Resume in Today’s Creative World

  The title of this post suggests that today’s world is somewhat different from yesterday’s world, and that it’s more creative. Before we explore this notion, let’s look at the definition of the word creativity. Most dictionaries or academic researchers of creativity will agree creativity is the (1) process of (2) generating ideas, that are both (3) novel (new) and (4) useful for (5) solving problems. To be remarkable (i.e. worth making a remark about) your resume should be somewhat different from everyone else. If you aspire to be remarkable, you have to be different (i.e. novel) and your resume must be useful (for the person reading it) and solve a problem (i.e. you getting that amazing job). While most people think about art when it comes to being creative, this post will follow the traditional definition of creativity (novel, useful, solving a problem) to make you shine brighter and your resume- a star. If, on the other hand, you don’t think today’s world is any different than yesterday’s world and that your resume should follow traditional (may I say old-school?) resume-writing advice you once got from an HR director or a career counselor, watch the following video: Daniel Pink, the author of A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future:   Before we start with actual tips, let me suggest a possibility, that every piece of advice you ever got about how to write a resume (or about anything else really) could be 100% true and 100% false at the same time. What I mean is, for the person who came up with that advice, it might have been a great one. For you, on the other hand, this advice might be a really bad one. Why, you ask? (1) They may be a different person than you, (2) working in a different environment or industry, (3) they may be more concerned with practicality (like how your resume will be scanned) vs. likability or remarkability. Watch Seth Goodin, the Author of Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable: (this is a short excerpt from his 20 minutes TED presentation)   Tip #1 – Don’t Listen To Every Advice You Get (including this one): As a rule of thumb, when someone gives me advice, I always ask – why? (as in, “why is this good advice?”). If their explanation makes sense to me – sure, I’ll follow...

10 Amazing Speeches / Talks That Will Change The Way You See The World

Posted by Assaf Avni on Oct 14, 2011 in Best of | 0 comments

These speeches/talks will blow your mind. They are jaw-dropping, persuasive, courageous, ingenious, fascinating, funny and/or inspiring! Anything we should add to the list? (add your comment below)   1. Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address [15 minutes] Stay Hungry Stay Foolish httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc “Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urges graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life’s setbacks– including death itself”.   2. Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture [76 minutes] Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo “Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. Pausch talkes about his lessons learned and gives advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals”. To learn more about Randy Pausch, visit his website: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/   3. Sir Ken Robinson @ TED [20 minutes] Do Schools Today Kill Creativity? httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY “A must-see for every parent and teacher. Education guru Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. Sir Ken Robinson is author of “Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative,” and a leading expert on innovation in education and business. (Recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA)”. For more amazing TED videos, visit: http://www.ted.com/ http://www.youtube.com/user/tedtalksdirector   4. Dan Ariely @ TED [17 minutes] Are We in Control of Our Decisions? httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X68dm92HVI “Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we’re not as rational as we think when we make decisions”.   5. Dan Gilbert @ TED [22 minutes] Why are we happy? Why aren’t we happy? httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTO_dZUvbJA “Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that well be miserable if we dont get what we want. Our “psychological immune system” lets us feel truly happy even when things dont go as planned”.   6. Ellen DeGeneres [9 minutes] 2009 Tulane University Commencement httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JccudODwwY “Life is like one big Mardi Gras, but instead of showing your boobs, show people your brain and if they life what they see, you’ll have more beads than you know what to do with… Be true to yourself and everything else will...