Two Simple, Powerful Apps for Custom Content Feeds

March 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Google Currents and Fliboard

There has been a lot of chatter plastered all over the web about the recent announcement for Google closing down Google Reader (GR).  People are upset and that’s not surprising – change is not something people don’t take lightly (Who Moved My Cheese); especially, when they feel they had no control over it.  However, I don’t want to get into all the ins-and-outs of GR; instead I want to discuss something else all this GR chatter has made me think about.

Most people (in my belief anyhow) try to be somewhat organized or try to control some of the chaos to life as we know it.  Living in the Information Age, we have so much information in front of us at almost any given moment.  The question becomes “how do we organize such information?” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Smartphones, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,

Let Gmail Be Your Google+ Notification Manager

March 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
NotificationLabel

If you’re like a lot of people on Google+, you’re here for the engagement, networking, and the overall value-added content G+ can offer.

It’s exciting to provide content and have others comment on it.  It’s a great feeling when you comment on another’s post and they +mention you.  It’s plain fun engaging with others (why else would we be here? To get rich quick?Hopefully not!).

As you become more engaged with Google+, how you do you manage all of your notifications?

As you engage, you see the numbers jump up in the little red notification box on Google+; you’re notified when you receive comments, +1’s, +mentions, circle adds and any other notification that you have set up.

As you see that number increase, you want to click it to see what engagement-goodies lie in the drop-down; however, every time you click the box, you start to lose track of who engaged with you and whether you engaged them back.

I don’t have a large network and I don’t currently produce a lot of content, yet even with these factors, I still found it difficult to keep up with the notifications (I can only imagine what this may become like with a larger, engaged network).

I knew there had to be a better way and luckily that better way came to me via+Mark Traphagen and his article, How to Manage Google Plus Notifications in Gmail (http://goo.gl/ScN4c).

Mark offers up some very simple tips on setting up filters in Gmail to use with your G+ notifications and since Gmail plays nicely with G+, it’s really an effective method.

I set up three filters in my Gmail account:
1. G+ Comments – collects the comments others have left on a post of mine

2. G+ Mentions – whenever someone +mentions me, it’ll end up here

3. G+ Subscriptions – this houses everyone who circled me or circled me back

I then am able to go back through each of these labels and see whether I’ve engaged or not and if I have (or don’t need/want to) I delete the email and move on to the next one.

With the G+ Subscriptions, I am able to see whether I want to circle someone else back or not and once I’ve reviewed, I do the same thing as above – delete the email and move on to the next.

So far, this has really worked well for me.  It gives me a sense of control over my notifications and allows me to ensure I’m engaging where I want to engage.

What method(s) are you using?

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Originally written and shared on Google+

Filed Under: Google, Tips / How-To

How do you fascinate on Google+?

March 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
How do you fascinate on Google+?

How do you fascinate on Google+?

This is a post taken from my Google+ Profile that I wrote after seeing Sally Hogshead’s TED Talk video on Fascination.

+Martin Shervington has this innate ability to create incredible weekly playlists on YouTube that are not just awe-inspiring, they’re downright life-changing – if you allow it.

In this week’s lineup, one of the videos was a +TEDx from Sally Hogshead, a hall of fame speaker and leading expert on fascination.  In this video, Sally speaks on the topic of fascination, which was indeed fascinating and was a topic that I couldn’t shake from my thoughts; especially, in the Google+ profile realm.

Sally relates how in an online world, we now have the attention span of about 9 seconds.  Think about that…9 seconds to make an impression on someone viewing your profile, your service, your product; 9 seconds is a short time to fascinate someone to go any further.  How then, do we fascinate?

In her talk, Sally lists 7 fascination triggers that can grab the attention of others; they are (watch the video for her descriptions):

  1. Power
  2. Passion
  3. Mystique
  4. Prestige
  5. Alarm
  6. Vice
  7. Trust

In the beginning of her talk, Sally opens with the topic of online dating, which if anyone has ever tried it, can be incredibly intimidating and competitive. Online dating is not much different from our own Google+ presence – we are trying to win the attention span of others and grow our own network.  How then, can we apply this to our own Google+ network growth?

I’m by no means the Google+ power-house with thousands of followers, but I have learned a thing or two from my experiences with online dating (yes, I’ve done it and am not ashamed), my own business, and my own life that I believe can be applied to growing a Google+ network by creating a fascinating profile.

Your Tagline

Just like in online dating, Google+ provides you an opportunity with your Tagline to fascinate that 9-second-attention-span-visitor.  People see this as they hover over your profile pic and when they read the About page of your profile.  Is your tagline fascinating?

Again, I’m not proclaiming to be an expert (as I’ve changed my tagline numerous times and even did so again this morning), but I have seen some pretty boring taglines.  I grew up in a family of engineers who speak in 1’s and 0’s; unless this is what you’re going for on your profile, take the time to come up with something more fascinating and enchanting – again, you have 9 seconds here.

+Guy Kawasaki in his book, What the Plus, refers to your tagline as your personal elevator pitch (notice the theme? Not a lot of time to fascinate someone).  Your goal here, is to grab the attention span of your viewer and bring them in for some more.

Your Introduction

This is the area where Sally’s 7 fascination triggers can really come into play.  When I first began my journey in online dating, I set up my profile much like everyone else.  It was filled with the boring I do this and do that and I love this and I love that.  Trust me, as you begin to see these same profiles over and over with just a different face, nobody stands out anymore (unless they are so incredibly gorgeous that it doesn’t matter what their profile says, but if that’s the case, you realize they are probably out of your league or it may not be their real picture ;) )

I realized after I had been on the dating site for a few weeks and was not having any success that I had to do something different.  What was I going to do?

I took my entire profile and scrapped it!  I re-wrote my profile with very short stories of my life that I would tell my prospective date about me – I wanted to fascinate her.  At the fear of sounding like a bragger, it worked!  I’m not going to say it worked because of some special writing skills I may have (which I don’t) – it worked because it was different!

In a world where everything is the same, something different not only stands out, it’s fascinating!  (Remember Dodge’s old slogan? Think Different)

Again, I’m not a pro at writing profile introductions, and like my tagline, I’ve re-hashed it numerous times and will likely continue to do so.  Just do yourself and your reader a favor – do something different; something fascinating with your profile introduction.

If you want more inspiration for this, I highly recommend you watch Simon Sinek’s +TED Talk How great leaders inspire action.  In this talk, you will learn that people don’t buy what you do, they buy ­why you do it.

Profile & Cover Photos

I’ll end with the topic of your profile and cover photos.

In Guy’s book, What the Plus, he offers some rules-of-thumb for creating a profile photo:

  • Show your face
  • Use a tight shot
  • Go asymmetrical
  • Do it well

The purpose of your profile photo should be to give a good first impression.  People are quick to make judgments and with a 9 second attention span, judgment will be had very quickly.  Make it count. (Also, read Guy’s book, it’s what converted me to Google+)

Earlier this week, Google updated the cover photos to be very large.  There was a huge reaction to this and many people were upset; however, I looked at this as a positive.

Again, our topic is creating a fascinating Google+ profile that will help you grow your network.  Take the opportunity to design a fascinating cover photo.  When someone clicks on your profile, this is the first and largest thing they see and as such, it should fascinate someone to want to scroll down to read your tagline and profile introduction.

Here’s some tips I have for your cover photo:

  • Make it high quality (you’re doing yourself a disservice having unintentional graininess or low quality photos)
  • Tell a story – your cover photo should show who you are or what you do
  • Make great design – to me, design is one of the most important and overlooked aspects of a profile – it tells a lot about who we are.  If you are serious about having a fascinating profile, take the time and/or reach out to get help with your cover photo design.  Consider joining +Paul Biedermann’s community re:Design to engage with others who know and love design.  There are resources out there for you, you just have to be willing to use them.

In closing, we only have a small window of opportunity to hold the attention of those viewing our profile.  We can make it count by creating a fascinating profile based on the triggers Sally Hogshead reviews in her TED Talk.

Please reward yourself by watching Sally’s video and applying it to your life.

Also, please add to this list of creating a fascinating profile; share profiles that you believe are fascinating; tell me where you think I’m right and/or wrong.  This is a topic I believe we can all benefit from.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Filed Under: Google, Tips / How-To Tagged With: , , ,

6 Google Features to Use With the Family

March 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
6 Google Features That Can Be Family Oriented

Lately, as I’ve been learning Google+, I am continually reading posts and visiting links about how Google and its family of products and features can help you grow your audience or your business; what I haven’t seen much of is how they can be geared towards families.  I know Google used to have Google Apps that were offered for free for small organizations and many families jumped on board, but I’m not talking about that.

What I’m referring to is simply using Google products for family oriented purposes.  Below, I list 6 of Google’s features that I have personally used with my family.

 

1. Hangouts

I recently wrote about my first Google+ Hangout experience that I had with my brother who I don’t get to see very often.  Hangouts allow up to 10 total people to video chat; how cool is that?  Many families today are spread far and wide across the country (and the globe for that matter).

With all this distance between us, it can be difficult to see each other as often as we’d like.  Google Hangouts can make this distance seem much shorter – allowing families to connect and hangout.

 

2. Chrome Remote Desktop

You’re probably thinking, “what?!”  How many of you have that family member who calls you to help them with every computer question they have?  You try to direct them while not being able to see exactly what they’re doing and try to explain to them how to navigate, etc. (this can be frustrating work, right?).

Chrome Remote Desktop is the answer!  Chrome Remote Desktop is a Chrome add-on that allows you to securely connect to a remote computer.  So when you get that call requesting your help, you can now save yourself some stress (I know it’s family and that’s never stressful ;) ) and remotely access their computer and help solve their problem.

 

3. Google Latitude

Latitude is a GPS-enabled service that works together with Google Maps and allows you to see, in real-time, where your friends and family are.  If you’re thinking I’m going to say to use Latitude to keep dibs on your kids, that’s not what I’m referring to (although, that could be a good idea, but I’m going to stay out of that one).

Also, allow me to clear the air with the whole “I don’t want others knowing where I am!”  First of all, you have to give someone permission to even see where you are.  Second, you can control when you are visible or not; so no need to worry.

Here’s an example of how I was able to use Latitude for family purposes:

My family is spread out and we were all gathering together in Southern California at one of my brothers’ places.  I had another brother who was driving down from Northern California; instead of calling or texting him (which is illegal in California while driving and dangerous), I had him get setup on Latitude and I was able to view where as he made his trip south.

This was not just a “fun” feature, it was also a safety feature – he could focus on driving and we could see where he was (which is another safety feature in case something happened to him).

 

4. Google Voice

Google Voice is full of features and I highly recommend taking a look at the Google Voice Features page for more information.

In short, Google Voice is a free phone number you can setup and use for texting, calls, voicemails and more.

Unlike standard texting through your carrier, Google Voice allows you to text over Wi-Fi.  This comes in really handy when you are in an area (like a building or another country) where you don’t have any signal, but you have Wi-Fi – you can still text using your Google Voice number.  On top of this, you can use your Google Voice number to text on your tablet and computer.  Is this convenient?  Yes!

Google Voice also allows you to setup your number to ring to multiple phones.  Why is this so great?  Let’s say your wife is expecting; you can have your Google Voice number ring to your cell phone, office phone, and any other phone number you want.  That way, when that life-changing call comes in that your wife needs you, you can easily be reached.

 

5. Google Now

I love this feature available on Android Jelly Bean.  There is a lot to Google Now and you may be wondering how this applies to families – it can be a fun activity to do with the kids.

I showed my daughter how you can ask Google something and it comes back with a response (like in the Nexus 7 commercial where the little girl asks how many miles it is to the moon).  Not only did she laugh at me and tell me my phone is a girl, but she wanted to keep asking it questions.  I’ll ask her what she wants to do and she says “we can ask Google something.”

What a great way to bond with your kids and it can be educational, too.

 

6. YouTube

I don’t think that YouTube needs much introduction as it likely the best known feature of Google listed here.

YouTube can be great family fun.  One way I use YouTube with my daughter is almost game-like.  As we’re sitting around doing nothing, I’ll pull out my phone or tablet and bring up YouTube; she knows exactly what we’re going to do – watch videos on photography (like Gavin Hoey), Photoshop, or other fun things like Ken Block’s Gymkhana or Danny MacAskill’s amazing bike stunts.

She came up with the method of having us each take turns of choosing a video – she’ll pick one to watch and then I get to pick one and so it goes (sometimes for quite some time).  We have a fantastic time doing this and it is and it’s cheap entertainment!

Google has so much to offer and I’ve really only given a brief overview of how some of Google’s features can be geared towards family. I’d love to hear how you have used some of these features within your family.

Filed Under: Google, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,