5 Ways to Celebrate “Talk Like a Pirate Day” Online in 2010
September 19, 2010
Arrr! Ye Mashable readers know today be Talk Like a Pirate Day 2010, but were ye landlubbers aware that there be more ways t celebrate online than there are bottles o rum in ol Jack Sparrows locker?
Thar be danger in the social media seas sour enemies tellin tales that arent tall funny. Ye scurvy dogs want only the best when ye enjoy ye Internet memes!
These five selections be just a few o th ways ye and ye hearties can set sail together this evenin, so be sure and parlay in th comments if ye be havin any other clever ideas.
1. Make Facebook Speak Pirate
Facebook supports countless languages, but one of them is pirate speak did you know that? Just go to Account Settings (in the top-right corner of your Facebook home page), click the Language tab and pick English (Pirate).
The result can only be described as hilarity. Be sure and look around all over Facebook because virtually everything is affected. Events are now Grog Fests, all your friends names begin with Capn, the act of deleting comments is achieved by clicking T Davy Jones wit it! and the Like button simply says Arr!
Other companies have piggybacked their own gags on this. Visit Mint.coms Facebook page in your native language, then return in English (Pirate) and youll see what were talking about.
2. Use Google Maps to Find Pirate Parrrties Tonight
Pirate Parrrties are being held across the globe in celebration of Talk Like a Pirate Day 2010. Some people dress up, drink rum, bring parrots and actually talk like pirates, so if youre into that more power to ya, but some folks just show up for good conversation and a beer or two. And theres no arguing with the appeal of that.
Theres a Google Map that shows the locations of numerous parrrties around the world. Just click one one of the blue markers for more information and set sail for a night of plundering, grog and adventure.
3. Watch Funny Pirate YouTube Videos
This ones pretty obvious. Just search YouTube for Talk Like a Pirate Day (or just pirates) and youll uncover a treasure trove of hilarity from the past few years of celebrations. We dont have much to add to this just try it!
Read the Funny Pirate Tweets
This is really the heart of Talk Like a Pirate Day, and its where it all began with people talking like pirates on Facebook and Twitter. Search Twitter for Talk Like a Pirate Day and youre bound to see some retweets of some very funny messages.
Our favorite so far is the one weve included above from NPR News. N-P-Aaarrrrrrrrr!!! Get it? Yeah, you get it. Now go get some more funny tweets.
Play Most of the Monkey Island Saga For Mere Pennies
Ron Gilberts The Secret of Monkey Island, produced by LucasArts, is one of the greatest computer adventure games of all time. Its chock full of gorgeous artwork, hilarious characters, hysterical dialogue and ridiculous puzzles. The series was recently rebooted with remastered, high definition versions of the first two games (so far) on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, PC, Mac, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Additionally, a well-respected adventure games studio called Telltale Games produced episodic new adventures called Tales of Monkey Island. The only two Monkey Island games you cant play recent versions of are Curse of Monkey Island and Escape From Monkey Island, though if youre crafty you should be able to get those to work on your PC.
However, both of the Remastered re-releases and the entire Tales series are on sale for practically nothing this weekend in celebration of Talk Like a Pirate Day. These deals are simply incredible, especially the iPhone ones and the Tales bundle. Here are the links:
The Secret of Monkey Island (iPhone) $0.99
The Secret of Monkey Island (iPad) $4.99
Monkey Island II: LeChucks Revenge (iPhone) $0.99
Monkey Island II: LeChucks Revenge (iPad) $4.99
The Secret of Monkey Island Monkey Island II: LeChucks Revenge (PC) $7.49 for the set
Tales of Monkey Island Episodes 1-5 (PC, Mac) $4.95 for the set
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, JerryPDX
Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/7cglwoy2Dyk/
How SMBs Can Start Using Facebook Places Now
September 19, 2010
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
If youre a business owner and youve heard the recent news about Facebooks attention-grabbing new feature for location-sharing and checkins, youre probably itching to find out what Facebook Places can do for your business and how it can help you reach out to would-be customers and loyal regulars in your community.
While Facebook isnt ready to announce any special brand-platform relationships or tie-ins just yet, one Facebook ad exec told us that the company does have plans to integrate Places with its larger marketing offerings for SMBs. The best thing a business owner can do to prepare for those offerings is get familiar with the ins and outs of Facebook and location marketing now.
Here are a few pointers for how SMBs can use Facebook Places and other marketing tools starting today.
1. Start a Facebook Page
In our conversation, this executive mentioned that many businesses have left out the most vital part of using Facebook Places or other features as marketing tools: They havent yet set up a Facebook Page for their company.
It might seem a bit obvious to a seasoned social media marketing pro, but establishing and maintaining a lively, informative presence on Facebook as a business is an art and a science. The first step is creating a Page. You can follow Facebooks step-by-step instructions for making your businesss Page. Once youve got that ball rolling, be sure to check out these articles on how to make the most of your Page and apps you can use in conjunction with your Page.
2. Connect Your Facebook Page to a Facebook Place
The first step in getting your Places marketing campaign rolling is connecting your businesss Page to a Place. Click here for an example of what a Facebook Place Page looks like. To get started, youll first need to locate your desired Place Page on Facebook.
Unfortunately, there isnt an easy way to find a Places Page within Facebooks website. Facebook told us: Were currently not surfacing Place Pages within search unless you have checked in there previously or one of your friends has and you click through to the Place Page on the web. If you havent done either, the best place to start is by checking in to your Place.
To check in, use the Places features within the Facebook iPhone app. If you dont have an iPhone, use the Facebook touch mobile site on a browser that supports both HTML5 and geolocation. Click Check In on either platform, and choose your location. If you cant find your location, click + in the mobile app or Add via the touch mobile site to enter the name and description of your business. Finally, check in.
On Facebook.com (not the mobile site or the app), go to your Facebook Wall, where your checkin is logged, and click on the link to the Facebook Place. After locating the Place, click Is this your business? at the bottom of the Places page. Lastly, youll need to submit copies of paperwork proving that your place of business is legally connected to the physical address of the Facebook Place you want to claim. Or, you might be able to verify your business address over the phone. You may have to wait a short period of time after verifying your location, but eventually, your Page and Place will be linked by Facebook.
Your businesss Place page will show Facebook users a map of where your business is located, a list of any of their friends who are currently checked in at the Place and an activity stream of others who have checked in at your business in the past. Users can Like and Share Places on their Facebook profiles, as well.
By claiming your Place you can manage your Places address, contact information, business hours, profile picture, admins and other settings.
3. Build Your Facebook Community
Once you have a Page and a Place and the two are linked, make sure that your social media marketing efforts are targeted and effective, and be sure to build out your Facebook community. Doing outreach and marketing to this group requires a little research and some attention to detail, but many small business owners have seen huge success on a marketing budget of zero just by promoting events and reaching out to their true fans on Facebook.
The best social media marketing is cheaper than traditional online advertising, builds relationships with customers and engages your local community. Social media can get your business real results; check out some of these success stories for inspiration, and then get started with your own Facebook strategy.
To track and measure your successes, take a look at this beginners guide to Facebook Insights, Facebooks free built-in analytics tool.
4. Get into Facebook Ads
Because Facebooks self-service advertising can be hyper-targeted on a number of levels, including psychological, social and geographic factors, many SMBs swear on the ability of this platform to perform. One case study showed incredibly low cost per conversion stats, and other studies show how you can tweak your own Facebook ad campaign for maximum performance.
Once you get your head around how Facebook Ads work, you can use your Page and Place to start a quasi-Place-based campaign. To advertise your Place, go to Facebooks ad creation workflow and click I want to advertise something I have on Facebook. Then, simply choose your Place from the drop-down menu.
You cant currently target ads to users who check in at your Place. However, you can target people who Like your Place page if youve linked your businesss Place and Page. From there, you should be able to use your imagination to create special promotions around checking in and sharing your businesss Page and Place on Facebook.
5. Test the Location Marketing Waters with Another LBS
If youre familiar with Facebooks ad campaigns and have played with Places marketing a bit, you might also want to do a smaller-scale case study using other location-based services (LBS). These campaigns might not have the saturation to show you huge ROI at first, but theyll definitely help you get your feet wet with location-based marketing and rule out or vote up some of your early ideas without heavy promotion or spending.
We can recommend these five apps, all of which have great partnership, advertising and marketing opportunities for SMBs. Some of them might be more prominent in your local area as mentioned in item three, learn what social media users are playing with in your community, and use those apps to engage them.
Were curious to see how SMBs are testing out Facebook Places. Let us know how you are using the feature in the comments below.
More Business Resources from Mashable:
– HOW TO: Choose the Best Workspace for Your Business
– 5 Winning Social Media Campaigns to Learn From
– 10 Emerging Social Platforms and How Businesses Can Use Them
– 10 Free WordPress Themes for Small Businesses
– 8 Funding Contests to Kick Start Your Big Idea
Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/qtKmdX8USsw/
Thanks to Mashable’s Socially Savvy Supporters
September 19, 2010
Thanks to this weeks advertisers and partners for enabling us to bring you the latest social media news and resources. Mashables sponsors are as social media savvy as our readers!
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This week, our valued sponsors are: Doubletree, Nordstrom Conversation, HTC EVO 4G, Gillette, UPS, RingCentralRingCentral
, eegoes.com, Janrain, FlippingBook, Gist, BlackBerry Torch, Ben Jerrys Joe, IDG, Clickatell, Microsoft BizSpark, MaxCDN, and Eventbrite.
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James Cameron Plans to Shoot “Avatar” Sequel 6.8 Miles Underwater
September 19, 2010
Did you think Avatar was as technically ambitious a production as a director can imagine? Well, think again. James Cameron wants to travel 6.8 miles beneath the surface of the ocean to shoot footage for the Avatar sequel and win a $10 million X-Prize at the same time.
The X-Prize is an award given to pioneers in privately funded science and exploration. It was previously given to the first team to build a privately funded, manned spacecraft and launch it out of Earths atmosphere. Now its going to the first private crew to make two manned dives to Challenger Deep, the deepest surveyed point in all of Earths oceans.
Winning the X-Prize will just be a bonus for Cameron in his quest to the bottom of the sea; The Daily Mail reports that the sequel to Avatar will be set in the oceans of PandoraPandora
, the planet portrayed in the first film, and Cameron will shoot some scenes with the submarine hes building in 3D of course.
Few filmmakers can pitch something like that to their financiers with a straight face, but Avatar was the most successful film ever, raking in nearly two billion dollars at the box office, so Cameron is among those filmmakers. He might even be the only member of that club.
Cameron is no stranger to deep sea exploration. He shot the deep sea acclaimed documentaries Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep.
No one has visited Challenger Deep since explorers Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh made the journey half a century ago. The X-Prize was announced to commemorate their voyage.
Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/eUtMm8LkWoM/
FOREM Guest Blogger Update!
September 19, 2010
Hi FOREM fans! I am super excited to announce that we have picked our FOREM guest bloggers. Over the next few months you will see about a number guest bloggers that were carefully selected based on their experience, writing ability, and enthusiasm for FOREM and the type of content we post.
I was overwelmed by the number of applicants we had for guest bloggers. Thank you to everyone who emailed me or contacted me. It is obvious there is a lot of love for this blog and for that, I am very grateful!
Over the next 3 months you may see periodic posts from me as well, however as of today, I will be going on maternity leave! Baby #2 is due very soon! I am very confident in the guest bloggers we have chosen to fill in while I am away. I think you will enjoy the content and diversity they will bring to FOREM. You will see me back full-time at the FOREM helm toward the end of the year.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of our FOREM readers. I am very proud to say we have grown exponentially in the last 6 months. I love receiving all your comments and feedback. Our fans truly help to make FOREM great!
Feel free to tweet me! @katielance
Thank you again!
Written by: Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheFutureOfRealEstateMarketing/~3/GGqZ4i03h1c/
5 Tools to Turbo-Charge Your Social Media
September 19, 2010
Guest Blogger Alex Cortez is a Realtor in Hawaii, specializing in Maui Condos. Visit his Maui Real Estate Blog for local market information.
The importance of social media in a real estate professionals marketing plan is undeniable. And although there are many different approaches as to how to best implement a strategy, the need to streamline the SM integration process on a day-to-day basis grows constantly. Below I have listed 5 tools that have helped me tremendously in effectively managing time and increasing efficiency. Use one, a combination thereof, or all of them!
1. Tweetdeck Initially made as a desktop application for Twitter, now it has grown to incorporate Facebook, Myspace, Linked In, and the most recent updates include Google Buzz and Foursquare. The purpose of Tweetdeck is to connect the user with contacts across different social media outlets, allowing you to tweet, update Facebook status, change Myspace user moods and much more all from a single application. And the fact that it supports iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad makes it a mobile command center for all your social media needs.
2. Gist Although still in the beta stage, you can consider this to be your ultimate Customer Relations Management (CRM) for social media. This application allows users to combine contacts across multiple mediums and organize data based on contact priority, thereby providing a full view of your social network. Gist will continue to be my social media CRM of choice, especially as it has an app specifically tailored to work with Gmail.
3. Roost In order to establish and maintain a successful social media presence it is critical to provide useful/relevant information. The Roost application for Facebook, aptly named Social Real Estate, is a free, easy-to-use tool that gives consumers the information they want and agents the ability to further engage their target audience. Data includes Altos Research market stats, walkability scores, education info, and a market snapshot. Not all real estate markets are available yet, but expect big things from this forward-thinking company.
4. Chatterbox - The more people you follow on Twitter, all the chatter makes it more difficult to stay updated on the topics that matter most to you. Chatterbox allows users to organize and prioritize their tweets based on keywords, Twitter handles, tags and an assortment of other criteria. Think of it as your single-point of reference for all your Twittering needs. This tool is of particular use to large real estate brokerages that have strong Twitter presences, as it allows specific areas to be assigned to individual agents who can better engage followers with timely responses and local expertise. Although currently it only works for Twitter, look for other services to be integrated in the future.
5. Social Radar As the Carolyn Capalbo story has made the RE.net rounds, it illustrates the importance of proactively managing online reputation. Social Radar by Infegy provides users with the ability to get updated information of what is being said about them. It scours the ends of the Internet, literally billions of messages 24/7, so you dont have to.
As the hours in the day seem to be getting shorter and there are always more things to attend to, it is important to use technological advances to work more efficiently.
I welcome you to post tools that have helped YOU work smarter and more effectively in your social media efforts.
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheFutureOfRealEstateMarketing/~3/hN_MxCT9VYI/
Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]
September 19, 2010
MTVs Video Music Awards show is a big deal on Twitter, likely because its chock-full of celebrity antics and live-tweetable moments. The broadcast took home the prize for top tweeted topic this past week.
Sportssports
continue to dominate the trends, with the NFL coming through at number two and bumping the long-trending topic of soccer (football) down to the number nine spot.
Other notable topics include the remembrance of September 11, 2001 (where many users shared their stories through the #WhereWereYou hashtag), and the term TwitterTwitter
itself after the company announced the planned roll-out of a new homepage that will dynamically integrate shared media.
Check out the complete chart below, compiled by our friends over at What The Trend. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart.
You can check past Twitter trends in our Top Twitter Topics section as well as read more about this past weeks trends on What The Trend.
Top Twitter Trends This Week: 9/11 9/17
Lady Gaga accepted the award for Videovideo
of the Year (for “Bad Romance”) at MTVs VMAs Sunday, Sept. 12th wearing a dress, shoes and purse made out of pieces of raw meat. The band 30 Seconds To Mars won the 2010 MTV VMA Best Rock Video for “Kings and Queens.”Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and Indianapolis Colts safety Bob Sanders were the most tweeted about individuals. Sanders was injured recently in a game against the Houston Texans. He has a torn biceps tendon and may be out indefinitely.People are sending letter-style tweets (“Dear Taylor Swift”) along with their reactions to the premiere of her latest song, “Innocent.” Kanye Wests MTV VMA performance with the lyrics “Lets Have a Toast” has inspired many tweets.Nine years ago on September 11th 2001, the “Twin Towers” of the World Trade Center were destroyed in a terrorist attack that killed thousands. People are remembering that day.People are tweeting about their favorite memories and characters from the PowerPuff Girls cartoon show. It originally started trending on Saturday when the show was aired on TRANS7, one of Indonesias TV stations.Mexico celebrated its bicentennial on Thursday, September 16. The Bicentennial Celebration at the Zocalo included a variety of incredible fireworks and a military parade.Twitter is introducing a new website design that will include embedded media and content in users streams.Google has launched a new Doodle on its British and Irish websites to celebrate the 120th anniversary of mystery writer Agatha Christies birth.The UEFA Champions League 2010-2011 started Tuesday, September 14. Popular football memes this week were “Immortal Tricolor” the nickname for Brazilian football team Grmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense. Fans of Spanish football team Real Madrid chanted “Hala Madrid” to support them when they beat Ajax 2-0.As a reaction to the appearance of the band Restart on the top trends list, users are expressing their dislike of the Brazilian band. Notably, “CALA BOCA COLORIDAS,” meaning “Shut Up, Colorful Girls” in Portuguese refers to the mostly teenage fans of the band. Restart is part of a new “colorful rock” movement whose fans wear gaudy clothes and strange haircuts.
Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto, ricardoinfante
Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/OSgBqMjtu1k/
5 Tips for Aspiring Web App Developers
September 19, 2010
So, youre not content with just using the social web; you want to be part of building it, too.
As a budding or beginning web app developer, youve got a difficult but rewarding path ahead of you. You have to master (or at least attempt to master) the intricacies of OOP and scripting languages, learn to build web apps the hard way (practice, practice, practice), and network your way into a few job opportunities. You must also decide whether youd like to work as a solo/consultant/freelancer, a startup employee or founder, or a rank-and-file developer at an established company.
Here are a few tips and words of advice that might make your individual path a bit easier and hopefully a bit shorter. Weve also compiled a gallery of 140-character tips from veterans at the end of this post.
If youve already found success as a front-end web dev, we welcome your suggestions in the comments, as well.
1. Go Open Source
By far the most oft-repeated words of advice we heard from masters of the web dev trade were these: Put in some time on open-source projects. The hands-on experience will challenge you, educate you and help you build your body of work.
Aside from code for codes sake, open source projects are a good way to meet other devs and do some networking. Youll have the opportunity to work with people who are much more skilled and experienced than you are yet; take full advantage of this situation and be a sponge.
SourceForge and GitHub and good places to start looking for open source projects that appeal to you; also, as you follow various blogs around the web and see what projects might need a few extra hands. Sites like Code for America and organizations such as the Mozilla Foundation are always looking for good developers with free time.
Finally, when working on open source apps, not only will you get great practice and be able to learn from some really excellent engineers; youll also be giving back to the community. As some would say, creating and sharing free and open-source software is one of the best things you can do to help your neighbors as a developer.
2. Expand Your Web-Browsing Repertoire
Fish where the fish are is an old advertising axiom. Its meaning is fairly obvious: If youre aiming to meet, influence or otherwise catch a particular group of people, you have to be seen and heard in the places (real or digital) where they congregate.
If youre fishing for other developers the people who will teach you, help you, and with any luck, hire you youll need to add a new set of websites to your browsing and bookmarking repertoire.
Hacker NewsHacker News
, while it occasionally deviates toward social media/Silicon Valley in-jokes and gossip, can be a wonderful resource for meeting other developers, getting advice and learning about the ecosystem, particularly where startups are concerned. The site is an offshoot of Y Combinator, the well-known startup incubator.
GitHubs Gist/, Forrst, UseTheSource and CodeSnipp.it are four places on the web where you can go to see and post brief code examples. Be open to critique, and dont be a show off. For UseTheSource, we recommend lurking until youre ready to post your most stellar hacks, as the site is intended to be a repository for beautiful code.
Other sites to check out include SourceForge, Stack OverflowStack Overflow
, Google Code and Google GroupsGoogle Groups. There are literally hundreds of solid online resources for web app developers; which sites you follow and which communities you join really depends on your desired areas of expertise and spheres of professional interest.
Once youre ready to move into the work force as a web dev, our readers have recommended Dice, ODesk, and even CraigslistCraigslist as good spots for job-hunting, particularly for freelance work.
3. Network Your Socks Off
Of course, along with all this new web-browsing activity, youll be seeing a horde of new and friendly faces: The developers and designers that make up the web app-building community.
Bloggerblogger, entrepreneur and developer Jesse Stay says, Network, network, network! Find your future boss on FacebookFacebook, LinkedInLinkedIn and TwitterTwitter
, and his advice rings true. If you can locate and befriend a few like-minded, highly skilled professional web devs, they might be able to guide and help you in your career as you broaden and deepen your skill set.
We recommend joining a few Facebook groups and checking out developer-oriented Twitter lists from Twitter users you already follow and respect. Once youve located the people youd like to emulate, go back to Tip 1 and see how you can offer your time and skills to any open source projects those people might be involved in.
The golden rules of networking still apply: Give as much as youd like to receive, and be a good resource and connector for others, not just a parasite.
4. Show Your Code
Once youre practicing, networking, reading, working and generating piles of beautifully functional code, youre going to want to show it off to the world. After all, as one reader said, GitHub is the new rsum.
Use a robust, accessible code repository such as GitHub or SourceForge, release your code into the wild. And dont stop there; be sure to blog about any clever hacks or efficient new ways of doing things that you may discover along the way. Make sure your code samples show good architecture, documentation and versatility.
Showing others your code is equal parts giving back (by open-sourcing it) and self-promotion (if the code is good, that is). If the code youre posting is worthy, then sharing it is a win-win scenario.
5. Market Yourself
For some devs, bragging is second nature. For others, self-promotion is an uncomfortable stretch. No matter which camp you fit into (and even if youre somewhere in between), youll need to learn how to gracefully and effectively promote yourself as a web applications developer.
It goes without saying that youll want to put the full force of your coding skills into building an elegant website. We dont mean elegant in the general sense of the term; we mean elegant as in the intersection of simplicity and functionality in form and function. And it goes without saying that the source code for your site should be immaculate, as well.
Focus on creating a good portfolio that shows a breadth of work on a variety of projects. Your apps could be entirely open-source; you could also include client work, if youve had the opportunity to develop web apps for others. Make sure this experience is attractively highlighted on your rsum, along with any languages or frameworks you know and your proficiency in each.
Once you have a great website that showcases your skills, make sure you and others link to it frequently in your email signature and from your other online profiles, and dont be afraid to show your Twitter and Facebook friends when you add a new item to your portfolio or update a section of your website. Whether you use physical or digital business cards, make sure your website is the most prominent link the receiver will see.
Bonus Round: Little Things Mean a Lot
- If youre looking for full-time work, be a great developer and a well-rounded candidate with communication skills.
- Always thoroughly comment your code.
- Be as good at reading code as you are at writing it.
- If youre a developer, learn something about design, UX/UI, business and web economics (especially if youre going into a startup).
- Customize your personal growth: If you dont get a job, ask why and what you can do to improve.
- Remember the big picture make sure your code is built with scalability in mind.
- Commit to perpetual self-education.
- Dont give up.
Finally, here are some tips gathered from our friends around the web:
Development Job Listings
Every week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we post a huge range of job listings, weve selected some of the best development jobs from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!
- Senior Application Engineer at Match.com in Dallas, TX.
- Web Application Developer at Ticketfly, Inc. in San Francisco, CA.
- Senior Lead Developer at Liquify Digital in Seattle, WA.
- Software Engineer in Test at Google Inc. in New York, NY.
- Software Engineer at AxialMarket in New York, NY.
More Job Search Resources from Mashable
– 6 Job Search Tips for Aspiring Programmers
– 10 Tips For Aspiring Community Managers
– 5 Tips for Aspiring Copywriters and Art Directors
– 5 Tips for Aspiring Social Media Marketers
– Top 5 Tips for Aspiring Music Bloggers
Image courtesy of FlickrFlickr, e2.
Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/chJzvT2d0l0/
Using Google to Work More Efficiently
September 19, 2010
Guest Blogger Alex Cortez is a REALTOR with Hawaii Life Real Estate Services. Visit his Maui Real Estate site for local information.
The keys to Googles success as a search engine have been its perfect blend of simplicity and functionality. Fortunately, those traits have transcended to other applications as Google has grown from a SE to a powerful work center. In the past month I have been making a slow transition from working on various PC and Mac-based programs to using Google as my primary workstation (both mobile and static). And although most people who use Gmail or other Google-based email service as their email provider know how powerful and convenient it is, I would like to share a few note-worthy features in Google Docs and Google Calendar that can simplify previously time-intensive tasks.
Google Docs
The premise behind Google Docs is simple: provide a clear, yet effortless, way to share documents. In this regard, Google Docs has delivered with features that are as responsive to the growing needs of its users as they are visionary. For example, the sharing interface is very user-friendly, intuitive and, most importantly, useful. By providing an easy method of sharing documents online, Google Docs empowers its users with a robust platform on which people can save, edit, and collaborate.
Whether you are working on a listing presentation, financial report, or marketing material, you can easily allow other team members (i.e. co-listing agent, marketing director, office manager) to collaborate and edit the same document in real time while using data validation that you have set forth. Use the chat function to interact with collaborators during real-time co-editing to produce a concise document, saving time and frustration of multiple edits.
In addition, a new feature to Google Docs that can have an array of benefits is the use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to turn digital documents into editable text versions of it, thereby minimizing data entry. Formats supported are Images and PDF files, as well as Images from digital cameras or phones. Keep in mind that formatting may be lost during the conversion, but as this is the first iteration of OCR implementation, you can expect quality and compatibility to improve with time. Furthermore, as real estate professionals constantly work on the go, the ability to access PDFs, .ppt, .doc, and .docx files that you have uploaded is paramount. Although currently only iPhones, iPads and Androids are supported, look for more accessibility options in the future.
Google Calendar
Between listing appointments, office meetings, caravans, marketing plans, etc., there never seems to be enough hours in the day. As such, any tool that can assist real estate agents in increasing their time-management efficiency is always a welcomed addition. And the Google Calendar accomplishes this in spades. With mobile support for smartphones and sync-ability to Microsoft Outlook or Macs Calendar, you can access GCal whenever and however you want. And what I find most practical on Google Calendar is the ability to share calendars, which can minimize scheduling conflicts.
Need to schedule a showing, but hate the back-and-forth aspect of coordinating availability of sellers, listing agents, buyers agent, and buyer? By sharing calendars as appropriate, it can simplify what is an otherwise unnecessarily complicated task. Look for future integration of social media calendars into GCal, making it the one and only calendar for the busy, on-the-go real estate professional.
By being on the cutting edge of technology and addressing concerns with practical email solutions, a functional scheduling calendar, and a pragmatic method of document-saving/sharing, Google has created a setting where productive professionals can thrive.
Do you have any time saving tips that youd like to share? Comment away.
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheFutureOfRealEstateMarketing/~3/_NHUbDZ11AI/
Ten Signs That You Need Time Off From SM
September 19, 2010
Guest Blogger Alex Cortez is a REALTOR in Hawaii, specializing in Maui Condos. Visit his Maui Real Estate Blog for local market information.
With social media becoming one of the newest and hottest tools in a real estate agents bag, there are some who have taken to SM a bit TOO much. Have you met anyone who tweets EVERYTHING they do? Or someone who LIVES on Facebook? Or how about the one who FourSquares their entire day, one location at a time? Well, this one is for them.
Top Ten Signs You Need a Break From Social Media
- You can tweet faster than you can talk.
- You ask yourself What would Ashton Kutcher tweet? more than once
a day. - You use Tom from MySpace as your only role model.
- You live your life 140 characters at a time.
- You live vicariously through your Facebook status.
- You refuse to acknowledge people who are on MySpace.
- Your real-life friends refuse to be your Facebook friends.
- You have been fired due to a Facebook status update.
- You have been named FourSquare mayor of more than five places.
- You shared this post on StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, Delicious, Google Buzz, DailyMe, Bebo and Blinklist before you got to the end.
If you know anyone who is suffering from any of the above conditions, then send them to Bojanjo (bonus points if you know what that is). Comments are always welcomed and appreciated.
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheFutureOfRealEstateMarketing/~3/RCDWzOI2f3A/
