What are Google Collections?

Basic folders where you can organize your Google Documents. If your question is “What are Google Documents?” – they are… documents. It is like a Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Presentation, application that is online (in the cloud) and accessible by multiple people at one time.

While collections are like folders, they are not precisely physical folders. The are more like categories that can be nested. So a single document or file can be shared inside multiple collections.

The other power behind collections is that you can share a collection with one or more people and any document or file you put in that collection is now shared with whoever you shared the collection with.

Here – let’s make it simpler. Watch this video:

If you have any questions on “Collections” or Google Docs.. comment here or email me.

Discounting our own genius

I’ve talked about this topic a lot and next week, I’ll provide an update on how you overcome it. Hint: the word “NO!” takes a front seat.

The basic concept is this… your knowledge lives in your brain. You know what you know. Because of this, it is not extraordinary knowledge.. it is common… at least to you.

I have a conversation with a smart woman yesterday. But she allows her time and talent to be discounted – mostly by herself. She is asked for advice and gives it … freely – too freely – as in, she cannot afford to.

Think about it.. you probably have some extraordinary knowledge that you discount because it is common to you.

Around the web

My client and my coach Steven Memel pointed me at this service. I think it is pretty hip. ShoeBoxed.com allows you to both upload and send physical papers to them. They scan, OCR, and organize them for you. Very reasonable. You could do this on your own.. but why?

Marc Wolfsfeld pointed me a Trello.com for project management. The interface is very simple and I’ve started using it as a test. I may do a video overview of this in the near future.

Are you an author? Do you want to be? Read, “How to Write, Sell, and Publish Your Book” by Chris Guillebeau.

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, December 27, 9:00AM (PST)
Content Strategy and WordPress Blog Entry Basics for Maximum SEO.
http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=EB51DF80854D

Wednesday, December 28, 9:00AM (PST)
Creating, Editing, and Publishing Video using Microsoft Movie Maker.
http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=EB50D6868246

You must register to attend; use the link provided. Also, make sure your PC has speakers or you have headphones.

Spread the word.

I’d love your input. What would you like me to cover and how would you like me to deliver upcoming training. This covers live workshops, webinars, and tutorials.

So far, we’ve covered:
Part 1: an introduction and first design consideration
Part 2: why you should be blogging
Part 3: naming and hosting your blog

Part 4 – creating a blog entry

I’m skipping ahead to creating a blog entry. I’m not covering things like basic settings or theme selection and design considerations.  I’ll be doing some of those as stand-along blog entries, similar to my entry on Jetpack for WordPress.

Write first

I write my blog entries in Microsoft Word.. Yes, I know I am always talking about Google docs – and truth be known, occasionally I do craft them there as well. But I write them in Word because I have a template setup with the various fields I need for each entry.

The basic fields, available to all blog entries are:

Blog Title: The Title of your blog

Blog content: The blog entry or article

Additionally, I use an SEO (search engine optimization) plug-in (code that adds features to my blog) with the following fields.

Title:  this sets the web browsers title

Meta Description:  the meta data description of your page. This is important. Most search engines only use 140 characters. Also, it is the paragraph that shows up on Facebook when you share your page.

Meta Keywords: The meta keywords are also indexed by search engines.

The other element I create is the default image (featured images) for the blog entry. Sometimes I use an a photograph or clip art piece but many times I use a square image with large block letters. I do this to make the post standout when it is shared on Facebook.

Your Blog Title

Keep it simple and descriptive of the content. Search engines use this and the words contained in it as one of the first items to index.

Title’s that don’t offer enough:

“My Day”

“Thoughts”

“Business advice”

Some better titles:

“My day at the Monterey Aquarium”

“Thoughts about political debates”

“business advice on sales and negotiation”

Okay.. the second set are probably not great but they are descriptive. Someone would have an idea of what they are about. People also love numbered list… so

“3 tips on winning the sale through better negotiation”

The reason is the same as I give for structuring your spoken presentations to cover 3 main items. People know they can walk away and remember 3 main ideas.

Your blog entry or article

Here are some tips on how to craft an effective blog entry.

Content

We alluded to this in part 2. Again, coming at it from a business perspective, your blog’s content should be helping position  you and your company as an expert in a given field. You can use a blog entry to talk about a new service or product but if that is all you are blogging, you will find your readers disengage.

Teach them something. It doesn’t have to be directly about your products or services. For instance, a health insurance agent could easily blog about healthy living; a mortgage banker about budgeting.

Just don’t become a bunch of advertising entries. Readers don’t like it and the search engines are smart enough to discount that type of information.

Styles

Most blogs allow you to style heading. Using the H1, H2, H3 tages (heading 1, 2, or 3) both lends to readability of your content and allows search engines to catalog those headings a key pieces of information.

Also, TRY TO AVOID DIFFICULT TO READ FORMATS.

Small fonts and dark background colors make reading a blog a chore.

Images

Images can help break a blog up and make it easier to read. They also add interest. You can also use an image as a link. (See the links section below). Make sure you add the “alternate” text for the image. This is what shows up if the display images is turned off on someone’s browser. Also, search engines grab that information as well.

Links

When setting links in your blog, here are some basic rules to follow.

First, if you are linking to an external page – another website or opening a full-sized image – set the “target” to “_blank” or “Open to a new window”. You don’t want people following link that takes them away from your site and blog entry.

If I am linking within my website – say to my home page, a service page, or another blog entry, I typically open it in the same window. I figure they can find their way back to the blog entry without too much trouble.

Also, when linking, set the “Title” tag. This is additional information and keywords for search engines. It is also what appears in the browser window when someone holds their mouse cursor over the link.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this entry and the entire series gave you some food for thought about blogging more effectively. I have some additional resources on my site but if you have any comments or questions, feel free to post them here on the blog or send me an email at:
info@KreativeKnowledge.com

Video demonstration

Personal Anecdote

Two days ago I received an email. Someone had found a tutorial video and blog on Excel and VLookup. It was an entry I posted 2 years ago. They were having a problem with the formula. I found the problem almost immediately, sent their file back, and have engaged in a little conversation.

I don’t know if it will lead to business.. but I do know that blogs provide an opportunity to engage visitors with great information and leave a search engine legacy that can produce visitors to your website for years.

So let’s talk about naming and hosting your blog.

What’s in a name?

Not a lot really?

The topic gets blown out because people want to be relevant. Here is the thing… if your blog covers a specific topic – and that is what it will always cover – then give it a specific name. In the name of an author or personality, you could do a lot worse than, “Joe’s blog about stuff.”

If the blog is tied to your business, “ABC Company’s Blog: discussions on the xyz industry and related topics.”  Again.. fine.

The truth is, you may change your blog’s name over time. A more important consideration is where and how you host it. Although, as we will see, even that is not the MOST critical.

Where and how to host your blog:

There are two basic concepts here:

Blog hosting service:

You may have visited a blog and it’s URL (web address) is:  abccompany.blogspot.com or mikesmith.wordpress.com

These are examples of blog hosting services. Blogger, WordPress.com, posterous.com, and others. They host all the software and files (although there may be limitations here). Many are free. They do a great job and have some nice managed tools: email sign up forms, pre-built basic themes (layouts), statistics, and others.

Self-hosted blog

The other option is when you run the blog on your own domain. ie: www.mywebsite.com.  In this case, you install (or have installed) the blog software at your webhost. You are in charge of maintaining the blog software and you can control and customize to a much greater degree.

There is a third option.. you can use a blog hosting service like blogger, and point your domain (www.mywebsite.com) to their service.

Which is correct?

Well.. I like to have all the control – being a control-freak and all. But the fact is, there are some popular blogs that are hosted at blogger and wordpress. We’ll get to that.

The fact is, because we are talking about blogging as a tool for business engagement and growth, I am going to strongly recommend you register a domain and host your blog at your hosting company.

I use WordPress as my blogging platform. Not wordpress.com – the blog hosting company but wordpress.org where you can download the wordpress software and install it on your server.

Don’t worry

If you are thinking that sounds complicated, DON’T. The fact is, I don’t really download and install wordpress. Most companies that offer WordPress hosting, have some type of auto-installer. I use Bluehost.com but you can check with your hosting company.

FYI: If you look at Bluehost and consider using it, use my affiliate link. It is about $88/year (as of this writing) and costs the same whether you use my affiliate link or not.. For that $88 dollars, Bluehost gives you TONS of space and great 24/7 support. Also, you can host hundreds of sites for the same $88. In fact, you can register a domain when you start your account and the domain registration fees for the first year are waived.

Here is my link:
http://www.bluehost.com/track/mmonline

Note about affiliate link: If it bothers you to let me have the affiliate fee, you might have issues but that’s okay. Don’t use the link to sign up or find another hosting company..  I offer free advice, I use bluehost personally, so the affiliate link is fair. Believe me, I’m not getting rich off the $60 dollar, one-time fee.

In the end, your blog’s effectiveness in helping your engage readers is about good content – not the name, not where it is hosted. You’ll find that I am adamant and stubborn on this point.

In the next article (next week), I’ll cover writing a blog entry, search engine stuff, and ancillary tools I use on my blogs.

In the meantime, if you have questions or comments, please leave them here or email me at:
info@KreativeKnowledge.com

Productive people typical combine effective calendaring with focused action.

I would like to say I am one of those people but the truth is, it has been hit and miss lately. In order to combat that, I revisited how I calendar and how I focus.

I use Google Calendar. My reasons are simple:

• It is “cloud” based: meaning, it isn’t on my computer, it is available from any computer (and from my phone)
• I can share it with my team.
• I can view my team’s calendars.
• I can create multiple calendars (for instance, a conference room calendar or some other resource)
• It can send me text message or email reminders
• I can create a public calendar and share it on websites if necessary

I’ll demonstrate some of those features below, but here are some critical elements to effective calendaring and focus.

You are an appointment:

We put appointments on the calendar but we rarely block out thinking time, time to write emails, time at the gym, etc. The truth is, you need to block out that time or you will allow other items to place themselves on your calendar.

Project work is an appointment:

If you need to spend several hours on a project, you need to put it on the calendar – as though it were an appointment. Truth is, it is an appointment. This is effective if you share your calendar as well. Your team can see that you are working on X or Y project for a given client.

Plan your week

Late Sunday or Early Monday works for me. Look at your calendar and put your knowns on it. Fill it up with as many of the “must-do” items and projects you are working on. This gives you a clear path through the week.

Establish times for flexibility

I have someone setting appointments for me. To make that simpler, we have a plan. If possible, I want meetings to happen on Tuesday or Wednesday between 9AM and 3:30PM. I would like them geographically grouped when possible.

I might put project work in those times – as a plan – but unless I indicate something as non-moveable, the person setting appointments can “take that time” without asking me. They can just add it to my calendar.

For other days, they can put something on the calendar tentatively and get my approval.

Leave Room Between Appointments

If you have an appointment at 10:00AM – and it is going to take you 1 hour, don’t schedule an 11:30 meeting at a location that is 15 minutes away. Many things can make a 15 minute commute take longer – plus your 1 hour meeting might run 5 or 10 minutes longer anyway.

Sure, you can control this but the idea is to ensure you can easily get from appointment to appointment with mental clarity and time to breath.

Embed Telephone numbers and Addresses

My droid is my GPS. Adding a map into the description or ensuring I have the address correct in the appointment, lets me navigate to a new location with a press of my finger. Also, putting the phone number of the person you are meeting in the appointment, allows you to call them without dialing or searching through your contacts.

Take a look at this quick video on Google Calendar. And if you have questions or comments, post them here on the blog or where you saw this posted.

This video will give you a great understanding of blogs and how they help search engine rankings.

If it interest you, consider our upcoming webinar, May 17th, 2011 – 11:45AM (PST).
Blogging & Podcasting To Engage Customers, Potential Customers, and Get Better Google Search Rankings

This happens a lot. People do a search on Google (or bing, or yahoo, or wherever). They get their results. They click and link and head down the rabbit trail. Then they need to/want to get back to their search result and hit the back button 4, 6, 10, 20 times.

Instead of clicking on your search results, do a right-mouse click and select “Open in New Tab” or “Open in New Window”. Your search results remain untouched in the original window. Here is a video showing this.

Here is a PDF Tutorial with some screen (phone) shots.

Also, the document links to the video below:

Send text message with embedded phone numbers from your email.

The Google tutorials below were originally published on my other site, TheSongwriterOnline.com. If you have not checked it out, it is a site with tutorials and information for musicians. However, many of those tools really cross-over nicely to a general business.

If you are not yet using Google, chances are, after this, you will be.

Google Tutorials

Getting started with the iGoogle Dashboard

An overview of how to setup a functional dashboard. This is productivity central.

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Using Google’s Tasks List and Google Calendar together

Google tasks integrate with Google calendar. Together they provide a highly effective planning and task management system.

An Introduction To Google Forms

Google forms allows you to quickly create and distribute forms to capture data, survey customers, or get any other type of feedback. They can also be embedded on any website.

Are you using any of these technologies already?

If you are interested in finding out how your business can benefit by using Google’s application technologies, feel free to contact me.