Having observed the recent developments of most major browsers I give Google the nod for the overall best browser, just narrowly beating out Firefox and here are some of the reasons why.

V8 JavaScript Engine – The Evolution

Chrome continuously improves it’s speed and since the V8 Javascript engine under the hood seems to be almost constantly updated by the Google Chrome development team, page loads keep getting faster and faster.  In most benchmark testing that I have seen, Chrome is nearly twice as fast as Firefox.

Handling of New Web Technologies like HTML5 and CSS3

Let’s face it: HTML5 is the client-side language of the future and some have suggested that it is already in the process of replacing XHTML.  I believe it.  HTML5 is far more semantic, hierarchical, logical, and overall easier to work with than XHTML.  Google understands this and have really tailored Chrome to easily handle both HTML5 and CSS3.

Whether your site is built around Webkit or CSS3 elements, Chrome has the ability to gracefully display client-side code the way you intended it to, so your design is crisp, schnazzy and archaic methods of styling, like rounding corners with JavaScript or multiple image sprites, are not necessary anymore.

Pumped Up Security

With sandboxing, and the measures that have been taken to preventing XSS exploits, and click-jacking, Google has been proactive in boosting browsing security without sacrificing performance.

Simple User Interface

One pet peeve I have regarding software development is the far too common over-styling of the GUI.  I would say users generally want easy-to-understand, clean, yet visually appealing interfaces that allow you to get from point A to point B without a road map.  In my opinion, Safari, like many Apple products, has become over engineered.

You have to keep in mind that baby boomers are starting to give way to a generation that was born with computers and technology.  Google understands this too and believe in the users capacity to think for themselves.  I remember it taking me a little while to find the options page under the Customize and Control Google Chrome menu (that little discreet wrench icon in the top right corner).  I would rather work through a slight learning curve than be treated like a baby when it comes to working with a web browser or any piece of software for that matter (don’t mind me, that’s just my tech dork ego talking).

A Multi-Taskers Dream Come True

Frustrated by your computer getting bogged down in bottlenecks when you have multiple tabs and windows that you want to switch between?  A huge difference between Chrome and Firefox is that Chrome decreases wait time because they place a greater emphasis on DOM bindings and DNS pre-resolution.

So that is my take on it.  Safari and Opera are ok, and all of the rest are pretty much inferior, with IE being the furthest behind the pack.  I have yet to check out IE9 so maybe there is hope for Microsoft to have a legit browser.  The key there is maybe.  I still believe that Firefox has the best selection of extensions and add-ons, but Chrome is right in the rear-view mirror.  It’s too bad that Firefox is so much slower than Chrome because otherwise I would still use it on a regular basis.  As for now it will just have to be another browser I keep on the shelf.

What is your favorite browser and why?

Related Articles

Browser Blowout 2010 (PC World)
The Best Web Browser on the Planet (Slate)
Internet Browser Software Review (Top Ten Reviews)
Apple Updates Safari Web Browser, Adds Extensions (Techland)

Luckily I navigated my way through this incredibly difficult time, but it was not easy.  There were plenty of tears, restless nights, and emotional release episodes at the expense of the pillows on my couch.   Let me be clear about one thing: I’m not a victim.  There are plenty of other people in this world that I truly feel sorry for and they seem to propel themselves even when everyone else has already counted them out.

It is important for me to be real about my experience, so I may bring hope to someone reading this who is enduring similar hardship.   I made a conscience choice to hold my former employer accountable for an agreement we had in place when I first started working for the company, they rescinded the deal without notice, and I took exception to it.  That is a decision I will have to live with.

Looking back I learned some vital life lessons, the most important being to have a solid job in place once you are ready to say goodbye, regardless of the state of the economy.  Also, to save more for a rainy day or a monsoon, and take advantage of the people you come in contact with because someone will always be there to help you.

Going on job interview after job interview, several callbacks and reality TV show-like boardroom showdowns for some of the most pathetic sales jobs I realized I had to dig deeper and deeper to find out what I really wanted for myself.  I was being guided and protected, but I couldn’t even see it.

One day I had a bit of a revelation: empower yourself to set your career in motion and believe that the right people will appear when you’re ready.  Show up, do the footwork, and let go of the rest.  My good friend Richard had shared with me his experience in Manhattan Real Estate and offered to mentor me in the business.  After roughly six months of showing up to open houses in the same suit, pair of shoes, and dress shirt I began to really see myself as a successful  real estate salesperson.  So I took the exam, passed it, and decided to work for Coldwell Banker (the first and only company I interviewed with) in my hometown of Croton-on-Hudson.

It looks like the storm is clearing, with unemployment numbers dropping and real estate markets showing signs that buyers don’t want to lose a good deal.  Just take a look at the 69% increase in Westchester home sales closed in Q2 of 2010 compared to last year.  Walking into restaurants,  cold calling home technology companies, repairing sailboats, refereeing youth flag football games, and supervising lifeguards helped boost my self-esteem and motivated me to expect more from myself.  I learned how to deal with rejection,  face reality, and become more resourceful.  I have learned to appreciate what really matters and earning a living has taken on a new meaning.  I earn by walking through the doorway of service, and service is based on bringing my best to people who can receive it.  I am so excited to work in my own backyard, introducing families to their new homes and passing along the incredible resources that Coldwell Banker has to offer.

Related Articles

New York Property Condition Disclosure vs $500 Credit (Westchester Real Estate Blog)
Fear Keeps Buyers from Jumping on Low Rates (The Lou Cardillo Team)
Westchester Real Estate (Westchester, NY): Find a Dreamy Property (Business Finance Tips)

The Brick House robusto

When I first heard that Brick House by J.C. Newman was named Best Bargain Cigar of 2009 by Cigar Afficionado I was a little pessimistic. Having worked in the industry for Davidoff I gained insight into what truly generates favorable reviews in CA: ad dollars. Just take a look at the consistently subpar cigar reviews Davidoff gets time and time again and one has to look no further than the lack of advertising space they invest in the renowned publication compared to inferior blends (which shall remain nameless) that are anointed as premo sticks.

So to say I was reluctant to try one is a bit of an understatement.  Having smoked many of them over the past year I can honestly say that CA was right.  Time and time again I have been welcomed by a consistent, well-made, tasty smoke.  Although not extraordinarily complex, there is enough substance to satisy even the toughest cigar critic.

Last night I sat down in my backyard to toast a Brick House robusto with my dog Cohiba and wanted to spend some time seeing if a cigar that has yet to let me down could.

Structure

With a dark, shiny, and smooth Havana Subido wrapper and Nicaraguan filler and binder, the Brick House robusto has a relatively easy pull.  I chose to clip the three-seam cap, but I have used a punch and have scored the cap with my fingernail before and have never had a problem with it cracking.

Size

My trusty sidekick Cohiba

5×54

Pre-light

Rich dried fruit notes and a hint of cedar.

1st third

A subtle white pepper note gave way to more dried fruit, oak, and leather.  This cigar has a brooding aroma of toasted almonds and cinnamon.  Burn started out a bit uneven, yet under control.  The ash a light gray.

2nd third

Holding it's own and burning nice and even

Leather note became more pronounced and this cigar was able to correct and hold it’s marble ash effortlessly.

Finish

Prevailing dried fruit and oak notes with a hint of sweet maple syrup.  Since I was sipping it, this robusto did not heat up too much and it was a shame to put down when it was over.

Final Thoughts

At $6.25 a stick I put this at the top of my list of non-cubans regarding quality to cost.  I would be curious to see how it would mellow given some time in a humidor.  All in all, are there tobaccos of greater quality and cigars of more masterful blending? Of course.  The Brick House robusto still remains the best compromise I have found when I want to grab a cigar without having to wait for a special delivery or breaking the bank.

Related Articles

Ahh, bliss

Cigar Reviews and Ratings – Cigar Inspector
Puff.com – Cigar Reviews, Cigar News, Cigar Forums, Cigar Videos, Cigar Interviews and more
Cuban Cigar Reviews and Ratings

Many people who are not boat owners, or who have never had the splendid opportunity to own a boat can possibly comprehend the amount of time, energy, and good ol elbow grease involved in keeping one afloat… (cough, cough, and money).

Meet Schmidt Happens: a 1975 Cal25  built by Jensen Marine in Costa Mesa, California from the 1960s to 1980s.

Jack Jensen who founded Jensen Marine Corporation back in 1957 was considered by many to be a pioneer in all-fiberglass boat building, and was responsible for launching nearly 18,000 boats under the Cal name, 2,000 of which are the popular one design Cal25.

Still active everywhere from San Francisco Bay to the Chesapeake, these durable monohulls have the creature comforts of a cruiser: a spacious cabin with pop-top, while maintaining the performance of a racer.

If not properly maintained during the off-season you can expect to see problems with the deck softening, and spidercracking in the rudder.

After purchasing the boat back in 2000 with some wear and tear on it, my family decided to replace the sails, added an exceptional rolling furler by Alado,  replaced all of the standing and running rigging, fabricated and installed a new beam and cabin overheads, and spent countless other hours repairing little knick knacks.

Rudder in desperate need of repair

Before this season I noticed spider cracking and delamination getting progressively worse with the rudder.   Over several years water had collected in the rudder post, gradually seeping it’s way into the fiberglass where constant freezing and thawing during the winter caused the fiberglass to crack.  What I didn’t know ten years ago, but am well aware of today is the best way to maintain a boat is through preventative care (i.e – take the rudder off and store inside during the winter, and make sure steering column is properly sealed).

So I had a project that needed some attending to and fortunately enough some down time.  A new rudder goes for close to $1,000.00, nearly 25% of the overall resale value of the boat.  There are several ways you can go about doing this, the two most prevalent are cutting out the fiberglass, letting it dry out for a few weeks, rebound to steel rudder frame with epoxy resin, or grinding out cracks and injecting epoxy.  I decided to do a hybrid approach: completely cutting out the delaminated area, removing failed foam core, adding dense closed cell spray foam, re-glassing, and griding and filling all spidercracks.   What is very important when performing a repair like this is that you get as much of the moisture out as you can.  Using a heat gun or hairdryer to help dry will help.

Removal of delaminated area, and spidercracks grinded out

The very first step I took was to drill a series of four holes 1/2 in diameter into the bottom of the rudder while it was still attached to the boat to drain out all excess water.  After two weeks I took it off and brought it home to work on.

As you can see from the picture to the right, the metal framing began rusting pretty badly where the the worst of the delaminating of the fiberglass occurred.  Needless to say if this repair was not done sooner there would have been a good chance that it would have completely weakened and failed under too much resistance.

I invested close to $60.00 in a Makita 4″ angle grider which I have to say was a great purchase.  I beat the hell out of it and it’s still running like new.  I was on a tight budget so I shied away from the over hyped and unnecessary West Systems  Epoxy and instead put more sweat equity in by completely re-fiberglassing the delaminated area with polyester resin and six coats of fiberglass mat and cloth, starting off with two coats of cathair mat with fillet bonding, then two layers of cloth, followed by two layers of mat (as suggested in the book This Old Boat by Don Casey).

Before I go any further, here more items that made this repair possible:

1. Flat bar – to pull apart damaged sections

2. Hammer – easy, I know the rage will come up, but be patient. It will come out great!

3. 1 can of Evercoat Sealant and Spray Foam

4. 8 disposal putty knifes – I prefer small ones.

5. A dozen or so disposable trays and a drop cloth

6. Two saw horses and a sturdy tree

7.  Durable sander with several sheets of 80 grit sandpaper

8. 3 25ml Two-part Epoxy Syringes – Used to fill holes, and bond along rudder post.

Make sure you have some gloves, patience, and a ventilator

9. Pair of scissors

10 1 pack of fiberglass cloth

11. 1 pack of fiberglass mat

12. 1 quart of Evercoat polyester resin

13. 1 Quart Interlux Interprotect 2000E Barriercoat

14. 1 quart of Pettit Ultima SSA Ablative Antifouling Paint

15. Paint rollers and some paint thinner

16. Razorblade

17. Dozen small disposal paint brushes

Schmidt Happens resting comfortably in her slip

Ok, so after prying out the damaged sections and griding out the cracks, allowing plenty of time for it to dry out ( you’re looking at several days) along with expediting the drying as much as possible with a heat gun or hair dryer now it’s time to get messy.  You will have to cut out spongy foam and spray in new layer of foam.  Once it dries, cut the excess so it matches depth of original foam.

When you fiberglass one thing you always want to remember is that it’s always better to do it in low humidity and cooler temperatures.  If you have to do the repair in warm weather and higher humidity pay careful attention to add more than enough harder to the resin, and decrease the humidity with a dehumidifier.  If for some reason the resin does not cure properly, staying gummy, make a heat box by taking a small cardboard box, cutting a hole for your old hair dryer, sealing it, cut a vent in the top of the box (so it doesn’t blow up) and heat the surface in softest area to serve as a catalyst.

Your first two layers should consist of cat hair.  Cut up some fiberglass mat and mix it in a tray with resin.  I added West Systems fillet bonding to thicken the layer and to serve as a leveling agent.

Make sure each layer of fiberglass is dry and hard before doing the next layer.  It’s important to lightly sand between coat.  After doing my six coats of glass, and filling the holes I drilled in the bottom with two-part epoxy syringes, I used my grinder to feather down rough spots and sanded well.

Also, I took my grinder and dug out a 1/2in bevel around the rudder post and wiped away oxidation that occurred due to moisture.  I heated it up with the hairdryer and filled in with epoxy.

From there I wiped the rudder down with acetone and proceeded with three coats of barrier coat and three coats of anti-fouling paint (unfortunately I was in a rush to get the boat in the water so I never got the after picture. It looked sweet though).

Any question please feel free to send them my way and I will see if I can help you.

Interning with a dear friend of mine Richard Healy, Sr. Vice President at Halstead Property, LLC for the last six months shed a little more light on the business and inspired me to provide premium first class service and undivided loyalty to buyers and sellers primarily in Westchester county and Manhattan.

Although my business focuses primarily in Northern Westchester town like my hometown of Croton, I am also  willing to represent clients in Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs.

I will still blog about web technology and SEO from time-to-time along with my other interests like sailing and cigars, but my career will be 100% focused on real estate.

If you or anyone you know are looking to purchase, or sell your home feel free to contact me to schedule an appointment today.

I absolutely have a man crush on CSS3.  It’s fantastic client-side technology.  Now if only every web browser would support it!

If you happen to notice anything that seems out of the ordinary in terms of styling or performance please let me know and I will work on correcting it.  Look for this new release to coincide with the release of WordPress 3.0.

Hopefully the re-design will be showing up the way it is intended to.  I’m working on integrating Modernizr so that it degrades nicely in older browsers that do not support HTML5 and CSS3.  Look for both Solitary Genius and Quantum to be available in the beginning of May.

Solitary Genius Version 0.0.1

I’m really excited to announce that on April 19th I will be unveiling the beta releases of my first ever WordPress themes.  Sweet!  Both themes are designed in HTML5 and CSS3, supporting a variety of browsers and will have some backend customizations.  Although I still have plenty of work to do I am still targeting the original release date, but it is conceivable that it could get pushed back to May 1st.

Please pardon the screenshot images being a little fuzzy.

Solitary Genius incorporates Chris Coyier’s Featured Content Slider as well as the Wickett Twitter widget.  Built loosely around quasimo’s Love Today theme, Solitary Genius is a dark, minimalistic theme.

Utilizing the 52 Framework and modernizr javascript framework for backwards compatibility with older browsers, Quantum takes full advantage of the new semantic structure found in HTML5 without sacrificing usability.  With full support of the most current HTML5 tags including: header, nav, section, article, footer, aside, and more to come soon.

Quantum version 0.0.1

Being next generation themes in terms of semantics and structure I expect to have the WordPress development community taking out their magnifying lenses and helping out with some bug fixes.  They should come ready to go out-of-the-box, but hey you never know.  All web designer and developers love to say that and it’s rarely the case.  Ultimately since these will both be free wordpress themes I will look for community input and I’m not adverse to collaborating with multiple designers and developers on these open source projects.  I totally understand my limitations and welcome anyone who wants to help develop these themes to jump right in.

One thing that I have noticed about quite a few WordPress themes is their inability to provide truly semantic code that validates , is cross broswer compatible, and implements best seo practices.  Now I know that both CSS3 and HTML5 are still a work in progress, but I wanted to get a head start with the rest of my forward thinking developers.  I love the possibilities with both client-side technololgies and although I was completely adverse to HTML5 for quite some time I’m starting to warm up to it.

Please let me know if there are any features you would like to see included in these themes.

Jane Wells, UX lead for WordPress, has been actively engaging the development community over the past few weeks trying to get a better idea of what blogging enthusiasts would like to see added in the next major release.  There is no doubt about it, the response has been unbelievable.

I have been testing 3.0-beta and can honestly say that there are some really cool features to look forward to, particularly the merge with WPMU.  Now you can manage multiple sites through one installation and that’s very cool.  I will highlight the new features I believe are the greatest assets to WordPress 3.0 in one second, but I believe there are a few things missing that would be icing on the cake.

Page Caching and JavaScript/CSS Minification

First off, page caching should come native to WordPress core.  Donncha O Caoimh has done a great job maintaining WP-Super Cache over the past few years, but seriously how is file compression, minification, and page caching not included in core?  There are several great plugins, but why not consolidate and condense these into an all-in-one solution that could be found in the Tools section of the WP admin?  This is a long overdue feature in my opinion.

Page Speed Module

Wouldn’t it be great if you could access a core plugin like YSlow within the backend of a WP installation during maintenance mode to uncover performance and potential bottleneck issues?  Many laymen who manage WordPress sites may not be proficient enough in client-side and server-side technology to create CSS sprites, minimize DNS lookups and HTTP requests, or tweak a .htaccess file and MYSQL database, but there are many tools already available that do a great job auto-detecting and correcting issues that might be inhibiting page load times.  A performance hub in WordPress would be a huge addition.  Imagine being able to combined all of your Javascript and CSS files from all of your plugins into one master file regardless of the theme?

SEO Tools and Analysis

From an SEO standpoint, it would be awesome to see more granular control over meta information, allowing administrators to diagnose issues prior to publishing a new blog post with some native seo tools.  What about adding more html tag chicklets to the Tiny MCE WYSIWYG editor like H3, H4, and H5 tags as well as line breaks and special characters?

Health Check and Security Vulnerabilities

In terms of security, how about md5 encryption on all passwords stored in the database?  WordPress has been known for years to have several security issues ranging from cross-site scripting (XSS) to MYSQL injections.  It would be great to have even a basic foundation to expand on similar to the Tool Suite for Joomla.

Besides merging with WPMU, 3.0 allows for more semantic menu navigation by allowing admins to structure page hierarchy much easier than before.  With the addition of custom post types and taxonomies, custom fields will likely become a thing of the past.  The only problem I have with a lot of the open source software I dabble with is that most updated versions consistently aim to make the UI more spiffy while disregarding performance and stability.    Hey, I know WordPress cannot be all things to all people.  It has it’s limitations, albeit not many.  We are witnessing it’s evolution from a blogging platform into the premier open source CMS.  For it to reach that point though the eye candy is irrelevant if performance and security are put on the back burner.

WordPress fans I’m sure you have an opinion. Let’s hear it.

Related Articles

10 Great Ways To Optimize Your WordPress Blog
10 Features to Look Forward to in WordPress 3.0 (Nettuts+)
Get Ready for WordPress 3.0 (BloggingPro)
WordPress 3.0 Features Walk Through (WP Cookies)
9 Features We Most Want in WordPress 3.0

We were discussing the difference between big national accounts and local search engine marketing for small businesses.  His contention was that virtually no one is going to search for say, an SEO company, locally.  Local searches, Adam contends, are more often time than not performed by searchers visiting, or unfamiliar with a particular area on a quest to find a specific product or business.

The Importance of The Long Tail

So I wanted to investigate his argument a little more in depth.  Being an seo consultant for a few years now I have noticed that there has been a trend by quite a few Westchester companies who have done some work on their search engine marketing to keep the focus locally.  The idea being, “Think local and less competitive, especially on a tight budget” because the long tail SEO strategy is always cheaper, whether it’s buying keywords in a PPC campaign or the amount of sweat equity necessary to show tangible results through Organic SEO.  The question is: who can you bring to the site when targeting the long tail from a geo targeted perspective and roughly how many are coming to the party?

Adam was completely right about a business like SEO and geo-targeting.  The fact of the matter is that if someone is looking to hire an internet marketing consultant or an seo company to manage the search engine optimization on their website, they are going to find the company or individual who is the right fit for them, regardless of where they’re located.

It would work for the long tail however.  Anyone searching for Westchester business could easily stumble upon your site for “Westchester business” because you can easily get to top of Google search results by just the slightest bit of on-page and off-page SEO designed around that keyword. That means you could easily increase your monthly traffic and conversions by addressing that one keyword alone. Multiply that by more keywords and you are headed in the right direction.

Get Your Link Wheel Rollin

Link wheels have become increasingly popular with the decline of keyword density and link directories.  The main idea is that by creating one way links between sites that lead back to your “money site” or home page this will increases page rank and link popularity.

Link Wheeler is an excellent service for creating one way links between web 2.0 properties, blog posts, and article submissions.

I know you might be thinking this is a bit of a stretch, but taking into account a cost effective strategy such as a link wheel and building around a collection of less competitive keywords can generate favorable results with the SERPS almost instantly as opposed to months and months of heavy lifting at a hefty expense.  I am still a firm believer that addressing the long tail through geo-targeted keywords can work for the right business.

What do you think about the long tail?  Is it a good method or a fruitless endeavor?  I’d like to get your take on it.

Related articles

Geo-Target Google Real-Time Search Results With a Keyword Optimized Social Media Strategy
DoFollow: Increase Your Backlinks with DoFollow Sites(Squidoo)
SEO: Grow Multinational Sales With Geo-targeting “Signals” (Practical E-Commerce)
Using SEO to GEO Target Local Keywords (SEO Design Solutions)
All About Using Local Search Engine Marketing For Small Businesses (ronmedlin.com)

Having worked through their step-by-step guide integrating a Feedburner newsletter into my own site I thought it was a great email marketing solution without having to splurge for paid email marketing software like Aweber, Constant Contact, or Vertical Response.  What I was looking for was a little more personalization.  Feedburner is great, but it certainly has it’s limitations.  That’s where Mailchimp comes in.

MailChimp has been around for a few years now and it keeps getting better.  Offering a free email marketing plan that allows you to store up to 500 subscribers and send 3,000 emails per month, it’s a perfect solution for a small business looking to publish an e-newsletter without much of a budget.  Heck for a mere $30/month you can send unlimited emails to up to 2,500 subscribers.  So without further ado here are some of the simple steps I took after I followed the WP Beginner tutorial mentioned above.

1. After registering and signing into MailChimp click the Create Campaign button on the left side of your dashboard.

2. Once in Campaign Builder click on RSS-driven campaign.  This will prompt you to enter your RSS feed url that you made over at Feedburner.  I suggest you change the delivery time to every month at 11:00am.   Click Next →

3. Make sure your list of recipients is properly selected and Click Next →

4. This will bring you to to Campaign Info page.  This is pretty self explanatory, but make sure your email message subject is something non-spammy.  I also suggest you link your email campaign up to Google Analytics (more on this in a little bit).  Click Next →

5. Now you’re at the point where you can create your email and add content.  I decided to use the Simple Newsletter template MailChimp provides with a few customizations along the way.  This is super important: since you are displaying one post from your WordPress blog you’re going to want to display the entire post, not just a summary.  In the template editor make sure you add the following shortcode to the section you wish to display your feed’s content.

*|RSSITEM:TITLE|*
*|RSSITEM:CONTENT_FULL|*

Don’t forget to include an opt-out and disclosure statement in your footer similar to the one I have in mine otherwise Mailchimp won’t finalize the process and you will look like a spamming punk!   Keep in mind this will only show up in your template’s footer if the shortcode *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* is present. Go into your list settings for your newsletter and click the link Abuse Info & Permission Reminder.  Add something like this into the permission reminder text box:

In the past you provided opt-in information to the Blog of Dustin Schmidt either directly or through a third party vendor to recieve occasional email updates from our website. If you believe you are receiving this message in error you may <a href=”*|UNSUB|*”> click here to unsubscribe</a>. An email will automatically be sent to our administrator requesting to have your email removed from our mailing list.

6. To make sure you sync up your Google Analytics account with your newsletter campaign make sure you’re signed into your Google account and then click on the Account button in the upper left hand corner of the page.  Click on Integrations and then follow the on-screen instructions.  You can also have your Twitter account send out a tweet automatically every time you post your newsletter post in WordPress.  Pretty sweet huh?

7. Lastly you need to build a simple form to embed as a widget on your WordPress site.  Simply click on the Lists tab and click the forms link under the list for your email newsletter. Click on the for your website submenu link and then click Sign Up Form Embed Code link.  From here it is easy.  Choose what fields you want and how you want to style the form.  Once your set copy and paste the embed code into a new Text widget in WordPress… You’re done!

Just starting off a business and not really having any investment capital to support a marketing budget this email marketing solution works great for me.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful.  MailChimp can be a little overwhelming at first, but just relax and have fun with it.  If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know.