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Posts from July 2019

Featured Blog: Fort Lauderdale Blog

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Realtors Marina Sarabina and Kathleen Costanzo have put together the very informative Fort Lauderdale Blog.  Not only is it informative in finding property in the Fort Lauderdale area, it also shares tips for homeowners as well as home improvement tutorials. If Fort Lauderdale, FL is on your radar for a new home, make sure you bookmark the Fort Lauderdale Blog!

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Make Printing Your Blog Post Simple With Print Friendly

Make Printing Your Blog Post Simple with Print Friendly

Do your readers want to print out your posts for use later (like a recipe)? Make it easy for them by adding a print option from Print Friendly. They optimize your blog post for Print and PDF formats, readers can save money and the environment by printing only what they need. Print Friendly removes ads and other non-essential content to allow only the blog posts to be printed.

Go to Printfriendly.com and scroll down and click on "Get Your Website Button". Select the HTML option under Type of Website. 

Type of website

Select the type of button you would like on your page. 

Print Friendly ButtonsSelect from a list of features. 

Print Friendly Features

Once your button is designed the way you want, copy the code provided and add it to your Signature Module. To find the Signature Module, click on the Design tab, then Content. Next, click on the pencil at the top of the module and paste in the Print Friendly code. Select Ok, then Save Changes. 

Now you will see the print icons you choose at the end of each post. When readers choose to print your post, they are taken to a preview where they can remove any content they do not need. They can print, save as a PDF, or email the version they created. 

We'd like to hear from you about how you use Print Friendly, and how you feel it's benefited your readers. Leave a comment below to share your experience with us!


Typepad 101: Design Your Blog

Now that your blog is up and running and you are publishing content, let's make sure your blog is looking the way you would like it to look. The look of your blog is really important - it is the very first impression a visitor gets when checking out your blog for the first time. Today's Typepad 101 is about what's available to create a design for your blog.

When you create a blog, it defaults to the "Journal Black" theme. You can stay with this theme if you'd like as it's offered in five different colors.  Or you can switch to another pre-designed theme. 

Choose Your Theme

Choose Your Theme

To see what themes are available to apply to your blog, go to the "Design" tab.  This page is broken up into three sections:

Current Design: This section shows your current design with options on how to customize your current design (Banner, Style (for Design Lab themes), Layout, Content). 

  • Banner: upload your new banner
  • Style: customize the overall appearance of your blog (fonts, colors, borders)
  • Layout: select 1, 2, or 3 column layout
  • Content: Add and edit what is shown in your sidebars, post & blog footers, etc.

Create a New Design: This includes a green button "Choose a Theme."  This will take you to a new page with a gallery of thumbnails showing pre-made designs you can apply to your blog.

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You can view your options by Feature, New, Customizable, and All.  

Your Designs: Every time you add a new design to your blog, it saves in your Typepad account so you can always go back and reuse it instead of starting over.

About Customizable Options

The Customizable option includes Design Lab, Theme Builder, Styleless, or HTML aka Advanced Templates.   The Styleless or Advanced Templates options are recommended only if you are comfortable working with HTML and CSS code and building your custom design from scratch.  These two options are available for Unlimited plans and higher.

Design Lab and Theme Builder are easy to use with no code required to customize the look of your blog. You can select the colors, fonts, and upload your banner.  You can add additional CSS code to customize your design further but not required. Design Lab is responsive and looks great on all devices, large and small, and meets Google's mobile-friendly requirements.  Theme Builder also has an option to create a responsive design

If you ever get stuck or have questions about how to make something work with your blog design, you can always open a Help Ticket and a member of the team will be happy to help!

 


Featured Blog: Bittersweet - The Little Soap Company

Bittersweet Handmade Soap
Bittersweet is a blog from a 4th generation soap maker and business owner.  The items featured are for sale at their brick and mortar shop, named Bittersweet, located in a beautiful century-old house in the historic town, Liberty, Missouri.  The blog shares inspirational ideas and creative endeavors that comes with producing their products and how they continue to be in business for over 20 years. Bittersweet Soap has been featured on Home & Garden television and included in the goody bags at both the Emmy’s and American Music awards.

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Interview with Dr. Steven Mintz from Ethics Sage

Ethic Sage Logo

Ethics Sage provides amazing guidance and insight into the days ethical questions. Written by Dr. Steven Mintz, from Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, his blog was recently named one of the Top 20 Philosophy Blogs in 2019 by Voucher.co.id. It is not hard to see why.  Dr. Mintz does an amazing job writing in a way that is easy to read and connecting the information to what is happening today. We wanted to know more about Ethics Sage so we asked! We hope you enjoy our interview with Dr. Mintz and can get some inspiration for your blog. 

1) Can you tell us about yourself and your blog? Is it just you writing your blog or do you have a team that helps?

I am a professor emeritus from the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. I started blogging under the name “Ethics Sage” twelve years ago to share my thoughts about ethics in society, the workplace and in higher education. For the most part I am the only one taking care of writing blogs, but do use guest bloggers for my Workplace Ethics Advice blog. Readers are also free to send me questions and I answer them without divulging any names.

2) Why did you start your blog? Can you tell us the back story to Ethics Sage? How did you get that name?

Academic publishing appeals to a limited group of readers. I started blogging to reach a broader commercial audience. Blogging is my way to contribute to the dialogue about how we can enhance the well-being of ourselves and others by following an ethical path. I chose the name Ethics Sage because the purpose of my blogs is to share my wisdom on all things ethical.

3) What is your process for writing a blog post?

Writing a blog post begins with identifying a topic of interest to the community. I read the news feeds every morning to get ideas. Next, I outline the points I want to make limiting myself, whenever possible, to 500-700 words. I write the first draft, sleep on it, and review and post it the next day or later in the week.

4) How do you find fresh ethical, philosophical ideas to write about?

There’s no problem finding fresh ideas about ethics and philosophy. As a society, we have lost our moral compass and every day we learn about improper behavior by our political leaders, companies, sports figures, those in entertainment and so on. I also look for topics that related to civility, which is also in decline in society. I frequently write about civility along the lines that we, as a society, need to learn how to disagree with each other without being disagreeable.

5) What is your favorite feature in Typepad?

Typepad is simple to use and post to social media. As a non-techie, it’s important for me to navigate the system without needing a website support system. Typepad also has great customer service and responds to questions immediately.

6) What is the most important thing you have learned from blogging?

Be sensitive to your audience and write what they want to read, not necessarily what I want to write about. Sometimes I will ask readers if there are any topics/controversial issues that they would like to learn more about or to find out about my thoughts on these matters.

7) You have a few minutes, what is your go to tip about blogging?

There are five steps I use to guide my blogs that are transferable to other bloggers.

1) Write an engaging headline. Grab the attention of your readers right away.
2) Write short paragraphs. This helps improve the flow of your blog and it’s easier to read.
3) Use subheadings whenever possible. This helps to organize ideas and key readers about what’s coming next.
4) Use images. This tends to attract readers attention and help them decide whether to read your blog.
5) Spend time learning how to maximize your SEO ranking.

8) What blogs do you follow?

I follow blogs in my field. I subscribe to them and frequently make comments on their blogs to gain visibility for myself and my blogs. A word of caution here is that you have to limit the number of blogs you follow because it can consume a lot more time than you want or should spend.

10) What is one goal for your blog in the next 6 months?

I’ve just written a book on how ethics can help enhance one’s happiness and gain greater meaning in life. The book is Beyond Happiness and Meaning: Transforming Your Life Through Ethical Behavior. It is available for sale on Amazon and on my website (stevenmintzethics.com). My goal is to use my blogging to build interest in my book and engage with my readers to learn what reading the book meant to them. In other words, the blogs should help market the book and the message of the book should guide me in future blogs.

11) Who or what inspires you to keep blogging?

I am inspired by my readers who have commented positively on the issues addressed in my blogs. I’m always looking to reach out to new audiences to gain exposure for my ideas and help readers improve their daily lives, relationships with family members and friends, workplace interactions and on social media. Even though my blogs are on ethics and philosophy, they are written in an engaging format – not preachy. Readers share their thoughts with me and their positive feedback keeps me blogging.

More about Ethics Sage

Ethics Sage addresses some of the most pressing issues facing society, how to develop an ethical workplace culture, and academic freedom and integrity. It has received awards for being the best in their field, including for philosophy, corporate social responsibility, and higher education. Readers can learn more about them on my website (stevenmintzethics.com). Readers can also sign up for my monthly newsletter on my website

More about Dr. Steven Mintz

Dr. Steven Mintz

Steven Mintz is a professor emeritus from the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. He received his doctoral degree from The George Washington University. A well-known researcher in ethics, Dr. Mintz has published dozens of articles on ethics in society, in business, and accounting ethics, as well as a textbook titled Ethical Obligations and Decision Making in Accounting: Text and Cases. His first book for a commercial audience is Beyond Happiness and Meaning: Transforming Your Life Through Ethical Behavior. Dr. Mintz has been recognized for his work, including the Accounting Exemplar Award from the Public Interest Section of the American Accounting Association, an award that distinguishes him as a role model to others.

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