Disqus - Latest Comments for devinbest

Re: Command and Conquer Your Home Business Projects with Mind Maps

Devin Best — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:01:01 -0000

Mindmeister is GREAT! I know that a lot of the desktop mindmapping
programs have some awesome features, but I LOVE the online nature of
Mindmeister. They just added some better organization tools and some
neat bells and whistles.

Glad to be of service!

--devin

Re: DIY: How To Move Your WordPress Database To a New Host

Devin Best — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:58:43 -0000

I'm looking to use a modified version of this process to create a WordPress install.

I use the same theme, plugins, and base settings for every blog I create, and want to bypass the process of manually installing and configuring each setting and plugin.

How can I install a brand new, fully configured WordPress installation with plugins and settings, and use that backup as an installer for subsequent new domains? What type of mods to the MySQL database are required, if there is no content of any sort?

Thanks.

Re: Command and Conquer Your Home Business Projects with Mind Maps

Devin Best — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:10:09 -0000

Do you use a web service, or desktop software? How do you use your mind maps?

Re: Series: Google Liberates the (Shared) Home Office, Part 2-Google Calendar

Devin Best — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:04:51 -0000

Thanks, Steve!

Re: What Henry Ford Can Teach You About Internet Business

Devin Best — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:15:31 -0000

Let me suggest that you fast-line Think and Grow Rich. Here's why:

It's not at all about "getting rich." Rather, the book's purpose is to teach
how to transmute DESIRE into its material equivalent. Yes, sometimes that is
money, but it's MORE than just money.

The book talks about how coupling a burning desire for "fill in your
greatest desire here" with faith, self-confidence, and harmonious
interaction with like-minded people will inevitably, invariably, lead to
success.

As an example, I have a daily regimen that consists of focusing my thoughts
for 30 minutes daily on the task of thinking of the person I intend to
become, with full faith that it will gradually influence my thoughts and
actions so that I will become a self-reliant and successful person.

Plus, I focus 10 minutes daily on the task of demanding of myself the
development of self-confidence.

As you can extrapolate, "RICHES" is waaayyyy more than just money. The book
has given me the specific tools I need to recreate myself as whatever I want
to be.

In fact, most of the characteristics of the person I intend to become
revolve around my inner thoughts and how I view the world, with an equal
amount of focus on the type of father and husband I intend to be and the
life I intend to create for myself and my family.

(and apparently a TON of focus on run-on sentences!)

Again, it's about much more than money, it's about how I can create who I
am.

Word up!

Re: What Henry Ford Can Teach You About Internet Business

Devin Best — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:19:16 -0000

Hah! That's funny that I didn't know the author's name!

Thank you!

Have you read "Think and Grow Rich" yet? It has been absolutely pivotal in
my growth as a business person and as a human being living a life of
purpose.

Re: What Henry Ford Can Teach You About Internet Business

Devin Best — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:54:28 -0000

Thanks for your comments. "Good to Great" is on my reading list. Who is Jim
Collins?

Re: Command and Conquer Your Home Business Projects with Mind Maps

Devin Best — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:28:13 -0000

Basically anything you have to plan, outline, or write can be done using mind maps. I sincerely use them for every single project that requires any brainstorming and organization.

Re: Private: Web Hosting is a Critical Home Office Web Tool

Devin Best — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:20:37 -0000

When you say, "consider the time," do you mean the speed of transfers? For those delivering huge audio and video files every day, they might need a Content Delivery Network (CDN) or other high-speed/high-volume solution. But don't you think EVERYONE needs reliability?

Re: What Henry Ford Can Teach You About Internet Business

Devin Best — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:35:59 -0000

Putting together a local Mastermind group is indeed the goal, and in the meantime, you and Jay have put together one AWESOME online Mastermind group. Both will be beneficial.

Re: Whither Problem Customers?

Devin Best — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:38:39 -0000

I got the idea of pruning back problem customers from reading Tim Ferris' book the 4-hour Work Week.

The emotional stress and costs per revenue are indeed the determining factors in whether a customer stays or goes. Hard to put a dollar figure on the stress, but it's an important consideration.

Thanks for the comments.

Re: 5 Ways to Leverage StumbleUpon for Small Business Owners

Devin Best — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:55:22 -0000

Tom: Thanks for your input on some StumbleUpon ideas. I've been using your
suggestions with some significant success.

What I'm focusing on right now is building up my network of friends to get
great content and a receptive body of people who can help me promote things.

Re: Downtime

Devin Best — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:52:09 -0000

Daniel,

Thanks for the prompt reply. Great customer service! <twittering...>

So, to affirm what you've said, since I completed the install process, WP
comments and Disqus comments remain synchronized?

Such that, if Disqus is offline for whatever reason, people will still be
able to comment AND read comments on my blog?

If that's the case, I don't have much to worry about.

Thanks.

Re: 5 Ways to Leverage StumbleUpon for Small Business Owners

Devin Best — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:21:35 -0000

Tom,

When you stay "Stumbling," do you mean thumbing up / thumbing down other people's content, or submitting your own articles to the database? I understand that you have to be an active Stumbler in order to get any traction.

And Caroline Middlebrook's StumbleRush course http://bit.ly/stumblerush brings up some ethical questions about submitting your own content there. I've done it several times, but there is, apparently, a method of self-submission that maximizes the benefits.

Sounds like you have a blog that converts into subscribers very effectively. What's your best tactic for converting random Stumblers and search engine traffic into subscribers?

Re: Downtime

Devin Best — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:22:35 -0000

This is a pretty big concern, now that I think about it. Does Disqus and my WordPress blog stay synchronized? Or is that a manual operation?

It's scary to realize that an important part of my online business entity--my comment system--is completely dependent upon an outside vendor. I had reconciled myself to accepting the risks associated with that circumstance, and then this outage occurred.

I'm paying attention to this as I assess whether or not the benefits of your service outweigh the real-world-demonstrated risks.

Thank you for your transparency on this issue. I would have appreciated an email or alert or something telling me the system was down. I'm now following you on twitter, so maybe that will help.

Re: 5 Ways to Leverage StumbleUpon for Small Business Owners

Devin Best — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:46:21 -0000

Tom, have you noticed in your web stats whether or not your StumbeUpon visitors actually stick around on your site? Or do they bounce quickly?

My experience is that StumbleUpon brings a lot of traffic that doesn't interact much.

What about you?

Re: Series: Google Liberates the Home Office, Part 1-Gmail

Devin Best — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:07:21 -0000

@Lindsay,

Google is amazing! While I have concerns about privacy, the convenience and liberation I experience using Google's products is a reasonable trade-off, IMHO.

Think outside the laptop for a moment: I have access to my Google data via my iPhone. Access to all my documents right in my pocket, wherever I am.

There's a lot you can do with data once Google has it--share it, publish it to the web, invite people to interact with it. I have much more to say about Google Liberation in other articles and a coming podcast, so stay tuned.

Re: Command and Conquer Your Home Business Projects with Mind Maps

Devin Best — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:19:02 -0000

@Grant, Thanks! Glad I'm still on your radar. Are you a veteran mind mapper or is this new to you?

@Jay, Quite welcome. It was your video that inspired me to start mind mapping in the first place! How could I NOT mention you?