Did You Know?

Did you know that you can create a backup of all your active lists in Aweber?

aweber-logo1If you didn’t, it’s super easy and takes just a few minutes.

  1. Login to Aweber
  2. Click on the “Home” link
  3. Click on the “Create and Manage Lists” link next to the “Current List” drop-down box.
  4. Click the “Back Up & Export All Active Lists” link. You will get a pop-up window at this point. Select the email address to send the backup notification to and click “Export All.”

For now, that’s it. Once Aweber has created your backup file, you will receive an email message…the one you chose above…letting you know it is available for download.

At that point, follow all of the steps above, only when you get the pop up window this time, there will be a “Link to Download.” Click that link to download and backup all your active lists. This link is available for 2 weeks from the date it was created.

So how often should you backup your lists? I think it depends on the amount of lists you have, the number of subscribers, and how active your account is. I’m sure Aweber has backup methods in place, but nothing is infallible. Of course it also depends on what you’re comfortable with. Me being the queen of backup, backup, backup, I do this monthly on Aweber. However, if I had a ton more subscribers (hint, hint), I may begin doing a backup more frequently.

Google Feeds Gone Wild, Part 2

First of all, I’m back! Did you miss me or didn’t you know I was gone? Either way, I’ve just returned from my short maternity leave after the birth of my second daughter. I’ll be sure to post a special announcement soon, but there is some business to discuss first.

If you subscribe to my blog feed, this may be the first update you have received in ages from In The Worx…that is of course if you solely rely on your RSS reader to keep up with your favorite blogs. Well if that is the case for you, let me apologize. Although I have been away for a few weeks taking care of my new baby, there has apparently been a problem with my feeds since JANUARY!

After having a major hiccup in early March when I was forced to move my FeedBurner feed to my Google account…you can read about that here…I thought this problem had been licked. Apparently not so much. It seems that there has been another issue with my feeds this entire time that I was unaware of until a few weeks ago. Anyone subscribed to my blog through their RSS reader hasn’t seen an update since January 25th. Well rest assured that I have in fact had many posts since then so please catch up as soon as you have a few minutes.

Of course I began researching the problem as soon as I found out.  I scoured the Internet for answers, searched through the FeedBurner knowledgebase and FAQs, and even posted my dilemma on the FeedBurner Google group hoping someone there would be able to help. Not only did I find that people were having similar problems, but they were also getting nowhere and couldn’t get any answers from Google. In fact I was unable to find any kind of support from Google directly.

Now, being the relentless researcher that I am when presented with a problem…seriously I will spend hours and hours if that is what it takes…alas, I finally figured it out! Honestly this was a total fluke that I even found it, but I am so glad that I did because I *pray* that it is the solution for someone else so they too can finally stop searching for answers. So here it is folks:

How To Fix Your FeedBurner Feeds After They Stopped Working

Just by accident, I came across this page on Creating your WordPress feed (self-hosted WordPress) in the FeedBurner Help knowledgebase. Seriously folks, technically this topic has nothing to do with my problem and I just happened upon it by accident. Nothing on this page would have been of value to me, but this one little side note happened to catch me eye. It reads:

Note: If you currently use the old, 2005-vintage version of the Ordered List FeedBurner plugin that generates a FeedBurner-specific URL (an example: www.yoursite.com/feedburner_838196/), that URL is no longer available or necessary. You will have to reset your FeedBurner feed’s Original Feed address to now use your standard blog feed address. Additionally, you should examine any .htaccess files that control access to your WordPress installation’s content and remove any existing references that forward or redirect your feeds, as these references will no longer be necessary.

Hmmm, interesting I thought. I figured what the heck and went to check my Original Feed in FeedBurner. This was such a long shot at best given the fact that I don’t even use the plugin that it is referring to. But guess what? My Original Feed address was exactly in that format. I wondered if changing this would further screw things up, but decided to give it a shot. In fact, at the top of your Feed Details, there is a warning message that reads:

“You should not change “Original Feed” unless you move your original feed to a new domain or a new location on your existing server…”

So first I copied the Original Feed address it was showing and pasted it in Notepad for safe keeping just in case. I retrieved my blog feed address, pasted it in the Original Feed field, and saved it. Then I used the Ping FeedBurner page to ping my site to make sure that it worked. The ping worked so that was a good sign so far.

feedburner-details

Now it was time for the ultimate test. I opened my blog in my browser, clicked on one of my RSS button links and voila! There they were…every post I’ve made since January 25th and prior to that date as well. It was a beautiful thing!

Now let the record show that I DID NOT change my Original Feed address at any time so it had to be changed by FeedBurner because I can’t think of any other explanation. So I’m not sure what Google did in January that would affect my Original Feed address, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only unsuspecting user. Maybe this was when they decided to change our Feed Address to include a ‘2′ (http://feeds2…), which caused millions of headaches, but nevertheless this whole conversion has been a debacle for me.

I hope this information helps solve someone else’s problem with their feeds. As for Google, I said it before…I’ve been a huge fan of many of their apps and offerings, but seriously, what the heck were y’all thinking? Or should I say NOT thinking?

Freebie Friday – Manage Your Fonts

If you are a fontaholic like I am, or just need a pretty good variety of fonts because you work in graphic and print design, then chances are you’ve been frustrated trying to find just the right font for a project. Choosing, comparing, and analyzing fonts is serious business. You could just keep selecting a different font in your document and see how it looks, only to do that about 50 more times, OR you can manage your fonts and save yourself a lot of headaches.

Font management you ask? Yes, of course! There is a really good – and free – font manager out there called AMP Font Viewer. Besides allowing you to get a quick overview of both installed and non-installed fonts, this program can also install and uninstall fonts on the fly as well as organize them into categories. I can feel your excitement already!

fonts1So why would you want a font manager you ask? Well for one thing, the more fonts you install on your computer, the better the chance of your computer programs slowing down, errors happening, or possibly even crashing. They use up a considerable amount of resources on your system that reduces efficiency and productivity. With AMP Font Viewer, because you can get an overview of non-installed fonts, you can keep all your extra, non essential, everyday fonts in a separate folder and install them only when needed, thus keeping your computer happy. And we all know that a happy computer makes a happy user!

AMP Font Viewer supports TrueType, OpenType and Type1 fonts, so you get the maximum use out this great little manager. Want to test the look of any font with your own text? No problem. Want to print a list of all or just some of your installed fonts with sample text for each one? Yep, you can do that, too.

It’s so easy to use you might even have a little fun while choosing the perfect font for your next project. So stop letting your font fetish take on a life of its own and start managing your fonts with ease.

Giving Your Campaigns a Dry Run

wrongwayThis entry to my blog is probably more of a rant than anything, but I just can’t help pointing out the multitude of mistakes made by this organization. This isn’t a large organization, but a local one that seriously did not think through their campaign, nor did they go through the process themselves or they clearly would have known there is a BIG problem.

A few weeks ago I received a flyer for our local athletic association through my daughter’s preschool. They handle all the local county baseball and softball leagues for children. The flyer included the type of sport, age divisions and registration fee for each one, along with their website address. Note there is no phone number listed on the flyer which is a huge mistake as they may be missing out on potential registrants who do not have access to the Internet.

So, as I usually do, I head on over to the website to get more information. Our daughter will be 4 years old in a couple of months so we thought it would be good to get her started with T-ball for that age group. I mean who can resist a bunch of 4 year olds running amuck on the field learning the basics of baseball? I can totally picture her out there on the field while hubby and I are cheering her on in the stands!

The website is not professionally done, but initially it looks to serve the purpose of providing information. It is after all a volunteer organization that relies on donations and registration fees to support them. I proceed to search for more information on T-ball, things such as: 1) what date do they start?, 2) how many times a week do they practice and/or play?, 3) what time does practice and game time begin?, 4) how long does the season last?, etc. All of these are valid questions I believe. Read more

Aweber Meets Twitter

Don’t you just love it when one of your favorite services gets even better or just simply makes your life even easier? I sure do and that is exactly why I continue to love and use Aweber as my preferred email marketing and campaign service. For instance, when Aweber added blog broadcasting to its offering, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. I immediately took advantage of this feature and love the sheer beauty of automatically sending my blog posts to subscribers. I don’t have to remember to do a thing!

So what has Aweber added to sweeten the pot today? How about the ability to Twitter your email newsletters.

So how does it work? When you send a new broadcast to your subscribers, Aweber will automatically update your Twitter status with the subject line of your email and a short link to an online version of your newsletter. Easy-peasy!

Just think of the possibilities!

Aweber + Twitter = Expanded reach to potential new subscribers

Now that is a pretty sweet feature and kuddos to Aweber for making their service not only better, but making our lives so much easier in the process. The best part though, of course, is being able to reach a whole new audience and potentially gain subscribers along the way. This is email marketing meets social networking without the fuss or extra effort!

If you’re still using one of those other email marketing campaign services, you should take another look at Aweber. If you’re already an Aweber user, then get Twittering in a whole new way!

Connie’s email marketing tip: Don’t forget to include information in your email campaigns on how to subscribe to your newsletter or email list. Sure you’re sending it to people who have already subscribed, but what if they forward your newsletter on to a friend or colleague who might be interested in subscribing as well? This especially comes into play if you plan to use this new Twitter feature with Aweber. If people are seeing your newsletter that aren’t subscribers, then be sure to make it easy for them to subscribe and watch your list grow!

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