My first blog post from the iPad 3G
So, I’ve had my iPad 3G for a couple hours and thought it was only appropriate to kick things off with a blog post using the WordPress app. Actually I already posted a couple videos on YouTube, including the Fedex delivery man dropping off my iPad and another video of the all important unboxing.
I’m an avid Apple user so the iPad is really a very logical extension of my regular workflow. I especially like the ability to boot up immediately and get straight to work vs. waiting for my Macbook to warm up. Plus the battery lasts up to 10 hours so it’s great in terms of working in remote locations and while on the go.
I’m most interested in the productivity elements of the iPad. Quick access, remote computing, connectivity to my home desktop. With 3G access, I’ll be able to do this literally from the highway. Plus if I need to show something online to a client in a pinch, it’s much faster and impressive to do so on the iPad vs the iPhone or MacBook.
Some of the apps I’m starting with include WordPress, Twitteriffic and Audio Boo. These allow me to publish text and audio based blog posts and engage folks on Twitter. With MobileMe and Safari, I can quickly find and share content online using Ping.fm in my bookmarks. It’s really a great experience.
So, that’s it for now. How are you using your iPad? What business apps do you recommend?
Read MoreStart a new blog on a shoestring
Blogs are a great way to share your ideas and content online, maintain control over that content, and network with others within your niche. The good news is there are several ways to start a new blog on a shoestring.
The thought of setting up and managing your own blog may at first seem overwhelming and even unnecessary to some, but the truth is it’s quite simple.
If you’re looking for a free solution check out Blogger, WordPress.com, Tumblr or Weebly. These platforms have tons of great features and you can literally be up and running in minutes. The downside is you won’t have complete control over every aspect of the site, including the URL (which you can personalize for a fee).
Two great paid solutions include WordPress and TypePad. WordPress is the most popular mainly because of the plugins and support community. Both are specifically designed for blogging, so the admin capabilities cater to ease of use and it’s very easy to add new content on a regular basis.
If you choose to download and install WordPress on your own server or domain, you’ll need a hosting package. I use Bluehost, but several other options exist. You’ll also need an FTP client such as CyberDuck, which allows you to easilly upload files, images, themes, etc.
Again, most of the functionality and features to get started are built in, but for those of you that want a more customized approach, WordPress is probably your best bet.
Any other good options you recommend to start a new blog on a shoestring?
Read MoreImprove Productivity with the iPad – More Focus, Less Multi-Tasking
With the upcoming iPad release, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how exactly I could use the new device in my daily routine. I already have an iMac, MacBook Pro and iPhone, so the questions for me as a business owner is will the iPad help improve productivity?
Many have criticized the iPad for its lack of Adobe Flash and inability to run multiple application simultaneously, unlike Windows or Mac OSX which allow you to multi-task and easily share your desktop among several apps at once.
I actually see the single app iPad limitation as an advantageous feature to help me focus on a single task and ultimately help drive productivity in some situations. Of course, there are exceptions, but with the right iPad apps, I believe this will be a good thing.
“When people try to perform two or more related tasks either at the same time or alternating rapidly between them, errors go way up, and it takes far longer — often double the time or more — to get the jobs done than if they were done sequentially.” — David E. Meyer, director of the Brain, Cognition, and Action Laboratory at the University of Michigan
A good example is writing blog posts. Many times, we spend a disproportionate amount of time researching a new entry rather than actually writing. It’s not that the inspiration is difficult to find, it’s that we easily get distracted during our research by tangential subtopics, comments, and related posts from source material … I’m sure you can all relate.
On the iPad, however, I’ll be forced to stick to one app to write my post – at least the initial draft. Without the distraction of Twitter, email, and the web looming off to the side, I can spend some serious quality time focusing on my writing.
And yes, I have a few wireless Mac keyboards handy, so the physical typing part will be easy and familiar.
Of course, this sounds good in theory, but I won’t really know until I have the iPad in my hands.
What do you think? Will the iPad improve productivity? Is the lack of multi-tasking across apps a limitation or feature?
Read MoreTop 5 Reasons Not to Blog
I work with all types of businesses and I always recommend that my clients start a blog. It is a bit selfish I suppose, because I find blogging fun and rewarding and secretly wish others would too. But the fact is, in my experience, most people don’t want to blog.
These are the top 5 reasons people tell me they do not want to blog:
- I’m too busy to blog and just don’t have the time
- I don’t know how to blog
- I don’t know what I would say on my blog
- Blogging is a waste of time with low ROI
- I don’t want others to see what I’m doing
Most people don’t mention the fear of blogging, but we all know it’s there, so we should probably add it to the list too.
My job is to help my clients overcome some of these hurdles – some are technical or may be addressed with the right process or tools. The tough part, however, is to actually get people to blog and do it well.
I stumbled upon this quote from Josh Hanagarne on CopyBlogger which pretty much sums things up:
… there is one secret ingredient to the great blog recipe. And that secret ingredient is you.
via The Secret Ingredient to an Irresistible Blog | Copyblogger.
The point is, no matter how much training or coaching we take, how many great tools and systems we have set up to make blogging easy and effective, if you’re not into it, it’s just not going to work.
For me, it’s about writing and sharing content that I find interesting. It’s exciting to discover something new, see people visit my site and interact with them along the way. Oh, and it drives a lot of business.
What do you think? Just because someone doesn’t want to blog, should they exclude it from their internet marketing strategy?
Read MoreTactics to Drive More Targeted Search Engine Traffic to Your Blog
If you’re marketing your brand, service, or products online, one of your goals should be to drive more targeted search engine traffic to your blog. An overall increase in traffic is fine, but it really boils down to who is visiting your sight, why they are visiting and what the call to action is once they consume your content.
If you are not speaking to a particular niche, you might find that although overall traffic volume is high, engagement is low.
Here are 5 tactics to drive more targeted search engine traffic:
- Use a long-tail keyword strategy when creating your content. Think about what someone might use to find your content in Google and incorporate those phrases into your content. For a more scientific approach use a tool like Google Keyword Search Tool or Market Samurai.
- Consistently add new content. Google likes new content and if you publish on a frequent basis, Google tends to index your site more regularly because you’re seen as more relavent. Set up Google Webmaster Tools to monitor the rate with which Google indexes your site.
- Add images to your posts and optimize them so Google Images can index them. This not only adds visual interest to your posts but provides the necessary information so people can find your images when searching on Google.
- Comment on other blogs and link back to related pages within your blog. Many people make the mistake of only linking back to their home page. Take the extra 10 seconds to link to an individual post instead so that Google has the opportunity to index backlinks to multiple pages throughout your site. Try to comment on blogs that have a high Google PageRank and Follow tags. Again, Market Samurai can help find these blogs.
- Leverage your content and RSS feed by submitting posts to Friendfeed, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Technorati and other leading blog indexing sites. Google tends to rank results from these sites higher in search results, thus giving you and edge on the competition.
These aren’t all inclusive, but do you think these tactics would help drive more targeted search engine traffic to your blog?
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