The things that I do for internet marketing! And all for my English Lord boss. Admittedly he pays well. “Freeze! Nobody move! You are surrounded!” That is the last thing I hear before I realize someone is behind me and a gigantic shadow looms over me. That is how my dog Gracie and I end up being held hostage by the six young women named Pyra 1-6 from M16 Influencers Training Inc at the Dronesville park. In line with social distancing, someone uses a long plank to poke at us from the back and makes us move forward toward the direction of the former “hyperloopy” lab now deserted due to the year long locked down order. It is like the worst of movies of a somewhat shell-shocked nerd-to-be and an innocent nerdy mascot talking dog. “No talking!” The command is issued and we duly obey, not knowing what this group named M16 is likely to do next.
The building is not locked or has its door been opened by a remote control? Anyway we settle in a spacious and clean meeting hall. I am made to sit down at the far end of a very long conference table while Gracies is allowed to wait at a corner with her muzzle-mask still on. The women sit at the other end of the table, all wearing full-facial masks. Here is an excerpt (sample) of our conversation. P stands for P1-P6. Jr. stands for me, junior to my dad the senior nerd IJ.
P: As per our phone conversation previously, we are the new members of the Women’s Internet Club. You may describe us as the Millennial Influencers Squad* (In millennial language: it means a group of friends). Have you brought the application forms? Junior?
Jr: Yes, here they are. (Handing over the transparent folder of blank forms)
P: (speaks after a lapse of seconds of silence) What kind of ridiculous forms is this? Requiring my particulars about whether I own a pet (e.g. a dog) and whether the pet (dog) will be a participant on zoom meetings? I object to answering this privacy infringing question!
Jr: It is a compulsory question, miss.
P: Why?! Your justification has better be good! (All the other Ps clap in unison)
Jr: You see, miss, it’s a matter of logistics.
P: OK, if I answer yes, I have a bull dog, and yes, she is joining the zoom class. Is there any difference from saying no?
Jr: The difference will be the charges. We will count as two persons attending.
P: (All burst into laughters) Bruh? (meaning seriously) Aren’t you extra (over the top, dramatic behavior)? (This one talks millennial slang words)
Jr: Serious. Consider the extra efforts we have to make to accommodate a person with a pet (dog). Of course you may opt out for the pet. Put them in another room, or muzzle them and chain them up or whatever so they would not disrupt the classes.
P: (all burst into a thundering uproar until one manages to speak) mister! I am shook (confused or in utter disbelief) at the way that you throw shade (making a subtly mean comment about someone) on our pets!
Jr: My apology, miss. The crux of the matter is that we will count your pet as an individual paid participant and give the same treatment as we give you. ISN’T THAT POSITIVE?
P: Would we be given a separate session apart from the senior women’s club? I understand that there are twenty of them and all with their pets.
Jr: We can’t afford to do that at the v (very) nominal fee we are charging, miss. Shall we give it a try mixing with the existing group, who have some bougies (from higher class), and who is more like fam (a group of friends who feels more like family) first and see how we may develop?
P: (After completed the forms and paying up their fees) TBH (to be honest), we are here for an important purpose. We have no option.
Jr: Thank you for your honesty. May I be so bold to know what M16 stands for?
P: Anything you may imagine. This conversation is hereby canceled (To reject something because it’s no longer trendy or it’s become too ratchet.) You two may go now. See you at the next Internet Club meeting. Any advice on how we may present ourselves in the zoom?
Jr: Just EXPECT the GOAT (Greatest of all time), BE SNATCHED (attractive), and not Beat (to have a full face of makeup)! We are going live on a popular social media at the same time!
Good morning, do you know that only 31% of bloggers make any money whatsoever from blogging? 2/3 of people’s main reason for blogging is income? 45% of bloggers who earn over $50k sell their own products? Having all gone through half a year of semi-hibernating, largely living on the internet, today’s question is very relevant. Can blogging make money? Many of you have asked this question.
I see you have brought some young new friends along too. All are welcome, ladies. (For those who do not know me, I am IJ, the father of AJ, the young guy who normally writes this millennial blog.) I must first give credit to the online sources for the information below, pertaining to figures. And I would encourage you to do your own research. I do not know how the statistics were derived. Please don’t ask me. Although I will be talking a bit more on WordPress, I would mention that there are other options and you have to decide for yourselves.
I have been blogging since Yahoo! 360° which was a social networking and personal communication portal available in 2005-2008 and after that many bloggers migrated to WordPress or Blogger.com. I switched to both platforms. I tend to use the WordPress more often and find it suit my purpose. However, I use other options too, for different purposes. As a young blogger in the early days I had little choice. One important thing is to find the one you feel comfortable with, reliable and easy to use.
WordPress* is now one of the most popular content management system** (CMS) solutions in use, and has more than 60 million websites, including 33.6% of the top 10 million websites as of April 2019. It is designed for publishing but used for sites ranging from small blogs to large corporations, “this free and open source software allows anyone to establish an online presence – and make money. ” (Bluehost blog)
**”Content management systems allow the non-techies of the world to create full-scale, working, professional-looking websites without having to touch a bit of code. When using a CMS, you don’t have to understand how websites work.”
In summary, “WordPress is a factory that makes webpages” —it stores content and enables a user to create and publish webpages, requiring nothing beyond a domain and a hosting service. Today it has evolved into a multi-faceted web-pages “platforms provider” on the internet.”
Coming back to the subject of blogging. What is blogging? How does it generate monetary income? A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is a regularly updated website or web page, by an individual or small group, often written in an informal style. Blogs have become an integral part of online culture. Blogs provide an increasingly effective vehicle to communicate information in many varieties with specific objectives. For example, you may want to socialize, build network, establish yourself as a spokesman for a cause, and influence readers/viewers to respond. Blogging can be for personal journaling or for business, projects, or anything else that might bring you intangible or tangible rewards (including monetary returns). A blog connects you to the relevant audience, allows you to showcase your goods/services, establish your authority, build a brand, or generates leads that actually result in purchase of your products and services. To achieve these goals, you need to rank your website higher in Google SERPs, to increase your visibility.
Your blog can be used as a platform for advertisement of other’s products too. Also launched in 2003 was the AdSense advertising platform, which was the first ad network to match ads to the content on a blog. AdSense also made it possible for bloggers without huge platforms to start making money. Before you can start monetizing your blog, you need to build both your Google SERPs ranking and your niche influence. And that takes plenty of time and quality content.
The more frequent and better your blog posts are, the higher the chances for your website to get discovered and visited by your target audience. It means you need to regularly update your website contents to increase your traffic. It is like a display showcase. Use the usual retail marketing strategy if your targets are retail customers. Your contents, including writing, information, pictures, audio and video etc. Think of yourself as a customer. What attracts you and makes you likely to visit, browse through, linger, revisit, and even buy. Just as you would do in choosing a name for your retail shop, your domain name will play a vital role in the future development of your blog. Take your time to think of a good domain name before you register your blog.
Here are some of the more usual ways to make money through your blog:
Selling ad space on your blog directly or via Google AdSense. Host Ads on Your Blog. Work with Brands on Sponsored Posts.
Affiliate program: Become an affiliate partner privately or through ad networks.
Create and sell your own exclusive digital products such as eBooks, online tutorials, and other professional services. Use lead capturing tool in exchange for visitors’ email addresses.
Selling memberships for access to exclusive content or consultancy.
Using your blog as a content marketing tool for your business.
You may of course, want to blog as a hobby and cultivate a passion for writing online. Believe me, ladies, journaling itself is self-rewarding. You can build a circle of friends from a distance, perhaps never meeting in persons, just by sharing of blogs, reading on stuff of mutual interests. You may just want to read others’ writing. WordPress has a section called, Discover, currently with 51,670,578 followers, “a daily selection of the best content published on WordPress, collected for you by humans who love to read.” Register with WordPress for a free account, using your email address and you can make use of its free facilities. It’s like joining a club, a virtual club, with free membership. And you get to select what and who and where and when you want to visit.
Multi-media is increasingly popular in the blogosphere. Many bloggers use vlogs and podcasts. However, the growth of blogging is significant. The content marketing industry is projected to enjoy a growth rate of 16% annually. There are 1700 million people in the world and over 500 million blogs on the internet, i.e one blog for every three people. Does this mean you will have some readers and viewers? The answer is not necessary. The volume and averages do not mean there is an even distribution for every blog! Responses to marketing efforts or ads are subjective and there are many variables in individual likes and dislikes, needs and wants, social economic and other influences.
Having said all that you need to know for now as a blogging beginner, I would add that you need to also post on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and/or Pinterest to maximize the exposure of your brand, using all the popular social networks. Of course, in social media you need to use a different content and media strategy, using micro-blog, photo-blog, short videos etc. instead. Social media expands the reach of your content —there are 3.5 billion social media users worldwide.
Is there a future for contents blogging in view of the increasing growth in other communication modes like those used on social media platforms? Do people still like to read anything longer than a minute? At one time there were thoughts that printed books, newspapers, magazines, periodicals would be phased out. But today there are still around. No, ebooks and digital materials have not replaced them. The world population is very diversified. Population of different ages, education, social economic background, professions, personalities and tastes, and unlimited other factors, have different preferences in getting information whether for leisure or to make a decision.
Who are the bloggers? Where are they? I managed to find two sources published in 2010 and 2018 respectively and here is a little table showing the differences:
BLOGGER DISTRIBUTION
BY Age group 2010
2018
BY COUNTRY 2010
By Language 2018
BY GENDER 2010
21-35 53.3%
30-39 40%
US 29.2%
English 66%
Women 50.9%
20 and below 20.2%
40-49 20%
UK 6.75%
Men 49.1%
36-50 19.4%
50-59 20%
JAPAN 4.9%
51 and above 7.1%
60+ 20%
BRAZIL 4.2%
blogging demographics 2010, 2018
In closing, I would use the wise king, Solomon’s word of wisdom: “Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.” (Ecclesiastes 11:6)
blogging is like sowing seeds. Keep sowing and you will get your returns in time.
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*Top three CMS by market shares: WordPress (27+ Million Live Websites); Wix (3.8+ Million Live Websites); Squarespace (2.2+ Million Live Websites). WordPress users publish 70 million new posts each month. Users leave 77 million comments per month. WordPress.com Blogs Have Over 400 Million Monthly Viewers. “WordPress was released on May 27, 2003 by two co-founders and they probably didn’t know that they are about to start a journey that would eventually benefit millions of users around the globe, create thousands of jobs, and a whole industry of developers, designers, writers, bloggers, and web publishers would make their living off it.” (Quoted)
Useful to know latest 2020 statistics:
Estimated number blogs: more than 600 million blogs
Estimated number of websites: 1.7 billion.
Estimated active bloggers in the United States: 31.7 million in 2020.
86 percent of content marketers use blog posts as part of their marketing strategy.
The average blog post has 1236 words. (Optimal length 2250-2500 words)
The perfect blog headline should be 11-14 words long.
It takes bloggers an average of 3 hours and 57 minutes to produce a blog post.
The ideal reading time for a blog post is 7 minutes.
The average person spends 37 seconds reading a blog post.
The most popular time for reading blogs is between 7am and 10am.
Bloggers say the most important factor for success is the quality of content.
97 percent of bloggers use social media to promote their blog posts.
Businesses that publish 16 or more posts per month receive 3.5 times more traffic than those who publish fewer than four posts.
60 percent of consumers say blog posts are valuable in the early stages of the buying process.
More than half of content marketers say blog content is their top inbound marketing priority.
Ladies, the senior nerd IJ has to go off for an emergency, and I (the blog owner) am conducting this session. We shall go through one important question most of you have asked.
Question: There are so many Social Media: Instagram, YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter, TIKTOK, Pinterest, SNAPCHAT etc. Which one shall I choose? To answer you all, I have put them into one comparison table. As you can see at a glance, there are about two or three that women normally tend to choose. It depends very much on what products or services you are offering and to which age group or gender. You experience and talents of course matter a lot.
Beautiful photography stunning visuals unique designs selfie-style video
Video only; as a means of either education or entertainment a gateway to educator in your industry. Upload webinars or videos speaking on important topics that further the education of your audience.
The more interesting, engaging or even polarizing, the more likely viral; short videos, eye-catching images and attention-grabbing headlines
product discovery journey. Vertically-formatted images do best. Polished imagery with clear copy. Numbers, lists, quotes, keywords and search terms in your imagery. Pinterest is a superficial platform, so every image you post has to be high-quality and striking to stand out in your feed. Make sure they link back to a related blog or page on your website.
business
lifestyle, ecommerce, or photography
sharing industry-related news, engaging short videos, graphics visually appealing engaging visual (or video) content; create online community around a topic or business.
lifestyle, fashion, decorating, or DIY
Social media
Twitter
TikTok
Snapchat
Monthly users
300 million
800 million
300 million
age
35-65
16-24 young audience
under 25 years of age; 18-24
gender
Male
Both
more females
contents
well-timed breaking news, digest bite-sized, directly with your users in real-time. Videos and images
fun video- doesn’t often have a direct connection to your products or services.
Video-driven storytelling
business
educational videos, to gripping visuals and discussion threads that offer advice & opinions.
be prepared to take the approach of entertaining first.
bite-sized, engaging video content; entertain
For a start, I would suggest that you try the ones you are already watching or reading. Register your own account and try them out. Find your interest, your niche, position yourself there. Many ladies focus on lifestyle, fashion, decorating and stuff that interest women. I know some of you are very experienced, talented, and skilled retired educationists, professionals, charity and voluntary workers, women with a cause to fight for, women of quality and worth etc. Do something out of your best. Start from the free platforms. Apply what you have already learned. You will be surprised how challenging and rewarding it will turn out. The process of doing it, for example, doing your color branding, your theme, your niche, is a reward in itself!
(Enter IJ on the screen) We welcome Mr. IJ to chair this internet club meeting. Oh, yes, Mr. IJ is wearing a mask as usual, virus or no virus. I have got to go now. Please address your further questions to Mr. IJ.
Good morning, ladies. Who am I? I am IJ and I am a nerd. First I congratulate those of you who have expressed interest on online businesses for fun and for profit! Yes, don’t stop learning new enterprising ways, that is the spirit of Dronesville! As requested by you, Today we dig into the treasure chest of internet marketing. (The ladies clap) I beg your pardon, miss? You want to know the tech business future? Well, Yes, right now many counters are developing tech and AI. Let’s get back to learning the main thing today, the internet and marketing.
What is internet marketing? There are 4.39 billion internet users in 2019. Just imagine the size of the marketplace!
Internet marketing is a type of marketing efforts using the internet to drive direct sales. Internet marketing is also known as online marketing, digital marketing, e-marketing, or web marketing. It uses social media marketing, content marketing, pay-per-click, and search engine optimization.
Small and big businesses are using internet marketing (including those still using traditional ways of advertising). One advantage is that it is the most inexpensive way for businesses to reach millions of targeted global audience unrestricted by time and space.
Today’s customers tend to rely heavily on internet as well as their handheld devices like mobile phones. They can conveniently compare products online and buy online. Businesses too, find it cheaper, and more flexible to change and update display of a greater varieties of goods in the virtual showroom.
There are several main types of internet marketing:
Social media marketing: use of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others. There are 3.48 billion social media users in 2019. 3.26 billion people use social media on mobile devices in January 2019, with growth of 297 million new users representing a year-on-year increase of more than 10 percent. Imagine a large number of your potential customers watching a tiny screen to make serious decision like comparing and buying stuff? The make-up of your contents (contents marketing) must take this as number one consideration.
Organic social media marketing: it focuses on building a community and deepening relationships with consumers in an effort to induce interest and customer loyalty. First, position your brand as an authority in your target niche: engage readers/viewers and contribute valuable insights to conversations.
Another way to foster loyalty is to consistently prove how much you value your customers and community. The key is to harness the power of customer relations. Prompt replying to customer queries shows authenticity, credibility, and capability and will encourage potential customers to further contact/explore, with an intent of buying your products or services.
Content marketing: Content Marketing is the process of consistently creating, distributing, and promoting relevant online materials in a way that’s strategically designed to attract, engage, and convert your target market into customers. This is what you need to do in social media marketing. The more quality the content, the higher the chance it will go “viral” and reach more audience. Brands typically work with social media strategists to help them reach the target audience.
There are countless forms of content that businesses use to do this, such as: Blog posts; Videos (that are often shared to social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube); Industry reports and studies; Infographics summarizing reports and studies; eBooks; Podcasts; Case studies; Emails; Webinars: a seminar conducted over the internet, like what we are doing now. In summary, in contents you must have your strategies on various factors: Determining the topics, the cadence, the messages, the level of personalization, the formats and types, the contextually relevant concepts, incentives as needed.
Email marketing: is the process of using email to send direct marketing messages to people in an effort to gain new customers and retain existing ones.
The pre-requisites of email marketing:
You need the regularly updated target email addresses of both prospective and existing customers for your products/services
You need to proactively reach out and send out the email to them (unlike the use of a social media platform where you merely display your products virtually and let the customers come to you)
a brand must carefully craft and time their promotional and advertising efforts because if not done right, the brand will not be able to get the point across and receive the intended results.
often start with something called a “lead magnet” –a “bait.” The bait is usually a discount coupon or a particularly desirable piece of content, such as an eBook.
The pros and cons of email marketing:
Pros
cons
has a median return on investment of 122 percent – over four times higher than other types of internet marketing like social media and paid search. Don’t underestimate its raw power!
most intrusive type of marketing
nearly always works in partnership with like social media marketing and content marketing.
more often than not gets in the nerves of its recipients
You can nurture your email subscribers with useful content, giveaways, discounts, early access to new products, and more.
might not seem like the most glamorous form of internet marketing
you create separate groups of subscribers (called “segments”) based on their personal preferences and what stage each subscriber is at in the buyer’s journey.Then, you can create automated email campaigns for each segment: welcome, feedback, re-engage, follow-up, ask review etc.
With a high risk of being unsubscribed and ignored by the recipients
email marketing pros and cons
Influencer marketing is the process of working with influencers to promote a product or service to their online following. Everyone can engage in influencer marketing.
In fact, Influence.co found that on average, micro-influencers with 2,000 to 100,000 followers charge between $137 and $258 per Instagram post. Alternatively, many businesses will opt to pay the influencer a cut of the sales they produce – this is called Affiliate marketing, that is, a business will set up a program that pays commissions to external websites or individuals for the traffic or sales they generate.
Paid advertising: is a form of internet marketing where advertisers pay to show their adverts on search engines and other online platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. It is often referred to as “pay-per-click” or “PPC” – this means that advertisers will pay a fee each time a user clicks on one of their ads. The two biggest digital advertising platforms are Google and Facebook. Between them, they receive the majority of U.S. digital ad expenditure, with 38 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Paid advertising on search engines like Google is often referred to as “search engine marketing,” or “SEM.” One key benefit to SEM is that searchers usually have a high level of buyer intent. It makes sense, if someone searches “instant pot,” it’s highly likely they are interested in buying one!
Facebook allows you to display your ads to a refined target audience: demographics, interests, behaviors, locations, and more. Plus, there are numerous ways to apply different filters.
Retargeting: Have you ever been followed around the web by adverts of stuff you recently looked at, like fashioned eye-glasses, and then everywhere you go online you see adverts promoting those eye-glasses. Spooky? Real invisible detective work.
Search engine optimization – also known as SEO – is the process of optimizing websites and digital content to improve search engine rankings, which in turn, maximizes the number of visitors to a particular webpage.
How does SEO work? Search engines use something called “crawler bots” to crawl the internet and build an index of the content available online. Then, whenever someone searches a keyword, the search engine will try to provide the most useful and relevant results.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the best ways to generate traffic for your website. For example, you want your website to appear at the top of Google’s search results whenever someone searches for “pre-loved luxury bags in London.” Well, the process you would use to make that happen is SEO. Improving your website’s search engine visibility is a gradual process over a period of time. However, once you’ve developed a strong off page SEO foundation, your website’s rankings will improve.
On-page SEO is when you optimize your website or content to rank higher in search engines for targeted keywords or phrases. Off-page SEO is when you optimize your website or content to appear higher in the search results through methods outside of your website or content, such as, external signals like your social media presence and brand mentions, generation of backlinks —other websites linking to your website or content because of the high quality of your content.
Remember that when we mention SEO we actually refer to Google, which is currently the number one search engine in the world – occupying a hefty 79.77% of market share. (To continue)
Today the young nerd is back and is chairing this somewhat noisy (barking) session.
Ahem, good morning ladies, if you can hear me. I really appreciate the multiplication of participants today by each of you bringing along someone (namely other creatures) equally vocal. I have to mute all forty of you. You may type your questions in the chat only. Why? Because I haven’t yet mastered the canine language. No, paw marks on screen not allowed. Yes, if you sit through the whole session I will give you a free-for-all barking bonus at the end.
Today’s topics are not structured like the previous one conducted by my boss (the blog owner). But I will give you relevant practical internet media steps just as well. Have you tried out the green screen? Yes, any green piece of cloth will do. Just hang it behind your back, using a curtain rail or laundry rope or whatever. What? You become a head floating? Were you wearing a green dress? Never wear green dress or any clothes with a green screen behind you. NO, I don’t mean not wearing any clothes! Just no green clothes when you are using a green screen for virtual background effect in your zoom meeting.
Yes, the visual emphasis is on your head (facial and hair) and you should make yourself presentable (yet comfortable) unless you are having a private pajama party. There are many free video guides (e.g. in YouTube) on zoom hair-do, make-ups and clothes, and how you should position your computer. Here is a list of the important points to note and do regarding video zoom meeting set up:
Put your computer (webcam) at your head level. Make sure that the camera lens sits at or above eye level, no higher than your hairline. Stack up some books underneath if necessary. It will make your face look natural. Position your webcam far enough away to capture your shoulders and your entire face with some room to spare. Look straight into the pinhole of the webcam, often identified by a tiny green light when you switch on the video in zoom. In the case of my MacBook it is located at the center top.
When you are looking straight at the camera pinhole you will appear like making eye contact with the other attendees. Put on your best smile. Look natural. You may blink.
Beware of your facial expressions. Some camera angles can exaggerate your facial features and distort your appearance. Do not twist your facial muscle or distort your features. Look into your mirror first and practice how you want others to see you.
Ideally, you want to light yourself from the front with soft, indirect light, and minimize other lighting in the room, particularly from windows or light sources behind you. Place a light with a lampshade in front of you and behind your webcam. Watch our previous YouTube guide on green screen for virtual background about lighting as well.
Keep your background clean and simple, in good taste, and avoid clutters or distractions.
For better quality sound, you can use a USB microphone.
Do your own test zoom and practice webcam set up. For example, you can practice with your close friends. Do a small group meeting just for fun and give each other honest feedback on the visual and audio effect.
We have finished answering most of your questions on zoom meeting. Let’s move on to pondering on the word “internet”. Here is a paragraph I quote from online source, for your homework assignment. Just read and think about it. How you or your loved ones/close friends have changed by the internet? List all the pros and cons of your experience in the use of internet.
“Whether the impacts are good or bad, the Internet has changed the way society interacts and connects. One example of change is the increased focus on personal growth and a decline in a community that is determined by work, family and space. People are now constructing social relationships based on individual interests, projects and values. Communities are being formed by like-minded individuals not only offline and in person, but through the Internet and the multitude of online environments which it creates and offers. Social networking sites — like Facebook and LinkedIn — have become the preferred platforms for both businesses and individuals looking to perform all kinds of tasks and communicate with others.”
Bonus time: (sounds of 20 humans talking all at the same time holding up their pets all barking and some meowing as enthusiastically as their moms). See you next time. Meeting ended for all. (To be continued)
Today the young nerd is absent and I intend to answer one question: What is the internet? Unlike what some of you may think, internet is not entirely virtual. I will also cover all the terminologies in one paragraph, and relevant internet subjects, somewhat serious, but very relevant to women who should know as you occupy 50% of the world’s population, and internet is the main thing now!
In a time of social distancing, a videoconferencing platform is where we work, learn and party. Overnight, Zoom has become a primary social platform for millions of people: moving your life online, building and maintaining community despite physical isolation. The role of mass media via the internet has become increasingly important and relevant to more people.
This zooming session is a form of mass media communication through the internet. What is mass media? Mass media refers to any type of communication, be it written, spoken, or broadcast, that reaches a large audience. This includes radio, television, film, the Internet, magazines, newspapers, or any other forum in which messages are disseminated on a large scale.
The Internet, sometimes called simply “the Net,” is a worldwide system of computer networks in which users at any one computer can, if they have permission, get information from any other computer (and sometimes talk directly to users at other computers). For example, I am using my computer to communicate with you through your computer/phone and this is made possible because we have a number of “middle men” (the internet) carrying our messages between our computers/phones.
Here is a brief summary of the terminologies of the internet (Clicking on the respective terminology’s hyperlink will bring you to an information page in the Wikipedia): 1960s: the idea of internet started; 1971 electronic mail, or e-mail, was invented. By the mid-1970s many groups of computers were connected in networks. In 1989 hypertext was invented as a link between different parts of an electronic document or between different documents. It became the basis of the World Wide Web, or “the Web,” which was created in the early 1990s. Information on the Web is arranged in sites or pages. People view Web sites using computer programs called Internet browsers/search engines. Browsers read HTML(codes) and allow people to view Web sites on the computer. Each Web site has its own Internet address, called a uniform resource locator, or URL (Web address). Many URLs begin with “www,” which stands for “World Wide Web.” Today the most used browser is Google(91.75% of search engine market share). No longer limited to personal computers, the Internet can be accessed via tablet computers and most cell phones and televisions.
How does the internet really work? Watch this very informative and interesting 20 minutes video.
GLAD YOU ASKED S1 How Does the Internet Work? – Glad You Asked S1 Jan 8, 2020
So you see, the internet is not entirely virtual. It has physical wires and cables. Submarine cable networks are critical pieces to the global flow of network data. It is estimated that these cables carry 99 percent of all international communications traffic such as voice, data and video. While submarine cables were traditionally owned by telecom carriers, it’s been the content providers themselves, such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon that have started investing in the build-out of new undersea cables in recent years.
In summary, through the internet, we can now access the data files (words, pictures, audio, and visual in various communication modes) from each others’ storages without going to the source physically. We don’t even have to get hold of a physical item to check out the content. The data files are on open display (majority of which are free) for those allowed to access to access them through the internet.
One of you asks whether you can use the internet to send your hand written manuscripts/drawings and how you may do it. Simple. The answer is yes. You can scan/photograph your handwritten notes or hand drawn designs/pictures and send through your mobile phone, tablet or computer by the internet.
On the lighter side, for those ladies who like to try something new, here is a video on how to use a virtual background with a green screen. Have fun experimenting with all sorts of background from your own photo album.
Here is the list of topics I shall put in this blog in the next few internet club sessions. (Hopefully the funny young nerd will be back to run the show)
“Woman Missing For 10 Years Found Living In Internet Cafe.” This is an extreme exception. In an increasingly internet connected world, women are still being left behind. In the least developed countries, women are 33% less (in South Asia, 70% less) likely than men to use the internet. In my previous blog I said that I would use the Dronesville’s nerd blog for this internet club series. After a heated discussion with the young nerd and his grand-aunt and other seniors (women only), we all agreed to put it in this women’s blog. After all, the club members are all women except for an anonymous virtual gate-crasher/hacker whom we are still unable to evict. I have also stepped down and let the young man (the Dronesville’s nerd-bounty-hunter) take over the internet club coach position since he is currently under stay-at-home order indefinitely. Henceforth, the first person narrator is not me. Have fun and learn something, ladies.
Ahem, I am unpaid by the way. Of course I am like overkill, too qualified for this job anyway. But my indie dad, the senior nerd, says I will gain something out of this temporary assignment and he has so far been accurate in his predictions. So here I am, a reluctant yet hopeful coach for the women’s internet club. We are using video conferencing. To save operating cost, I am recording the session and post the audio to text transcript. Don’t write to me or comment here. The blog owner says she will not respond.
First of all, ladies, click on the zoom invitation link I forwarded to you through your email and mobile text. You can either use your mobile or your PC. Just click. Click on where? The link! What is the link? The link is the line of funny long set of characters and numbers and symbols such as this fictitious one: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9914277488?pwd=eHP1dE7DUSsrc02YMDU9WXZoUmR0QT08. When you put your cursor on it and left click your mouse it will bring you to the zoom meeting place. No, it is not a teleport and it will not whisk you away physically to anywhere. You have clicked and nothing happened? Where did you click? You can’t see your cursor? If you are using a touch screen use your finger. Which finger? Any finger will do. Which part of the finger? Any part will do. Just touch or click on the link!!! The zoom asks for a password? Ok, copy it from my email or text and paste it. Copy the password, click or touch the link, paste the password when prompted. How to copy? Right click or left click? Right click. Yes, for both copy and paste, use right click.
Don’t forget you can be seen and heard by the whole group and also the whole world. I have put this on FaceBook live. I have mentioned that in my email and text. Ok, I see that you are all formally dressed in immaculate smart casual and all with a perfectly immaculately tidy background. Great. Just be natural and not frozen with a waxed smile. Oh, yes you can change to a virtual background in the preference setting. Now we see some semi-transparent alien creatures or parts thereof? Stop the virtual backgrounds. Someone trying out headphones? Audio not working? Unmute your phone at the left bottom corner of your screen. What is that jarring music at the back? You grand-sons playing loud music?
Ladies, I am going to mute your audio. There are too many people talking at the same time and I cannot hear you. If you have a question, please raise your hand. Not raising your physical hand. Everyone holding up their cats and dogs? No. Not that. Use the raise hand function on your screen in the participants’ chat column. Since everyone has raised hands, it’s better you type your questions in the chat box. You can’t find it? It is located at the lowest section of the chat column. You can send private messages to any participant of course by changing from “everyone” to “the individual’s name”. Too bad, I can’t answer all twenty questions. So I will pick at random three.
Random questions and feedback from the participants: What is the purpose of this meeting? It seems we have never got to any point. This is a boring club meeting. Everything virtual. Not even a drink. I don’t think I have learned anything about internet. My face and neck have frozen stiff with the polite smile and the raised head. May I leave now without being seen by the whole world? Why can’t the camera show more of my very nice dress? What a waste of time to prepare myself, with matching hand bag and heels and all that jazz. What have I learned about internet? Well, I have learned a bit by watching how other women do their hair and facial. It’s of utmost importance for the zoom video conferencing. I think I will do much better the next round. Internet? Oh, I think it’s great because I just have to make sure I look good from the neck upward. Pity I can’t hold my dog at the same time. I have specially dressed her up too! Video conferencing? Oh, it’s like attending a live movie with me on the other side of the screen, but the acting is restricted to the head part, mainly facial expressions and sound effect on my voice. I would suggest you give us a script so we practice beforehand! You want my feedback? Well, it’s like window shopping except that the live models are somewhat restricted in boxes. And the worst thing is that I am one of them! LOL! My feedback is that someone told me the camera is able to capture the whole room and I am petrified. Not true? Anyway to be on the safe side I will go put a black cover over everything and make this room unidentifiable ever!
Ok, time’s up. Ladies, I am ending this meeting now. Good bye and see you in the next session. I will email you again to remind you and send you the link as well. Thanks for attending. No I am not supposed to take tips. I will surely appreciate if you insist of course. My account? Here, it is. My name and my phone number. Just transfer by ____________. Thank you. I am funny? Hilarious? Thank you, madam. I am not entertaining enough but you like me because I have a funny smile? Thank you, miss.
I have started the following blog to teach internet, social networking and social media marketing, google, Facebook, blogging, email, and other related digital communication. I will be using a story telling mode to convey the lessons. I pray you will view the blog and get something out of it. I will try using more visual drawings to help you understand. All the lessons will be in the following blogs. I will place the link here each time I do a new lesson. Add this to your Favorite or Bookmark.
I am praying for a miracle about you. I know you may not be reading this because you may have forgotten how to visit here. Because you may have forgotten how to access my blogs or anything called blogs. Yet I hope you will visit me (my blogs) one day. Perchance. You see, I believe in miracle.
One day you asked me what internet is and what blogs are and how different they are from Google, Facebook, YouTube or emails. I remember one day you asked me to give you a list of some of my blogs on the Bible women. You said you want to know more about them, and how God views women.
Because you do not allow anyone who is not your long term friends (like having over thirty years of true friendship) to keep your phone number, use WhatsApp to reach you, or write email to you and you have deactivated your Facebook and Messenger account, and you haven’t learned to use all other social network accounts, and are in fact still struggling with internet and all related digital media, and you may have even misplaced the handwritten list I have written, and you are unlikely to remember how to use the internet to browse and google my WordPress name or URL* address for the blogs, I need a miracle. And I still believe in a miracle.
One day you were very depressed and told me one of your good friends had cancer. He went through very modern medical treatment and was recuperating. His mouth was in great pain. They put tubes to help him breathe and be fed. You wanted to know how you may pray for him. You wanted to record a prayer and asked me to agree with your prayer without speaking. You believe in the power of prayers and the Amen (agreement) of a fellow believer. So I did. Your friend wanted a prayer that would be miraculous and got him out of the pain and out of the hospital within the shortest time. It happened. He was free of the tubes and out of the hospital on the third day! So you see, miracle does happen.
No matter how challenging it is for you to learn to apply what you have learned about media from me during that short season, I still believe you will persist and practice them. For a person who values privacy and personal space above all else, book marking the blog site is the best option. You can choose to visit the blog and check if there are new ones, at your private and confidential convenience. WordPress blog is a safe place to visit. They do not spam you with stuff.
I would suggest you re-activate your Facebook account. You do not have to worry about people spying on you. I have already taught you how to keep private and safe from unwanted visitors. I have also taught you how to block practically everything from Facebook, Gmail, and WhatsApp. There is really nothing to fear. I have taught you to open other email accounts for your own trusted group of elite friends and associates. And you have written all the instructions long hand step by step in your note book. You have applied them on me immediately and I am blocked out. So you are doing very well.
Why do I advise you to re-activate your Facebook account? This is a useful tool to keep track on others if you want to. You can visit and see the public announcements of forthcoming events like zoom meetings, live streams and recordings of past events. Facebook may prompt you to add friend certain people but you don’t have to respond or pay attention. The list is auto-generated and has nothing to do with those people on the list. They do not know the suggestions by Facebook. I have taught you to remove them from the list. I have taught you to unfriend or unfollow people whom you have inadvertently added friends. You can start your own private (closed) group and use the Facebook tools for your purpose. There are many new things to learn and you can do it. I have witnessed your determination and ability to learn.
I have decided to publish a notification on my Facebook upon every new blog I write for this WordPress woman blog. You may find something you are looking for in each woman character I am writing about. Do make an effort to find me, and read. I pray media technology will not deter you, my sister, and many others like you. There is nothing complicated about media technology. It is just a way we communicate with each other.
Thank you for reading this letter. Thank you for taking the bother to find this blog.
With best thought (Philippians 4:8) for you always,
p/s: Because time was too short during the brief season we encountered and shared with each other in persons, I did not fulfill my promise to teach you about the internet using a PowerPoint as you prefer visual and drawings. But I did prepare it. I shall go through it slide by slide at interval in my following tech-nerd blog and will link to this woman blog upon each posting.
URL (or URL-address) is a special form of individual address of a certain resource on the Internet. It can refer to the website, some particular document, or an image. The Internet user just needs to insert this code into the location bar to find the needed website, document, folder, or image. In plain language, it means the following: due to the URL address, the user gets information about where the needed information is located.
Women in their best 