Do you Squidoo too?

Squidoo_ruapehu new zealand

I’ve been updating my Squidoo lenses over the weekend. I currently have two that I enthusiastically started last year based on Ruapehu in the North Island of New Zealand - Wow Ruapehu and Ruapehu New Zealand.

Squidoo by the way is the brainchild of Seth Godin (marketing guru). It is a place where you can create and write a lens about anything you are knowledgeable or passionate about. With an easy to use CMS (content management system) and access to widgets, YouTube videos and products from Amazon and other eCommerce sites, people have created lenses about their favourite hobbies, movie stars, marketing tools etc. Some of them are really good with lots of helpful, useful information.

Getting back to Ruapehu…this is a very special place for me as my mother is Maori and her family along with our Maori ancestors are from the area, with close ties and connections with the mountains and rivers. Up until a few years ago, I knew very little about the area, as I was brought up in Auckland and my home is now in Sydney Australia. Anyway, through my work with Go Man Go Digital Marketing, I have been fortunate to work with Ruapehu Tourism and have been involved with designing their Visit Ruapehu website, brand and marketing tools. It has given me a much deeper appreciation and respect for this truly stunning region and it has really been awe-inspiring.

When I discovered Squidoo I decided to show off Ruapehu with the objective being to entice more people to go and visit and to find out how effective an Squidoo lens could be. I also knew I had access through our client to some fantastic images which, would really help to showcase this wonderful region.

The results have been pretty good and the lenses have created some awareness in the Squidoo community about Ruapehu. (You can read their comments on my lens pages.) I have also made some friends and had fun in the forums discussing different lenses and helping new Squidooers out.

However, before the weekend just gone, my last update I made was in December (yes…I know). My neglect has affected my overall ratings that have fallen dramatically since December.

For Wow Ruapehu I am currently

• #42,918 overall
• #1,480 in Travel
• Highest rank achieved: #693 overall (I was in the top 20 for travel…ahh those were the days)
• Royal payments $1.52 for Squidoo charities

For Ruapehu New Zealand I am currently

• #7,377 overall
• #242 in Travel
• Highest rank achieved: #1334 overall
• Royal payments $5.61 for Squidoo charities

I have another lens still under construction called Wow Sydney Australia, which I hope to finish sooner than later! It’s currently ranked #570,878.

The only way I can really boost my ratings is to keep updating on a regular basis and creating new lenses. In other words, the rewards that I reap online are measured by my overall effort, quality of my content and consistency. (Hmmm this could be my mantra for the next two weeks …two months?)

Wow Ruapehu_My Squidoo lens

So if you haven’t squidoodled as yet, I recommend you have a go! Go to Squidoo.com and make a lens up over the weekend, or spend an evening writing about your favourite hobbies, TV show or your pet dog or cat. And if you are going to create a lens, make it about something you are really interested in. There are heaps of tips at Squidoo to help you on your way. Have fun squidoodling and let me know how you go. I’ll critique your lens for you if you like, and if it’s as good as mine (ha-ha!) I’ll be your first fan!

I’m back! My Blogger’s Block Cured Thanks to WordPress

Ha ha! I can’t believe it has been soooooo long. What plans I had for this website. I was going to update it every week.

My grandiose blog ambition lasted for 1 month and then everything else sort of took over in my life and well, here I am - 7 months later.

It turned out I had a touch of Blogger’s Block! Apparently it’s quite common, even the ProBlogger guru talks about it in one of his articles.

Anyway life is extremely good and I still love the Flight of the Conchords! However I’ve moved on from my iGoogle bus stop (I can’t believe I wrote that article!). And Bebo and Facebook do not interest me as much as they did last year.

It was fun making friends on Facebook, but there is only so much poking that one can do on any given day and I did question whether people were really interested in what I was doing in the morning, afternoon etc. As for the Funwall… well that sometimes put me into a spin, deciding how I could decline a quiz, video or pic without offending the person who had sent it.

Of course I am not going to ignore Facebook, as some of my friends and family prefer to use it more than email. So I will eventually get back on board this week and reply to all my Funwall messages and accept new friends etc.

In the meantime… how did I get here? What was the cure for my Blogger’s Block?

Quite simply it was the latest version of WordPress. I know it sounds mad, but I use so many different content management systems and tonight when I decided to check my blog after all these months, I just went “Wow!”

“What a gorgeous system!” I was truly inspired.

Congratulations to the WordPress team. I’m crossing my fingers that my recovery is long term, so I can start to use this absolutely fabulous system more often.

Streaming Video Is Taking Me Away From My Tv

This week I want to own an Internet Service Provider company - a really big one! Over the past 12 months, my ISP bill has gradually increased, to the point where the plan has had to be upgraded to allow for all the extra gigabytes that have been consumed due to watching so much streaming video. These days I tell people that I don’t watch as much TV as I used to. However for some reason, I always forget to mention (until my recent ISP bill) that I watch a lot more video on the Internet than ever before.

Do I think my online video habit will change?
No. Why not? Because just like my iGoogle personalised homepage, I like the fact that I can turn things on and off when I want to. Many of the videos I watch are work related, however I am finding that I am also watching a lot more entertainment online and really enjoying the interaction I now have with like-minded friends, family and colleagues.

First encounter with the Flight of the Conchords
Last Sunday evening, I watched on free to air television a comedy festival that featured a pair of really funny comedians - The Flight of the Conchords. While their sense of humour may not be for everyone, I saw 5 minutes of their show and really enjoyed their performances. The next morning, I got a message from one of my Facebook friends to check out the new YouTube video on my Facebook wall. Voila! It was The Flight of the Conchords. A few hours later I’m having a conversation with my brother on the phone about the video. He then emails me a YouTube link to the first episode of their HBO television series in the US. What surprised me? How quickly my focus had moved from my TV to the Internet.

Will I watch the whole series online?
Absolutely. Why? It’s really funny and entertaining and now that I’m on my new ISP plan - affordable!

Related Links:
Web Users Now Spend Half Their Time Visiting Content, Far Outpacing Time Spent With Search, Communications And Commerce
Wikipedia - Flight of the Conchords
HBO - Flight of the Conchords

My iGoogle Bus Stop Is Worth Visiting

With the introduction of the iGoogle themes (skins) earlier this year, iGoogle’s customisable homepage has become one of my favourite places to visit on a daily basis. The “Bus Stop” theme that I currently display focuses on my local weather conditions here in Sydney.

Everyday I am greeted by my friends at the bus stop, whom I have personally named - (left to right) Buster, Tim, George, Granny, Herb, Boxer and Ginny.

When it’s raining here in Sydney and is a cool 18 degrees Celsius, it’s raining at the bus stop too and everyone has to dress in their wet weather gear. The same occurs on warm and sunny 26 degree days. My bus stop friends experience the same weather conditions and once again are dressed appropriately.

Visually appealing this is a great example of clever and engaging web site design on the Internet. Not only do I have the opportunity to change my themes, I can also choose gadgets such as the weather, dictionaries, Garfield, quotes of the day, news and more, and arrange them in whatever order I want to on my iGoogle homepage. So many choices, with the freedom to turn things off and on, helps to make the whole iGoogle experience, simple, fun and compelling.

Related Links:
iGoogle
iGoogle Gadgets
All screenshots of Google Theme (iGoogle)

Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Own Facebook!

Imagine if you woke up tomorrow morning and were the owner and CEO of the most talked about social networking company in the world. What would you do? Would you be the heroic entrepeneur planning your next strategic move? World domination perhaps? Or, would you be thinking about (gasp) a potential buyer? An opportunity to sell, sell, sell!

Today I emailed a friend and commented on the recent Google page ranking news. I wrote “Can’t take anything for granted online. Big player one day and then (the next day) you’re just part of the herd.”

Ouch! Anyway it got me thinking about timing. Yes, it would be nice to own Facebook! But just imagine what it would be like to sell it! If Mark Zuckerberg turned down a $1 billion buyout offer from Yahoo in 2006, and Microsoft have just paid $240 million for 1.6 percent of Facebook, when will it be the “right time” to sell?

And… what are those hackers/programmers and designers, passionate about “The Next Big Thing,” building in a shabby old warehouse just around the corner from you? Hmmm…. I’d love to know.

Related Links:
Fast Company - Facebook Is The “It” Company of 2007
imedia Connection - Facebook Woos Business Crowd
The Wall Street Journal - Facebook Seeks Additional Funding
Fast Company - Will Facebook Ever Make Money?
High Rankings - Google’s Paid Link Smack In The Face

Do You Facebook, MySpace, Bebo or YouTube @ Work?

When I first joined bebo, I was surprised at the invitations that were coming in over the working week. I questioned a friend about using bebo at work and her reply was - she had a very busy social calendar and the best time for her to chat online and organise meetings with friends etc was during work hours.

Does social networking have a place at your work?
The lines have been blurred for quite a long time here in Australia and New Zealand in regards to employees using the internet, email, instant messaging and mobile phones (for personal use) during work hours.

“Why do employees seem to have so much control over their employers’ online communication systems? Could it be that the employer has forgotten how to use the word “No” perhaps?

Or do employees and employers need to find new ways of working and interacting with each other on a daily basis? Does work satisfaction involve a healthy balance of Work & Play @ work?

Related Links:
Social Networking - Do Not Let Fear Hold You Back
Are You Connected?

Social Networking Is Especially Good For Scaredy Cats!

Recently I wrote an article about social networking on my Go Man Go blog. Once a self confessed social networking “scaredy cat”, I’m pleased to announce that I no longer fear the subject and on the contrary, think that it is a lot of fun.

Last year I started blogging on Go Man Go, which helped me to overcome my initial fears about writing on the internet. It seemed so crazy that I could easily prepare copy for a client’s web site, but when it came to expressing my own personal ideas online, I found it a challenge. Even posting a simple comment into a business forum, would take several hours to do, as I would re-read what I had written and edit and re-edit.

Eventually things got better, but I still wasn’t game to join any of the major new social networks. “What if nobody wanted to talk to me? What if my pseudonym was too corny? What if I was too old?”

In the end, thank goodness, I just got onboard and have had fun keeping in touch with different people on a more regular basis. I’ve also organised my networks - Bebo for family. Facebook for family, friends and absolutely everyone else I know. Squidoo, MySpace & YouTube for the world. Woohoo!

So for all you scaredy cats out there. Before you run away and hide, do yourself a big favour and leave a comment. Talk about your own experiences so far. And then I recommend you join one of the social networks and find out what all the fuss is about.

Blogging Is Good For You And Your Business

For business owners who are serious about building their online business, a blog web site is a great first step. Hands on experience is invaluable. Even if all you ever do is post one article, the process will definitely help you to make a more informed decision as to what your web site requirements will be in the future. For some a free blog web site is all that is required, while others may find they need a customised web site to meet their business needs. Whatever the outcome, a free web site/blog is highly recommended. Why?

• Blog web sites teach you to how to publish content and understand the publishing process better.
• Blogging helps you make informed decisions around what you do want to say online and how.
• Blogs are a great place to learn how to connect with others on the internet.
• Blogs introduce you to helpful tools such as widgets.
• Blog web sites are usually free!

From a web designers point of view? As our customers’ develop more confidence using the internet, they will require a wider variety of specialised web site design services. Our job is to keep our fingers on the pulse, keep relevant and keep going, so that when they are ready to move up to the next level, we are there to show them how.

Related Links:
Build Your Web Site On The Internet Today - Here’s 10 Reasons Why
10 More Reasons To Build Your New Business Web Site Now!

Thank you WordPress For My Free Blog Web Site!

I was talking to a very dear friend of mine the other day who mentioned that one of the very first things that she learnt when she started working in the financial markets was “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”. If that is the case we really are very privileged right now when it comes to the Internet.

Having designed and built a large number of customised web sites and content management systems over the years, I am super impressed with the amount of free blog web site templates available today. In particular I’ve been a WordPress fan for quite a while, (my company’s web site uses a customised version of the platform). So for my latest blog I really wanted to check out the themed templates, build a free blog web site and comment on my results.

PLASTIC CUP uses a free two column themed WordPress template. All I had to do was log in to WordPress and click “Register another blog” (since I’m already a member). The next page asked for the web site address, along with a couple of other details and “hey presto” I had a new blog in a few seconds.

Now for someone like me, who has been in the business for a while, the thing that truly amazes me, is this. I do not have to pay for the design, the content management system, web hosting or even the domain name registration. My content (text and images) sits on a WordPress server and I have the opportunity to be a publisher with no costs attached. That is very generous of WordPress and to the team I say a gigantic “Thank You!”