Have you heard of the Blog Engage community for bloggers? If not, I invite you to join me there and become a member.

Essentially if you’re a blog owner, you should join. The community is all about networking, sharing and is active and quite helpful. I recommend all bloggers join.

Join Blog Engage here.

Blog Engage also has a super cool and active Facebook group, which allows you to mix and mingle with other members. Great for when you have questions, need help with your blog and so on. They also host challenges, contests, and other activities throughout the month.

Right now, there’s a guest post contest which is running throughout the month of May where you stand to win some very nice prizes. All you have to do is become a member of Blog Engage and then submit a guest post. The post with the most VOTES, likes, tweets and comments wins a series of good prizes.

Of course, I have joined and you can VOTE for me here. Please visit my post and VOTE for me – today, if possible. Like now.

VOTE FOR ME HERE:

http://www.blogengage.com/blogger/4-good-reasons-to-join-topical-facebook-groups

The contest sponsors are noted below, do pay them a visit as they have put up the cash for us contestants. But first, do join Blog Engage and then friend me up here, and I will friend you back. I friend everyone that friends me.

See contest sponsors below.

So do join.

Don’t forget to VOTE for me, link is below. And friend me up also.

http://www.blogengage.com/blogger/4-good-reasons-to-join-topical-facebook-groups

To join Blog Engage, go here.

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Guest post by: Jessica Stambaugh

With the internet as a primary source of communication and social interaction, blogs have become a revolutionary way to share personal thoughts, experiences and opinions with people around the internet community.

Writing an interesting, thought provoking and ultimately successful blog is often harder than it sounds. It is important to keep readers entertained and engaged in order to ensure they continue reading and frequently return. Securing the attention of targeted readers can be easily done by following a few simple guidelines:

Use Headings and Sub-Headings

Using bold an italic fonts, separate thoughts and paragraphs with headings and sub-headings that catch the reader’s attention and clearly describe the topic at hand. Such font manipulations can spark interest in the reader and encourage them to keep reading. Headings and sub-headings also allow readers to skim a blog post and get a general idea of what is being discussed.

Use Visuals and Links

In today’s world of on-demand gratification, even relatively short blog posts can be too long or drawn out for some readers. Keep these readers’ engaged and interested by incorporating pictures and video clips. Readers appreciate visuals that are related to the topic being discussed and will be more likely to absorb the information with the help of visual media. Adding links to other websites that will provide readers with additional information relative to the blog will also make the reading more attractive to interested visitors.

Publish Content Regularly

Nobody enjoys reading out-of-date material. Readers will not remember a blog that is not frequently updated. In order to establish a regular following, a blog must be updated on a regular basis. Most blogs give readers the option to become a subscriber which notifies the reader every time new content is published. Stay disciplined and set a writing schedule in order to ensure new content is posted promptly. Readers will appreciate and remain loyal to a blogger that consistently publishes new material.

Interact With Readers

At the end of every blog post, readers will often make comments or suggestions based on what they have just read. If they are taking the time to share their opinion and communicate with the writer, the best thing to do is communicate back! The easiest way to attract a loyal following is to interact with readers and show them that the time and effort they have put in to reading and responding to the blog is appreciated.

Be Current and Creative

With the overwhelming amount of content available on the internet it can be difficult to attract readers and keep their attention. Staying up-to-date and knowledgeable of current events and trends is very appealing to readers who are trying to decide which blogs to subscribe to and read regularly. Stay creative by writing original content and sharing interesting visual media.

By following these five basic guidelines even a first time blogger can write a successful blog and attract a loyal following.

By-line

This article was written by Jessica Stambaugh, a freelance writer who in also pays the bills by helping people find the best paralegal programs in New Jersey.

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Email marketing has picked up steam (again) due to the never ending shenanigans from Google. As blog owners and web marketers we can’t put all our eggs in one basket, and that basket is search. Although search engine traffic is the holy grail for us bloggers, we need to also diversify and make sure we are getting traffic from many different sources. And to capture that traffic for good. That’s the power of email marketing – capturing and retaining that traffic for good. Let’s take a look at four unique newsletter incentive ideas aimed at blog owners.

1. 205 Ways To (Report) -

I once signed up for a newsletter because of the insanely and outlandishly long report offered to new subscribers. I was both appalled and amused at the length of this report. “Who has time to read a 205 Ways To Save report”, I said to myself. But it worked and I signed up to the Money Talks newsletter on the spot. To this day, I am still subscribed. See if you can emulate this same idea to your niche, maybe a 205 Ways To Become a Better Blogger report or something similar. This would of course, take you quite some time to create, but it will become an integral part of your site and maybe even your calling card.

2. FREE Service -

Whatever service you offer via your blog (you do offer one, right?) can potentially become a newsletter incentive. If you’re a WordPress designer, you could offer a FREE Custom Twitter background to new subscribers. Would this type of incentive get me you to sign up? For sure. Is this unique? Absolutely. I’ve yet to see it on any blog I’ve ever BEEN to. Have you seen it?

3. Comparison Guide -

Another cool and unique newsletter incentive for bloggers is to offer a comparison guide. Gizmos For Geeks does this with an ebook reader comparison guide, and it’s a pretty cool guide as I signed up to it when I was looking for an e-reader and wanted to know my options.

4. WP Theme/WP Plugin -

I once landed on a blog (unfortunately can’t remember which one) that offered up a cool WordPress theme if you signed up to their newsletter. This was not some free crappy theme, but actually a very groovy and stylish WordPress theme. Guess what? Yes. I signed up. Maybe you have a Developer license for Studio Press, Thesis or other premium WordPress theme. If so, you’re able to give it out for FREE to whoever you want to give a copy to. This would make an EXCELLENT INCENTIVE as these premium (and super popular) WordPress themes cost close to $100, I would venture to say that most blog owners would squeal with delight to get their hands on one for free. Here’s your opportunity to give back and get something in return – the coveted email address of a fellow blog owner.

When it comes to newsletter incentives for your blog, let your imagination go wild and you’ll come up with some randy dandy ideas. With the amount of competition on the web, you must stand out to capture attention. This includes standing out with your email marketing campaign and one huge component of a successful email campaign is the ability to capture email addresses.

What other unique newsletter incentive ideas can you add to our list? Tell me below in the comment area, you know we love comments.

Guest article by: Quantum SEO Labs, an SEO specialist firm on the web.

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This is a guest post by David.

If you have a WordPress blog or website, like thousands of others out there, you may want something to set your site apart. The first step would of course be outstanding content. But sometimes the content itself isn’t enough.

WordPress plugins are a great way to create additional functionality while providing a valuable, sometimes interactive tool for your users. A second use for WordPress plugins is to create ways for you to interact with your own website content, get statistics, and generally get a handle on how users view your site.

Get Recent Comments

One of these types of plugins is the Get Recent Comments plugin. It allows you to view excerpts of the most recent comments and trackbacks that users have left in a convenient sidebar. The plugin allows a lot of control over the way this appears: you can edit the number of comments, how long the excerpts are for each comment, and even some of the html features. You can also choose to arrange the comments according to date, or to the post which they correspond to. You can separate trackbacks and pingbacks from the comments as well if you like. It allows you to filter out what you don’t want to see, and in the end winds up being a pretty handy plugin.

Simple Captcha

Another great free plugin for WordPress is Simple Captcha. A Captcha is a great anti-spam device for comment boxes. It requires the user leaving a comment to enter a random string of letters and numbers that they see in an image on their screen in order to send. This is not something that bots (automated spam robots) can duplicated normally, so it drastically cuts back on the amount of spam received in email. Once the Captcha is correctly entered, the email may be sent.

Stats plugin

The Stats plugin is worth the time it takes to install it (also free!) It is not quite as advanced as Google Analytics, but some users prefer it because it’s not nearly as overwhelming. The fact that there is less information enables users to more quickly identify what’s interesting or important to them. This particular stats system focuses mostly on what blog writers/website creators will find important. It allows a blogger to track metrics in a really clear format that is informative without unnecessary flashing bells and whistles. It collects information about page views, popular pages and posts, and where your traffic comes from among other things.

All In One SEO Pack plugin

The All In One SEO Pack plugin is a great way to measure how your WordPress site holds up on the search engines like Google. It features support with Google Analytics, advanced SEO Friendly URLs, automatic generation of appropriate meta tags, title optimization for search engines, and more. For new users, there is a standard package that pretty much does everything for you. For users who are a little more tech savvy or have specific experience in SEO, they can adjust meta descriptions and tags, add meta keywords, and fine tune different navigational links on the page. This is currently the only plugin that gives SEO integration to WordPress e-Commerce sites, so it’s very handy if you’re looking to sell things online and find out how your site holds up to others out there.

By-Line

David Nance manages the site for the team at www.insuranceswami.com and has used these plugins to great effect.

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This is a guest post by: VirtualVocations, an Arizona company that specializes in work at home jobs.

If you’re wanting to join the ranks of the 50 million who work from home, now is as good a time as any. With all the technology and gadgets (not too mention 4G internet) that enables us to practically work from anywhere, more and more individuals are choosing to work virtually from home, coffee shops and or while traveling.

image via Citrix Online

These changes not only impact workers, they impact companies as well since many companies are also looking to save money by allowing a part of their workforce to telecommute and or by hiring outsourced staff.

If you’re looking to possibly begin a virtual work from home position, below are six ways to find such an opportunity – all based on your existing career field.

1. Email Newsletters and Alerts -

Find the companies you wish to work for and look on their respective websites to see if they offer an email newsletter. Many times, a company will announce their latest job openings via this mail. If not, it will at the very least contain important contact information that you can use to send in your job proposal. Another thing you will want to be on the lookout for is a job board and specifically an email alert system built into this job board. When you sign up to receive an email alert, you get notice of new job openings that are from a certain category or niche or whatever filter you apply. A great way to stay on top of busy job boards.

2. Work At Home Blogs -

Blogs are great because they’re constantly updated and as such, have loads of recent information. If you frequent blogs that are job related, these should have many listings for what you seek. Whether that’s freelance writing, web designing, SEO, project management or social media. Subscribe to these blogs via RSS, follow them on Twitter or fan them on Facebook.

3. Twitter -

Twitter can be used for so many different purposes including a job hunt. Perform a search for your intended career niche and see what sort of tweets pop up, when you find followers in your desired field, follow them and send them an introductory message – then check out their website for more information. The point here is not to ask directly for a job via a 140 word tweet, but rather to get to know the company and see what opportunities might exist, if any. Then reach out via a more formal method.

4. Facebook -

This one is similar to Twitter above, but since there’s more room for communication and it’s a more open platform, you can really get to know a company through this medium and at the very least – get your name out there via a few strategic status updates. The odds of gaining employment directly via a Facebook status update is pretty slim, but that’s not what you’re trying to do. Your aim here is to learn more about the retailer or corporation and to gain valuable information such as who to contact for job opportunities, best ways to present yourself, what openings exist and so on.

5. Google -

Your next best friend in a job hunt for virtual employment is the almighty Google. However you stand to get the best out of Google, when you know what to look for and where. For example, if you’re looking to write for an eco friendly blog, then a best bet search would be “eco friendly blog job”, “green blog writer”, “green blogger job”, etc. You want to narrow it down best as you possibly can, the tighter your search the closer you’ll get to drilling something down. You could also open the niche more by entering in “blog jobs”, “bloggers wanted” then drilling down deeper once you get to a source site.

6. Your Social Network -

Social networks are not just good for sharing vacation photos, lunches had and cute cat pics, it’s also good for career networking. You never know who in your network knows someone who knows someone who has a virtual job opening. Mary from your Facebook profile might know Jane who runs an SEO company who just happens to be looking for an SEO copywriter. There’s your hook up, now get Mary to introduce you to Jane and take it from there.

Working from home has many benefits and now is a good time to investigate if this is something that might be right for you. Try one or all of our six tips above and good luck.

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Wondering what are some of the hottest trends in the blog and website industry? Below we keep you in the loop, by highlighting three of them. These are all the rage now and are not going away anytime soon, so the time to jump in – is now.

1. Responsive Website/Blog Designs -

If you’ve been reading and or seeing a lot of mention lately about responsive web design this is because designers are scrambling to keep up pace with the recent explosion of tablets. Ever since the iPad came out in April 2010 and then the Kindle Fire in November 2011, the universe has simply not been the same. And it very much applies to website design as those smaller screens require different settings for proper viewing. With this in mind, those who create software for websites and blogs such as WordPress have created changes to accommodate this new and (super popular) medium. The thing is that since there are so many tablets and phones on the market, a need for a universal design is on the rise. This brings us to responsive web design. So a WordPress theme that calls itself responsive means that it will adapt to the screen it’s being viewed on, whether the 9 inch iPad, the 7 inch Kindle Fire or the smaller and compact iPhone screen.

Look for more responsive web design trends in 2012 and beyond.

2. Guest Posting -

SEO is a constantly evolving practice that if you don’t keep up, you’ll be left behind in the dust. Google likes to keep us blog owners and web marketers on our toes by implementing constant changes that we need to stay on top of. First it was article marketing, then link directories, then blogroll exchanges, then blog carnivals – and so on. The new and improved methods for website and blog SEO are now linkbait, guest posting, infographics, joining blog communities and forums and blog commenting. If you’re not familiar with guest posting, essentially this is when you seek out blogs in your niche and volunteer to write and submit an article there that links back to your site. This is not an easy method because it involves time and effort on your part, as you need to contact the site owner, email him or her, pitch a good and useful guest article, write the article, then await to hear back from said owner. As you can see – guest posting requires time, energy and most importantly – a good deal of follow through.

This is probably why Google likes it and gives it a thumbs up. So if you’ve not yet tried guest posting, now is as good time as any.

3. Google Plus/ Facebook Timelines -

Social media is not new, Facebook and Twitter have been around for some time now and as far as I can see, are not going away anytime soon. But they also implement an alarming and dizzying amount of changes, enough to make a good natured website and blog owner – reach for the BIG bottle of Tums. The most recent change at Facebook is the infamous timelines and the timeline cover. This change is meant to maximize your page and engage your base. By adding in a large cover photo of your business, it makes photos a good part of the overall mix in your social media chest box. Speaking of photos, another crazy insane popular service that just recently has been mentioned everywhere except the New Testament – is Pinterest. It’s a social network based around images. Is it useful? Is it helpful? I’m not sure as I have yet to do any analytics or anything like that. Like many others, I signed up and have added a few pins here and there, but nothing to hoot and holler about.

Do you HAVE to sign up for all these social networks? My short answer is: No. My longer answer is: Maybe. Depends really on your blog niche, your business and how much FREE time you have. Because fact is, that the one things all of these require is the one thing we don’t have too much of. Time. If you have time to create a Facebook page, update it and keep your fans engaged – then go for it. If not, you can also hire someone to do it for you. But what’s the point in signing up for another one. Which one is right for you? I can’t answer that. Visit each one and see their interface, then decide which one you wouldn’t mind spending 30 minutes a day on.

Which of these three trends are you most excited about? For me, responsive website and blog design is quite an interesting topic and so I am watching it closely.

Kindly,
Missy

p.s. I am working on an epic 3,000 plus word list – which is gonna knock your socks off. Well, at least I hope it does. Be sure to subscribe to my RSS or via email, follow me on Twitter or fan up on Facebook so you don’t miss it. You SO do not want to miss it.

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Guest post by: an Invoice Factoring service provider on the web.

Almost all actions that we do face to face we can also do with an internet connection. In this age of digital, billions of people surf the internet at any given time and close to every company and service can be found online. Every day we bank, shop, play, school and connect with others online, and because the internet is such a huge information influence in our life’s we can actually make money online. As technology grows so grows the demand for web based services which influences experienced virtual entrepreneurs and freelancers to offer them.

Virtual entrepreneurs and freelancers are self-employed individuals that are not committed to any particular employer. The more popular types of web based freelancer options include writing, web designing, computer programming, online sales, SEO services and brand ambassadors.

These self-employed individuals advertise their services and products to the proper niche and then clients hire them, buy their products or use their services. One of the more touchy areas of the client/independent contractor relationship is the issue of when and how to collect funds. So below is a quick guide on how to do so.

How to Collect Revenue From Web Based Clients

Upfront Communication

One of the easiest ways to ensure payment for product or services is to communicate with your clients. Informing clients of fees, payment methods and payment expectations beforehand will keep the relationship professional and avoid any unnecessary negatives.

Get Support

Getting the support you need in your freelancing efforts can mean increase in sales. Zoho is a company that offers a host of different business applications to ensure a happy client/contractor relationship that includes financial management, business reporting and invoicing.

Signed Contracts

Some services may require a little more insurance and signed contracts is the way to get it. Draw up a professional contract that details the product or service you are offering and payment
expectation and have your client sign and return it before you start working

Professional Invoicing

One of the best ways to influence return clients and recommendations is to be professional in every step including collection of revenue. Invoicera is a company that allows you to create professional invoicing and price estimates.

With all the tools available to us on the net, there’s no reason not to be able to collect revenue from online or web-based clients.

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In the world of blogging there are tools of the trade that make our job easier, faster or more enjoyable with some of these tools being free and some available for a fee. What tools, services and or products have you paid for – as a blogger? Tell me below after my top picks.

1. Keyword Research

This has not been my strong suit over the years, so I would gladly fork over a few bucks for someone who will provide an a la carte keyword research for me, or host a one day course or webinar that dishes on how to perform keyword for my specific niche.

Some people have Market Samurai or some other keyword tool and know how to use it well, others have a different system for finding good keywords and good niches. Regardless of the system or tool used, keyword research is something I would pay for.

If you offer this service, hit my contact button and let me know.

2. WordPress Security

If you have not had your WordPress blog hacked till this point, consider yourself very lucky as it can happen to anyone and at anytime. Hacking doesn’t consist of someone literally breaking into your blog, it’s an automated script that gets in via an exploit such as an outdated WordPress theme, WordPress plugin, your comments, your admin login page and any number of entry points. It’s a horrible ordeal and a tremendous headache to clean up. If you’re not versed in how to clean up a WordPress blog hack (like me) it’s an even bigger deal and bigger headache.

I have had two blogs hacked as early as January 2012 and of course it had to be my most established, ranked and money making sites. I have been at the mercy of those with this knowledge but since I have a limited (a/k/a small budget), it’s been a long tough road. I have learned a few things in the process though and will be writing a separate article on this topic.

Blog security is a topic that NOW has my full attention.

3. Equipment

A good chair, a good desk and a good laptop are crucial for lots of sitting and writing, which is what a blogger does – day in and day out. Most important would be a good chair as a bad one can be bad for your back, your neck and even your eye sight. I have what I consider a pretty good one, and got it online via Staples. My laptop definitely needs an upgrade as does my desk.

These are all things I would and have (or will) open my wallet for as a blogger.

READER QUESTION:

What tools, services and or products would you or have you shelled out cash for as a blogger?

Email marketing, books, ebooks, social media and community are also other things that I may or may not dish cash out for, however these are good tools of the trade. Over to you now.

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Author Bio: McKinley Hildebrand is a freelance writer and web marketing consultant. He has helped design numerous sites including an auto insurance comparison website that help people find the best deal on car insurance.

Ever since the Google Panda update, net marketers have had to become much more varied in their choice of anchor text and link building strategies. Repeating the same keywords over and over again simply does not work, and can actually get you blacklisted from the major search engines these days. However, there are some strategies that can be easily implemented by any net marketer.

The great thing about these strategies is that they actually lead to better writing as well, which will add to the stickiness of your website when viewed by human visitors (this will in turn add to the viability of your website on the major search engines, as stickiness is a big part of the new search engine algorithm.

Find a Keyword Web Program

A keyword web program is a visual representation of synonyms that can apply to a keyword. To be effective, the anchor text in your various links must not all be comprised of the exact same words, but must be similar or tangential phrasings of your original long tail keyword.

In order to do this without having to click back and forth between the online thesaurus, you can take advantage of the free keyword web programs that Google provides, as well as many independent third party sites as well. There are also programs that you can purchase which do the same thing, some of which actually provide better service than the free programs.

Use Long Tail Keyword Phrases of Your Competitors

It is quite easy these days to see exactly what keywords and long tail keyword phrases are working for your competition. Well, if you have a better product or service, why not drive some of that traffic your way? If your keyword phrases are related to theirs, then go ahead and make yourself a couple (actually, as many as you possibly can) of anchor text links using those exact phrases.

Your competition will never know what hit them, and you will have a firsthand account of whether those keyword phrases actually work or not. Using this analysis, you can build other keyword phrases off of these long tail keyword phrases and continue the expansion process indefinitely. As your business grows, you will want to optimize the different pages on your landing site for different long tail keyword phrases and build a link web around each of those pages. You can start to build a great many tangential phrases off of each of these individual phrasings, and the more the merrier. It will give you the illusion of ubiquity, which will serve as an attractive feature for both search engine algorithms and for human visitors as well, especially those who are tech savvy and are on the active lookout for keyword spammers to avoid.

Find Common Misspellings and Misconceptions

Although you may not want to take this tip depending on the type of industry that you are in, a great way to build ubiquity across all platforms is to take over all misspellings of your main keywords and long tail keyword phrases. However, if you are in higher echelon industries such as high end jewelry or luxury items such as helicopters and yachts, you may want to be careful about how you do this. Fortunately, there are ways to take over the misspellings while avoiding the ire of your audience.

You can anchor your text to misspellings of your keywords by pretending to, or actually, correcting misconceptions about your products. For instance, a line like, “Most people spell hors de oeuvres as one word, orderves, but that is the way that you can tell a quality person from a pedestrian.” Your anchor text would of course be “orderves” in that case, and now you have ubiquity for both the correct spelling and the incorrect spelling without sacrificing your brand quality.

Reorganize the Words in the Phrase

Many times a reorganized phrasing of a long tail keyword can serve as a completely different entry to the search engine algorithms. In some cases, the deletion and insertion of articles and prepositions matters. This is usually the case among more popular keyword phrases. In any case, you can find out if people are searching for your keyword phrase with and without articles and prepositions by doing a simple Google keyword search. If the two entries have separate line items on the search, then you will need to provide yourself with anchor text links for both of the entries.

The same type of strategy goes for reorganizing the words within the phrase without necessarily adding or subtracting words from the phrase. If a reorganized entry has a separate line item within your preferred keyword search program, then you owe it to yourself to start building anchor text links for all of the different iterations of the phrase

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Perhaps one of the most understated phrases online: “Just another WordPress blog.” Just? As in “only” another WordPress blog? Tell that to Anderson Cooper 360, TechCrunch or NFL.com’s blogs.

Or try the more than 70,000,000 and counting. WordPress is blogging behemoth written in 120+ languages. So how did the now 8-year-old platform get so big?

Here’s our countdown.

5) Widgets, Plugins

When you sign up for a WordPress blog. It’s clean, blank. Frankly, it is just another WordPress blog.

But widgets and plugins are an immediate; simple way to make your blog feel more like, well, your blog. For example, there is a Flickr widget to bring your lens to people’s screens. Or for you 140-character types, WordPress has a Twitter widget. Items like these quickly change sidebars on your site. Think of them as WordPress’ accessories. Plugins are like widgets but they’re more for use on the backend (your CMS), like Google Analytics for WordPress.

4) Creative, Credible Themes

Search WordPress on Google, and themes is the fifth result after the site, download now and other basics. That should give you an idea of how important themes are to the platform.

If widgets and plugins are the watches and pocket squares of WordPress, then themes are the three-piece suits (or whatever clothing metaphor works best for you). Themes are plug-and-play designs for your entire blog. Sometimes they are free. Sometimes they are not.

But the shear amount and availability of these themes bring people to WordPress. That, in turn, makes more designers design for WordPress. It’s a circle that keeps both groups in one place.

3) Customization

WordPress is open source, meaning you can get to know your WordPress on code-level. If you’re not a coder, developer or programmer, this might not be a big deal. But the blogging platform wouldn’t be where it is without developer support – key online.

Even if you only know basic HTML and CSS, WordPress gives you the power to customize four main areas of the site. There’s the header, loop, sidebar and footer. They interact using PHP, which allows users to make a change once and have it apply to the entire section.

This level of functionality goes one step beyond theme, making your site yours to the core (or code). And guess what? People like that.

2) Content Community

Forget what you were told when you were younger. Here, size matters. Would you still be on Facebook if there were more people on Google+? Look what happened to MySpace.

WordPress’ community might not be as easy to see. Not all blogs have a WordPress tag at the top. But WordPress bloggers know they are not alone. TED, NBC Sports, GigaOM trust WordPress’ CMS too.

This also means people are talking about WordPress, posting and solving problems on forums, throwing out new ideas and uses for the platform on blogs and creating businesses devoted to giving you more options.

Note, Tumblr reported that they recently passed WordPress in number of blogs, which would make their community larger. Just remember, those building sites from wordpress.org are not included in the numbers. As many Tumblr users know, the services are a bit different. But just like WordPress, Tumblr gained popularity in part because of its community.

1) It’s free

Let me say that one more time, it’s free. Never underestimate the power of free.

Free means no obligations. And we all know “free trials” aren’t the same. With WordPress, you can pick up WordPress one day and drop it the next. Then, pick it back up when you take that trip to Europe.

It’s also free to change. As I said before, WordPress is open source. It’s just a framework. WordPress was built by the web for the web for free. That’s key to the platform’s success.

Do you have a WordPress blog? Even VA Mortgage Center.com uses WordPress! What are we missing from this list? Tell us about your experience below.

Maya Szydlowski is a community manager for Veterans United Home Loans, the nation’s leading VA loan provider and source for the military community.

*FULL DISCLOSURE: This site was built and currently runs on WordPress.

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