Category: Technology

No disagreement from me…


Image via CrunchBase

…on this issue!

“It’s 2009. Every business needs a corporate blog to accompany their corporate website, and every individual needs a personal blog to share their thoughts – or portfolio – with the world.

My advice? Go with WordPress. Then leverage a database of 4,500+ third-party plugins to make it the most robust, cost-effective, Web 2.0 Content Management System you can get.” Source: 31 WordPress Plugins To Enhance Your Blog and Life | The Daily Anchor | Marketing and Advertising Blog

Go to the source and read the entire article — it’s worth it…

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Save Money Using Google Tools…

Looking for ways to save money? Who isn’t these days…

“The economy is bad and the stock market is hitting all-time lows. If there was any time to be a little more frugal, this would be it. Thankfully, Google Tools can easily substitute the other expensive software programs you might normally think of first.

Here are the Google Tools, and those they substitute, that can help you keep some cash in your pocket. Some tools will save you more than others, anywhere from dollars ($) to hundreds ($$).” Source: 6 Ways to Save Money Using Google Tools

Contact me — I’ll be happy to show you how…

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Step away from the inbox | Simply GTD with Kelly

“A few times lately in GTD classes, people have asked me for recommendations on how often I process email. There are some approaches out there that suggest people only check email once a day. Sounds pretty extreme to me, especially if your world moves pretty fast and real work is getting done through email. I check email as often as I need to and at least once a day my Inbox is at zero. However, I do think stepping away from the constant stream of new input can be helpful, if not essential, to getting things done. Otherwise, it can be like standing in front of a fire hydrant with water blasting you in the face. You’ll keep getting pelted until you step away from it.” Click the title to read more…

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I’m working on a project…

…to put my business online using only tools that are freely available from Google. The purpose of the exercise is to ‘eat my own dog food’ so to speak and thereby demonstrate that it’s possible for any entrepreneur, SMB, volunteer group, etc. to have a robust web presence and take advantage of these tools for their own purposes. Sign up for updates in the Feedblitz box in the right hand column and track my progress…

Update, November 9: I ultimately had to pass on this project in favor of adding WordPress and a few other tools to the mix. Since the time of this original post, I’ve learned 10x more about ‘good, fast and cheap’ tools to put your business on the internet. Questions? Feedback? Comment, call or write!

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Tactic #4: Use an external blog editor

Last week I covered tactic #3 in the tactics and tools series: blogging. Assuming that all my clients and readers went out and immediately launched a new blog by now you’re thinking to yourself ‘there’s got to be an easier way’. That easier way is to use a blog editor. Not just any blog editor; use ScribeFire. Jon M. of the Affiliate Business Advisor blog writes this:

“I mentioned previously in an older post how I have used various Blog Editing software, some have been good some have been complete crap and some fall, somewhere in the middle.

I just want to mention one that I have been using now for quite some time. Previously I was using software called Post2blog and I worked closely with the designer to add features in that I thought would make it better.

After Microsoft came out with their free Windows Live Writer software, the owner of post2blog decided to call it a day, and with it a number of features stopped working.

So i [sic] moved over to windows writer. I started to find that has numerous issues and was extremely slow to use. Posting videos was a nightmare though I believe they have fixed that now.

At which time I began looking for another editor to use to post to my multiple blogs.. i came across Free Scribefire which at the time seemed excellent but once again I found a ton of issues like you couldn”t align images which was a pain, they also had a number of other issues.. Yet I could see that it had potential if only the creator would fix some of the issues.

Well I have to say that the creator took the feedback from his users very seriously and I kid you not… within a matter of a month or 2 he had output at least 4 to 5 new updates to Scribefire… taking into account pretty much all of peoples requests.

Yet still there seemed to be a few issues that I ran into so i decided to create a video to show the owner..

And once again the owner took seriously the feedback and within a week had a new update out which included some of my suggestions

I stand behind this as its not only FREE but the support is by far some of the best support I have seen provided for a free based application.” Source: Internet Marketing Blog – Making Money Online » Blog Archive » Scribefire Review

Jon also put together a nice video review which you can view here…

Why use ScribeFire?

  1. You want to easily be able to slurp content from websites you visit.
  2. You want additional features or enhancements like Zemanta.
  3. You edit multiple blogs and want a way to quickly update them all.
  4. You want to actively manage pings and technorati tags.
  5. You want an easy way to generate ad revenue.

Slurp content? What is that you say? Here’s a video — easier to show than tell…

I’m a little bit rushed today — my focus is on gettings things in order before my trip to Germany Friday so I may have missed a thing or two. You can always ask a question in the comments or via the contact page. One final note; I would have liked to write about Windows Live Writer which had shown some promise, but due to the pissing match between Firefox and Microsoft, the Windows Live Writer add-on for Firefox does not work with the current version. If you’re an Internet Explorer user, you may want to evaluate that solution as well…

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Separate your email from your to-do’s

“Your boss needs the updated PowerPoint presentation file by Tuesday. Your spouse wants to know how many vacation days you’ve got left this year. Your co-worker needs your office pool picks. Everyone gets task requests via email all day long, and it’s so easy to let these messages slip through the cracks. Whether your inbox is stuffed with two-year-old fwd’d kitten photos from Aunt Edna, or if you empty it every day and diligently file away actionable email to a ‘TO-DO’ folder – it’s still not easy to track the messages you’ve actually got to DO something about using email.” Click here to read more…

Update: I use ‘Remember the Milk [RTM]’ — the powerful todo manager with the goofy name — to manage my todos and one of the reasons why is that my todo list has an email address and if a task comes to me in email, I can forward it to that special address and the email will be added to my todos as a task and the body of the email will be converted to a note so I know what the task is about. RTM also has a great web interface, BlackBerry and iPhone apps, and interfaces with Jott! All huge reasons why YOU should use this external todo manager as well!

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15x

What is 15x you say? 15X is the multiple by which the traffic to the blog increased over 3 months. In July I was serving up a paltry 4 pageviews per day. Then I got serious. In October that number increased to 63. I have no reason to believe that it will stop growing either, unless I get lazy and stop working at it… ;-)

How did I do it? Through an easy, repeatable process that begins with Google Reader, continues with this WordPress blog, and ends with social media integration. Question? Feedback? Leave a comment or use the contact page…

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FREE ONLINE CLASS TODAY AT NOON: Using Google Reader like a Rockstar!

Google Reader Fluid Icon
Image by indiekid via Flickr

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve posted on the joys of using Google Reader. I consider my use of that tool to be one of the three greatest competitive advantages I have. In seminars I tell people that mastering rss feeds with Google Reader may be the most important skill I learned in the past decade and most of the time the response is crickets chirping…

What is Google Reader and why do I think it’s SOOO important?

“When RSS became a standard for publishing material on the web, the way that we received our information changed very quickly. No longer did users have to go find content; now it could come to them automatically. With the world at their fingertips, something had to be created to sort all of the information. Feed Readers soon started popping up, and power house Google (Google) created their own version.

Google Reader is robust in features, and can be used “out of the box” for those that just want a point and click solution, or tweaked so that power users can play around.” Source: HOW TO: Use Google Reader Like A Rockstar

If you want to know more about how this stuff works, I’ll be doing a FREE ONLINE TRAINING CLASS for the first 200 people who register here for a class at noon central today. So clear your calendar, grab a sandwich from Jimmy John‘s and get smart! Question? Feedback? Leave a comment or use the contact page…

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One bookmark manager to rule them all…

A recurring theme on this blog is using one one online [platform independent] tool to use or store resources. Bookmarks are no exception, although in this case I actually use two – one for public, one for private [nothing racy here — actually is the stuff that’s too boring to share] bookmarks. If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you’ll see what is called a ‘tag cloud’ from del.icio.us [online at del.icio.us.com] — it’s a ‘cloud’ of bookmarks that I have tagged with descriptors so that I can share them with other people. Check it out — del.icio.us is what you call a social bookmarking tool meaning that you can share the good stuff that you find and categorize it to either share it or be able to find it again. If you use firefox, there are a couple of addons that will allow you to replace the firefox bookmarks with del.icio.us. You can also use it to import your firefox bookmarks into del.icio.us as well. You can share your bookmarks as clouds on your blogs or through a newsfeed if you prefer…

The other tool I use is Google bookmarks which part of the Google toolbar. Google bookmarks doesn’t have the rich sharing capabilities of del.icio.us so that’s where I keep my boring stuff that’s not really worth sharing. You can log on to Google bookmarks anywhere so your toolkit can be with you whenever and wherever you are. The Google bookmarks also integrate nicely with Google search and Google notebook…

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There Is No Such Thing as Intuitive Technology

“When the Apple Macintosh first debuted, it was thought of as the first computer that did not have or ever need a manual. In fact, it did need a manual, and an ever-growing one at that. The computer that doesn’t need a manual of some sort has not yet been invented. In the case of the Macintosh, the arrogance of the ‘no manual concept’ actually spawned a complete line of third-party books called the ‘Missing Manual for…’

Nobody has been able to solve the problem of increasing complexity in technology. And this is not something new to computers and software, although software, in particular, represents the worst-case scenario for this phenomenon.” Click here to read the full article online…

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Tactic #3: Blogging. The ‘why’ and the ‘how’…

WordPress
Image via Wikipedia

Tactic #3 in the series ‘tactics and tools for tightening your tribe using social media’ is blogging and I’ll be covering not only the why but the how. Admittedly, though, the more obvious something is to me, the harder it is to write about it and blogging falls into the ‘duh’ category as in “Do you blog?” “Duh!” The benefits are that obvious! Let me back off a little though and see if I can make my case…

In the olden days — the days when my boys tell me I grew up — freedom of the press belonged to those with a printing press. Now, anyone who can fill out a form on a website can have a blog. Seriously, it’s that easy — why do you think there are so many bad blogs out there? ;-)

A good blog, however, is a powerful tool for establishing thought leadership in an area. My good friend Dana VanDen Heuvel @ MarketingSavant describes it this way — the difference between a thinker and a thought LEADER is that the thought leader has a public point of view. That public point of view leads to share of voice, which leads to share of mind, which leads to share of market and that improves your bottom line! Personally, I know of know better way to make your point of view known than using a blog. Continue reading “Tactic #3: Blogging. The ‘why’ and the ‘how’…” →

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Be an iPhone for Halloween!

How geeky do you have to be to build and be a working iPhone for Halloween?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIjBqFMwM08

Read all about them here…

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Stop doing random acts of lead generation!

“I don’t know about you but I seldom meet a B2B marketer who time to think. And it seems that the pressure keeps building as more of us seek to do more with less.

That said, it’s vital for us to think before we execute. It’s not about doing more campaign activity… it’s about doing the right things repeatedly better.

The simple act of a sales and marketing team finding time to think and collaborate together is vital to developing a solid lead generation program. Our results will improve because we’re following this approach: ready, aim, aim, aim, and then fire.” Click here to read more…

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Google Reader Keyboard Shortcuts

Google Reader Keyboard
Image by paolovalde via Flickr

What? Not using Google reader? I can show you how it will make short work of staying up to date on whatever you’re tracking…

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What is the Best Way to Manage my Tasks?

Microsoft Office Outlook
Image via Wikipedia

Here are the results of a recent lifehacks survey…

“If all the methodology of the best GTD applications loses you in the productivity shuffle, there’s nothing like a classic, simple to-do list to keep you on track. You’ve never had more options—both simple and robust—for managing your to-do list as you do today. On Tuesday we asked you to share your favorite to-do list managers, and today we’re back with the five most popular answers. Keep reading for a glimpse at the five best to-do list managers, then vote for the to-do tool you like best.” Source: Hive Five: Five Best To-Do List Managers

Personally, I use Rememberthemilk because of the ability to integrate it into Gmail and my Blackberry, but I’m fluent in Outlook as well as ‘pen and paper’. Questions? Feedback? Leave a comment or use the contact page to reach me…

Update 10/25/09: Lifehacker lists these tools: Microsoft Outlook, Rememberthemilk, Pen and Paper, Text and Todoist. It’s one of the rare times I take issue with one of their posts. Here are a couple of other tools that are getting my attention in this space lately:

  1. ReQall; create todos, notes, share taskes with other users via phone calls, website, or iPhone. More with $25 annual subscription.
  2. Jott; Used to be my favorite in this category. Similar to ReQall, more features, more $$$. Very cool!

If you only have time to look at one, try reQall. Easy to use and inexpensive…

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The Brand called You…

Starbucks logo
Image via Wikipedia

…is not a new concept — Tom Peters rolled it out a couple of years ago — but it’s just as relevant today as it was then. Even more so!

“That cross-trainer you’re wearing — one look at the distinctive swoosh on the side tells everyone who’s got you branded. That coffee travel mug you’re carrying — ah, you’re a Starbucks woman! Your T-shirt with the distinctive Champion “C” on the sleeve, the blue jeans with the prominent Levi’s rivets, the watch with the hey-this-certifies-I-made-it icon on the face, your fountain pen with the maker’s symbol crafted into the end …

You’re branded, branded, branded, branded.

It’s time for me — and you — to take a lesson from the big brands, a lesson that’s true for anyone who’s interested in what it takes to stand out and prosper in the new world of work.

Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.

It’s that simple — and that hard. And that inescapable.” Source: The Brand Called You | Fast Company

I strongly encourage you to go to the source and read the rest of the article. It’s foundational reading for any thought leader…

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Going mobile!

Here’s a little tuneage from the Who while you contemplate this; if you’re an iPhone, BlackBerry or Android user, you can now view e1evation.com in a special mobile format. Check it out!

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“If I started today”…

Connecting (Chris Brogan)
Image by petermello via Flickr

…is an insanely great post by Chris Brogan on the topic of where I would start today if I wanted to use the internet and social media to promote my thought leadership position — NOW I understand why people like Darren Rowse of ProBlogger rave about him!

I came across it looking for the killer article for a prospective client that I really want to land and I couldn’t have picked a better one to help him make the right decision…

“Okay, so you’ve heard from someone that this social media and social networking stuff is great and you should get involved, and it’s really going to help you out. Maybe it will help you in the economic downturn. Maybe you have heard how you can use Twitter for business. But there’s a lot to it all.

Where would you start? What would come first? How might you think about getting out there and joining in on the experience?” Source: If I Started Today

You’ll have to go to the source to get the answers but it’s well worth the trip — and let’s hope that client ‘gets it’ whatever it is… ;-)

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There is no ‘easy button’…

'THAT WAS EASY!'
Image by spackletoe via Flickr

…for social media, but there are some good, fast, and cheap tools that are simple to use and support the social media lifestyle. Unfortunately, most companies are taking a different approach. My good friend Dana VanDen Heuvel scratches his head here…

“I was in a meeting recently where I witnessed a demonstration of a very well developed internal social network for a fairly sizable, though not very well known company. This particular tool was (almost) completely custom coded by the developer and web design shop for their client. While I sat through the meeting, I wondered “why did they build this from the ground up? isn’t there an off the shelf package to do this?” Which, being one of outsiders, I asked “so, why did you build this from the ground up? isn’t there an off the shelf package to do this and didn’t the client ask for an evaluation of best-of-breed software before giving you the go ahead to do this?”” They chose us because we have passion…

Here’s what I have found. You don’t have to have a spectacular website to dominate as a thought leader, but having a good blog with good content and social media connections helps! Most important? It’s not expensive dollar-wise, but it does take a certain mindset. My formula for using a blog for thought leadership? Good system and process based on a couple of free tools! Questions? Feedback? Leave a comment or use the contact page to reach me…

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The ‘Five Minute University’…

Today I’m announcing a new feature on the site; the ‘Five Minute University’. What’s that about? Well, the tool I use for screencasts, Jing, limits me to a five minute screencast. Todd, you say! Wake up — use Camtasia, use Flashback Express, use something that allows you to record longer. No, I say. I have a tendency to bloviate on topic that I’m passionate about and five minutes forces me to get my thoughts together!

The ‘Five Minute University’ is also an homage to one of the funniest bits I ever saw on Saturday Night Live [back in the days when it was actually funny]; Don Novello as Father Guido Sarducci outlines the concept here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8x8eoU3L4

Now, here’s my first 5 minute course on using Google Reader as your inbox for the internet…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvf8E6knJtY

Questions? Feedback? Leave a comment or use the contact page to reach me…

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Got Mac problems?

…then you need Pam Lefkowitz of Core Computing.

“Core Computing Technologies, Inc. is a technology consulting firm specializing in Apple Computer technologies.

At Core, every employee is a Certified Member of the Apple Consultants Network program. We hold more OS X Certifications than any other consulting company — including Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist, Apple Certified Technical Coordinator, and Apple Certified System Administrator. As such, you are assured of receiving only the highest quality support and services for your computing needs. ” Source: It’s Always DNS. Apple Technologies, Systems Integration, Network Support

I’ve known Pam for over a decade and her Mac expertise is known throughout the world. If you’re really in trouble, Pam’s the one to call….

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