First, denial. “No way, dude, that’s got to be a rumor.”
Then anger. “Don’t Be Evil my $%&! How could they do this to me?”
Bargaining. “Could a new version of Google Reader really save Digg?”
Depression. “I can haz no more LOLz.”
And finally, we come to acceptance. Yes, it’s true. Google Reader really is going away on July 1. So if you haven’t rustled up an alternative yet, it’s time.
If you’re a Google Reader user, obviously you need a new tool to read your subscriptions. We have a few thoughts for you on that.
But if you’re a content publisher, you’ll also need to make sure that your audience has a way to continue tuning in for everything you do.
Feel free to point your audience to this post, or you may want to craft a message of your own with more individualized suggestions for your audience’s needs. But be sure you send out a clear, specific call to action and keep those subscribers on board — no one wants to lose a big chunk of their audience just because a tool goes away.
Frankly, I went through all these stages a month or so ago and happily shifted my attention to feedly which I had used as an alternative to Google Reader since 2009. I’m happy to say that the folks at feedly have really shone in stepping up as the only logical choice to replace Google Reader…
It syncs flawlessly in the cloud
You can automate it with ifttt.com now
It has better features and is more eye appealing than Google Reader
Take a look;
So, Google Reader — good riddance! feedly rocks…
PS I do NOT agree with Simone that email is a replacement for Google Reader! Email should be preserved for ‘just in time’ information; send the just in case stuff to feedly!
…and everything is right in my ‘Personal News Aggregation’ universe. For about a week, I was having problems syncing my accounts on feedly and Google Reader and it was really frustrating — especially since it has always worked so well in the past. As you can see, however, my desktop version…
Fact #5: The person who cares the most will often end up doing a task. If you care more about a task being done, you’re more likely to end up doing it—and don’t expect other people to care as much as you do, just because something is important to you. It’s easy to make this mistake in marriage. You think it’s important to get the basement organized, and you expect your spouse to share the work, but your spouse thinks, “We never use the basement anyway, so why bother?” Just because something’s important to you doesn’t make it important to someone else, and people are less likely to share work they deem unimportant. At least not without a lot of nagging.
Of course, there can be an assortment of reasons why you’re not yet getting whatever it is you want. I’m going to suggest, however, that one of the reasons is that you haven’t done EVERYTHING that can be done. So, instead of feeling helpless and confused, revisit the situation at hand, and ask yourself – Are there projects that have yet to be completed? Are there to-do’s that have been patiently waiting to be crossed off of your list?
“Believe in your epiphanies. Believe in your yourself. Take action. And watch the world conspire to support you.”Elise Ballard Learn more about Elise and her latest inspirational book at EpiphanyChannel.com Photo and Art by Jenni Young & Bryant McGill
Call home at least once a week. It’s a proven fact that we call home less the older we get. And that’s wrong. It should be the other way around. As we get older, our parents get older.
“TED.com recently released their list of the 20 most-watched TED talks to date, and while they have quite a few of the ones listed that can serve to improve your life, there are several out there that are on the list at deserve some mention.
So, we’ve decided to unveil what we believe to be the top 20 TED talks that can improve your life. And while there is some crossover on both lists, we feel that there are some that just deserve a little bit more of your attention. Enjoy!”
“As a lotus flower is born in water, grows in water and rises out of water to stand above it unsoiled, so I, born in the world, raised in the world having overcome the world, live unsoiled by the…
If it doesn’t work, if it doesn’t flow, maybe life is trying to tell us something. Life is a gentle teacher. She doesn’t always send neon road signs to guide us. Sometimes, the signs are more subtle. Something not working may be a sign! Let go. If we have become frustrated by repeated efforts that aren’t producing desired results, we may be trying to force ourselves down the wrong path. Sometimes, a different solution is appropriate. Sometimes, a different path opens up. Often, the answer will emerge more clearly in the quietness of letting go than it will in the urgency, frustration, and desperation of pushing harder. Learn to recognize when something isn’t working or isn’t flowing. Step back and wait for clear guidance.
The one person who most blocks you from a full, happy, and successful life is you. Yes, you yourself! He is therefore wise who makes himself an asset. We can be our own worst enemy or best friend. We can be a source of trouble or a cure for trouble. So if we feel empty, as many do, start getting free from yourself as a first step to vibrant living. Start by getting out of yourself. This method may be as simple as helping the next person you encounter. – Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Living
“To move forward simply set your intentions, be grateful for what you have, be open to what is possible, and the rest just happens as a beautiful and effortless flow.” Bryant McGill
…of my favorites blogs and bloggers to the menu. On that list is a link you can click to add my sources to your Google Reader if you’d like. What? You’re not using Google Reader? Oh, wow! Comment, call or ‘connect’ so we can talk about how this applies to you and your organization…
Learn how to be a Google Reader rockstar! Join a free hangout at 15:00 CDST [GMT-6] today. Just add me to one of your circles and I’ll add you back and invite you…
I can talk about any aspect of this Google Reader mindmap you’re interested in!
Tim Allen is one of my favorite comedians and I love the show ‘Home Improvement’…
For three years, I’ve been wanting to do a weekly live broadcast and now — thanks to Google+ Hangouts on Air — today’s the day! Watch this…
You can connect with me in Google+ at toddlohenry@gmail.com to participate live at 15:00 CDST [GMT-6] [only people in my circles can attend] or you can watch the stream here:
Retronaut is a fun site that I track in Google Reader. Every once in awhile, I see something that makes me nostalgic like this ad. It makes me think about the passage of time and technology…
I’ll probably be thinking about missing out on the ‘next great thing’ on my deathbed. Sigh… :-/
You’ll find a fine list of Google Alerts tutorials here…
If you really want to take it up a notch, learn how to use Google Reader to create a virtual newspaper to track the sites and searches that interest you. I’ve written a free ebook on the topic of ‘personal news aggregation’ or ‘How to create your own personal news agency’. It’s free for registering at http://e1evation.com/pna/. Oh, and I started a new category called ‘blogging tips’ for you. If you want more, come follow me at http://e1evation.com…
I had an interesting opportunity to sit on a panel of ‘experts’ yesterday and advise website development students on how they should develop a portfolio of their work and present it to prospective hiring authorities or clients. To be honest, I don’t know how I got on the panel; the others were truly experts — I’m just a lowly WordPress developer who creates websites out of necessity because of their role in ‘thought leadership’ marketing…
As I thought about it in hindsight there’s an important piece of advice that I left out but it’s a good one for all of us. When it comes to displaying a ‘portfolio’ [btw, to me a blog is a kind of a portfolio of thoughts so bear with me] of your life’s work I think there are only two activities that matter:
Deepening your understanding of your craft [or continuous ongoing education]
Letting people know you have deepened your understanding of your craft
I think all of ‘thought leadership’ marketing can be summed up in this statement: become and be known as the expert.
In order to do this you need a system that will help you effectively manage the content you need to master in order to become an actual expert. I wrote just last week about the tools I use to accomplish this. They are:
As it applies to this particular topic, the two most important tools in this process are Google Reader and Gist. Google Reader allows me to create a virtual newspaper of the sites and searches that I need to track in order to stay on top of my craft — my areas of ‘subject matter expertise’. Gist is like Google Reader but for people and companies. In an easy to use dashboard I can see everything that someone has produced on the internet for the past 24 hours so I never miss a thing that someone who is important to me has said. The two go together like peanut butter and chocolate to help me become more of an expert…
Getting smarter is only half the battle — letting the world know you have gotten smarter is the other part. Blogging and social media are perfect for this! As Chris Brogan said in Trust Agents “As you now know, if you have no Google results, in a sense you don’t exist.” Active blogging on your area of expertise is a great way to let the world know you are an expert. Does it work? Well, are you reading this? Sharing your ideas in a public forum like the internet gets you a share of the voice which may get you share of mind if your ideas are good enough and may eventually lead to share of market. My tools of choice for getting found are:
WordPress
Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook
Google+
The order here is intentional and they tools are stack ranked in order of priority. Master one and move on to the next.I’ve written often about homebases and outposts — blogging should be the first priority because it is OWNED media — everything else should be evaluated based on the audience you’re trying to reach. Here in Northeast Wisconsin, LinkedIn rules — things might be different in your world…
Many years ago, when our son Connor was acquiring language, he said to one of his brothers “what are you doing in my world?”. What made it funny was that he intended to say “what in the world are you doing?”, but his language was much closer to what I think we really mean when we ask that question…
Yesterday, I had a ‘what are you doing in my world?’ experience with my wife. We were driving from Algoma to Warrenville, IL to celebrate my mom’s 75th birthday. During the course of the trip, she…
Used Google Maps to find a restaurant in Milwaukee and find her way back to pick me up
Commented on my Facebook status from her smartphone
Critiqued a couple of blog posts on my personal blog
Actually tried to sell my mom on the value of having a smartphone!
…all from her HTC Evo!
Now these might sound like normal things to you, but I have always told people that when it comes to technology, my wife and I have a mixed marriage. Not I’m PC and she’s Mac, but rather I live it, she hates it. Until now, the internet has been my own private playground but apparently that’s not the case anymore — my wife is now critiquing my blog posts! I almost fell over when I was sitting in a meeting and saw that she had commented on my Facebook status. I was even more surprised when she made it back to the place where she dropped me off. I was even more surprised than that when the critiques she offered on my posts was actually good feedback and I think I’m going to listen to her more often [in that regard anyway]…
Bright, shiny objects! 
comments