WordPress 3.1 admin bar

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.

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.

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.

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.

… 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.

Zuckerberg believes the messaging service – which is “not e-mail” – will mark the end of traditional e-mail as we know it.

Essentially, Facemail will:

- replace a subject-based list of email with a people-based list.

- unify some media.

- archive messages permanently.

Innovative for sure, but will Facemail really replace enterprise email?

Not so fast.

Facemail poses many problems for businesses – large and small.

How?

First, let’s look at the issue of replacing subject-based lists with a people-based lists.

Facebook would have us believe that the standard email setup of subject/recipients/text is antiquated. It proposes that the inbox is better organized as a list of conversations with people, not as a list of topics.

In the new Facebook Messaging, you’ll see a list of people; when you click on a person, you’ll see a list of all the messages you and that person have ever exchanged.

It’s certainly possible that this idea would be useful for a social inbox, but for business? Not so much. Most business users need to be able to follow the thread of a conversation, yet keep several conversations on different topics separate — even if the conversations are with the same people.

It also looks as though Facebook won’t provide control over the recipient list when replying to a thread. This, too, is bad for business — it’s important for users to be able to add and delete recipients and spawn side-conversations.

Second, the issue of unified media.

Facemail is email, text messaging, and instant messaging (or chat) all rolled into one. There’s talk of Skype being included as well. This isn’t exactly triumphant news. Many enterprise email systems already have unified messaging features – and guess what? They’re great for those people who communicate in a social context, but for business it’s much less important. The tools are always available for everyone to get email when they need it.

Lastly, the permanent archival of messages.

Facebook says it will preserve these messages – text, chat, messages – forever. And, THAT could be very problematic for employers and inhouse counsel which have their own retention policies in place. For instance, if a company typically deletes e-mail every 90 days, it will be unable to enforce that on e-mails created in Facemail.

Keeping data forever is just not an option for companies. The legal risk is too overwhelming.

Now, companies that already have policies in place for handling outside e-mail and chat providers will have to ask their inhouse counsel to develop new policies that categorize Facebook with the rest of those services.

E-mail is still a useful service – and contrary to what Zuckerberg believes, it’s not going away just yet.

Can you picture a leading company exec sending a top secret inner-office memo to a colleague through Facemail?

Sorry Zuckerberg, but we’re not quite there yet.

]]> http://blog.staturesoftware.com/2010/12/02/facemail-will-be-a-disaster-for-businesses/feed/ 0 http://blog.staturesoftware.com/2010/11/23/google-gets-us-even-more-productive/ http://blog.staturesoftware.com/2010/11/23/google-gets-us-even-more-productive/#comments Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:15:31 +0000 Erin http://blog.staturesoftware.com/?p=571 I’m a staunch supporter of all things Google – well almost all (remember Buzz?)

I use Google’s search engine. I use its browser, Chrome. I use its voice service… and sometimes, even chat. But, lately, what’s really come in handy is Docs.

I know Google Docs has been around a while, but sadly I’ve only just discovered how useful and convenient it really is. I rely on it primarily because I work from a MacBook and most of my colleagues work from MS Office on their pc’s. Docs lets me convert my work into any type of file… allowing seamless document circulation between parties. Docs also enables me to share my work with other people by granting them email access. All they have to do is log in.

I know. I know. This is nothing new to a lot of people. But what IS new is a just introduced Google Docs beta feature called Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office.

Basically, Google Cloud Connect is an add-on for Office that syncs documents, spreadsheets and presentations from Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 with the cloud. In other words, it takes data on the desktop and makes a backup copy in Google Docs, gives it a unique URL and constantly syncs the data with anybody else that might be sharing the same document.

The technology behind Google Cloud Connect derives from DocVerse, a productivity tool that Google acquired earlier this year that lets multiple users collaborate and edit Microsoft Office documents.

What’s fantastic is that a business team can edit a document from either Microsoft Office or Google Docs simultaneously – and Docs will save all of the revisions, so if someone messes up someone else’s edits, it’s easy to revert them.

This new launch is all about getting Office users – like my old self – to ditch the software permanently and switch to Google Docs and the cloud. Admittedly, I had resisted the change… but once I went cloud, I knew I was never going back.

Microsoft’s productivity suite had its time in the sun. Now it’s Google’s turn to shine – and it’s oh so bright.

I’ve been seeing these products she is a fan of – because each and every one gets prominently displayed in my home feed –  and I think… really? This woman is really telling all of her friends which air freshener product she likes? Who flippin’ cares?

I certainly don’t. In fact, I think it’s annoying.

Coincidentally a new study was just released last week that addresses this very topic: Why consumers fan Facebook pages.

The report, conducted by ExactTarget and CoTweet, found that discounts and “social badging” were the primary reasons consumers “like” brands on Facebook.

Nearly 40% of Facebook users who become fans do so to receive discounts and promotions and 39% become fans to show their support for a brand to their friends.

Some other interesting findings from the study include:

- 43% of the Facebook users surveyed said they “like”, or are fans of, at least one brand on Facebook.

- 34% of Facebook users say they “like” brands in order to stay informed about company activities or to get updates on future products.

- 17% say they’re more likely to buy after liking that brand on Facebook.

Sure, Facebook is a dynamic way for brands to mobilize their fans and get introduced to even more fans – but what are those business Fan Pages really worth to consumers besides a social badge?

The answer: Absolutely nothing, unless something is in it for them.

Turns out my friend who was liking all of those products only did it for the coupon incentives the companies sent her after she became a fan of their pages. But, the brands’ marketing plans backfired, in my opinion. Sure, they got my friend’s “like” of approval – but her friends are now giving these products a BIG DISLIKE because of the sheer annoyance of seeing them on their main Facebook feeds.

This whole incentive stuff is for the birds. I say brands should stay organic. Let people come to them because they truly like their services or products. If they don’t – and continue to offer these stupid discounts – they’ll end up shooting themselves in the proverbial left foot, because you know why?

All of those fans who were lured in aren’t going to stick around. They’re not loyal. They are fair feather – just like my friend. She has “un-liked” every one of those products.

Tweets on Twitter are being ignored. Facebook updates are getting buried – and businesses are taking note. The ROI is simply not there.

A September 2010 survey by Econsultancy, sponsored by digital marketing agency bigmouthmedia, found nearly half of companies worldwide felt they were not able to measure the return on their social media investment — even to put a value on it relative to their other marketing activities.

Econsultancy’s report also suggested integration with many other marketing channels was lacking. While the vast majority of companies had managed to integrate email and social media, search engine optimization was the only other marketing channel that came close in integration efforts.

What’s more, a Wired story released via CNN this week indicated – quite bluntly – that Twitter is a waste of time. Toronto-based social media analytics company Sysomos scanned 1.2 billion messages that were sent in August and September 2009 and found that 71% of tweets get absolutely no response. Seven in ten tweets are ignored!

This is tough to swallow – even for me. But it was inevitable. Social media’s swan song appears to be over.

Now what?

Has Google, in fact, come up with a way to read our minds.

The answer is no. Thank God. But, it’s damn near close.

Google Instant is not a mind reader. But, based on your keystrokes, it can predict what you’re going to type based on the zillions of previous searches it has studied and analyzed.

“Faster than the speed of type” is how Google describes Instant. It plays off research which shows that the eye can see as much as 10 times faster than the hand can type. So begin to type in “software” and you’ll get ten search terms related to software even before you’ve finished typing.

No doubt this is a faster way to search the Web. So fast, in fact, Google says Instant can shave two-to-five seconds off the time it takes to perform a search in Google Classic. In other words, if everyone use Google Instant it could save as much as 11 hours every second, of every day.

Google Instant is also more relevant. Results come back even when the searcher is not sure of words to type to get the best results. The prediction – and it is a prediction – for the search is shown in light grey text in the drop down box below the search queue. There is no need to type a complete word or sentence.

There’s also Google Instant for mobile phone users too! When users search for a particular business or want to know the weather forecast, Google Instant will use GPS to show location based results – in real time.

As brilliant as this innovation is, many people – Web marketers in particular – are fearful of the impact Google Instant will have on Internet marketing.

Is SEO/SEM dead? Or, is it now more important than ever?

In my opinion, it’s the latter.

Page 1 of Google is so out. Google’s crystal ball prediction box is in.

That’s where you want to be found.

And, that’s where you’ll find me – searching.