Mouth-watering cooking blogs are taking the Internet by storm. Zappers are blogging about everything from their favorite restaurant dishes to homemade organic recipes. Food blogs serve as creative outlets to document both trials and successes in the kitchen. Zapd makes it even easier for food enthusiasts to share their passion because a Zap can be updated instantly. Instead of relying on a computer, simply use Zapd to upload pictures and recipes straight from your phone!

The Keys to Starting a Zapd Food Blog:

A successful blog is composed of three main components: fantastic photos, solid recipes, and interesting descriptions.

1.) Photos

There is no need to be a professional photographer in the blogging sphere. Simple cameras or cell phones have the ability to capture high-resolution images. Just double check that you are taking your photos in a well-lit area and that the flash settings are not creating a bright glare. Experiment with arranging your dish or taking pictures from different angles. A simple backdrop or table works best but you may also experiment with adding some photo filters or additional props. Use Zapd to upload your photos within 60 seconds!

2.) Recipes

The recipe component of a blog sounds simple at first. Make a list of the ingredients of a homemade dish. (Unless you don’t want to share your grandma’s award-winning pie recipe with the world.)   List the ingredients in the order they are used. Organization will make your recipes straightforward and easy to replicate. Let your blog readers know if your recipe didn’t work out like you planned. Honesty is always the best policy.

3.) Description

You can either choose to write your food blog in a professional manner or spice it up with a little personality! Some of our favorite cooking blogs are written in a way in which the author seems like an old friend. Include restaurant reviews if you decide to compile a range of dishes from various local eateries. Add the recipes and descriptions under the uploaded photos in text boxes and publish your Zapd blog!

Remember: Zapd blogs can always be added to and edited once they are published. Most of the current Zapd food blogs are updated about once a week.

In the end, realize this– There is actually no “correct” way to maintain a food blog. These are just a few suggestions to make your blog more tempting to read. We encourage you to get your creative and cooking juices flowing! Feel free to send us your favorite Zapd food blogs on Facebook and Twitter.

Love,

The Zapd Team

Some great examples of Zapd food blogs:

 Focus Your Food

 Sydney Food (restaurant reviews)

The Nom Blog

 Recipes with Love for my Sister

Homecooking

The fox and the knife

What better way to brighten up a not-so-great day than to browse through photos of adorable pets? Countless Zapd users dedicate “Zaps” to their prized animal companions. Some pet owners even put a creative twist on their websites by blogging from the animal’s point of view. Although it was difficult to choose from the abundant number of exceptional animals, here are a few of our favorites. Enjoy!

We would love to hear from you! Send us your favorite animal Zaps via Facebook or Twitter.

Happy Zapping!

Many people start a blog before they embark on a trip, intending to frequently update it to share their experiences with friends and family. But more often than not, updating the blog takes a backseat to everything the vacation has to offer. On top of this, there is the inconvenience and liability of carrying a laptop when you’re backpacking through rough terrain or staying in a dorm-style hostel.

The latest smartphones have built-in cameras with megapixels and capabilities that challenge many point and shoot cameras, allowing you to take high quality photos on the same device as blogging and accessing the internet. For a minimalist traveler in particular, this means your phone is all you need to share your adventures in real time. Snap a photo, give it a caption, and publish it to the web. With Zapd, you’ll  have more time in your trip to enjoy the sights, and more room in your suitcase for souvenirs.

Not sure whether to write about your experiences or just upload photos? Finding the right balance between text and photos depends on your personal blogging style.

Here are a few examples of different travel Zap styles for inspiration:

Among the most popular travel Zaps are those that follow a photo essay style. Some are composed of only images, while others use captions to give the information that the picture alone might not reveal to those at home.

Example from http://tomtom.zapd.net/

Captions allow viewers to identify the what and where of your trip and are also a good way to include a fact or share a personal experience alongside an image.

Another nice way to lay out your travel Zap is to group posts by dayor location, with a brief summary followed by subsequent images. The following screen-cap is an example from http://timmermansinvietnam.zapd.net/

The third style functions most like a traditional Blog. Descriptive posts summarize each day of the trip or sight visited, and photos are interspersed throughout to serve as illustrations. Zapd is a great choice if you write lengthy posts and would like to update on the go!

Example from http://46hk.zapd.co

Do you have a completely different blogging style you’d like to share? Post your zap’s url as a comment below!

Love,

The Zapd Team

Draw Something is the latest mobile craze in gaming -it’s basically Pictionary in an app! Posting your screenshots to a Zap is an awesome way to showcase your talent. If you don’t have Draw Something yet, check it out at this link! http://omgpop.com/drawsomething

We found some amazing drawings online at izismile.com and created a Zap so you could guess what some of them are! Here are a couple of our favorites, but click here for the complete Zap:  Amazing Draw Something Creations!
How many can you guess?

To discover more awesome creations visit:

http://izismile.com/2012/04/07/awesome_draw_something_creations_100_pics.html

Happy Zapping!

Take a look back on your child’s first steps, their first tooth, 8^th grade graduation, the keys to their first car…. Zapd provides parents with the tools to instantly share all the precious milestone moments with family and friends. Reflect on special family memories with loved ones near and far with the Zapd mobile app. Zapd supplies custom designed themes that are the perfect backdrop for any occasion.

Pick a theme, brainstorm a title, and you’re well on your way. You have most likely accumulated a large collection of pictures over the years– so why not start uploading them onto an easy-to-use website?

Zaps are a fun way to get the whole family involved. Grandma and Grandpa can add their own pictures or comment on “how adorable” the grand-kids are. Cousins have the ability to reconnect to each other’s lives more than ever before! Brag to your friends about how well your kids are doing in school or sports. Share holidays, birthdays, and family gatherings quickly with the touch of a button.

The sky is the limit and what better way to document a time you will cherish forever than by creating a family Zap? You have the option to make your Zaps private to keep the viewers within the family circle or to make it public in order to easily share your Zap with others. It’s up to you! You can also add pictures and edit the Zap whenever you feel like it.

One of the best parts about creating a Zap is that it’s easy to add memories as they happen. We know you won’t always have a camera with you and there’s no need to wait until you get home to upload the photos. Upload pictures straight from your mobile device within minutes. It’s that simple!

Love,

The Zapd Team

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Check out these Family Zaps:

Everett’s World

Dylan Sports Today! 

Tess 17-08-2011

Zaps tend to have the reputation of being used for recreation, but they can also come in handy for serious business! Recently we have seen an influx of small businesses building Zaps for quick and easy company websites. Zaps are sprouting from restaurants, Cake Pop shops, jewelry design, wedding photography, extreme sport venues, clothing boutiques, and practically every industry under the sun.

By creating a customized business Zap, business owners don’t have to hire outside help in order to establish a company website. Remember- no coding knowledge is needed! Avoid paying big bucks for a website that may appear less than satisfactory. Instead, take a walk through your business snapping a few choice shots, add some quick product or service descriptions, then finish it off with your contact info and you’re done.The Zapd app is a free tool that numerous small businesses are taking advantage of to get online in literally a couple of minutes.

The keys to producing an effective business Zap:

Company websites are meant to provide information to potential customers, gain exposure, and to build your business over time. We have a few suggestions to help your business Zap make an impact:

• Upload appealing images: In order to make your business Zap visually engaging, you should add good looking business logos and photos. Customers trust what they see!  In turn, logos help remind users of your brand(s), and additional images set the tone for your business, products, and services.

• Organize your information: We recommend that you don’t overload your Zap with too much information. A large block of text tends to be more difficult to read so sort the text into paragraphs or bullet points to make it clearer. Remember to provide the business’ address, hours, and the contact information.

• Include a map: Along with sharing the building’s address, add a photo, link, or screenshot of a map to help viewers find your location.

• Customize the URL: This is important! After publishing your business Zap, customize the URL so that the name of your business is featured in the Zap URL. This way, your Zap truly represents your business, and can be easily recognized.

• Be creative! Last but not least-  Since your business is one of a kind, your Zap should be too! Add personal touches to the Zap to make it your own. Happy Zapping!

Love,
The Zapd team

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Some Current Business Zaps:

Restaurants

Victoria Plum Tea Room
New Delhi Restaurant

Tile Work

Bushart Tile Portfolio

Extreme Sports

Wahoo Ziplines

Beauty Products

Nature’s Divine

Hundreds of real estate agents are currently using Zapd as an avenue to easily circulate property listings! Real estate Zaps condense listing information onto a single website with clear pictures and detailed descriptions. The Zaps are not only easy for the general public to access, but they are also simple to create on your computer or mobile device within 60 seconds!

Post a real estate Zap by following a few simple steps:

Pick a theme for your Zap! Every property has its own unique traits. Maybe it’s modern, classic, endearing, or unique. Mix or match your Zap theme to the building you are putting on display. You can play around with different themes by previewing your Zap before publishing it.

Then, choose a catchy title! It could be something as simple as the home’s address, a title that describes the home, or a fun headline that will draw buyers in.

Next, upload multiple photos. The more the better! Tap the camera icon to add photos. Who doesn’t love virtual tours? We know we do. Add captions to your photos to let potential buyers know what exactly they’re looking at. A caption might read: “A breathtaking view from the spacious living room.”

Remember, you’re in the driver’s seat. Shape your Zap to make it even more dynamic. Add links to videos, websites, or Craigslist posts to provide clients with additional information.

It’s almost Zap publishing time! Remember to fill out your Zapd profile. We recommend providing a photo with contact information so that clients will know who to contact about the listing. Then set your custom URL address so it is easy to remember and share.

Don’t forget to share your Zap!

Now that you’re ready to share the Zap, post the customized Zap link to Facebook, Twitter, emails, your website etc. Happy Zapping!

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A few great real estate Zaps:

28490 Florence, Garden City, MI

10068 Eagle Ridge Ct- Rancho Cucamonga

Historic Greek Revival For Sale By Owner

We’re proud to announce that we’ve been chosen as a nominee for TechFlash’s Mobile App of the Year award! Techflash is one of Seattle’s premier tech blogs, and every year since 2008 they’ve been bringing together Seattle newsmakers for a night to remember.

There are thousands of apps released every month, we are humbled that our mission to make website creation simple and interactive has been so well received. Seattle is home to so many brilliant minds and innovative entrepreneurs. We are both excited and honored to be in the running with these other excellent apps: Pirq, Trover, Alaska Airlines, and Group Health Mobile.

That being said… Vote for Zapd! Tell your friends! Tell your mom! Tell your mom’s friends! Voting continues until November 28th, and we hope to take home a Flashie on December 11th. Updates to follow….

Are you a well qualified UI/UX designer, or know someone who is? Then our talented team here at Zapd would LOVE for you to get in touch.

Zapd is this year’s breakout new mobile app. We’re venture backed, and we’re growing.

Our stellar group of investors includes former Zillow.com CEO Rich Barton; former AtomFilms CEO and MTV Digital VP Mika Salmi; Second Avenue Partners’ Nick Hanauer and Mike Slade; former Expedia CEO Erik Blachford, and the newest member of our board, RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser.

Our app launched in March, was the most popular new app in April, and has been named Apple’s official iPhone app of the week in both the UK and the US. In addition we’ve been a top 10 app in over 30 countries!

We have a good start and a great team already. We work very hard, but we have a lot of fun in a casual work environment. Our offices are in downtown Seattle, sandwiched between the market, the waterfront, and Pioneer Square. We do team lunches often, and team happy hours too.

We’re exploring options for full time, part time, remote or onsite. We’re interested in finding out more about you and what opportunities you might be looking for. We’d like to find a few great new team members to work with on some exciting new ideas in the mobile space.

To apply or learn more, email kelly.smith@zapd.com. We’d like some samples of your work and more information about your experience, availability, and interest.

Along with a busy month of updates behind the scenes, you may have noticed we’ve recently made a big change right before your very eyes with our new and improved homepage.

We’ve seen so many great Zaps that we decided to revamp our showcase and highlight more of our favorites within different categories. Now there’s a bevy of Zaps to explore, right on the homepage! We’ve added a group of featured Zaps that will change every few days, along with some of our favorites from each category. You can stumble right into the ever-expanding world of Zaps on a wide range of topics, from  photography to autos, animals and pets, humor, blogs, music, crafts and more!

We’re working to include many new interesting sites each and every week – so check back often and let these Zappers know what you think! If you have a Zap you’d like to see added to our showcase – let us know!