Tag: GoogleReader

The end of Google Reader [and what it means to me]…

This is the final installment in my series [rant?] about the death of Google Reader…

Teaching social media in my classes at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and coaching my clients, I frequently quote the words of the great philosophers .38 Special who said:

Google Reader is gone. No farewell message. No thank you for the support. In fact, I can see my feeds in Google Reader, I just can’t interact with them.

A pretty clear indication that Google really doesn’t give a Tinker’s Damn for customers – only their data and the dollars they can glean from it. This whole experience has had a profound impact on me from the first moment months ago when I first learned that Google was killing Google Reader for no good reason [and believe me, I’ve read them all over the past few months].

This stupid move, along with other ones like Windows 8 by Microsoft leave me wondering where I can place my trust. Oddly enough, I find myself rethinking open source products like Ubuntu, Firefox and Thunderbird. Who knows where that will lead?!

In the meantime, thank you Google Reader. Thanks to you, I consumed over a half a million articles in the past 6.5 years of use and I am what I am today because of what I learned from you. And, thank you feedly for stepping into the breach! I have loved you for over 4 years and used you alongside Google Reader. I’m glad you won the reader race!

When Someone Does Something Wrong

via Live Life Quotes, Beautiful Quotes, Love Life Quotes, Live Life Happy

Last week, I posted that I had been chosen by Erin Davisson of WFRV TV in Green Bay to talk with her viewers about Google Reader. That segment was aired this evening…

http://www.wfrv.com/v/?i=123863049

Here’s the transcript…

Need to do a lot of online research? There’s a Google tool that can help make you a lot more efficient. It’s called Google Reader. It’s a free, web-based reader of RSS feeds, and once you find out how useful it is, you’re going to want to use it.Todd Lohenry is the owner of e1evation llc, and a social media expert. He’s a big fan of the Google Reader.

“Google Reader is a tool that lets you track the sites that you trust to search for terms that you want to know about and to track the people that you trust and turn the tide of information from chasing websites, hoping to find something good – to making the information you want flow to you,” said Lohenry.

The Google Reader is able to bring content from your favorite websites, blogs and topics to one location by the use of RSS feeds. Lohenry says RSS feeds are like the antenna on top of a television station. It broadcasts a signal to anyone who chooses to receive it. Google Reader is one of those receivers.

Google Reader also offers extras like personal stats, and keyboard shortcuts. You can track topics by using an RSS feed of a Twitter search. Lohenry says mastering the Google Reader means freeing up massive amounts of time, and says, “It makes all the difference in the world in terms of what you are able to accomplish on the internet.”

It will take some time to set up your Google Reader. but once you’ve found all your RSS feeds- it’s very handy.

via wfrv.com

Thanks so much to Erin Davisson for featuring my thoughts on ‘personal news aggregation’ with Google Reader on ‘Online with Erin’. Comment or ‘connect’ so we can talk about how Google Reader applies to your organization…

This afternoon, I thought I was heading to a personal digital coaching session on Google Reader for local anchorwoman Erin Davisson of WFRV TV in Green Bay. Instead, unbeknownst to me, it was Erin’s intention to interview me for an upcoming news segment…

Fortunately, I’m always ready to talk about the power of ‘personal news aggregation’ using Google Reader and I had no trouble giving Erin 50x more content than she’ll ever be able to use! Erin was also kind enough to give me a tour of the studio and sit for this picture. Now I’ll have to ask her to autograph my blog…

:-)

PS Be sure to tune in Tuesday the 14th at 5:00 to see the segment!

Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...
Image via CrunchBase

Things we’ve been tracking in the past 24 hours…

 

This icon, known as the "feed icon" ...
Image via Wikipedia
Google Reader is the killer app for ‘personal news aggregation’ for ‘thought leadership’ marketing. It all comes down to effectively managing rss feeds…

What is RSS?
An RSS Reader is a simple and easy way to read your favorite news site or blogs. Instead of going out to these site to read the most recent stories or posts, the newest stuff comes to you, all in one simple page. Even more convenient is having a Reader which is online, reaching it from any place in the world.

In my eyes Google Reader is one of the best online RSS Readers on the web. For the first time user, just getting used to the whole RSS thing, this post will talk about: a) How to subscribe to a feed b) view your feeds c) the cool features built into Google Reader and d) just some nifty little tricks you can use while you’re at it. Remember, being a master of your RSS feeds is also a very important way to build up and maintain powerful social media accounts :)

The first thing you would have to do, is head over to reader.google.com and sign up for a free account. From there, you would want to start building up your subscriptions.

via blueglass.com

You can follow the ‘via’ link above if you’re just getting started with Google Reader…

Image representing Google Reader as depicted i...
Image via CrunchBase

Here are 4 great ways to find rss feeds for Google Reader…

  1. Use the ‘add a subscription’ button in Google Reader to search for great content…
  2. Search for great content using Alltop and add their feeds to your Google Reader account…
  3. Click the rss feed icon on any page and add it to Google Reader…
  4. Search for specific content using Google Alerts and add the feed to Google Reader…
  5. Add your own great ways in the comments!

I’m a firm believer in the power of Google Reader to consume and publish great content — use the search box to find other things I’ve written about it. If you have questions do like Donna did and give me a call — I’ll be happy to show you how it all fits together…

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Image representing Google Reader as depicted i...
Image via CrunchBase

I’m going to do another Google Reader Rockstar event. This time, it will be a hybrid event. Thos of you who want to attend in person can do so in the Jag, Inc. conference room at 1508 Sunset Avenue in Algoma, WI. Those of you who don’t want to make the trip can attend online via GoToMeeting. We can only accommodate 25 people in all, so be sure to register today!

Don’t attend, however, if you don’t want to learn about a competitive advantage that will fundamentally shift the way you look at information and make you smarter than your competition…

How_to_be_a_google_reader_rock

 

This is not an old post promotion! I will be doing a ‘brown bag’ lunch and learn at noon CST Friday, March 18, 2011 on how to use Google Reader like a Rockstar… 

Despite what you may have heard, RSS is not dead. In fact, I remain convinced that knowing how to proactively manage RSS feeds is the single most important step you can take to turning the information tide in your favor. During the one hour session, I’ll be going over the attached mindmap in greater detail, showing you how to use Google Reader to create your own ‘virtual newspaper’ from sources that you trust to make the news you need to track come to you. This session will be limited the the first 15 people who sign up below — the tickets are free, so don’t be afraid to click ‘buy a ticket’!

Act now to take control over your information! :-D

…but don’t want to use an rss reader? Personally, I think that’s going in the wrong direction, but  that would be your choice. ‘Feed my Inbox’ is a website that will allow you to track websites with newsfeeds and send an update to your inbox with new postings every day. By the way, if you agree that news readers are the ‘inbox for the rest of the internet’ and want to learn how to use Google Reader, click here for my free 30 minute training session on Reader…

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Google Reader Logo
Image by Casual Chin via Flickr

…to STOP using Google Reader? $25,000 wouldn’t cut it for internet maven Louis Gray…

“Information is power – and the ability to take in more information more quickly than anybody else, all in one place, is an incredible power. The Web has been built to enable all of us to share and distribute information quickly, through new posts and links.

Tools like RSS (Real Simple Syndication) let us pass information from one site to another, letting you get updates in a single location – be it to your favorite blog posts, your favorite news and sport sites, or simply updates from friends’ videos on YouTube and updates on Flickr. RSS Readers capture updates from all these RSS feeds in one application or on one Web site. In my opinion, the very best RSS reader is Google Reader. It has become such a mainstay of my online activity that I’ve determined its value to me is easily in the tens of thousands of dollars per year.” Source: louisgray.com: Why I Wouldn’t Accept $25k To Stop Using Google Reader

If I were you, I’d go to the source on this one and read the rest of this great post! And btw, if you missed my free online Google Reader class last week, contact me and I’ll send you a link to the recorded session…

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Image representing Google Reader as depicted i...
Image via CrunchBase

Are you fascinating? I sure am and Google Reader is the reason why — well, one of them anyway!

“The primary goal of your social media activities—whether for your personal brand or your organization’s brand—is to establish yourself as a fascinating subject-matter expert. The only exception to this is if you are a household name celebrity like Lance Armstrong, Oprah or Barack Obama. If you are this level of celebrity, then tweeting or updating, “I’m at Starbucks on the way to fly VirginAmerica to Vegas” is cool.

For the rest of us, the challenge is to achieve a consistent level of fascinating information about your area of expertise. The answer is simple. First, it helps if you actually know what you’re talking about. If you don’t, it may be better to let people wonder if you’re clueless rather than participating in social media and removing all doubt. But let’s say you’ve crossed the Rubicon.

Then it’s all about finding good stories, videos and blog posts about your subject and providing links to these sources. For example, if you own a restaurant, then you could post a link to The Second Annual New York Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt, Cilantro Haters, It’s Not Your Fault, and Check It Out: Get Your Groceries At The Library. Do this for a few months, and people will recognize you as a food expert. And guess what? They’ll come eat at your restaurant.

Then the next question is how you can find these stories, videos, and blog posts. I have four methods for you to use:” Source: How to Be Fascinating : The World :: American Express OPEN Forum

Guy goes on to offer these 4 tools:

  • StumbleUpon
  • SmartBrief
  • Interns
  • His own service, Alltop

As much as I love you Guy, I have to take issue here. Ummm, how could you NOT mention Google Reader? Yes, StumbleUpon and SmartBrief are two great sources but I can manage hundreds effectively in Google Reader. In fact, because of Reader I don’t need interns! True, Alltop is one of the places I tell every client to go but Google Reader is the killer app for news aggregation. I broke it down here a long time ago…

So to Guy, or whatever intern reads this, please add Google Reader to your list — nothing makes you fascinating faster than Reader!

Related articles

Decluttering Google Reader

Image representing Google Reader as depicted i...
Image via CrunchBase

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know that I’m a huge fan of Google Reader. Here’s a great post on what to do when you save too many feeds to Reader…

“If your Google Reader inbox has grown out of control, and you’re spending more time trying to keep up with the flood of news than reading about things you care about, it’s time for a little Google Reader spring cleaning.

Newsreaders like Google Reader are meant to help us read more content without constantly refreshing a list of bookmarks, in theory saving all kinds of time. If your Reader addiction feels more like a timesink than timesaver, it might be time to think about decluttering and reorganizing your RSS feeds for a more efficient reading experience. Today we’ll walk you through our favorite methods for pruning and organizing your feeds to get the most from your Google Reader experience without overloading yourself.” Source: How to Declutter and Streamline Your Google Reader Inbox – Google Reader – Lifehacker

Go to the source for some really great ideas that will help you be even more productive using Google Reader…

Google Reader and Feedly

John Jantsch is validating what I’ve been telling you for months…

“If you use an RSS reader to subscribe to and read blogs (and you should) then you know what a great tool it can be to keep you up to date, well-read and inspired.

I’ve used the free Google Reader tool for a long time and love it’s simplicity. However, a reader of this blog (Rob Kirby) pointed out a very cool tool called Feedly that takes my subscriptions and creates a much better looking magazine like interface. To me better looking translates into more useful when it comes to scanning a hundred blogs or so. Feedly immediately brought all of my feeds and organization folders over from Google so set-up was instantaneous.

But that’s just the beginning. Feedly is a Firefox add-on that functions using my Google Reader account so all my Feedly activity is still saved to Google Reader. Adding blog subscriptions as simple as a click, but I can also pages I find, video, images, anything I want to bookmark and organize. I can share and email articles I find and the tool analyzes the content I seem to like and gently suggests where I might find more.” Source: A Beautiful Way to Read More Blogs | Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

Go to the source for the rest of the article! Perhaps you’ll like his version better… ;-)

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

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…

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

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…

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Start a Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑

%d bloggers like this: