Word Press vs. Blogger, my thoughts!

Technorati Tags: Blogger,Word Press,University of Puerto Rico,Seth Godin,Darren Rowse,Mike Glaspie,John Chow,Blogging,Social Media,SEO,Business Strategy,Marketing,COBOL,Fortran,payroll,entrepreneur

A respected friend, and esteemed entrepreneur ask me why I keep my blog on the Blogger platform and not on Word Press. I have to admit, that I have asked myself the same question, specially after reading so many derogatory articles by fellow bloggers and entrepreneurs.

The common wisdom is that serious entrepreneurs will not give you the time of day if you host your website or your blog on a free platform, because they think that you might not be serious or are small potatoes.

Here are my reasons for using Blogger and MSN Office Live:

1. Well, I am small potatoes when compared to Seth Godin, Darren Rowse, Mike Glaspie, John Chow, and the likes. I am still in the process of making my fist few millions of dollars, so, I cut expenses, while at the same time producing the best product I possibly can.

2. I have always liked to challenge the system. Back in 1977, my old Fortran teacher told us that you could not create a Payroll in Fortran. When asked by my Special Projects teacher at the University of Puerto Rico to program something different, I did just that, I created Payroll in Fortran. It gave me a headache, but, what the heck, I proved my teachers wrong and got an “A” for originality.

3. If at least one person has being able to do something, and succeeded, that means that someone else, with determination and smarts, can do exactly the same thing.

4. Of the five platforms that I tried, three free and two paid, I like Blogger better (call it personal preference). I would like to change a few things on my blog, but right now I am way too busy, so I enjoy the ease of use.

5. I am sharing my experience free of charge. I do not do private consulting (yet), and even though I keep a few ads on my site, I make my living from my other day jobs. So, if someone does not want to read my blog because I am on Blogger, it really does not affect my bottom line.

I have read many really awful blogs in English and Spanish. I’m talking about orthographical, and grammatical mistakes galore. Yes, I still make some of those. And, in some blogs, the writer’s train of thought and logic is hard to follow, but I have found some incredible nuggets of wisdom here and there. Whether it is on SEO, or Business Strategy, or Social Media, or Marketing, or Blogging, I read almost every blog I can find, and learn from all of them. In my opinion, those who refuse to read a blog because it is published on a free platform, are denying hemselves valuable information. So, I will continue to use blogger, and most likely will continue to use MSN Office Live to host my sites. Word Press has more plugins, but I still like Blogger.

Remember to let me know what you think, and what other topics you would like me to cover in our blog…

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Freedom of Speech, Responsibility, credibility and Niches

Today I read a news piece that really got me irate: "MSNBC retracts false Palin story; others duped". Yes, I know that my Nation prides itself on our Constitution, and the First Amendment of the Constitution, guarantees our Freedom of Speech. MSNBC confessed today that they went half cocked taking the comments of one blogger, and making it into National News. Remember the story about Governor Sara Palin not knowing that Africa was a Continent? MSNBC explained that they got this rumor and ran with it without verifying it; and it so happens that the comment came from someone who created a fictional character as an idea for a TV show. The blogger does not exist, since it is a fictional character, and of course, the character never worked for the McCain campaign as claimed. The media took pleasure on running pointless stories about topics that had no merit, and forgot to investigate and run the ones that were really important to the American public.

Why am I writing this article that has to do with politics, not for my politics blog, but for my social media marketing blog? The answer is very simple. Our political campaign here in the United States was plagued with rumors, innuendo, half truths, and misdirection. Are not all political campaigns like that? Sure they are. But the point of this article is to highlight the importance of bloggers and social media in this day and age, and the key to your credibility.

Rumors, innuendo, and half truths almost ruin the political campaign of Governor Sara Palin, and caused undue stress to her family. Yes, she is a public figure, but my question is, what gives people the right to write whatever they want on blogs as if it is the truth, without the proper disclaimers?

Yes, we have Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of speech is an incredible power. But, on the words of Peter Parker, AKA Spider Man, “with great power comes great responsibility”.

Now, my point is simple. News outlets acted irresponsibly, when they did not verify their stories before publishing them, and did not published the realy important ones. It wasn’t the first time, and it will not be the last. But that bit of news throws egg on the faces of serious bloggers, and entrepreneurs that publish their blogs as a marketing tool.

Growing up, my father taught me that my word is my bond. As an entrepreneur, it is just as important to ensure that whatever product we endorse, and whatever we publish, is air tight. People will be making decisions based on the information that we publish, and some, will invest serious amounts of money.

Honesty is very important because our words have repercussions. I cringe when I see headlines that say: “I made $75895 in a month and I will show you how how”.

Think about it. If I make so much money, why am I selling you a $4000 weekend with me? I sure as heck would have better things to do to spend my time; and those who brand themselves as philanthropists, would do workshops more affordable.

I publish everything I know for free. I could use a few more millions, but I believe that the more I give, the more I will eventually receive.

No, I am not trying to discredit anyone, nor I am trying to lower your expectations, or ambitions. My goal is to eventually make $10, 000,000,000. So no, I am not lacking ambition. The more money I make, the more people I can help.
What I am trying to drill into you is very simple: HONESTY.
Honesty will do more to improve your credibility than any shenanigan you can pull. False scarcity, incredible claims, false testimonies, I see them in sales letters and landing pages all over.
Learn from others mistakes. MSNBC had to recognize that they didn’t do their job the right way. Neither do many others news networks. But I want to bring you back to your blog, and your business.

Social Media, and Social Media Marketing are a force to be recon with. There are millions of blogs out there. Take pride in your craft, even if you are an aficionado. The bottom line is, that whatever you do, you will reap the benefits from it, or the consequences of your behavior. I have made mistakes in the past, and I bet that so have you. But I can honestly say that I try to verify what I publish.

I want you to succeed, and as you succeed, make sure that you keep a clean image, if nothing else, because that will add to your credibility, and to your bottom line.

What do you think? How important is honesty in business to you? Would you buy something from a crooked business person?

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Other articles related to business strategy can be found here:

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So you want to make money online?

How do you define honesty?

Honesty... can you really handle it?

Will the Wall StreetStorm have a Giant Silver Linning?

Intellectual Honesty

Military strategy and business management

Why does it matter? How much does it cost? What does it get us?



I had the opportunity to be at a meeting on Friday. Under normal circumstances, I dislike meetings, but this one was a bit different; it provided the opportunity to network, the guest speaker was a distinguished military leader, and he was to provide some information that would be important, if I was to forecast the future. Every manager is a fortune teller, every CEO is supposed to be gifted with the capabilities to pierce the veil of secrecy if the fates. Those who don’t, are destined to mediocrity, and failure.
All along, this military leader keep reminding us the mantra used by him to change the paradigm of day to day business.


See, the United States Military is like the hydra of many heads. Each head has a brain, that contrary to popular belief, it is used on a regular basis, and each head has an enormous amount of authority. But, like with every major enterprise, when you have many heads at the helm, little is accomplish, unless you standardize procedures.
That is why this meeting was important to me. It is at times of war that you realize, very quickly, what will work and what will not. What works in peace time might not be as efficient during war, and will probably fail royally.



So he told us the story of how the military obtained money for different projects, and how, some sections of the military where very well trained, but their infrastructure was deplorable, think 21st century military, housed planning, and working from World War II era buildings; and some areas of the same military were just not as well trained, but their infrastructure was futuristic, and majestic. Obviously, there needed to be a change if the military was to continue providing a service of excellence.



The change needed, was a change in the state of mind of the decision makers; or, train each individual head of the hydra to think alike, within the same principles.
Why does it matter? How much does it cost? What does it get us?
And that new paradigm, has literally transformed the U. S. Military in the course of a few short years.



Why is this important to you as an entrepreneur, Social media marketing expert, expert search engine optimization manager, Internet marketing director, program manager, service manager, etc?Simple, lets start with the first question, and I will use the other two as the topic for the next two posts of this blog.


Why is it needed?


Do you remember William Tell? Or are you too young to know of the Archer who was forced to shoot an apple from the head of his son?


If you are an American who has never being overseas, and suddenly I drop you at the port of Ashueibah (I know that the spelling of this name is probably wrong, but trust me, it does exist), and then tell you: “your mission is to prepare the area for the arrival of 25,000 people, and about 15000 vehicles, combat systems (some of those top secret), weapons, explosives, computers, pencils, notebooks, printers, bullets, kitchen appliances, soccer balls, weight sets, Bowflex systems, rifles, school supplies, water purification technology, generators, and who knows what else… notice the disparity in the classes of supplies, facilities needed to house or store each individual class, and personnel needs to be able to do it efficiently… you are dropped there with a friend of yours, no money, no food, no map, just your wits.


Well, that happened to me in 2003.


What would you do besides crawling to a corner, assuming the fetal position, and cry like a baby?


Bring back William Tell… will you?


What would have happened to Mr.Tell’s son if good ole Bill would have being blindfolded, spun around, and ordered to soot? His son would probably have died, or the arrow would have being wasted, since Mr. Tell could not possibly find his target.


It is the same with your blog, website, business, marketing project, career, life, marriage, etc.
You should have a clear picture of what you want to achieve, and why does it matter.
Having a clear understanding of what you want to achieve, and why does it matter, gives you the perspective needed to prioritize, and work more efficiently. Why does it matter where I place my ads on my blog? Why does it matter if I hire an expert search engine optimization professional, or not; why does it matter if I spend my entire budget on part “B” of my project or not?






Answer that question, and you will be ready to begin, and yet, if it really does not matter… why are you doing it anyway? That if the mentality that you need to posses, in order to sort through the cluster of seemingly unrelated tasks that you face day to day, and not crawl into a dark closet, assume the fetal position, and cry like a baby. That mental attitude, will give you a more concise list of tasks to accomplish, in order to accomplish the mission, and be successful.


Tell me what you think, what principles do you use to keep you focused?


Again, think about your previous experiences. Has this article given you new ideas? The way you do business, could you use new ideas? Can you change the way you do certain things in your day to day operations that would save you money, and improve your output? Share your ideas with us…

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Read other related articles:

Reasons for my absence
Money Matters
Marketing on a Budget

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Herding Cats, organizing yourself…



Social Media Marketing 101 is the title of this blog, and obviously enough, the main topic. Someone once said: “If you want something done, give it to someone busy”. I want to find he who said that and choke him or her, since it seems that everybody wants to give me something to do.

Don’t take me wrong, while being depended upon is a royal pain in you know where, it just means that you are good at what you do, and that you are needed; but there is a limit.

If we continue accepting task, after task, we will never have a life, we will grow resentment, and soon, our lives will be so unmanageable, that we might want to scream. Social media has significantly contributed to the increase in our work load.

So, here is to mental sanity:


1. STOP. Make a list of everything that you do on a daily basis, I suggest you use a spreadsheet.



2. In column number 2, in one word write down why (i.e. “recreation“, “family”, “friendship“, “work“, “school“, “social media”, “no clue“) and yes, I know that no clue is two words. TIP: consider the fact that if you have no clue of why you are doing what you are doing, is time to knock it off and drop that from our schedule.

3. Sort the list by those words that you used to describe your tasks. Put all that fall within the heading of “work” together, same with “recreation”, “friendship”, etc.

4. Now that you have several lists, assign each task from every class a priority: A, B, or C. You either have to do it now or today, it can wait until tomorrow, or, who cares if it gets done.

5. Every day, you should establish a specific time frame for “Work”, time for your “family“, “study or school”, “part time job” could be growing a business, or expanding your network (social media), and some “recreation”. Balance your life. Make sure that you do those tasks on each category marked “A”. If there is time, do “B”, and if there is still time, then and only then, do “C”. Do not let one category interfere with the time of the other, specially, if the one bleeding and preventing you from achieving your goals is either “friends”, “social media”, etc.



Remember that you need to work for a living, and that your family needs you. But lets keep perspective. A needy relative, that can take care of himself or herself if push comes to shove, needs to learn just that, that you are not their personal slave, that will empower them to become self reliant. That is a good thing. “Give someone a fish, and you fed them dinner, teach a man to fish, and you fed them for the rest of their life”.

Social media can be an unruly master, or a 500 lbs gorilla how many of those plants are you going to send on FaceBook? How many groups are you going to belong to? The “underwater basket weaving club” can do without your presence, so feel free to press “IGNORE” on silly things like that. I do not need to know when you go to the bathroom through Twitter, or “when you got drunk or had sex last” on FaceBook, or MySpace.

Remember: Social Media is being used by 21st Century corporations to check you out when you apply for a job, so, the pictures of you drunk like a skunk, are not cute, or, the pictures of yourself or your girlfriend seating in the bathroom doing number two, are not only embarrassing, but disgusting. So, you are no longer in a fraternity or a sorority, you are an adult; and if you belong to one, remember that those days are only a phase, and you will be forced to deal with whatever dumb things you did.

By facing these simple tasks, you will tame that big monkey that prevents you from being productive.

What other ways of taming the 500 lbs gorilla can you think of? Share them in our comments section.

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