Another pretty cool update from Google this morning was that you can now call cell phones directly from Gmail.

Calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free for at least the rest of the year and calls to other countries will be billed at our very low rates. We worked hard to make these rates really cheap (see comparison table) with calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan—and many more countries—for as little as $0.02 per minute.

This is not the first post about Go Green Valet, and it won’t be the last. I always say that if I firmly believe in a company, I will review and support the regularly on this blog.

Go Green Valet is owned by my good friend Robert Green. He provides high-end parking solutions that fit any venue. If you need a valet company that’s reliable, affordable, and professional, then visit Go Green Valet NOW! They have several years experience in the valet parking industry.

So, this week marks a new chapter for my blog. I have been asked to test 3 new programs for SEO and web design, and write in depth reviews on each. This should be interesting. I don’t know if this is coincidence, but these are 3 different software developers, 3 separate software packages, plus there’s another program that I’m trying to get on the beta test list, which would bring the count to 4 (3 offers, and 1 shameless beg)

I’ve only written reviews on software that I’ve used, but never as a request from a developer, or multiple developers for that matter. If I believe firmly in a program, I will constantly blog about it to help get the name out, and I hope these programs are no exception, because I would hate to give a review on software that I do not believe in, actually, I WON’T give a review about a product I don’t believe in.

I know that all 3 of these companies who sent me offers to review their products are probably just looking at the situation like a long term investment, I mean, they have to sacrifice one license for a software review, and they get a high-quality link from a blogger. It seems pretty fair to me, especially since I will be one of the older links if these programs ever take off, so there may be some long term reward for me as well, that is, if they like my review enough to reciprocate.

Anywho, I’ll be reviewing these programs throughout the next month or so, so you’ll see the reviews soon enough.  Stay tuned…

Life moves fast, and this week, I think I’m about to feel how fast it actually moves. What’s my plan, you ask? Grab the reigns and hold on for dear life.

Here’s what’s going down: My 5-year-old son starts kindergarten on Wednesday. I’ve had 5 years to prepare for this moment, but for some reason I’m not ready. I mean, what’s next, First Grade?! Actually, it is… Then 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. Next thing you know, he’ll be in highschool…  I’ll be almost 40, and I’ll still be updating this blog with stuff that no one actually reads…

I hope that I’ve done enough in his life so far to set him in motion to be the best that he can possibly be. I hope the time I spent playing video games with him wasn’t time that could have been better spent memorizing the encyclopedia or something. But hey, live by the sword….

My 3-year-old starts preschool soon too. Yes, my little tiny baby starts preschool. Yes, the guy who is afraid of Veggietales and eats his weight in strawberries daily.. That one… He’s going to start making new friends, and next thing you know, I won’t be his best friend anymore. But hey, kids need parents, not best friends (tell yourself that when your 3-year-old tells you that you’re his best friend). I only have a couple days left to coddle him.

My wife is hitting the professional business world. She got a new job selling medical procedures. She starts work tomorrow after her long hiatus of working from home and raising our boys. I won’t go into details about her job, but it is a really cool job that a lot of girls would probably kill for. It’s a full time job. This is new to us. We haven’t been a dual income family, well, ever.

I really hope it doesn’t sound like I’m complaining. I’m not. I love my life, and all of the changes that come with it. I’m a creature of habit and routine, so this type of change doesn’t happen too often. I’m stoked that we are going to have another income. I’m stoked that my wife gets to work away from home again. I’m stoked that my boys are getting older. It’s just crazy that all of these changes are literally happening overnight.

Blog posts like this are a dime a dozen, that’s why I’m not going to pretend that I’m teaching you something new, I’m just going to tell you what works for me when it comes to WordPress SEO.

WordPress SEO Tips

WordPress is the blogging platform of the gods, IMHO. Even at it’s most basic form, search engines gobble up content that sits on WordPress like a fat kid eating donuts. There are ways to make your WP driven site better, at least from an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) standpoint.

I took some time putting together a list of WordPress plugins that I use/have used, that I believe will help you outrank your competitors. Take a look, and if you have any other suggestions, leave them in the comments, and I’ll add them to the list when I get a chance.

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