Jeff Cassman, Author at Jeff Cassman

WordPress Errors Beginner’s Guide – 2021 Update

In a perfect world, your WordPress site will always run smoothly and never have any problems. But like every webmaster, you’ll quickly discover that the world we live in is far from perfect—WordPress errors are inevitable.

Fortunately, these issues don’t need to be a significant setback or area of concern. There are plenty of WordPress debugging tools and solutions to help with WordPress errors.

As someone who has been operating multiple WordPress sites for years, I’ve had my fair share of experiences with bugs and errors. I created this guide to help you address those issues and solve common WordPress problems as quickly as possible.

What are WordPress Errors?

There are countless potential WordPress errors that any website might experience at one point or another. Generally speaking, these errors can be segmented into three main categories—notices, warnings, and fatal errors.

Notices typically indicate an area for improvement but don’t necessarily mean that something is wrong. Warnings are a bit more serious, and fatal errors indicate that something much more significant and harmful is happening.

Themes, plugins, custom codes, and updates are just a few of the potentially dozens of causes associated with WordPress errors.

5 Tools to Improve WordPress Errors

WordPress has some built-in debugging tools and ways to identify errors. But beyond that, it’s helpful to use other tools and resources to fix WordPress errors. These are the five that I recommend:

#1 — Liquid Web

Liquid Web is an industry leader in the managed web hosting category. They provide VPS hosting, dedicated servers, and cloud servers for websites seeking premium services. With Liquid Web, you’ll get enterprise-grade managed WordPress hosting that’s been modified to accommodate small and mid-sized businesses.

What makes Liquid Web so great compared to…

Crush Hyperbole and Promise Real Value

Advertising and marketing have been infected with a serious virus: hyperbole.

I get messages everyday from people who promise they can help me crush it, make massive gains, offer an epic product, achieve awesome impact, etc.

Whatever happened to the philosophy of “underpromise and overdeliver”? Seems to me this hyperbolic marketing is the exact opposite.

There are many problems with this kind of marketing jargon, but here are some of the biggest:

They are difficult if not impossible to define. What is the difference between being competitive, highly competitive, and crushing it? Next time someone says they can help you have massive impact if you retain their services, ask them exactly what they mean.
Many making these grandiose claims don’t have any evidence that they are crushing it. How can they help you do something they likely haven’t accomplished?
There is no way to quantify success (see #1). If you can’t measure it, you can’t prove you’ve achieved it. “Better” is not “massive” and “improvement” isn’t “crushing it.”
Most offer no guarantee. Saying you can do something for a client and actually doing it are two different things.

So why do so many marketers and solopreneurs resort to this silliness? I’m guessing, and am pretty confident, that they are trying to set themselves apart. What they are doing is identifying themselves as copycats who have read the descriptions of others and think they must make similar claims or be left behind. In essence, they are joining an undifferentiated group of exaggerators.

What is the alternative? Consider the following:

Find a way to capture attention that is different but believable.
Quantify results. Instead of “massive results” offer a measurable percentage increase.
Offer social proof: clients who are willing to give testimonials with specific results attained.
What makes your process different instead of what makes your results similar.
Skin in the game, whether that is a guarantee or a percentage of increase or improvement.
Use a thesaurus and master the use of different words to communicate your message accurately.
Offer something free before your client has to buy. Prove your worth with a small, easily-delivered sample.
Relate specifically to your client or at least your client’s marketplace. Nobody can help everybody get better. Pursue a niche where you have the best results.

Hyperbole, exaggeration and cliches put off readers and prospects. Be believable, create value that is valued, and you won’t need to exaggerate to win business.

Mark Sanborn is an award winning speaker and Leadership Expert in Residence at High Point University, the Premier Life Skills University. For more information about his work, visit www.marksanborn.com.

For a free assessment and information about The Classic Fred Factor online training and a unique opportunity to license the training, go to www.FredFactor.com.

Author: Mark Sanborn

Mark holds the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association (NSA) and is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Cavett Award, the…

Episode 1392 Scott Adams: Study Says Young Liberal Women Have Mental Problems, Translating CNN, and Experts Get Stuff Wrong

{{options.learnMore}} {{options.dismiss}}’, ”, ”, ” ], cookieName: ‘dilbert_cookieconsent_dismissed’, readystate: ‘interactive’ }; ]]> Episode 1392 Scott Adams: Study Says Young Liberal Women Have Mental Problems, Translating CNN, and Experts Get Stuff Wrong – Scott Adams’ Blog ]]>

Keep reading here

A Marketers Guide to TF-IDF Optimization for SEO

As digital marketers, content is a critical part of everything we do. And while analyzing and refreshing content may take a lot of time and effort, the results for generating more traffic and improving SEO are clear.

With the many things that go into creating content, such as competitor research, outreach and technical aspects of content, improving older content frequently takes a back seat—which in most cases, is a costly mistake.

In this article, I’ll share how to use TF-IDF optimization to help you streamline your content process and make your old content better so you can rank higher and attract more leads.

What is TF-IDF?

While using the TF-IDF technique isn’t exclusive to the world of SEO, Moz defines it best:

TF-IDF stands for term frequency-inverse document frequency. It’s a text analysis technique that Google uses as a ranking factor — it signifies how important a word or phrase is to a document in a corpus (i.e. a blog on the internet). When used for SEO-purposes, it helps you look beyond keywords and into relevant content that can reach your audience.

On the surface, the formula may appear quite complex. So, let’s take a look at how to break things down in relation to content.

TF = (Number of times a term appears in a document) / (Total number of terms in the document)

For example, let’s assume that the term “log cabin” in a document of 100 words shows 12 times.

Your TF = 12/100= 0.12

With TF, we have solved the first part to count how many times the term “log cabin” is showing on our document. The score of 0.12 represents the density of this term.

Now, we want to know how this term compares with rivals. We can calculate the IDF to obtain the comparison result, by dividing the number of documents the term appears in by the total number of documents in search results:

IDF = log_e(Total number of documents / Number of documents with term in it)

Let’s put the second part of this formula to use. Say that from 1,000,000 results, some are mentioning “log cabin” and the number count is 409,000 times.

Now let’s solve the logarithm:

IDF(log cabin) = log_e(1,000,000/ 409,000 with term log cabin in it)= 0.38

With that, we now have the density and the importance.

TF*IDF = Term Frequency times Inverse Document Frequency= 0.12 * 0.38= 0.046

Then you have also a result of your own TF*IDF. For the word “log cabin”, you have 0.017 while your rivals average is 0.046, which is higher than you.

The data gives you an indication that the term ‘log cabin’ is a common denominator in content that is ranking highly.

Is TF-IDF just keyword stuffing?

If you’ve been involved with SEO for some time, you’re likely aware of the concept of keyword stuffing, that is, the process of adding keywords as much as possible to help your chances of ranking higher.

This thing is, keywords density was…

Continue reading here

The 9 Best Customer Service Software Solutions – 2021 Review

Want to jump straight to the answer? The best customer service software for most people is Hubspot and LiveAgent.

Customer service software makes sure your customers are happy and satisfied with your business.

And customers make or break your success.

Happy customers keep coming back and spending more money, while unsatisfied customers will cause significant damage to your reputation.

That’s why customer service must be a priority for every business.

Fortunately, the right customer service software can make this possible. Customer service solutions help ensure fast response times, positive interactions, and happy customers.

The 9 Best Customer Service Software of 2021

HubSpot — Best free customer service software and product bundles
LiveAgent — Best customer service software for live chat support
Monday.com — Best for continually supporting accounts
Freshdesk — Best customer service software if you’re switching from another platform
Gorgias — Best integration with ecommerce platforms
Zoho Desk — Best customer service software for ticketing
Zendesk — Best customer service software with support suite options available
Groove — Best customer service software for small teams and startups
Help Scout — Best customer service software for nonprofits

It’s tough to find a good customer service software. There’s many options available on the market. But some of these tools are significantly better than others.

After researching and testing dozens of customer service solutions, I’ve narrowed down the top eight for you to consider.

As we continue you through this guide, I’ll give you an in-depth review of each one below. You’ll learn about the top features, benefits, use cases, pricing, and more.

Best Customer Service Software Reviews

#1 – HubSpot – The Best Free Customer…

A Team Activity that Takes Managers to the Next Level

Lousy mangers are like a rash that keeps coming back. Harter and Clifton report that spending time with their manager is the worst part of the day for employees. (Wellbeing at Work)

Great managers succeed because they know how to succeed. Results are a by-product.

Stumbling managers are so busy doing the work that they don’t work on how they do the work. Eventually they lose their legs; results dwindle, frustration increases, and negative practices take hold.

The Manager of the Year team activity:

Preparation:

Before they come to the meeting, ask your team to reflect on the best manager they know.

What makes them standout?
What are their top strengths?
What patterns and daily practices do you observe?
How do they interact with employees?
How do they solve problems, delegate responsibilities, inspire team members, and practice accountability?
How do they balance challenge and support?
How did they practice accountability and giving feedback?

Write at least three paragraphs that explain why your manager deserves the Manager of the Year award.

You cannot include the obvious. You can’t say, they worked harder than anyone else.

Meeting open:

Imagine advocating for someone to receive the Manager of the Year award. The pursuit of results is necessary but knowing the core skills and behaviors that produce remarkable results is genius.

Any fool can pressure people to meet goals.

Have each participant read their endorsement. (Names aren’t necessary.)

Discuss. Clarify.

Make a list of top management skills and behaviors based on your team’s conversation.

Application:

With the Top Manager Award in mind, what’s one way you might emulate their skills or behaviors? Be specific and actionable. Working harder isn’t an answer.

What might you adapt or add to the above activity to make it more effective?

What are the skills and behaviors of the top manager in your organization?

How might you emulate one of their behaviors today?

The Vitamin That Helps You Retain Muscle Mass

Foods rich in this vitamin will improve muscle mass and prevent age-related muscle loss.

People with the best muscle mass tend to get lots of vitamin C, a study reveals.

Vitamin C is found in vegetables like red bell pepper and broccoli, citrus fruits including oranges, berries, cantaloupe, melon, and kiwi.

Vitamin C is crucial for building muscle and maintaining it as we get older, particularly over the age of 50.

Losing skeletal muscle mass is typical in older people which often results in a condition called sarcopenia.

Sarcopenia or muscles wasting can even effect persons in their 30s and those who have an inactive life.

The symptoms are decline in muscle size and function, weakness, difficulty with movement, poor balance, and so poor quality of life.

Professor Ailsa Welch, the study’s lead author, said:

“As people age, they lose skeletal muscle mass and strength.

People over 50 lose up to one percent of their skeletal muscle mass each year, and this loss is thought to affect more than 50 million people worldwide.

It’s a big problem, because it can lead to frailty and other poor outcomes such as sarcopenia, physical disability, type-2 diabetes, reduced quality of life and death.

We know that Vitamin C consumption is linked with skeletal muscle mass.

It helps defend the cells and tissues that make up the body from potentially harmful free radical substances.

Unopposed these free radicals can contribute to the destruction of muscle, thus speeding up age-related decline.

But until now, few studies have investigated the importance of Vitamin C intake for older people.

We wanted to find out whether people eating more Vitamin C had more muscle mass than other people.”

Researchers analysed data on 13,000 adult aged between 42 and 82 who participated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.

Along with calculating the participants’ skeletal muscle mass, their blood vitamin C levels were tested and their vitamin C intake was estimated using a seven-day food record.

Dr Richard Hayhoe, study co-author, said:

“We studied a large sample of older Norfolk residents and found that people with the highest amounts of vitamin C in their diet or blood had the greatest estimated skeletal muscle mass, compared to those with the lowest amounts.

We are very excited by our findings as they suggest that dietary vitamin C is important for muscle health in older men and women and may be useful for preventing age-related muscle loss.

This is particularly significant as Vitamin C is readily available in fruits and vegetables, or supplements, so improving intake of this vitamin is relatively straightforward.

We found that nearly 60 percent of men and 50 percent of women participants were not consuming as much Vitamin C as they should, according to the European Food Safety Agency recommendations.

We’re not talking about people needing mega-doses.

Eating a citrus fruit, such as an orange, each day and having a vegetable side to a meal will be sufficient for most people.”

The study was published in Journal of Nutrition (Lewis et al., 2020).

Keep reading here

Episode 308: Spending Too Much on Your Customer Acquisition? Here Are 4 Steps to Lower Your CPA

Perpetual Traffic | Episode 308: Spending Too Much on Your Customer Acquisition? Here Are 4 Steps to Lower Your CPA | DigitalMarketer Perpetual Traffic | Episode 308: Spending Too Much on Your Customer Acquisition? Here Are 4 Steps to Lower Your CPA | DigitalMarketer
Continue reading here

2021’s 6 Best WordPress Directory Plugins

Want to jump straight to the answer? We suggest WP GeoDirectory or Directories Pro for the best WordPress directory plugin.

The Internet is full of directories.

In fact, your website might already be listed on some directories right now.

Directories like Yelp help consumers find a restaurant or service in their area. While a directory like Angie’s List connects people with contractors for things like electrical work, landscaping, and plumbing.

Both of these websites are very different—and they are both directories.

There’s a good chance you can find a way to implement a directory on your website. Law firms use website directories to list their lawyers and employees. Real estate companies have directories for their listings as well as their agents. A retail chain probably has an online directory for its store locations.

If you’re using WordPress, adding a directory to your website is simple. You just need to install a plugin.

The 6 Best WordPress Directory Plugins

Below are my in-depth reviews of the six best WordPress directory plugins:

GeoDirectory

GeoDirectory has one of my favorite search interfaces, allowing you to create a massive global directory on your website.

This is a great option for those of you who are looking for a free WordPress directory plugin as well.

They make it easy for website visitors to find exactly what they’re looking for without sacrificing the look and visual appeal of your website.

This plugin offers a front-end form that allows other businesses and users to submit listings, so scaling your directory is limitless.

When someone searches for a business on your website, the listings are displayed by proximity, so users can see the closest and most relevant…

Patience, Partnerships, and Payoffs: How Chase Elliott Personifies the Hendrick Way

I’m going to be honest with you—one of my favorite people in leadership is the incredible Rick Hendrick. Rick, known as Mr. H. to his people, is the owner of Hendrick Automotive Group—an organization of close to 100 car dealerships across the United States. If you were to drive onto the lot of any Hendrick Automotive store and you would immediately be struck by its cleanliness, friendliness, and exceptional customer service.

That’s because Mr. H deeply believes in the value of servant leadership; of having men and women all across his organization who are willing to value the person in front of them through meeting and exceeding their expectations. In fact, servant leadership is one of Hendrick Automotive’s six core values:

Teamwork through trust and respect
Integrity
Committed to customer enthusiasm
Passion for winning
Accountability at all levels
Servant leadership
Commitment to continuous improvement

We have partnered with Mr. Hendrick and his team for years now within the Automotive Group, but those same values translate over to the teams of Hendrick Motorsports, which include Mr. Hendrick’s four different NASCAR racing teams, including such past champions and legends as Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, and now the latest champion in Chase Elliott.

For most fans of the sport, and to anyone who follows leadership, Chase’s championship was simply a matter of time.

That’s because Chase grew up in the NASCAR spotlight thanks to his father, Hall of Fame racer Bill Elliott. Fans of the sport watched Chase grow up through the ranks of racing, seeing in real time how his natural talents were strong. Chase was pegged early for greatness, and when he signed with Hendrick Motorsports, joining the teams of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., those natural talents were soon brought under the intentionality of Hendrick values and discipline.

So it was only a matter of time before Chase followed in his father’s footsteps in raising the NASCAR cup. Bill won his only championship in 1984.

What I love about this story is that I saw the groundwork for it back in 2016 when I traveled to the Hendrick Motorsports headquarters for an interview with Mr. Hendrick and Chase. At the time, he was still new to the team, but he was openly grateful for the investment that Mr. H was making in him, not just as a driver, but as a leader and a person.

We captured the conversation and featured it as part of our GO BIG! Project (now the Mentor’s Guide to Building a Championship Team), and it is still one of my favorite interviews from that resource. You can watch the entire interview below:

But here’s what I want you to take away from this incredible story: there are three things that all leaders need to understand when it comes to building a successful team.

You must partner with the right people.
One of the things I most admire about Rick Hendrick is his ability to find and work…