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Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

WordPress 3.1 Features Make Content Management Easier

March 3rd, 2011 by Erin Posted in Business | No Comments »

WordPress is just plain great. It’s so easy to use. Its features help everyone from CEOs and small business owners to busy mothers sitting at their kitchen tables manage their day-to-day blogs and Websites. And, its continual upgrades have given us that much more power over of Web content and design.

But, wait.

The latest version of WordPress – WordPress 3.1 - is even better.

The next time you log into your WordPress dashboard, consider this when you’re stalling to hit the “Please update now“ link.

WordPress 3.1 is offering tremendous new management features. Features like:

Internal linking: A very common practice in blogging is to link to other relevant content from past blog posts. In the past this was accomplished by finding the other post and copying the URL to embed in a link. No big deal unless you’ve got thousands of posts. Now, when you are editing a post in visual editor you have the ability add a link from any page or blog post, including searching through all posts, right from the link editing tool.

Post formatting: WordPress 3.1 has unveiled comes something called Post Formats. Post Formats allow theme designers to create multiple views of a blog post so that sites can have different post layouts inside the same theme for different content.

Theme designers now have the ability to create post formats that include:

- Aside – Typically short pieces of content, published without a title.

- Image Gallery – A collection of pictures in a gallery format.

- Link – A single link.

- Image – A single image.

- Quote – An inspirational or noteworthy quote with a citation.

- Status – Status updates, similar to Facebook and Twitter updates.

- Video – A single video.

- Audio – A single audio clip, like a song or a podcast.

- Chat – An instant message transcript.

Admin bar: Check out the new navigation bar that appears above posts for admins when viewing live content. This features offers easy editing directly from any blog page. And, in case you find this kind of a thing nuisance, you can switch it off by visiting your WordPress account settings.

WordPress never sits stagnant – and neither should your Website. If you haven’t jumped on the WordPress bandwagon yet – do it. Do it now. Sorry Google, but Blogger is dead.

 Tags: content management, management features, wordpress 3.1, wordpress 3.1 admin bar, wordpress dashboard

Google Translate iPhone App – A HUGE Help for Business and Travel

February 10th, 2011 by Erin Posted in Business, Technology | No Comments »

There were many noteworthy things going on in technology this past week, like exciting talk of Apple releasing the iPad 3 in the fall and the ho-hum news of Facebook moving its headquarters from Palo Alto to Menlo Park, CA.

But what was of real interest to me, and I’m sure a lot of other people, was the new Google Translate app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Available for free from the iTunes store, the new app translates voice input for 15 languages!

Google Translate for iOS also translates words or phrases into 50 languages and can read translations aloud in 23 languages.

According to the Google Mobile Blog, “the app also includes all of the major features of the web app, including the ability to view dictionary results for single words, access your starred translations and translation history even when offline, and support romanized text like Pinyin and Romaji.”

In January, Google launched a similar Translate app for Android devices.

Traveling for business or pleasure? Be sure to have Google Translate in your back pocket. This will no doubt be a handy tool for anyone traveling abroad – or even a boardroom businessman who has to communicate via satellite with, let’s say, foreign investors. Just talk right into the phone and have the translation read back to you aloud.

While handy, I do have to say that Search Engine Land may be over-dramatizing the launch of this app just a tad. They call Google Translate “a small glimpse at the future of search” – meaning that Google has broken ground in the new “search for words (and their meanings) in different languages” territory.

That is dicey terrain that will take many, many more years to dissect. Let us, instead, focus on the here-and-now – and use Translate for what it’s intended: Translation.

 Tags: Business, google mobile, google translate iphone app, search engine land, translation, travel

Time-Saving Business Apps for Google Chrome

December 30th, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business | No Comments »

I’m a big proponent of Google Chrome. It’s speedy. It’s efficient. And, I know it like the back of my hand.

While it still has a lot of catching up to do with Internet Explorer and Firefox, Google Chrome’s popularity is growing – and fast.

That said, I would bet big bucks that more businesses start using Chrome in 2011. Not all of the bells and whistles are there yet, but Chrome sure has a lot to offer. Take the Chrome Web Store for instance. The marketplace just opened, and it offers dozens and dozens of applications and extensions to suit your every need – and whim.

And, for the businesses, Chrome is teeming with some great, FREE business apps. Here are a few featured in PC World’s Business Center.

- Rainmaker

Rainmaker is able to automagically pull information about people in your Gmail address book from the web, Twitter, Linked In, and Facebook. This information includes mugshots, addresses, phone numbers, and Internet details.

- Springpad

The best way to describe Springpad is as a supercharged notebook and To Do list maker. Because it’s a cloud application, your data can be accessed from anywhere in the world, and the app is built around HTML5 so will work on the majority of modern browsers, phones and smartpads too.

- Simplebooklet

Simplebooklet is actually an online presentations tool. It fills a blindingly obvious gap in the market: creating presentations that can be viewed within a browser, and accessed via a simple URL that you share with others.

- World Time Planner

World Time Planner is a simple app that lets you click and drag a slider to see what the time will be in various cities over the next 24 hours. Daytime and nighttime symbols appear alongside each city to indicate at a glance when the working day starts and finishes.

Sure, Chrome’s apps pale in comparison to the other apps available on other browsers and operating systems. But it’s making strides. And, quite frankly, I would be hard-pressed to find anyone who has tried Chrome and didn’t stick with it.

Just like with a Mac, you won’t go back.

 Tags: business apps, chrome apps, chrome web store, google chrome, pc world

‘Tis the Season for …. Entrepreneurial Spirit?

December 22nd, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business | No Comments »

The U.S. economy has been in the dumpster for the better part of the decade… and the ripple effect has had a huge impact on our business spirit.

You might say Americans have lost their entrepreneurial mojo.

A recent study by the Small Business Administration showed that U.S. has dropped to THIRD PLACE from first when it comes to fostering entrepreneurial creativity. We now rank third behind Denmark and – gulp – Canada.

So, what’s up America? Have we gotten lazy? Are we broke? Have we lost our zesty “go get ‘em” attitude?

According to those who’ve spoken out about this, the answer is yes.

Entrepreneur Magazine asked its Facebook fans to weigh in on the matter, and here’s what a few had to say about what we’re doing wrong:

“Complacency.” – Luke Thomas

“The cost of insurance, licensing, small-business taxes and hiring employees is astronomical. Most mom-and-pop businesses are on a shoestring budget.” – Dawn Boyer

“Americans are not developing new technologies to sell on the global market. We need to slow down our consuming and increase production in order to export more goods.” – Alana Weaver

“By the time young executives get out of student loan debt, they are at a point in their lives where it is hard to take the risk of entrepreneurship. There are student loan forgiveness programs for teachers. Why not for entrepreneurs?” – Timothy Ericson

“Running a business is like balancing on a log in the water: Fancy footwork will keep you up, but it takes bulldog tenacity to stay there. With so much negativity, undermining and unpatriotic chin-wag, it discourages honest, hard-working people from giving it a go.” – JC Crellin

“Bureaucracy.” – Carmen Lane

Sure, we can say there is too much red tape. We can also scream at the government to get out of the way. But the truth is, in my opinion, people don’t have the money or the courage to take a business idea and run with it. The banks are simply not lending like they used to and that’s scary to a lot of people.

The good news?

America still has a few model entrepreneurs – like Mark Zuckerberg - whose stories will inspire and, not doubt, light a fire under many people in the coming years.

Until then, we’ll have to look to Denmark for inspiration.

 Tags: business idea, business spirit, entrepreneurial creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, mark zuckerberg, Small Business

Zuckerberg Stands the Test of TIME

December 16th, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business | No Comments »

Nevermind the fact that we see his face everyday in the news.

… or that there was a major motion picture released about him this year.

… or that he’s just 26-years-old.

… or that everyone LOVES to hate him.

Mark Zuckerberg is Time Magazine’s Person of the Year – and guess what? He damn well deserves it.

In less than seven years, Zuckerberg has managed to bridge one out of nearly a dozen people on the planet – that’s a twelfth of humanity! – together in a single network; a social network called Facebook.

The social entity is now twice as large as the U.S. And, if Facebook were a country it would be the third largest, behind China and India.

To say that Facebook has changed the way we communicate, view Internet privacy, and do business would be an understatement.

A few years ago, most of us saw Facebook as the “go to” site for finding and connecting with friends – new and old. Today, while it still serves us in that regard, Facebook has become a business powerhouse. In fact, businesses are now re-thinking their marketing models and strategies because of Zuckerberg’s for-profit network.

Take e-commerce for instance. Thanks to Facebook, it’s called “social shopping.” People don’t shop online privately anymore. They’re talking about the products and services they buy on sites like Facebook and Twitter first. Not only that, users follow or “like” companies, brands, or products on social networks – which, in turn, spreads the word to their friends.

It’s an ingenius concept that’s made Zuckerberg a very rich man.

And let us not forget the privacy issue. Before Facebook, most of us were floating around the Internet without giving privacy a second thought. Today, thanks to Facebook, we are mindful of what can or can’t be seen by the public. We have more privacy controls. We are wary about which pictures we post – and who can see them.

It is said that the average person checks Facebook about 15 times a day. If that’s the case, then it’s fair to say that Zuckerberg is running our social lives through Facebook.

And, THAT’s why he deserves to be on the cover of Time Magazine.

 Tags: Business, e-commerce, internet privacy, mark zuckerberg, person of the year, social network, zuckerberg time magazine