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How To Create A Database Using MySQL

May 11, 2010 By Sherry Tingley

What is MySQL?

MySQL is a relational database management system that is used on websites like Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, WordPress Sites, and many business sites. Many websites use MySQL and a front end system called phpMyAdmin which is made available at no charge through many web hosting companies. PhpMyAdmin makes it easy for the end user to import large amounts of data from csv files and text files and create a database.

Who Invented MySQL?

Ulf Michael Widenius, from Finland was the developer of MySQL and named the program after his daughter, My. It was released for the first time in 1996. Sun Microsystems purchased it on February 26, 2008, making Ulf Michael Widenius, one of the top ten money earners in Finland.

How To Create A Database

To understand how to use these tools to make your website better, you’ll need to know how to create an Excel spreadsheet file. Since Excel is so widely used, you are probably familiar with using it. You can easily see that information is basically stored in columns and rows.

Imagine that you had a physical store that sold colored balls in a variety of colors and sizes made in a variety of materials and sold at different prices. You could create a spreadsheet that contained all of this information. Each product would be put in one row. Each attribute would be listed in columns on that row. This format is what you need to create a MySQL database.

So how do you get your Excel file into the MySQL database? You will need to save this Excel file as a comma separated value file.

Log in to your web hosting account. Find the Database Wizard to create a database. When you create this database you’ll be given a username and password to get into it. Write that down so you’ll remember it. You will need it later.

Now you want to find the phpMyAdmin button and open that link. The screen you see will show you the database name that you just created. Click on the name of the database.

How To Create A Table

You have to create a table to hold the information you are about to import into it. The table you create will have column headings for each of the attributes you created in your spread sheet. You can have any number of columns you desire.

Find the word operations and open that link. Create the table by giving it a name and stating how many columns you want in your table. It will have to match the number of columns in your spreadsheet. Click go to create the table.

You’ll see a table that looks like an empty spread sheet. In the field column, you want to name all of the columns a single word or if you use two words, you need to join them with an underscore. Fill in all of the fields you can.

Choose a type for each column. Generally you’ll need to start with VARCHAR which allows the text to be a variety of characters. Then you’ll need to decide how big the field will be. Some fields will just be two characters and others may be up to 255. If you need more space than that to store your data, you’ll have to choose LONGTEXT. There are specific paramaters that the other columns need, but you don’t have to fill them all in. You will have to decide whether you need to have an empty field (null) or have it filled (not null).

Determine which field you want as your primary field and select that option. Usually one field needs to be primary so you may want to make that your productID which is usually unique as well.

Click go and the table gets created for you. You’ll see that you can browse your table but nothing will be in it yet.

How To Import Data Into A Table

Choose the import function in the horizontal row above the table. You’ll attach the csv file that you saved to your computer. Then you check the option CSV using LOAD DATA. You will need to change the fields terminated by a semicolon to fields terminated by a comma. That means just erase the semi colon and put a comma in place of it. Click go and your data gets imported into the new table. View your data through the browse button.

Now you have a database that has data in it. You can create as many tables as you would like to and you can also import more data by following the above steps. The information in the database is stored through your hosting company. The next thing you will want to learn is how to use the data you just put into your database. You’ll want to display the data on your website.

Free Personal Finance Tools Create Smart Data

April 26, 2010 By Sherry Tingley

Gathering data and making meaningful use of it has made 30 year-old Aaron Patzer, a rich man. Aaron Patzer is the founder of the website, Mint.com which is a free personal finance site that has over 1.5 million users. It allows people to track bank transactions, credit card transactions, investments, and loan transactions online.

The site helps you find better prices on things you buy, guides you to the best credit card rewards and minimizes finance charges. It has helped people find $300 million in savings, managed $50 billion in assets and helped track $200 billion in purchases.

Security for this type of financial analysis is of utmost importance to Mint.com. They have bank level security. They also have a “read-only” connection to financial institutions so no money can be moved and no one can drain your accounts. They have low-balance and spending alerts to help you manage your accounts and prevent identity theft or fraud.

What inspired him to create this type of site?

He found that he was spending most of his time working and had little time to track his own finances. Frustrated with how Quicken, Intuit’s financial software, worked, he decided to create his own program. He designed a way to make tracking his finances easier, quicker, and more automated. He created a business model that allowed people free use of the money management tools. From the data aggregated, they could offer suggestions on ways to save money, lower interest rates on credit cards and make better financial decisions

How did he fund the website?

Aaron had to raise venture capital money to fund the project and it was not always easy. He experienced highs and lows. Sometimes he thought his idea was the greatest thing since sliced bread and other times he questioned himself with his attempt at tackling such a big project and competing with Intuit, a $10B company. For comfort in the low phases, he often thought of a quote “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we might oft win, by fearing to attempt.” Shakespeare

How does the software work?

Aaron Patzer received a license from the company, Yodlee, to use the technology that powers 85% to 90% of all the online consumer finance sites. The communication between you and your bank uses this technology.

Then, he did what he is good at. He began to work on algorithms that would take the financial data and make it useful. One algorithm was patented and contains 105 steps to have transactions labeled with appropriate categories. Other algorithms helped to make recommendations on ways that the user could save money. He now holds 11 patents on algorithms.

How did the site become so popular and successful?

When the site was first launched it won awards from The Motley Fool for the best money management tool. TechCrunch40 awarded them the hottest start up company of the year and they really began to take off. Over the next few years they received 47 awards from well know companies like, CNNmoney.com, Time.com, PC magazine, Kiplinger, the World Economic Fund, LifeHacker.com and Business Week.

What does Intuit think of Mint.com?

Intuit’s executives watched Mint.com for over a year. They became so impressed with the features of the site that the CEO of Intuit, Brad Smith approached Aaron and offered to buy the company. On November 2, 2009, Intuit purchased Mint.com for $140 million, offering Aaron the chance to be in charge of Mint.com and all Quicken online, desktop and mobile offerings, which he agreed to do.

Aaron Patzer, earned his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, and computer science, and electrical engineering, at Duke University as well as a master’s degree in electrical engineering and algorithms from Princeton University. Some of his first work after graduation was working on a cell microprocessor, used in the PlayStation 3 and it uses three of his patents.

What is Aaron Patzer’s advice to entrepreneurs?

His best advice to other entrepreneurs is to “observe the world around you – everything you do, and especially everything you hate to do – solve a real problem and the world is yours.”

How To Use Flickr Photos On Your Blog

April 8, 2010 By Sherry Tingley

Using photos from flickr.com on your blog can make your writing come to life and provide your readers an exceptional experience. The photo above taken from the seat of a motorcycle, heading for the Eifel Tower, is just an outstanding photo. It makes you wish you were there. The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words really is true.

To get started, you’ll need to go to flickr.com and sign up for a free account. There are paid accounts with a small yearly fee of $24.95 which will allow you to upload your pictures for distribution.

Once you have signed up with flickr, you will find that there are over 139,726,734 photographs available for your use in the area called the Creative Commons.

These photographs have been given the CreativeCommons.org license which gives you permission to use these photos with a few restrictions. You receive worldwide, royalty free, permission to use the photographs indefinitely.

There are restrictions to the way you can use the photos that are reasonable and that you must agree to.

Here are the rules you must follow:

1. You must attribute the photograph to the owner in the manner that the owner sets on the photograph. You can find that information on the bottom right hand side of the page that the individual photo is on. Basically you use their name and title of the photo.

2. You can’t use the photos for monetary gain. For example, you can’t download the photos and make calendars out of them to sell.

3. You may not collect any royalties on the photos.

4. You may not distort the photo in anyway. So Photoshop editing is not allowed.

5. You must include the URI for the license with every copy of the work you distribute. This is the copy of the license so that you can read the license in it’s entirety: Creative Commons License.

In your search for the right photograph for your story, you can see the most popular image topics that people have been posting in the past 24 hours, 7 days and since the beginning of flickr.

There is also a service called “Blog This” where you can find a photo and just click on blog this. Type your story directly on the same page that the photo is and push a button and it will post it to your blog. You’ll need to register your blog with them so that logging in to your site and posting can be done quickly and easily. The photo will be inserted into your post like the photo in this story was inserted.

Make your blogging more interesting by adding photographs from all over the world. You’ll learn what type of camera took each photograph and you’ll be adding a little BAZINGA to your story.

Shankapotomus Baby Rocks

January 23, 2010 By Sherry Tingley

One of the most ingenious television commercials of all time teaches people how creative marketing influences other people. The E*TRADE baby commercial, just 32 seconds long, was a smashing success. Does every word count? You bet it does. Just look at the dialogue:

Ah…This is weak man. Frank is trying to not pay me my winnings for the Skins beat down I just issued him just cause his 401K is tanking.

It’s like, dude, you gotta GRAB THE REINS man!

Get E*TRADE.

Do some analytics.

Do some research and TAKE CHARGE so I don’t have to subsidize your lack of golfing skills.

“Nnnna. Nittel. You moved your ball!”

“Frank. It was on the cart path. Why don’t you try reading the rules. Shankapotomus!”

Take control with one of the most powerful investing machines there is.

Join the thousand new accounts a day at E*TRADE.

Dialogue Analysis

The first sentence, “Ah…This is weak man,” uses a phrase you’ve heard thousands of times so you can easily picture someone saying this.

The second sentence, “Frank is trying to not pay me my winnings for the Skins beat down I just issued him just cause his 401K is tanking,” pulls you in and makes you feel a sense of loss and you identify with times that you have been cheated out of what was coming to you. It also elevates the authority of the baby which of course is absurd, making it funny.

The reference to the Skins Game is not by accident either. There is a yearly game for professional golfers that is unique, exclusive and rare. The player with the best score at one hole, will win money. Each hole has it’s own monetary value assigned to it, with the 18th hole winner being awarded $200,000.

The third sentence, “It’s like, dude, you gotta GRAB THE REINS man!” gives you a direct call to action. He’s taking charge and telling him what to do. Didn’t we spend the first eighteen years of our lives listening to people telling us what to do? We remember this feeling easily. This adds to the humor and irony of a reversal of roles i.e. the baby acting like an adult.

The fourth sentence, “Get E*TRADE. Do some analytics. Do some research and TAKE CHARGE so I don’t have to subsidize your lack of golfing skills,” gives three directives. Three is about the number of things a person can absorb in a short period of time. Remember your mother saying, “I’ll give you to the count of three to stop that. ONE, TWO, THREEEEEE!” Or how about Goldilocks and the THREE Bears or The THREE Little Pigs? Three was used for a good reason.

It also points out what losses will occur if you don’t follow these simple instructions. Someone will have to help you out because you were so dumb. Who wants that?

In the next few sentences, you hear a dialogue that is commonly heard when kids are fighting with each other. You did this. No you did that! Why you….blankity blank blank! Whaa Whaa Whaa. Something that happens on an hourly basis in many homes with young children. You remember these exact words coming from your lips. Then a gentle reminder of your complete stupidity with the shameful scolding of “Why don’t you read the rules!”

The name calling then closes the deal with heroic magnitude. You Shankapotomus… is like the frosting on the cake. Now the baby has officially achieved hero status. He creates a new word that no one has ever heard before and conquers the very man that was trying to cheat him out of what he really deserved. All is well in drama land. Triumph!

The next sentence, “Take control with one of the most powerful investing machines there is,” tells you what to do and reminds you how smart the action is because…well, nothing is really better. It’s a Superman statement. So now, you get to be like Superman!

The closing sentence, “Join the thousand new accounts a day at E*TRADE,” tells you that you too can join a crowd of thousands. Now how difficult is that?

Movie Analysis

The two characters in this movie are both extremely lovable. Babies bond with us immediately. They have no set of requirements for loving someone other than you need to be breathing, warm and able to hold them. The older man is on the other side of life. At the completely the opposite stage in anyone’s time line. He is enjoying life by playing golf, which is a sport that has been played by millions since the 15th century.

Using a baby in this campaign makes us feel that if even a baby can do this, it must be pretty simple. Yes. I can do this too!

So the two lovable characters then take on qualities that you weren’t expecting. Something surprising occurs. Your predictions of what is possible for a baby have been shaken momentarily and that is what gets your attention. Now you wonder. Getting you to wonder makes you pay attention to the message. It challenges your belief in the way the world works. Now you pay particularly close attention to what on earth the baby could be telling you. You are listening.

Your Challenge – What can you do with 32 seconds?

No matter what business you are in, you all have potential customers. What exactly are you doing to get their attention? Are you following the Six Principals of Influence that Dr. Cialdini teaches?

Reciprocation – Be the first to give
Scarcity – Emphasize scarcity and uniqueness
Authority – Admit weaknesses first
Consistency – Following through with existing commitments
Liking – Uncover areas of similarity
Consensus – Show responses of others in testimonials

Take action today and do something different with your business strategies. See if you get results with what you have learned from the Shankapotomus E*TRADE baby commercial.

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Affiliate Summit West 2010 Review

January 22, 2010 By Sherry Tingley

Affiliate Summit West 2010 was packed with people. Over 4,000 affiliate marketers, merchants, vendors and Internet entrepreneurs networked, absorbed information, played hard and partied till the wee hours of the morning. Jeremy Shoemaker, an Internet entrepreneur wizard, said that this event was the best one he has ever attended. Of course if you see his videos of black jack fun, target shooting practice, and Las Vegas magic, you will see why.

There were many super affiliates in attendance and monthly income stats could not have been better. There were people there reporting incomes varying between $200 a month up to $100,000 a month and probably more. Just an incredible range of statistics. It was hard to believe that the economy could produce this kind of success. Being a New Media Entrepreneur is paying off in a big way.

Affiliate Marketing Tips for 2010

Make people feel that your web site is “their” web site.
Make sure your traffic is not reliant on one source.
Create your own product for the biggest bang for your efforts.
Answer questions for people.
Teach people things that they might not know.
Use videos to get traffic – Youtube.com is the second largest search engine on the web.
Get your best commission rates by working directly with companies.
Get people to pay attention to you over time.
Ask people to share your content.
Determine the angle that causes people to talk about you.
Success is sticking with a problem longer than anyone else.
Rich overnight days ended in 1994.
You are not going to know what works, your audience will tell you that.
Build a media asset that will last over time.
86% of ezinearticles.com members write less than 10 articles.
Write more articles and you will get more traffic.
Treat people the way you want to be treated.

Discover the Power of Influence

Dr. Cialdini, regarded as the most cited social psychologist in the world, powerfully delivered an insightful talk about marketing. His book, Influence, about persuasion and marketing has sold more than 2 million copies. It has been consistently listed in Amazon.com as a best seller and is recommended by Warren Buffet, one of the most successful investors in history.

Dr. Cialdini is an expert in understanding the reasons that people comply with requests in business. His Six Principles of Persuasion Reciprocation, Scarcity, Authority, Consistency, Liking, and Consensus describe how you can produce lasting change in others.

He suggested that as new media entrepreneurs when we encounter people, we need to ask ourselves how we can be of service to them. People are most likely to give back when they are given something of value. What have you given to your audience lately?

Brian Clarke, owner of copyblogger.com teaches people “The Art and Science of Compelling Copy.” The blog, which he started in February of 2006, has 97,398 subscribers and hundreds of thousands of regular readers.

CopyBlogger has earned a Google page rank of 5, which means that the Blog is seen by others as having good authority. Brian has managed to inspire many people to share their expertise with the world by writing good copy for their readers and teaching them exactly how to do it.

Brian taught us that leading your business presentation with admission of fault first, followed by the benefits of your product or service is very powerful in moving people towards acceptance of your product or ideas. Apparently Aristotle developed this art of persuasion more than 2,000 years ago. Aren’t we glad we are catching on now?

Networking With Marketing Gurus

Ask any one of these people what kind of future they look forward to and I think you’ll receive a unanimous vote for prosperous! Affiliate Summit West 2010 was definitely a huge success and one that will not soon be forgotten.