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Since my kids are totally going nuts over here in preparation for Canada Day tomorrow, I thought I’d post my well wishes to my Canadian readers now…in case you’re just as excited too.

We usually do a big barbecue with friends and family, but with the pending arrival in August, we’ll be taking it easy…but having a great time nonetheless.

Whatever you do, I hope you have a great one!

Last week, I made a call for guest bloggers for this summer. If you’ve like to have an opportunity to be a guest Sweetie, I’ll repost the details.

But first -> YES! Guys can be guests too! I’ve had a few guys ask if they could be a guest blogger and OF COURSE they can. Some of my favorite Internet Marketing Sweeties are men.

Here are the details reposted:

If you’re in the B2B / Internet Marketing market, this might be a great opportunity for some additional exposure. I’m looking for people to commit to contributing a bi-weekly original blog post from July - September (approx 8 blog entries)…and if we like working together, we can probably continue on after that.

In return, you will receive a biographical page on the Sweetie website and you can include a byline in each entry.

If you’re interested, please a quick resume to my assistant Mel at news @ internetmarketingsweetie.com with the following info:

1. Your full name.
2. Best email address for contact.
3. Your business URL.
4. Topics you’d like to write on.
5. Links to 3 samples of your work.
6. Can you commit to 8 original blog posts?*
7. Do you have experience using WordPress (not required, but helpful)?

*Note: There are no specific length requirements, just that the content must be useful. It must be original text (not published elsewhere). The 8 posts can be prescheduled, so if you are on holiday or away during the July - Sept period at all, you can still participate. All posts are subject to editing and approval.

Here’s something for your Friday the 13th…hopefully it doesn’t become a reality for anyone.

I had the craziest nightmare last night that never seemed to end. I was several flights away from home (not sure where I was, but I had a few stops before I’d get there) and each time I had to stop, some guys would come and try and kill me.

I ran to my hotel and they showed up. After I fought them off and ran to airport, more showed up. It just kept happening over and over.

Soon, I discovered that the whole operation was being run by an OTO (one time offer) script. Each time, I’d stop they’d come out once to try and kill me.

(If you’re not sure what an OTO is, it’s when you visit a site and you’re about to leave or make a purchase and they make an additional one-time only offer for you to consider. You’re encouraged to take the offer right then and there under the premise that it won’t be offered again. On some websites, particularly for Internet marketing, they just keep showing you offer after offer and it can be kind of overwhelming.)

What do you think my dream means?

By Lynette

Pacing through StumbleUpon sites favorited by my friends, I came across a blog post how to tweak your Firefox browser for speed. Great! I’ve done similar tweaks like that in the past. That’s a good thing no?

Weeellll… speed is great. We all like our machines to be leaner, faster, more efficient and they should. But here’s my thinking. It’s OK to tweak your computer settings, your browser settings totally! I do it regularly. But only tweak if it you truly need to and if you know what you’re doing. Those are the two rules I abide to.

If the computer is running just fine, you don’t notice any lag and everything is calm. Don’t fix something that doesn’t need fixing. But what if you like to rock the boat? Live on the edge. That’s OK too. Just make sure you know what you’re in for.

The blog post in question simply listed the hows without the why. To me that is a big, big hole. Someone’s gonna step into it and crash. Sure enough, one commenter did crash. It broke some other feature on his browser

Our computers are as individual as we are. You and I could purchase the same brand of computer, same model, same date and time. Months down the line, my computer is going to look and behave differently than yours. So, a tweak on your computer could behave nicely but totally break on mine.

On top of that, blindly tweaking is just asking for disaster. Worse, a disaster you won’t know how to fix. Now, I’m not saying you should be a super geek before you tweak. Only that you go in with your eyes open. At the very least…

• Research what the tweak is supposed to do
• What are the down sides
• What are the known issues other people have after tweaking
• If it doesn’t work, how to do you reverse it?
• Finally, always be prepared for the worst. Backup beforehand or have a backup at hand.

Today is *mostly* a day off for me (it’s my 12th wedding anniversary), but one of the things I did want to make sure I did was tell you about this.

If you’ve been thinking about podcasting or already produce a podcast and would like to create more revenue streams with it, this is the perfect opportunity.

Jason Van Orden (a long-time reader of mine and top-notch podcasting teacher) has extended an invitation for you to join him this Wednesday for his in-depth “Community Building Podcast” teleseminar that includes:

> A 7-step blueprint for launching a successful community-building podcast that generates plenty of loyal customers and can at least double your revenue

> The 10 ways that a podcast can magnetically attract the attention of your market

> 15 best practices that are critical to your podcasting success

> How to brand yourself as a trusted advisor in your market.

> How to quickly produce podcasting content…saving you time and energy  *** I like this one - save TIME! ***

> How to start producing a professional podcast on a tight budget.

> How Jason makes the most money with his podcasts — most podcasters completely ignore this strategy.

If this sounds like it’s right up your alley, be sure to get on board with the podcast. Use the link below to secure a SWEET discount:

-> More info and sign up

If you’ve done any podcasting, you know the mechanics aren’t that complicated. But adding the profitability puzzle can be challenging…and that’s EXACTLY what Jason will be teaching you.

I finally decided to bite the bullet and make my way into using video for marketing purposes. After reading a post on Lynn Terry’s blog, I thought the Flip Video Ultra Camera was a perfect solution for me. Outside of the ones on my cell phones and a short-lived web cam, I’d never owned a video camera and had no clue how to get edit videos, let alone get them on the net. It always just overwhelmed me, so this little camera seemed like a great solution.

So I ordered the camera (the orange one!) and tripod and eagerly awaited for it to arrive. This is a REALLY COOL tool, but alas, the inevitable happened…LOL. I hate seeing myself on video, so didn’t get very far. So, instead of a marketing video, I’ve put together a video to show you the joys of watermelon instead. I hope you like it!

Seriously, the camera is very practical, economical and easy-to-use. Plus, it’s easy to pack in a handbag or even a pocket if you’re not the handbag carrying type. Recording is a snap and when you want to put the videos onto your computer, just click the switch and a USB plug pops out and you’re ready to roll.

Heavens no, I haven’t taken up a new career, but I have been forced into a laying down position for a large part of the day. It’s either lie down or scream in agony. It kind of sucks.

As you might know, I’m just over 6 months pregnant and this little gal inside is growing too much and is making my uterus push against my ribs on one side, causing extreme pain at the top of my ribs all the way through my back. I can usually stand up or sit for about an hour and a half before my body says enough (well, really an hour, but I try to ignore it for a while) and lying out flat eventually relieves the pain.

Anyway, if you’ve ever had this pain during pregnancy or know someone who has, it’s no fun. I had it with previous pregnancies, but this is much earlier and much more extreme.

By the way, baby is totally fine and healthy…it’s just mama being pushed around.

So here I am, trying to ready myself and my business for the big day in August, but it’s making it tough especially since I have plenty of other obligations to take care of in my day besides business.

Well, I’ve devised a work-in-bed plan, that is working out half decently thus far. Should you ever find yourself flat on your back, you might find some of this helpful.

Actual time on the computer is carefully planned out as it is extremely limited. Before I turn the computer on, I know exactly what I’m going to do, get it done (with a bit of yelping along the way) and then computer goes off.

Thank goodness for Smart Phones. My Nokia E61i is like my best friend right now (but I still sorely miss my Sidekick which is the most rockin’ phone with the best keyboard EVER) since it allows me to lie down and get some typing and web surfing done.

I’m leaning on my VA. Prior to this, my VA has always received most of the daily correspondence, so thank goodness for that. Providing customer support isn’t terribly easy when you’re grouchy and have limited time to do it in. I’m also able to forward other correspondence to her, so she can answer in the way I specify. I just type out cryptic, gruff messages on my phone and she rewrites them into eloquent, polite responses on my behalf.

Planning Content, Products and Blog Posts. I’m doing more work on paper before I begin, which means I’m not doing so many things willy-nilly. Sure, I’m lying on my side, writing kind of messy…but I’m the only one who has to read my notes.

Thumb-Typing My Reports, Articles, Blog Entries Etc. I’m using my phone to type these while I lie down comfortably and just hook my phone up to my computer later to further edit and publish. I can surf the net when I need research done without getting up off my duff.

Overall, it’s helping me ensure that I am more productive in my time. Sure the thumb-typing and handwriting slows me down a bit, but it gives me more time to think and ensure I’m spending my time more wisely. It also keeps me away from those usual distracting tasks we all seem to do while on the computer (you know checking stats, visiting forums, pretending that social networks is working, etc!).

All right, now that this blog post has been pasted from my phone and edited and published on my computer, I’m off to rest. Talk to you soon.

Earlier this week, I emailed my subscribers to let them know we have an upcoming freebie that will help them keep back ups of all their data. Details of that goodie will be emailed and posted on the blog this coming Saturday.

In the meantime, I thought it pertinent that we talk about back ups. It’s something we know we should do, but often gets left to “I’ll do it later.” But if you’ve ever come to a point where you lost a bunch of data, you’ll know that later is just too darned late.

Here are Three Thoughts on Why Should be Doing Regular Backups:

1. Imagine if you lost all your that files, data, etc. on your website(s)? I’ve seen it happen. Web hosts mess up, hackers wreak havoc and just about anything can happen.

2. You’ve got important documents on your computer. Whether it’s your accounting data, address books, digital receipts or articles you’ve been painstakingly working on, what happens if it all disappears? Hard drives crash, viruses take over and it makes it tough to get that stuff back.

3. You’ve got cherished memories on your computer. In the digital age, most of our photos, videos, etc. are stored on our computers. We’ve got emails from friends, family and other loved ones. Yowsers, it would suck to lose it.

I know I sound all gloom and doom…and like I’m just trying to agitate your pain to sell you something. Truthfully, I’m not selling you a thing.

A little while back, I was approached by a long-time subscriber who wanted to offer his basic back-up software free of charge to all my subscribers, so I immediately said yes. I’ve lost data. I know what it’s like and until you’ve experienced it yourself, you probably can’t quite comprehend. That’s why I want to make it as easy as possible for you to stop procrastinating and start backing up.

If you’ve lost data, please share your story. It might just help.

If you’re an avid data-backer-upper, brag away, because we should all be more like you.

Again, I’ll have all the download details for you this Saturday. Until then, use the comments area below.