I did this…

…and it seems to have made my overall computing experience a whole lot faster!

“If you’re web-savvy and comfortable with changing your network settings, check out the Google Code Blog for detailed instructions and more information on how to set up Google Public DNS on your computer or router.

As people begin to use Google Public DNS, we plan to share what we learn with the broader web community and other DNS providers, to improve the browsing experience for Internet users globally. The goal of Google Public DNS is to benefit users worldwide while also helping the tens of thousands of DNS resolvers improve their services, ultimately making the web faster for everyone.” Source: Official Google Blog: Introducing Google Public DNS

Go to the source and try it out for yourself!

December 4, 2009 0

I keep telling you…

…that in order to thrive, not just survive, on the internet, you’ve got to master RSS feeds! Perhaps if someone else explains it this time, it will start to sink in…

“RSS or “Really Simple Syndication” is a term used to explain how, instead of you having to chase all over the Web to find the latest stories and news items you are interested in, you get the Web to bring them to you.

This can save you hours. I call it designing your own news service, delivered to you every day or as often as you want.

The “syndication” part of it is like when a comic strip is “syndicated”, that is, licensed to be used in newspapers all over the world. Bloggers and others who provide stories and articles online want more people to read them, so they “syndicate” them – that is, give permission for them to be read where you want to read them.

Blogs (and some other websites) have code in them to make this happen – it’s called a “feed” because it feeds the information to you that you want. How you usually know where that code is to be found is the orange (or whatever colored) icon. And sometimes words like “subscribe to my feed” or “subscribe to this blog”.

“Subscribe” just means that you get the feed and put it into a tool called a “feed reader” – most of these are free.” Source: What’s RSS? — Des Walsh dot Com

Do go to the source and read the rest of the article, but only if you’re wanting to gain a competitive advantage that will help you crush the competition!

Then, if you’re inspired, go back and read all the posts I’ve done on the topic! Hmmm. Sounds a little cranky — maybe I need more coffee [or, I’ve had too much!]… ;-)

November 30, 2009 0

Hmmm. I think I may need to rethink Posterous…

I’ve been a fan of tumblr for a long time, but the fact that Guy Kawasaki chose Posterous for his ‘Holy Kaw‘ blog got me thinking and testing this morning. My jury’s still out, but I’m curious. Here’s a video tour from the ‘digitalchiropractor’ on YouTube — forget the doctor content and follow along. I think you’ll see why I’m intrigued — Posterous may just be the perfect social media front-end…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxeFOD5lZ4k

November 29, 2009 0

Are You Jotting Yet?

This free tool is amazing, especially if you’re a busy person who spends a lot of time in the car with your cell phone…

“At its most basic level, webapp Jott is a voice to text transcription service: you call Jott, leave a message, and Jott transcribes it and emails you or your contacts the text. That alone can capture the big idea that pops into your head on the drive to the office, but Jott can do a whole lot more than send you email. With Jott’s built-in links and tools that capitalize on its email-sending abilities, it can give nearly any personal organization system a go-anywhere, add-anything boost. Today we’ve got a quick primer on how to turn your phone into a ubiquitous capture tool that zaps info into all your favorite organization apps by voice.” Feature: Get Things Done Over the Phone with Jott

David Allen of ‘Getting Things Done’ fame says that your mind is a terrible place to store things — Jott can help get things out of your mind and into a system where you can deal with them, but that’s just the start. Read the whole article…

November 29, 2009 0

5 Reasons for Not Managing Your Pipeline

Colin Wilson writes… “I’ve been travelling the length and breadth of the UK last week and not been able to put up any posts on my blog and so feeling a little more than a tad guilty I’ve been trying to put one together during my lunch break on one of the training workshops that I’ve been running… to help me I enlisted the help of some friends and so my thanks go to Tony, Richard, Elaine, Mike and Dave (aka Ishbell) who helped me develop this list.

Here are our 5 best reasons why you should not manage your pipeline…” A tongue in cheek look at the problem of opportunity pipelines which is definitely worth the read. Click here to read more…

November 25, 2009 0

Welcome to Google Sites

I didn’t blog this morning because Google rolled out Google sites yesterday and I got caught up in creating an extranet for a client. Google Sites is an incredible addition to Google Apps for Domains and yes, it’s free [again]…

“Google Sites, a new offering from Google Apps, makes creating a team site as easy as editing a document. Use Google Sites to centralize all types of information — from videos to presentations — and share your site with just a few people, your entire organization, or the world.”

Just one more reason to love Google Apps for Domains! Click the title to go to Google sites…

November 25, 2009 0

3 ways for small businesses to save money on IT

Regardless of what the government says, most business owners feel we’re still in a recession…

“The recession is cutting into small and midsized businesses’ IT spending, and some industries are hurting more than others, according to the results of the latest IT Effectiveness Index (ITEI) survey.

The ITEI is a benchmarking tool that measures the technology effectiveness of small and midsized businesses. (Small Business Trends is one of the partners of the study.) According to the latest survey, the manufacturing industry has been hit hardest, with 66 percent of people in this industry delaying, halting or canceling IT projects, and a similar number reducing capital expenses.

Also hard hit were the communications industry (at 55 percent), wholesale businesses (52 percent) and service providers with 48 percent reporting an IT spending slowdown. Not surprisingly, the computer industry was the least affected — only a third of the respondents in that industry said their IT projects had been affected by the recession. And the woes don’t end there. Half of the manufacturing industry respondents said their IT operations were either understaffed or critically understaffed. Thirty-three percent of service providers said the same, as did nearly a quarter of the respondents in the computer industry.” Source: SMB IT Budgets and Staffing Hit Hard by Recession | Small Business Trends

From where I sit, most small businesses squander money unnecessarily by not thinking about saving money where possible on IT. Here are three easy ways to stretch your technology dollar…

Outsource your email and back office collaboration to Google; Google Apps is a powerful, cost effective way to communicate both internally and externally.
Explore using a Content Management System like WordPress as a website; link it to social media outposts to drive your internet marketing.
Get off the Microsoft licensing treadmill; no one NEEDS Windows 7, in face, most end users haven’t mastered XP and 2003 yet. Consider buying older computers on eBay, using Ubuntu, OpenOffice, and other money saving strategies and tactics.

These are just a few of the many ways small businesses can stretch their IT dollars and smart business leaders look to months like December when much of the world loses focus to implement ideas like these. Let’s talk about how you can start the new year with more cost effective tools for IT…

November 24, 2009 0

5 Sentences

I post a lot about email. Why? Because for most business people the battle for control over the inbox is THE most critical fight they face each day. Most actionable items come to us in the form of email and tools like GTD and Inbox Zero help us process that information [search the blog for those topics]…

What about writing emails? There’s a move afoot called 5 Sentences. It’s not complex — you can read everything you need to know about it here. Guy Kawasaki also wrote about it in his post ‘Ten Things to Learn This School Year ‘:

“How to write a five-sentence email. Young people have an advantage over older people in this area because older people (like me) were taught to write letters that were printed on paper, signed, stuck in an envelope, and mailed. Writing a short email was a new experience for them. Young people, by contrast are used to IMing and chatting. If anything, they’re too skilled on brevity, but it’s easier to teach someone how to write a long message than a short one. Whether UR young or old, the point is that the optimal length of an email message is five sentences. All you should do is explain who you are, what you want, why you should get it, and when you need it by.”

Handling email effectively is not only knowing how to process your inbox — it’s a collaborative effort on all our parts to write better and more succinct emails!

November 23, 2009 0

Laptops: Check the Ports Before Buying a Used Laptop

Posted using ShareThis

November 23, 2009 0

Just another reason…

…why ‘cloud computing’ makes so much sense!

November 23, 2009 0

Should lead generation ignore current customers?

“”We know more about our prospects (leads) than we know about our current customers” was shocking statement I heard from a client and it stuck with me. In fact, it’s the impetus for this post.

When you have a complex sale, it can be easy to think of lead generation as only a process for acquiring new customers rather than a process that can also be applied to generating new or more business from current customers.” Click the title to read more…

November 22, 2009 0

Google Apps for Small Business

Use it! I do…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNOh24VrKQo

November 22, 2009 0

Salesforce.com Enticement Program: Migrate with Ease

Another sign of growing customer dissatisfaction with Salesforce.com…

“Salesboom.com™ leading vendor of Software-as-a-Service CRM Software Solutions today announced the implementation of their Salesforce.com Enticement Program which is designed for displeased Salesforce.com customers who are looking to migrate to another CRM provider. Businesses who migrate to Salesboom.com On-Demand CRM Solutions receive a $5,000 check and a guaranteed lower annual rate than that of Salesforce.com, some restrictions apply…

An increasing number of businesses driven by frustration with poor customer service and high license and integration costs are leaving Salesforce.com for Salesboom.com. As described by Rami Hamodah, the President and Co-Founder of Salesboom.com, “The relationship between Salesboom.com and Salesforce.com is a one way street. Salesforce.com customers embark on their journey along this one way street and find themselves at our door. This one way street analogy sums up our relationship with Salesforce.com, we should be thankful to them, after all they are our largest source of new clients!”

Myself, I was a huge fan of Salesforce.com for many years but have moved on to the community version of SugarCRM which has much of the functionality of Salesforce.com but is free and just fine for a smaller sales team. Salesforce.com is doing a lot of stupid things lately from their lame channel program to their ever escalating prices. Think twice before getting invoved with Salesforce.com…

Update 11/21/09: Since writing this post, have also become a huge fan of Zoho CRM!