So, just a moment ago I posted the other half of this blog.  I worked VERY hard to make it visually unappealing and kind of boring.  I did that on purpose.  For a purpose. 

You see, there are SO many ways to add rich media to your WordPress and Active|Rain posts. 

• YouTube (and dozens of other video sharing sites)
• SlideShare (and some other presentation sharing sites)
• Flickr (and the other photo sharing sites)
• MagToo (I don't know of any other panorama sharing sites)
• Pictures
• Graphics

And most of them are free or nearly free.  And they are easy to use. 

you still need to have something compelling to say, but it is much more interesting (and WAY less pressure) if it is also presented in an interesting manner.  Through the use of these cool tools, you will be able to better connect with your readers, and your readers will better connect with you. 

Don't let the little code snippets freak you out, they aren't THAT hard to edit into a post.  It needs to be done on the HTML side of both your WordPress and Active|Rain blogs.  I would bet that there is already a tutorial on how to do this for A|R, and I know that there are scores of them for WordPress...  But, one of the great things about blogging is playing and learning.  And what better way to learn about code than to play in it a little... 

Here is the WAY quick version (for A|R). 

1. Write your blog without the embeddable media
2. Save it to draft
3. Open it back up and click on HTML
4. In another tab, open up the Embed code for the item you want to install
5. Copy the code
6. Paste it into your Active|Rain post where you want it to show up
7. Save it to Member's Only or Public view
8. Make sure it works... 
   

WordPress is pretty similar, except that you don't have to save it in order to switch from WYSIWYG to HTML and back.  Also, both tend to mess with the code if they are changed back and forth a few times...  so, try to get the regular content right and then install the embeddable applications. 

Enjoy...