Just because you bought your domain through GoDaddy doesn't mean you have to keep it there.

Since we started offering our domain registration service lots of folks are asking how to transfer domains away from GoDaddy. On our end it’s a pretty easy, straight forward process.

But GoDaddy’s side is a little less obvious. Go figure.

Before You Transfer

There are a couple things you should do before you try to transfer your domain because if you don’t they will cause problems for you during the process.

Turn off Domain Privacy

If you purchased Domain Privacy through GoDaddy for your domain you should turn it off before you transfer the domain. That means you will have to find your Domains By Proxy login information. It should be in an email you got when you purchased your domain.

The good news is we include domain privacy with most all our domains with the purchase price. (There are a few registries that don’t allow/support private registration.) So if you’re paying extra for that service with GoDaddy you will likely be saving money with us every year.

 Disable Domain Locking

In order to transfer a domain you must turn off domain locking. This is a safety feature that most reputable domain registrars offer to prevent unauthorized changes. Just click on the little lock icon to the right of the domain in their Domain Manger list.

Verify Contact Emails

Double check that the contact email addresses associated with your domain are still valid. GoDaddy will email you some info that you need to get. So be sure the Administration Contact email especially is set to your current email address so you will receive what they send you. If it isn’t then correct it.

Give these changes a minute or two to reflect your setting changes.

Transferring the Domain

Now you are ready to actually transfer your domain.

You can start by going to our Domain Registration Page. Since you already have a domain, click the “Transfer Domain” link over the search box in the middle of the page.

Here is the link to get GoDaddy to email you the Transfer Authorization Code

Go through the process there. It’s pretty self explanatory.

Then our system will send you a transfer request email.

Transfer Authorization

But before you do anything with that you will have to send yourself an authorization code from your GoDaddy account.

Back in your GoDaddy domain manager click on the domain you are transferring. Then click on the link in the Authorization Code field that says, “Send by Email”. (See the screenshot to the right for the location of that link.)

Then GoDaddy will send an email to the address listed in your domain’s Administration contact that contains the transfer authorization code.

Confirm Transfer Request

Once you have that transfer authorization code from GoDaddy then you can go back to the transfer request email that our system sent you. In it you will find a link to either confirm or deny the transfer.

Click that link.

That will take you to a page where you have to input the GoDaddy transfer authorization code, acknowledge that you are accepting the transfer of the domain, click the check box to agree with our terms of service and click the button to transfer the domain.

You’re nearly done at this point.

Get GoDaddy to Complete the Transfer

The link to complete the transfer from GoDaddy is a little hard to find.

(And this is the part that GoDaddy doesn’t seem to mention anywhere.)

If you do nothing at this point your domain will be transferred eventually. I’ve seen it take a week or so before I found this little step to get GoDaddy to complete the transfer right away.

Just log back into your GoDaddy domain manager and click the link for “Pending Transfers.” (See the screen shot to the right.)

Click the check box next to the domain you want to approve the transfer of and click the “Approve” button above the list of domain(s).

Then you should only have to wait a couple of hours or so for the transfer to be completed.

Like I said above, If you leave off that last step GoDaddy will take like a week to actually transfer the domain out.

Final Thoughts

To transfer a domain into our service costs $15/year (.com, .net & .org – specialty domains can cost more) which is the same as purchasing a new domain here. That price includes domain privacy, which GoDaddy charges an extra $10 per year for.

You don’t have to wait until the domain is about to expire to transfer it. Whenever a domain is transferred it automatically gets 1 year added on to it’s expiration date, regardless of how much time is left on the domain. If you’re ready to get started you can click here and begin the process.

You can find more great articles at SuccessCREEations.

Just say NO to "Upsell Hell"

When I first started online Go Daddy seemed like the obvious choice when I needed a domain. Since then I’ve bought dozens of domains from them. That’s not a huge amount, really.

I know people with thousands.

Go Daddy Marketing Practices

Since then I’ve grown weary of their marketing practices. Seems like they subscribe to the philosophy of “whatever works.” Like a Las Vegas casino, everything on their website is designed to extract as much money as possible from visitors as possible.

And the more inexperienced and naive the visitor, the more money that can be extracted, buyer beware.

Using Sex To Sell

It starts in their advertising where they use sex to sell their products and services.

Their “Go Daddy Girl” campaign got rolling in 2006 when they made a Superbowl commercial which was so suggestive the it got rejected by the TV network. They got tons of publicity when they “complained” about the rejection and then had to “rework” their commercial to make it acceptable.

What they did was tell people in the ad to go to their website to see the “unedited” version.

While the whole thing was brilliant marketing (I’m sure it brought them tons of business and customer awareness) it was thoroughly repugnant. That they still use the same approach in their ads seems to indicate that it works.

But that doesn’t mean I have to keep spending my money with them, not even for my domain names.

Upsell Hell

Then there’s the whole issue of their website. They use sex and low priced domains to draw people in. But in order to check out and actually pay for your inexpensive domain you have to run the Gauntlet of Upsell Hell.

There is a dizzying array of offers and options presented before a domain name can be paid for. Those of us with some internet savvy can sort out which of those options are a good idea (almost none of them) and which ones should actually be considered (really there’s only one of ‘em in most cases).

Unfortunately those who don’t have experience end up buying things they don’t need. A $7.49 domain can end up costing the unsophisticated shopper a couple of hundred bucks before it’s all over.

Alternative Domain Name Registration

I’ve finally had enough. I jumped through the hoops required so that I could offer an economical domain alternative to Go Daddy. We offer the most popular domain names for $15 per year and we include domain privacy with every domain at no additional charge.

Domain name privacy is the one thing that is usually worth getting (amongst all the Go Daddy upsells) because it protects your personal information and keeps people from using your domain registration information to spam you.

Our check out process is straight forward and simple with no convoluted upsells. We’re content to get fair compensation for superior service.

And we don’t use sex to sell our stuff, though that should be able to go without saying.

Oh, and Go Daddy? They charge an extra $10 per year for domain privacy. So we’re even less expensive than them because it would cost you $17.49 for what you get from us for $15.

Easy Domain Name Transfers

If you’re sick of Go Daddy’s marketing practices you are welcome to transfer your domains over to our service.

I am.

As my various domains get close to expiring I am transferring them so I don’t give Go Daddy any more of my money.

You can too.

Just click here and select the “Transfer Domain” tab, put your domain in and then click the “Next” button.

You might even just feel a little better about your website as a result.

You can find more great articles at SuccessCREEations.

By this point Google Chrome is old news since it’s been out for months. At least for Windows users it has anyway. For Google, releasing Chrome in a Mac compatible version hasn’t been much of a priority.

With a few glaring exceptions, these days most companies have moved away from treating Mac users like inconvenient step children. (Can you hear me Intuit? Your Quickbooks & Quicken support for Mac is horrid!)

And since Mac users make up a disproportionate number of the technology early adapters I’m surprised that Google Chrome’s Mac version is so far behind Chrome for Windows.

Even now when you go to the Google Chrome for Mac web page they say it is still in development. But if you’ll give Google your email address they’ll shout at you when it’s released. I did that. Months ago.

This past week I finally got tired enough of waiting to check it out for myself that I went to the Chrome for Mac developer download page and got a copy for myself to take it for a spin.

Here’s the thing: It’s a fantastic browser.

Strengths of Google Chrome

Speed. The first thing I noticed is how incredibly fast Google Chrome is. I mean it’s crazy fast. With everything. When you launch it, it barely bounces in the dock twice before it opens. Most web pages load way faster than with Firefox or Safari. And it shuts down quickly too!

When you’re on the web all day long like I am, saving a couple seconds on every single page load adds up to a big increase in productivity by the end of the day.

Accurate rendering. I ran Chrome through the Acid3 Test & it passes. Unlike Firefox. That means you see what you’re supposed to on the web with Chrome.

Easy to Set Up. When I first installed Chrome on my Mac it gave me a choice to import my bookmarks and settings from either Firefox or Safari (or neither). It brought all my bookmarks and saved passwords over seamlessly. They’re are a bunch of Themes you can choose from to customize the look of your browser. I chose one that looks like brushed metal. Seemed chrome-like to me.

Weaknesses

Still in “development.” Since Chrome for Mac is still in development you shouldn’t be surprised if you find some bugs now and then. I’ve only seen a couple problems since I started using it. For example one time a text box on a form wouldn’t let me enter anything. But I am writing this post using Chrome.

No bookmark management yet. I have way too many bookmarks in my browsers so I organized them into folders. With Chrome for Mac all bookmark folders are at the bottom of the rest of the bookmarks under “other bookmarks.” So to get to a bookmark in a folder I have to scroll down the bottom of my list, go across to a fly out list of folders, then up to the appropriate folder, and finally across to the bookmark I want.

I’m looking forward to the manage bookmarks feature being turned on so I can rearrange them for an easier workflow.

No 1Password Integration. Yet. This is a big one for me, and the primary reason why Chrome won’t be my default browser on my Macs anytime soon. 1Password is a fantastic tool for managing website login credentials for your Mac. It syncs your logins across browsers and even syncs between my desktop & my laptop.

1Password was one of the first programs I bought when I made the switch to Macs, and with the number of websites I got to every day between social media sites & client sites it is a huge productivity saver for me. Until Chrome for Mac actually comes out of development I don’t expect the good folks at 1Password will invest too much time integrating with it.

Bottom Line

At the end of the day Google Chrome for Mac is an excellent browser. It’s even tempting to make it my default browser. Google seems bent on raising the bar for web browsers and the winners will be all of us consumers who will have better tools to access the web.

But for now I’ll stick to Firefox, even though it is slower. With all the extensions I’m using on Firefox (especially 1Password) it is still a more versatile tool over all for my work needs.

You can find more great articles at SuccessCREEations.

Google Chrome Logo

Internet behemoth Google took a major step towards their mission “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” with their recent beta release of the Chrome web browser. With typical Google focus on simplicity and functionality, Chrome shakes up the usual web browser display a little.

In choosing to release the browsers as open source software Google looks to want to tap into the same type of vast volunteer developer community that has made platforms such as FireFox and WordPress so immensely popular.

First Impressions

The first thing you might notice when using Chrome is that the browser tabs, first made popular with FireFox but now are fixtures all the major browsers, are at the very top of the browser instead beneath the tool bars.

A menu bar is conspicuously absent a la IE7. But perhaps more noticeable is the missing search box. I expected a search giant like Google to make a search box the prominent feature.

Instead they took a different tack and integrated the search function right into the address bar. Very slick, even if it will take a bit of getting used to.

Google Chrome Logo

Simon says: Think of me when you see the Google Chrome Logo.

My first thought when I saw the Google Chrome Logo was that it reminded me of the old Simon game I had when I was a kid. I don’t know if similarity is something intentional by the marketing and graphic design folks who developed the logo.

But I am not the only one who thinks they look a little similar. Of course how many combinations of Google’s primary colors can there be?

Technical Stuff

On the technical side Chrome is currently only available for Windows XP and Vista. Mac and Unix versions are in the works but Google isn’t hinting at how long they may be. As primarily a Mac user I had to go over to one of my older XP machines to even try Chrome.

I understand the logic behind releasing the Windows version first. But I won’t really use Chrome much at all until the Mac version is available.

Chrome uses Webkit rendering engine which was originally created by Apple engineers for their Safari browser. I’m not sure that means a whole lot one way or another for the average user beyond the fact that Webkit makes for standards compliant rendering which hopefully will mean that sites that look good in Safari will continue to look good when viewed with Chrome. Keep your fingers crossed on that one.

Chrome developers prioritized security. These days there are tons of ways the bad guys can do nefarious things via web browsers. The Google folks thought through a lot of this when developing Chrome. They’ve employed techniques including blacklisting known rogue sites, sandboxing, anti-phishing features and an “incognito” mode to help protect users. These should help Chrome stand up competitively to other browsers.

The technical area where Chrome really shines is in it’s javascript engine. Javascript is used to power many of the more interesting and user-friendly portions of the web. All sorts of things like navigation, widgets, animation, form presentation, localization and statistics tracking are increasingly being presented on web sites via javascript. Google sites such as Gmail and Google Reader use a lot of javascript. Even WordPress is starting to use javascript to make their dashboard interface more user friendly.

Google Chrome renders these scripts much faster than other browsers. I think that is the single biggest advantage it has right now, and it’s a big one.

Web “Applications”

In the marketing for Chrome Google makes a big deal out of the web moving from web sites to web “applications”.  I get that.

It seems to me that the trend is towards on line web based programs and away from programs based on individual local computers. Obviously this is a trend that Google is heavily invested in with services Gmail, Google Apps, Google Docs, and Google Reader they may be looking to compete with local operating systems like Windows and Apple’s OS X. 

With Chrome, Google has made it easy to place a shortcut on your desktop to a web site. Simply click on the “Control the current page” icon over on the left and select the “Create application shortcuts…” option. A screen will pop up with the options to add shortcuts to the desktop, start menu and quick launch bar.

When Chrome opens one of those shortcuts it will open the site in sort of an “application mode.” Chrome strips out the tabs, address bar, and bookmarks bar and presents the web site in a clean presentation as though it were a program operating on your computer.

It’s a different way to look at web sites. And I think it is shades of things to come from Google.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is I think Google has entered the web browser business with plans to stay long term. Their first beta release shows promise.

I think Chrome is a shot across the bow of the big operating system companies like Microsoft & Apple. Google seems to be looking to refocus the marketplace in the direction of a web based “operating system” in which the individual computer with it’s web browser is simply the access point.

Sure it’s got a long way to go yet. And maybe I’m way off base.

Either way until the Mac version hits the streets Google Chrome won’t be something I’ll use much.

You can find more great articles at SuccessCREEations.

1Password securely saves your passwords on Macs

I have an insane number of website accounts and profiles to keep track of. It goes with the territory of one who makes his living in the virtual world. Between my own profiles on dozens of social media sites, various email accounts, the blogs I own, banking and online bill paying sites, web hosting accounts, and the client work I do – it can truly get nuts sometimes.

The problem is twofold. First I need to keep the passwords someplace that’s organized where I can find them all. Quickly. The old paper and pencil password log I kept back in the day wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Then there’s the security issue. Paper and pencil is a bad idea. Even worse is keeping a spread sheet or text document on your computer with all your passwords in it!

Secure AND Easy

Fortunately 1Password keeps track of my passwords for me while keeping them secure at the same time. It was one of the very first purchases I made when I got the first Mac here at SuccessCREEations and at just under $35 for a single license is arguably some of the best money I spent getting started.

I’ve been using 1Password for about a year now and the program is easy to use, secure, and saves me countless hours hunting for my passwords.

1Password Makes Browsing More Secure

With all the social media sites that folks can join the the temptation can be strong to just use a standard password on all these different accounts. That’s a very bad idea.

And with 1Password it’s unnecessary too.

Because the program securely remembers all your passwords for you, there is no longer any need for passwords that are easy to remember. Now you can use truly random character strings for your passwords and still have them available in all your browsers.

Even better

Coming up with a random sequence to much bother for you? No worries.

1Password can generate truly random strings for you within parameters you can set. All you have to do is click your mouse and get remarkably strong unique passwords for every account you have.

That makes it much less likely that someone will hack your online information. Even if one site were to be compromised the damage is isolated to that account because all your others have randomly different passwords.

And they are even working on a web based version that will give access to this great service for Windows users too. Very nice.

Check out this video. If you are on a Mac and have too many passwords to manage, 1Password is worth a look.

You can find more great articles at SuccessCREEations.

There are very few blogging services that I universally recommend to all my clients and FeedBurner is one of them.

(If you aren’t sure what RSS means or what feeds even are, feel free to check out a post I wrote a while back on RSS and Feeds to get the basics.)

What is FeedBurner? FeedBurner is quite simply a free service that greatly enhances the RSS feed experience for both publishers and subscribers.

Here are some benefits.

1. It’s Free – I’m a big fan of free, especially when it comes to top-notch services. And since FeedBurner was acquired by Google last year even their “pro” features are free. Very nice.
2. Feed Stats – We bloggers tend to be a bit obsessed with numbers like visitors, page views, inbound links, and comments. The best way I know to track RSS stats is with FeedBurner. You want to know how many feed subscribers you have? How about how many views and clicks your feed is getting? FeedBurner can tell you all that and much more.
3. Easy to Subscribe – There is a dizzying array of feed readers out there. With FeedBurner you can give your readers the flexibility to easily subscribe to your feed in whatever reader they prefer without having to clutter your blog with a ton of subscribe buttons.
4. Email Subscriptions – There is a small percentage of folks out there who will prefer to read your blog content via email. FeedBurner can give them that option so you don’t have to pay for another email publishing option.
5. Customization – With FeedBurner you can customize your feed by integrating a podcast, adding links, advertizing in your feed, connecting your feed to your Flickr account, Geotagging it, and so much more.
6. Bandwidth -  Using FeedBurner means they provide the bandwidth for your feed. Granted it isn’t an issue if your blog is just getting started and only has a few subscribers. However bandwidth is part of what you are buying from your web host so it’s nice to have someone else take care of that for you.

I’ve been using FeedBurner for years and have been very happy with their service. If you are at all interested in a more enhanced RSS experience for both yourself and your readers consider using their service.

You can find more great articles at SuccessCREEations.

Whether we are blogging to support our business or blogging simply to rant about, well, just about anything, we all crave comments on our blogs. Not only do comments show us that somebody, somewhere out there is interested enough about what we wrote to respond, but comments also can help build traffic as well.

If content is king where blogs are concerned then comments are evidence of the power behind the throne.

Mitch Argon of FreeNevadaMove.com asked a good question yesterday over on Business Blogging 101 – Comments post. He said,

I’ve been blogging for about 9 months. I’ve tried different techniques on writing posts to get more comments from readers but am still searching for the ’secret sauce’ to create more community.

Any thoughts on some good resources to accomplish this?

As I said, it’s a good question. And the answer is both less of a secret and harder to achieve than most people are willing to admit. I say “harder” only in respect to actual effort being involved. Don’t be misled into thinking attracting comments is overly complicated. But it does take some concentrated effort.

So here’s a list of things you can do to attract more comments to your blog and build blog traffic at the same time.

To Attract Comments…

1. Write quality content. Good writing may not automatically attract readers but bad writing will surely repel them. Make it interesting, unique and original. Flavor it with a little of your personality. Avoid stuffy corporate PR speak in your blog. People are much more likely to converse through comments with real people than some anonymous company hack. If they fall asleep or click away before they get to the end of the post there is no chance they’ll leave a comment. Copyblogger is a great resource for writing tips.
2. Comment on other blogs. This is the single surest way to attract blog comments. Find other blogs that are interesting, especially if they are in your same niche, and comment on them. But don’t just leave a “Great post. Come back to my place.” type comment. Be polite. Respect their readers. Add value to their conversation. Over time this will attract comments on your own blog in a simple application of the law of planting and harvesting. Liz Strauss of Successful-Blog fame is the single best person I know of in this area. She has built such a large community at her place that it inspired the SOBCon blogging conference.
3. Don’t say it all. Resist the temptation to write masterpiece blog posts. If you say everything there is to say on a subject, or if you come off as knowing everything, then folks will be unlikely to comment. Leave room for discussion. Before you hit publish read through your post. If it completely covers the topic consider editing some of it out to allow others room to speak.
4. Ask for reader input. One great way to stimulate discussion is to simply ask for it. Be creative though. Make asking an interesting question your goal rather than just saying something like, “What are your comments?” Dawud Miracle is the master of this approach. Read through some of his posts and you’ll begin to get the idea.
5. Make commenting easy. This one seems like a no-brainer. But I’ll say it anyway. If you want more comments on your blog then make it easy for people to comment on your blog. The more hoops you make people jump through, the fewer comments you’ll get. Captcha’s work, but they put the burden of spam protection on the commenter and not on the blog author. Instead consider using a good spam filter like Akismet or Defensio. When people’s comments disappear into moderation they are unlikely to return to comment again. And don’t even talk to me about blogs that make people register before they can comment. Bloggers who do that should expect much fewer comments.
6. Police your comment section. Displayed spam inhibits legitimate comments. Even the best spam filters make a small percentage of mistakes with false negatives and false positives. Read through the comments on your blog regularly, daily if you’re serious. Relegate the spam that leaked through the filter to the spam hell where they belong. And save any misidentified legitimate comments from that same fate.
7. Stir up controversy. You really want comments on your blog then take a strong controversial stand on something. People will come out of the woodwork to comment. Just be forewarned. This approach is not for the thin skinned or the feint of heart. Some folks have a tendency to get nasty when they, um, discuss things they are passionate about. Controversy is the reason political blogs tend to have so many comments.
8. Reply to comments. You want to show your readers that you notice when they comment at your place then respond to them publicly in the comment section. Engage them in dialog. Liz Strauss does this so consistently. She is obviously interested in and values every single reader that makes the time to comment on her blog.
9. Be nice to people. There’s not much that will squelch a conversation quickly that ripping someone to shreds. If you attack people who comment or are mean to them then you are sending a message that you don’t value other people’s input. That’s a message people will get loud and clear and they’ll stay away from your comment section in droves.
10. Post less often. One reason some blogs don’t see as many comments as they might is because they are simply churning out too many blog posts. People don’t have time to absorb what you’ve written and give their two cents. Some people won’t comment until there are a few others who have. Give them time to have that opportunity. One way to get more comments per post is to have fewer posts. If you really want to see more conversation taking place consider posting less often.
11. Post more regularly. If you take long breaks at irregular intervals, then actively post for a while, you send mixed messages to your readers and they probably wont be as willing to comment. Consistency is the key. When your readers know what to expect from you they will be more likely to engage in conversation and participate more actively. [As a note this is one area that I've been particularly weak in here at SuccessCREEations, especially lately. I'm working on it.]
12. Highlight commenters. You might consider highlighting commenters on your blog to attract more comments. There are several ways you can do this. You can make it a habit to use blog comments as stepping stones for blog posts like I did with this one. You could use a recent comments widget like I do in the sidebar. Or perhaps you might want to install something like the Top Commentors widget.
13. Turn off NoFollow. If you want to reward quality commenters then consider turning off the NoFollow attribute in your comments. The short version is that Google introduced NoFollow to discourage comment spammers. Trouble is it doesn’t work. Spammers weren’t dissuaded at all. Yet we’re still stuck with it. To turn of NoFollow in WordPress get the  DoFollow plugin. If you are using another platform, Andy Beard has compiled a great list of resources for disabling NoFollow in most of the more popular blog platforms. Just be forewarned. If word gets out you might find your blog on one of the many DoFollow lists that are floating around the web and end up getting more spam comments as a result.
14. Implement a comment policy. It was the spam comments people left as a result of these lists that prompted me to formalize my comment policy here at SuccessCREEations. Some may see guidelines as restricting and think they would inhibit commenting. But the truth is setting boundaries makes people feel generally more comfortable and willing to comment because, for example, they know they wont be personally attacked here. And if they are I reserve the right to delete the offending comment.
15. Give it time. Finally remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. It takes time and some focused energy in all these areas to really attract comments like an A-Lister.

These are some of the things I’ve seen work over the years. But I know the list isn’t all inclusive.

What is your favorite approach to attracting comments? What examples would you share?

Leave us a comment and join the conversation.

You can find more great articles at SuccessCREEations.

One of the people that Gorgeous and I connected with in Chicago this past weekend was Christine Kane. It probably didn’t hurt that the three of us were all seated in close proximity to a very wild and obnoxious three year old on the same flight into Chicago. That got diverted to Columbus for more fuel after holding too long for bad weather.

But that’s a story for another time.

I also had the pleasure of sitting at the same table as Christine at the conference. As speakers like Chris Brogan, Liz Strauss, and Terry Starbucker were talking about the people in the room who were using Twitter to communicate with one another (and with folks half a world away) during the conference, Christine would ask the rest of us questions on the side.

They ranged from the basic to the technical, for example…

• What’s the point? to interact with others
• Why would you bother? because I like people
• Can everyone see what I tweet @ someone? Oh, yeah
• How does the direct message thing work? “d your_friends_twittername” and they’ll get a private message

Prosteletizing

Now I’m a big fan of Twitter. But I don’t try “convince” people that they “have” to use it. Though I do confess to most folks that I was a Twitter skeptic for months. I only started using it after a heavy bout of peer pressure brought to a head by Jim Turner.

You know the kind I’m talking about. “All the cool kids are using it. There’s so much going on there. You’re missing out if you don’t join in.”

I caved over a year ago. It was as much to prove to myself that Jim and the others were wrong about Twitter as anything. Since then Twitter’s grown on me. I’m glad Jim persuaded me.

Pluses to Twitter

Yesterday Christine asked the question How do you use Twitter? It’s a good question which begs the follow on question, Is Twitter even useful?

One of the things I did this past weekend while I had some one on one time with so many prominent social media folks was ask them which social media sites they preferred. Twitter was one site that was mentioned every time.

Here are some of the advantages mentioned.

• Light Weight – works right in your web browser with a (most times) fast loading page
• Portable – Easy to use from your cell phone
• Broad Reach – With so many folks using Twitter you can reach a lot of people with it
• Diverse User Base – People with incredibly different backgrounds Twitter from all over the world
• Focused – With its 140 character limit Twitter forces people to get to the point
• Fast Response Time – People can get real time responses on Twitter

But is Twitter Useful?

Those are all good attributes, for sure. But do they translate into usefulness?

Or is Twitter just a colossal distraction and time waster?

I think the answer to these questions is different for everyone. Here are a few examples of how Twitter can be useful to individuals and businesses alike

Network Expansion

Twitter is an easy way to connect with a very large pool of people very quickly, many of whom would be unreachable through other means. For example I first met Joanna Young on Twitter and had the opportunity to meet her in person this past weekend when she flew to Chicago from Scottland.

Get Quick Answers

Some folks throw questions out on Twitter to get instant feedback. Sure the big names get tons of responses to their queries. But even those of us with more modest Twitter followings can get some light shed on a subject if they are willing to engage the community.

Insight Into Trends

There are so many thought leaders and influencers using Twitter that you can gain an insight into where various communities and technologies are heading just by following them on Twitter.

Increased Profile

With a steadily growing friends list on Twitter you can raise your own “brand awareness” by connecting with more people. The increased interaction can ead to increased visibility over time.

But What About Businesses?

Is there an possibility of a business seeing any value from a presence on Twitter? Absolutely!

Zappos

Just ask Zappos. Their CEO has a Twitter account where he’s actively engaging the Twitter community. But they’ve taken their community involvement a step further. They set up a Zappos Twitter page on their web site with it’s own RSS feed so anyone can track any mention of the name Zappos on Twitter. (Talk about your finger on the pulse of the conversation!)

But Twitter interaction isn’t just a top down thing with Zappos. They obviously encourage their employees to engage the Twitter community. There’s even a page on their site where they list every one of their 286 employees who have Twitter accounts. Note that only 20 of those accounts have more than 200 followers so we’re talking about many smaller circles of influence rather than a few massive ones. Seems like a sound strategy to me

JetBlue

Another corporate example is @JetBlue. JetBlue is an airline that has had customer service egg on its face in the past and has decided to address their issues head on in the effort to put those struggles behind them. Jonathan Fields has a great example of JetBlue’s Twitter Interaction that he posted the other day.

Suffice it to say the story Jonathan shares with us is a tremendous example of how a large corporation like Jet Blue can successfully engage the social media environment. Read his whole post and let us know what you think.

Bottom Line

In the end I have to say, “Yes, Christine. Twitter can be immensely useful, especially to businesses.”

Are their potential pitfalls? Of course.

But a sound social media strategy incorporating Twitter and executed well can be a very powerful force working in the favor of a business, regardless of size.

What are your thoughts on Twitter?

And if you want, go ahead and follow me while you’re at it.

You can find more great articles at SuccessCREEations.

Chris Brogan shared that Yahoo is considering a new approach to serving up search results. He describes it as The Sound of Content Ripping Free From Its Page. I’m not sure it will be as dramatic as all that for a couple reasons.

What’s at the heart of Chris’ concern is this short post over at Business Week about what they labeled Yahoo’s Linkless Search. Here’s the part Chris finds concerning

Yahoo’s goal is to build a vast universe of related information, so that we get the info we’re looking for, without having to click on links. Search engines are already moving toward this. More and more, the information pops up on the result pages. But what Raghavan is describing sounds very much like an effort to push relevant Web pages down, or even out of the equation. “We’re not giving you pages, we’re giving you information synthesized from other pages.”

I’ve emphasized the parts that I think probably give Chris pause.

Search Without Links

At first brush the concept sounds a little hair brained to me.

From a publisher perspective it sounds goofy because with this approach to search Yahoo is choosing what parts of my content their user really “needs” to see rather than showing them my site and letting them choose the relevant content in context with the entire page.

From a user stand point I generally prefer to have the option to click through to the raw data. The idea of a synopsis makes sense. But I’d still want to see a link where I can click through to the source material. However I wonder if the average internet user feels the same way.

From Yahoo’s perspective it might make sense. IF they are looking at search as a way to corral people onto their site rather than as a gateway to other sites. If Yahoo’s intent is to build cull-de-sacs where “all roads lead to Yahoo” then this is probably one way to accomplish that goal.

Solving a Non-existent Problem

Here’s the thing. It seems to me that Yahoo is attempting to solve a “problem” that doesn’t exist. Here is an example of the “problem” as Yahoo sees it:

In the current mode, when we’re looking for, say, a restaurant in Hoboken, we query, read a web page, query again for reviews, and then again for directions.

Sounds like a huge burden, right? Yahoo claims that if someone is looking to check out a restaurant then they have to do 3 separate searches to find the information they need to make an informed decision. Why not simplify that to 1 search?

The thing is you already can get all that info from one search. Let me demonstrate.

Take one of my favorite local restaurants, the New South Cafe right here in Savannah. When I enter in “New South Cafe, Savannah, GA” into Google I get links to the following info on the first page:

• Restaurant Website
• Directions
• Several Reviews
• Some Community Involvement Info about the Restaurant

And that’s with one search, not three. Looks like Google’s already accomplishing what Yahoo is “researching” and is still ushering people to the content creators’ web sites. Everybody wins.

And here’s something interesting. Search for the same thing in Yahoo, “New South Cafe, Savannah, GA” and you get similar info. I see the restaurant’s web site, directions, and reviews all on the front page.

Yahoo’s Faulty Info

The top Yahoo results point to pages of info that are still on Yahoo web sites, though. Interestingly one of the top results gives a bogus address for the restaurant. Notice the phone numbers for the two entries are the same.

But folks following their directions to that location wouldn’t find the restaurant because it isn’t there. You’d have to click through to the restaurant’s main web site anyway to find out which location is the correct one. Or I you could just go over to Google and double check your search I suppose. They seem to have the location right somehow. Of course they aren’t pushing users to another Google page.

If the current Yahoo web sites can’t contain a simple piece of info like the location of a restaurant that’s been the same for at least the 4 years I’ve been in town, how do they expect to amass relevant data on their sites for the millions of searches that internet users conduct every day?

Bottom Line

I don’t think folks should get unduly worried about Yahoo! turning the search engine world on its ear with this new approach to search. It seems more likely to me that Yahoo will be collating masses numbers of pages with dubious content value this way.

If this is really what they are counting on to break the strangle-hold Google has on the search market and fend off a hostile take over from Microsoft then they are probably in worse shape than most folks give them credit for.

You can find more great articles at SuccessCREEations.

Screenshots.

No, we’re not talking about the big guy on the right here spraying gobs of bullets on the silver screen, as entertaining as that is.

A screenshot is simply a way to capture what you are looking at right now on your computer screen so you can use it later, or share it with someone else.

An Example

Say for example you took a silly little online brain test to see if you were more right brained or more left brained in your thinking.

And then suppose your results were strange enough that you wanted to share them with some folks.

Apparently I’m ever so slightly more right brained than left brained. At least according to that test.

Now my question is this. How did I use more than 100% of my brain that day?

Weird.

And it’s one of those things that is much easier to explain when folks can look at the screen shot.

All I did was capture the screen shot, open the image in Photoshop, and add the circle and text. Then I resized the whole thing uploaded it and now everyone can see that I use more of my brain than I have.

On a Windows computer capturing a screenshot is pretty straight forward. The keyboard has a Print Screen button.

But what about on a Mac?

It can still be done fairly easily with a little know how.

Built-in Mac Screenshot Commands

The know how on a Mac as usual involves keyboard short cuts. Here are a few that are built into Macs and what they do.

• Command+Shift+3 Capture entire screen and save as a file
• Command+Control+Shift+3 Capture entire screen and copy to the clipboard
• Command+Shift+4 Capture dragged area and save as a file
• Command+Control+Shift+4 Capture dragged area and copy to the clipboard
• Command+Shift+4 then Space bar Capture a window, menu, desktop icon, or the menu bar and save as a file
• Command+Control+Shift+4 then Space bar Capture a window, menu, desktop icon, or the menu bar and copy to the clipboard

Macs let you capture all sorts of stuff from your screen and either save them as file or copy them to the clipboard.

Another Handy Screenshot Tool

But say you want to capture more than what appears on the screen at one time, like say a tall web page. What then?

One way to do it would be to capture the window using “Command+Shift+4 then the Space Bar” above. Then scroll down to the next section and repeat as required to get it all.

But then you have to combine all those images into one tall image using Photoshop or some other graphics program.

Fortunately there is an easier way.

Just go and download Paparazzi!

With this free application you can just enter in the URL of the site you want to get a screenshot of and it will convert that web page into one picture for you.

It can be very handy, especially for web design folks.

You can find more great articles at SuccessCREEations.