Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking to increase productivity
Today was my first day using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, I had tried it in the past but I had to read like pages and pages of content during the training and never even got started with the software. So nearly 5 years later I figured why not give it a shot. So this morning I installed it and am now writing this blog post for you.
So the functions are really basic and believe it or not the training only took me approximately 5 minutes. My biggest problem is my Wal-Mart headset was a piece of junk and had too much sound interference with the microphone. So I went and unplugged my $50 turtle Beach headset for my Xbox 360. Now if you don’t have turtle Beach headset for the Xbox 360 then you probably know by now that you need to get one. On a side note I went like 52 kills and 16 deaths on Dome in call of duty 5 last night.
So all this typing so far has been in Dragon NaturallySpeaking and I haven’t typed a single thing. Now all the basic key commands you can say just like you are talking to a servant and he was transcribing everything that you say. Now forgive me for another TV reference but I was just watching the Tudors last night and King Henry wasn’t doing as much dictating as he probably should, most of the time he was just signing legislation and stuff. Oh and by the way, I’m currently on season two of the Tudors and it’s definitely worth watching especially since Rome was canceled.
Okay I apologize for all the nonsense lets get back to the point. I’m not lying to you when I tell you every single word in this post has been spoke and not typed by my own hands. The newest version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking number 10 is amazing, it’s like it’s learning as I go and if I say something that could be something else it chooses for me but I can say to select that word or phrase or entire line and it will give me options to edit it. It’s almost like spellcheck, it will pop up with five different options and tell me to choose which one I want or I can give this a commands like to learn a word or something else.
This entire post is a real test of how well the newest version works in how well you can get it working within an hour. Now my voice is fairly normal it’s not like most elegant or anything but I don’t say the word UHH which believe it or not it ignores. It actually doesn’t even pick up that word and I had to spell it out manually, so if you kind of stutter or filler words the software should be determine the difference.
The software should work really good if you use it to read articles out loud and rewrite them in your own words at the same time. It should be a good alternative to hiring article writers or using article spinning software. Once you get it down you should be able to write approximately 150 words per minute without getting tired now that doesn’t mean you’re not going to lose your voice.
Okay so as you know the software still getting used to my voice and building a database so in the future I can talk quicker than I am now. I’m talking about a normal pace but I could be talking really quickly even faster than I can type by hand. You know, another issue I didn’t even think about is that a lot of bloggers have a problem speaking to their reader in a voice that they can understand. If you haven’t noticed some of your friends you talk to in real life can’t type worth a damn and you can’t understand a single thing they’re trying to tell you. Yeah, I’m talking about you Nick, LOL.
Give me some comments and let me know what you think!
Choosing a Domain Name
Selecting the right name for your domain can be one of the most important things that you do. We’ll help you understand why choosing a domain name is so important and help you make the right selection.
When selecting a domain name you really have one of three options.
Option #1
Choose a keyword rich domain name.
When I mention the term keyword rich domain name, I’m essentially talking about including the target keyword in your domain name. This means selecting a primary search engine keyword or keyword phrase and either using it as your domain name or part of your domain name.
If the primary search engine keyword phrase you are trying to target is “plasma televisions” you’d rank best with that exact keyword phrase in the domain. The ideal domain would be plasmatelevisions.com or plasmatelevisions.net. You’ll find that a .com or .net will also rank better than a .org, .info, .me, etc
Option #2
Choose a catchy domain name
If you decide to go with a catchy domain name you’re basically aiming for something your visitor can remember. If you’re trying to target marketing as your niche you may want to consider something like marketingwizards.com even though wizards really has nothing to do with marketing it’s a keyword that your visitor will probably remember if they choose to visit your site again in the future. This also comes in handy if they’re talking with their friends and decide to bring up the name of your website during conversation.
If you choose domain name that is has dashes, numbers, or even a .net instead of a .com it is easy for someone trying to visit your domain to get lost. For example, if their friend told them that they got all this great marketing information from marketingwizards.com but they actually visited marketingwizards.net or marketing-wizards.com. You can see how easily it is for your domain name to be butchered when presented via word of mouth.
Option #3
Choose a short domain name
Selecting a short domain name makes it so the searcher has to type fewer characters in to their browser thus eliminating opportunities for mistakes. A great example of a short domain name is Hulu.com. If you’ve ever visited the site it’s basically a redirect to online streams of popular tv shows that you can watch online. As you can already tell the keyword Hulu has nothing to do with watching tv shows online or any of the other keywords the site may want to target but it is short, catchy and easy to remember.
Purchasing short domain names with few characters can difficult to obtain or quite expensive as more domain names are purchased daily.
Things to Consider
1. Dashes in a keyword rich domain
Example: high-traffic-keyword
I’ve seen plenty of domains rank well with dashes but many seo experts agree it can be much more difficult than a domain that has the exact keyword without the dashes.
2. Using numbers in your domain
Example: 1freecreditreport.com
Even though you have nearly the entire keyword you’re trying to target in the domain it’s usually not a good idea to include numbers in your domain. Both search engines and searchers in general don’t favor domain names that are keyword rich but butchered with the insertion of unnecessary numbers.
3. Think twice about a domain that’s not .com or .net
Example: sellmyhomefast.info
Is the keyword rich domain name you’ve chosen really going to bring enough traffic on the main keyword or keyword phrase you’re targeting? If it is you can go with a .org or .info but remember that if you’re targeting a commercial venture it’s more difficult to get ranked for popular keywords using a .org or .info than it is when you go with a .com or .net.
