The Google +1 What, How, Where and Who?: All you want to know about the +1 Strategy of Google

What is Google +1?

Google +1 is yet another attempt to make Google more social. It’s Google’s version of the Facebook “likes”, a simple feature that’s very powerful because it’s part of a social network. Google will show +1 buttons next to all search results and ads, while encouraging other sites to include the buttons. All +1′s are public and they’re tied to Google Profiles.

The goal is to use this data to personalize search results and ads by recommending sites +1′d by your friends. Google Social Search already does this, but there’s no support for Facebook likes, so Google had to come up with a substitute.

It’s a simple way to Like Google search results?

When you’re signed into your Google account, every Google search result will now have a +1 icon next to it (right now you have to activate in Google Experimental). If you find the search result useful or just enjoy the linked site, you hit the +1 icon. Google says by +1-ing a result you’re giving it a recommendation, a stamp of approval. More +1′s on a result means the site is more interesting.

Is it Social?

Yes, it is definitely social. You can see what your friends +1′d which ideally lends more credence to a particular search result. Since Google displays so many sites, these little +1′s will help you sift out the crappy ones (if you didn’t banish them already). Imagine if your best friend found a link interesting and +1′d it. When you stumble upon that in the future, you’re probably going to click it.

Is it a new Social Network?

It is not a social network. When the Google +1 project first started (as Google Me), it was billed to be Google’s Facebook killer. Clearly, it’s not. The +1 system works more like Likes in Facebook or Diggs in Digg, meaning to say it’s a bare bones simple way to show that you like something. That’s good! Google became the king of search because it was simple. +1 is simple.

Will it help Google to target better ads?

Yes, definitely. You can also +1 ad’s, which combined with the data of your usual +1s of search results, will let Google learn more about you and better target their ads. It’s sort of like data research masked as a feature, like when Google offered free Google 411s to improve their voice recognition software, Google +1 improves their ad delivery system.

Google isn’t done with +1 yet. They’ve learned from previous mistakes in Google Buzz and Google Wave where they dug a grave for those products by overhyping them. This time, by starting small with a simple +1 icon only available on Google search results, they can quietly go about their business and slowly add to it (like +1-ing directly from a website, from Chrome, from apps etc.).

Will it change the way we you Google?

Definitely not, Google +1 is another sign that Google wants to evolve into a more social search engine. All those +1′s they keep track of will not only help Google make their searches better, but also make them more relevant to your social circle. As the Internet gets clotted in cobwebs, having friends personally +1 the best sites keeps Google from falling too far behind Facebook and Twitter in social sharing.

 This  +1  is a small button that will reside next to each and every Google Search result. If you like the result, you click the +1 button and it gets shared with your social circle — and the public (more on that in a bit).

The button also works on the ads that appear in Google Search. If you like those and think they can be useful to friends, you can also hit the button there to highlight them. That may sound like something no one would ever do, but the implementation is actually pretty smart. You see, since the pages that are linked to in Google ads also appear in Google’s regular index, if a page has ever been +1′d as a regular result, it will also show up as +1′d in the ad.

But let’s take a step back for a second. Google +1 is an extension of what Google has been doing for a while with Social Search, Google’s Matt Cutts tells us. In their most recent update to that feature, results were surfaced and highlighted when someone in your social circle shared something on a social network like Twitter or Buzz. “People really like this aspect of social search,” Cutts says.

At the same time, the current social mechanisms require some work to be useful — you have to explicitly share a link somewhere. You might not want to do that with every link you like. And that’s where the +1 button comes in, it’s a simple way to indicate you like a page and think it might be useful to others. Again, basically a “like” button.

Cutts wants to be very clear that this +1 data is public. While a big aspect of +1 is sharing results with your social graph (which is still sort of confusing given that Google isn’t an actual social network, so it’s Gmail chat contacts, Reader and Buzz friends, etc) , it is also about using that data in aggregate to highlight better results for everyone. For example, on a result that has been +1′d, you’ll see if any of your friends have +1′d it (in a similar way to the current Social Search look with people’s tiny profile icons under the result itself). But you’ll also see that X number of other people that aren’t in your social circle +1′d it as well.

Google+ updates

How can I keep up to date with Google+ changes?

To preview the latest updates to the Google+ platform, subscribe to the Google+ Platform Preview group. New features will be enabled on your account and announced to this group. To receive updates specifically about the +1 button, please subscribe to the Google Publisher Buttons Announce Group

The +1 button and search results

How does +1 affect search results?

+1 helps people discover relevant content—a website, a Google search result, or an ad—from the people they already know and trust. The +1 button appears on Google search, on websites, and on ads. For example, you might see a +1 button for a Google search result, Google ad, or next to an article you're reading on your favorite news site.

Adding the +1 button to pages on your own site lets users recommend your content, knowing that their friends and contacts will see their recommendation when it’s most relevant—in the context of Google search results. In addition, a user's +1's appear on the +1 tab of their Google Profile. While +1’s are always public, users can choose to make the +1 tab visible or invisible on their profile.

When a signed-in Google user is searching, your Google search result snippet may be annotated with the names of the user's connections who've +1'd your page. If none of a user's connections has +1'd your page, your snippet may display the aggregate number of +1's your page has received.

Does +1 affect my site's performance in search?

Content recommended by friends and acquaintances is often more relevant than content from strangers. For example, a movie review from an expert is useful, but a movie review from a friend who shares your tastes can be even better. Because of this, +1's from friends and contacts can be a useful signal to Google when determining the relevance of your page to a user’s query. This is just one of many signals Google may use to determine a page’s relevance and ranking, and we’re constantly tweaking and improving our algorithm to improve overall search quality. For +1's, as with any new ranking signal, we are starting carefully and learning how those signals affect search quality.

Does +1 affect how Google crawls my site?

When you add the +1 button to a page, Google assumes that you want that page to be publicly available and visible in Google Search results. As a result, we may fetch and show that page even if it is disallowed in robots.txt.

How will the +1 button affect my traffic?

Personalized annotations next to your page in search results may increase your site's visibility and make your site's snippet more compelling, which may in turn increase the odds that users will click through to your page.

To view how +1 affects your search traffic, you can use the +1 Metrics tool in Webmaster Tools. Available metrics include:

·   Search impact: See the pages on your site that received the most impressions with a +1 annotation, and see how +1 annotations impact click through rate (CTR).

·         Activity: See the total number of +1's received by pages on your site.

·     Audience: See aggregated information about people who have +1'd your pages, including the total number of unique users, their location, and their age and gender.

How does the +1 button affect my ads?

The +1 button itself will appear next to your headline on search ads. Personalized annotations will appear beneath your Display URL. For example, Maria +1's a page selling a neat laptop holder on a website. When a search ad with that same URL appears, her friend Sam might see the ad with the note "Maria and 28 other people +1'd this."

Who sees +1?

Who can see the +1 button in Google Search?

The +1 button shows up for signed-in Google users of using a modern browser.

What's an annotation?

Because people trust their friends’ recommendations, personalized annotations display the faces of friends and social connections who have already +1’d a piece of content.

Google tries to display +1’s to people (specifically those in the user’s social connections) who would find them most useful. We hope that by making these recommendations more discoverable, users will be even more engaged with your site.

Annotations can appear in a couple of ways.

·     When a user hovers over the +1 button on a page, we’ll display an annotation showing the faces of friends who have +1’d that page. You don’t need to do anything to make this happen.

·       You can also add inline annotations that appear next to the +1 button on your page. To enable these, you’ll need to update the +1 button code.

Who can see annotations from +1 buttons?

Everybody can see aggregate annotations. Signed-in users also see personalized annotations from:

·         People in your Google+ circles

·         People who have you in a circle in Google+.

·         People in your Gmail (or Google Talk) chat list.

·         People in your My Contacts group in Google Contacts.

·         People you're following in Google Reader and Google Buzz.

Are +1's public?

Yes, Google may show personalized annotations to any signed-in user who has a social connection to a +1. However, any Google user can choose whether or not to display their +1's on their Google profile.

Adding the +1 button to a site

How do I add the +1 button to my site?

Just grab a snippet of code.

Where should I put the +1 button on my pages?

You know your page and your users best, so we recommend putting the button wherever you think it will be the most effective. Above the fold, near the title of the page, and close to sharing links is often a good location. It can also be effective to place the +1 button at both the end and the beginning of an article or story.

+1 is a public action, so you should add the button only to public, crawlable pages on your site. Once you add the button, Google may crawl or recrawl the page, and store the page title and other content, in response to a +1 button impression or click.

Can I place multiple buttons on a single page that all +1 different URLs?

Yes, but you'll need to edit the button code. Use the href attribute to specify the target URL. For example, if your home page has a module linking to your blog, and you want to add a +1 button to that module, edit the value of the href attribute to point to your blog's URL, like this:

What languages is the +1 button available in?

The +1 button and annotations are available in 40 languages.

How often will Google crawl my +1'd pages?

+1 is a public action, so you should add the button only to public, crawlable pages on your site. Once you add the button, Google may crawl or recrawl the page, and store the page title and other content, in response to a +1 button impression or click.

How does +1 work with Buzz? Do we still need the Google Buzz button?

Buzz buttons are used for starting conversations about interesting web content ("Hey guys, what do you think about this news story?"). +1 buttons recommend web content to people in the context of search results ("Peng +1’d this page"), and +1's from social connections can help improve the relevance of the results you see in Google Search. You can use the +1 button, or the Buzz button, or both—pick what’s right for your content.

Some of my users get a security warning when they view pages with the +1 button. How do I get rid of this?

The +1 button code requires a script from Google's servers. You can include this script using either http:// or https://, like this:

If your web page uses https://, some browsers and verification tools will show an error when any assets on the page are called via http://. If your site serves pages via https://, make sure that the +1 button code on those pages also uses https://. (In fact, it's fine to use https:// in the button code for all pages, even if they are only served via http://.)

Sharing

How can I enable sharing from the +1 button?

You don’t need to do anything to enable sharing to Google+ from the +1 buttons on your site. We've updated the +1 button code so that users with a Google+ account can share your content on Google+ just by clicking the +1 button and then clicking Share on Google+.

Users can add comments, pick the right circles, and share to the Stream on Google+, starting new conversations about your content.

Note: When someone shares your content to Google+, we'll display the URL of your page in the post. If your page isn't yet public, make sure to share it with only a limited number of people. Otherwise, your staging server URL will be visible on Google+.

Can I customize the site description that appears when a user shares my content?

Google attempts to find the most useful and descriptive +snippet to display. If you have marked up your content rich snippets using the  schema.org vocabulary, Google+ will use the name, image, and description properties from the generic  Thingtype.

Alternatively, Google+ (though not Google Web Search) can use Open Graph metadata to create the +snippet. It can also use the contents of title and meta description tags.

Is sharing private?

+1 is a public action, so Google may show personalized annotations to any signed-in user who has a social connection to a +1. However, any Google user can choose whether or not to display their +1's on their Google Profile. Additionally, users can directly control who they share your content with by specifying circles. As a result, the +1 is a public action, but sharing to Google+ is controlled by the user.

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The Fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a very important part of every blog and website. Every blogger try to improve the SEO of the blog to gain good amount of traffic from the search engines. Having a nice SEO also helps to achieve good in various rankings like Page Rank etc.


But if you do not know much about SEO then here is a nice SEO infographic to provide you info about it. This SEO infographic is also helpful for ll those bloggers trying to have a nice SEO for their blog. Have a look at this



[Via: Geeky Stuffs]

What do you as a fledgling website owner or admin actually know about making your site successful? How is it that a successful site manages to get so much traffic? Is it the product or the mere premise of the site, or could it be another aspect that you just don’t quite understand? What is this acronym “SEO” that you keep seeing bandied about everywhere and how do you get a piece of the action for yourself?

Well just to set the tone let’s get it over and done with and silence that white elephant in the room that nobody’s talking about. SEO stands for search engine optimization. If you are new to SEO and find it a complex and daunting topic to wrap your head around, then consider yourself to have started your journey and be on the path of the righteous. 

The first thing to understand is the medium you are working with and how to hook into it to make your website ultimately successful. Start by thinking of the internet as a massive library full of content for readers to discover. Of course in such a huge information resource you will need a way to index and find information just like in any traditional library. The building and maintenance of this index is a job that has been assigned to the “bots” and “crawlers” commissioned by the major search engines like Google and Yahoo. These little critters continuously scour the internet and systematically categorize your website, plus rank its’ relevance and power.

So how is it that you can use this in your favour? How do you get these creepy crawlies working for you so that your website ranks well and attracts internet traffic? Basically you need to ensure that you lay out your content on the web in a distributed and well defined fashion. Without delving into the subject of where to post too much, I will say that you should aim to post on your own site, article directories and blogs. The point I want to make though is that when you post your content, you need to describe it, tag it and backlink it to your site to ensure that you get the most mileage possible and the best rankings from the crawlers.

So how do you actually go about achieving the above? Firstly when you publish content you need to make sure that it has a heading relevant to the subject matter. Next if there is a field to describe the content in greater detail, make sure that you elaborate with keyword rich text. This will not only get the attention of your audience but also that of the crawlers. When posting on or away from your own site you will also want to use the “tagging” field to tap into the various niches that relate to your content or website. If it is a dating site then throw in some combinations like; online dating, singles dating, dating advice and so on.

Lastly you must learn how to add html keyword anchors throughout your content. This will involve you plugging your strategically chosen site relevant keywords through links. These links will take your audience through to your website when clicked. Always be careful not to seed these links too early in your article content as this is frowned upon by the crawlers. Try to stay away from planting any in the first three or four paragraphs to get the best possible ranking outcomes.

With the above advice you essentially now have the basic information that you need to get out there and start making your site a total success. Never forget that it takes time and dedication but rest assured that you will see the difference and get your results.

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[How to] Run infected files without getting your system infected

Yes it’s true that you can run infected files on your system without getting the system infected. Sandboxie is an Application that allows you to do so. This is useful in circumstances where you have a USB device or installing a not so known file on your computer. Sandboxie can help you install the program even if it is infected without getting your system affected.

Here is a quick demonstration

I have downloaded a infected file. 

2. Kaspersky prompts me that the file is infected.


3. Thankfully I have Sandboxie on installed on my computer.

4. Now run the file. You have to navigate to the folder that has the file which is infected.

5. Right Click on the file and then Click “Run Sandboxed” from the drop down menu.

 

Link: Download Sandboxie

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What Is QR Code?

 With the rise of the technologies, each and every day we are getting more useful stuffs in our usual life. The mobile phones are becoming the most important gadgets these days as they can perform various task and improving all the tie with lots of new stuffs. One of them is the QR Codes  (abbreviated from Quick Response code)  and Matrix Barcodes (or two-dimensional code), which are becoming the hot favorite for every mobile phone users these days.


It is readable by dedicated QR barcode readers, telephone cameras, and to a less common extent, computers with webcams. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded may be text, URL, or other data.

Common in Japan, where it was created by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. The QR code was designed to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.


Although initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR codes now are used in a much broader context, including both commercial tracking applications and convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users (termed mobile tagging). QR codes may be used to display text to the user, to add a vCard contact to the user's device, to open a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), or to compose an e-mail or text message. Users can generate and print their own QR codes for others to scan and use by visiting one of several paid and free QR code generating sites or apps.

QR codes storing addresses and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards, or almost any object about which users might need information. Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application can scan the image of the QR code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a web page in the telephone's browser. This act of linking from physical world objects is termed hardlinking or object hyperlinking.

QR codes can be used in Google's mobile Android operating system via both their own Google Goggles application or 3rd party barcode scanners like ZXing or Kaywa. The browser supports URI redirection, which allows QR codes to send metadata to existing applications on the device. Nokia's Symbian operating system is provided with a barcode scanner, which is able to read QR codes, while mbarcode is a QR code reader for the Maemo operating system. In the Apple iOS, a QR code reader is not natively included, but more than fifty paid and free apps are available with reader and metadata browser URI redirection ability. With BlackBerry devices, the App World application can natively scan QR codes and load any recognized Web URLs on the device's Web browser.


The technology has seen frequent use in Japan, the Netherlands, and South Korea, while the rest of the world has been slower in the adoption of QR codes.

Now, you know that what are QR codes? QR codes are being used for various purpose these days. Many publishers are using the QR codes for spreading their content among the users. That is why, QR code generators are so much in demand these days. Sparq is one of the best qr code generator service which provides lots of features and facilities which can help in improving the business of a publisher. QR codes are going to be more popular in the near future and would be one of the most used mobile application very soon.

If you do not know about them then click here to know more about the Matrix Barcode.

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Social Media Vs Email : Email Is Still Important- And Here Is Why?

Social media is more than a buzzword. It’s now a lifestyle decision for a lot of companies. Many individuals and organizations have abandoned a traditional Web presence (which used to mean a website and email address) in favor of a Facebook page coupled with a Twitter account.

So, where does this leave email? Has the @ symbol lost its meaning as an address, and instead become the signifier of a Twitter name? I think that we need to radically reconsider our approach to email in this changing landscape and understand that it can be a powerful tool when leveraged correctly.

Changing Habits

While I disagree with the assertion that “social is killing email,” evidence shows that email use among the younger generation is declining: a 59% decline among US teens between December 2009 and 2010, according to comScore. In the same study, only the over-55s had increased their use of email. This is especially significant if it represents a long-term shift away from email and towards social media and SMS as preferred methods of communication.


Losing Faith In Email

Email has been around forever (it predates the Web), so it’s not surprising that, for some, it has lost its lustre. For one, it’s not exciting enough; other social media platforms have come with fanfare. Twitter has hosted world headlines, and Facebook has been the driving force behind many campaigns. In 2009, a Facebook Group even succeeded in getting Rage Against the Machine’s single “Killing in the Name” to the UK’s “Christmas number one” spot ahead of the X Factor single.



This level of drama appeals to business types who like their social media “sexy,” and for this reason Twitter and Facebook push all the right buttons around the boardroom table. By comparison, an email marketing campaign may seem tired and old fashioned.



For another reason, it lacks tangible value. Valuations of Internet companies (and particularly social media giants) have skyrocketed. In May of this year, LinkedIn was valued at $10 billion (roughly 41 times its 2010 net revenue). Facebook is still a private company, but rumors of a public offering in 2012 include a valuation that could reach $100 billion. While many in the industry see this as a portent of a second dot-com bubble, for a lot of businesses it is simply a compelling reason to invest in these services.

Email is non-proprietary, which means that no one is pushing its agenda, and, unlike the LinkedIns, Groupons and Facebooks of the world, it cannot attract a market worth. Value theory tells us that if something has no market value (such as air, water, etc.), it is often taken for granted. I think email has suffered a similar fate.

Finally and perhaps most significantly, it lacks the pack mentality that most of social media thrives on. Despite the growth of marketing, email is still mostly private. No one knows which lists I am subscribed to or who I write to from the privacy of my inbox, even if by virtue of Facebook they know what I ate for breakfast. In stark contrast to the insidious evils of “like” culture, my email behavior does not broadcast itself all over the Internet, which for marketers is a decided disadvantage.

Email Is A Currency

Everyone Has It

It’s true that email is fighting with other services for online communication, but it is still ubiquitous in a way that other social media networks are not. As of May 2010, 39% of US Internet users had never used a social network, compared with only 6% who had never sent or received an email. If you want to reach the majority of your audience, email is still the safest bet.

It’s a Unique Identifier

It’s worth noting that people tend to be members of multiple social media websites simultaneously, with varying degrees of involvement, but they usually have only one or two active email addresses. The email address remains the unique identifier online; you use it to log into almost everything, so it would take a lot for it to become obsolete.

It’s a Coveted Resource

According to research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing is expected to generate an ROI of $44.00 for every dollar spent on it in 2011. This is due in part to the fact that more customers are engaging via email: 93% of email users have opt-in relationships with a consumer brand, as opposed to 15% on Facebook and 4% on Twitter (according to Chris Brogan, president of New Marketing Labs).

This value has been recognized by most social media networks. Facebook launched Messages, which provides each user with an @facebook.com email address, because it understands the importance of email in the social graph. Google+ is also tying email more directly into social media activity, blurring the distinction between the two.

Overcoming Obstacles

Spam

This incarnation of junk mail is relentless. It plagues users, who must be cunning to distinguish genuine mail from hoaxes. Email clients require elaborate algorithms to sift the wheat from the chaff. And perhaps most vexing, Internet marketers have to struggle to get anything commercial through to their subscriber lists.

Unfortunately, Twitter and Facebook are not safe havens either. Business folk are not the only ones taking a bigger interest in social media; scam artists are, too. As of April 2011, spam alone occupied seven full-time employees at Twitter. This is a drop in the ocean compared to email (over 73% of all messages sent are spam), but it might be a relief to hear that we are experiencing the lowest levels since 2008; at least things are looking up!


 Broadcasting

Social media networks encourage multi-way conversations between many users. Even those who are not involved directly in the conversation can often “overhear” what is happening. Email is much more direct; it is usually between just two people and does not invite additional participants. Understanding this limitation of email will make it your greatest ally. Unless an email is personal, it will not get a response; however, it is one of the best ways to deliver direct messages, such as newsletters and alerts, which do not invite discussion so much as action.


Presentation

HTML email is far more effective than plain text for marketing, but you’ll need to know the tricks to make it look good across different browsers. Writing code for email usually means going back to 1998, which is enough to put most people off it entirely. Luckily, Campaign Monitor and MailChimp offer some great templates to get you off on the right foot. But make sure to use a tool to test the email across different clients before clicking the “Send” button, or else you could do more damage than good.


Making Email A Part Of The Conversation 

Email is difficult to ignore. Unlike social media streams, in which content is disposable, an email demands your attention until it is read. Use this to your advantage: write newsletters; push your most engaging content in front of your users; adapt your offers so they match your audience.

Also, email is a much calmer medium. Inbox zero is a difficult (yet achievable) goal, whereas staying on top of every stream, tweet and status update is not only stressful, but well nigh impossible! With email, you can take time and give thought to your words; you can dedicate some time to the person you are communicating with. Email not only gives your thoughts some room, but gives you time to write them down clearly.

If you’ve heard of the Slow movement (which advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life’s pace), then you might want to consider how email fits into Slow Marketing. Is it possible that cultivating brand advocates over time who have more than a fleeting interest in your product could bring long-term benefits? Could you talk to these customers in a more respectful way, one that leads to substantial, meaningful conversations?

Think Twice Before Hitting “Send”

If you’re not put off by the shortcomings of email and you find 140 characters more limiting than liberating, then you’re well on your way to incorporating email in your social media campaigns. Chances are your email subscribers are your most loyal audience, so treat them with respect (which means offering valuable content, and not too often), and they could become your greatest advocates.

While reams of articles are devoted to creating social email campaigns, here are just a few tips to get you started:

Have something to say.
Sounds simple, but while your daily musings are permissible on Twitter, your email audience will be less forgiving.

Make it digestible.
Email doesn’t limit your word count, but you’ll need to apply some editing of your own. If it’s a long article, include an excerpt and link through to the website for the full story. This has the added bonus of enabling you to track the most popular items.

Be regular.
Set a schedule of emails that you know you can keep to. A monthly or quarterly newsletter can be a good guide.

Be personal.
Tailor your tone to the audience. Most email services offer invaluable segmentation tools. You wouldn’t speak to your spouse the way you talk to your bank manager; neither should you address your entire audience the same way.

Don’t forget that email is only half of the conversation. Find out where your readers hang out (you can use their email addresses to locate them), and continue the discussion there! 

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All you want to know about Google +

What G+ really about (pst!!! it's not social)

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Hashtags: Tweet Your Message to a Larger Audience with Hashtags

Twitter is a great place to find and follow people with the same hobbies and interests as you have. Unfortunately, once you have as many followers as Darren does, it starts to get overwhelming to stay in touch with them all, and make sure the right information goes to the right people.

Making an appearance at a marketing seminar and love to cook? You’ve got a situation then. How do you make sure you’re tweeting details about marketing events to the seminar group while tweeting your favorite recipes to the cooking group?

Enter Hashtags. A hashtag is a symbol – # – followed by a name that can be used to broadcast to a specific group of people. For example, there’s a group for #googlenews, #love and even #kmart. None is probably more popular right now and relevant than the group created for the Mumbai attacks – #mumbai.

Hashtags.org shows the most recent group tweets on Twitter

To see which groups have already been created, visit www.hashtags.org – the official site that creates, organizes and displays these groups. Use the search box in the upper right corner to see if your group name is already available.

If it isn’t, you can create it simply by tweeting and including the hashtag (#) within your post.

The first step though, is to make sure hashtags can index and display your group tweets. Just follow @hashtags and the service will follow you back automatically. Then it’s time to help spread the word about your new Twitter group.

For example – Got a great Twitter tip? Just send it to #TwiTip and you could see it on our blog!

The second step is to get familiar with hashtag commands, so that you only broadcast a message out to the people you want to receive it, those being the members of your hashtag group. Here’s a quick rundown of the more useful ones:

Follow #tag – (example: follow #twitip) – lets you follow all updates tagged with #twitip.

Follow username#tag – subscribe to all updates from a certain person that are sent to a group. (Example: Follow problogger#twitip will give you every post by Darren sent to the #twitip group)

#tag message – Send a message or question to the group. (Example: #twitip Anyone know a great software program to organize tweets?)

#tag !message – Send a message only to people who are subscribed to updates from #tag. (Example: #twitip !How many twitip users post to twitter daily?)

Leave #tag – Unsubscribe from the group. If your friends are subscribed to this group as well, you’ll still get messages from them that include updates for the group. (Example: leave #food will unsubscribe you from the Food group, but you’ll still get messages from your best friend and fabulous cook Jenny whenever she sends a message to #food).

Remove #tag Unsubscribe from the group and from friend messages that include this tag. So if Jenny posts a recipe to #food and you’ve typed Remove #food in your Twitter status bar, you won’t see that recipe even if Jenny is on your followers list.

You’ll probably want to print out this set of hashtag commands for future reference. If and until Twitter creates its own built-in service for groups, hashtags is the most up-to-date (albeit unattractive) way to stay in touch and create powerful, profitable groups for expanding your Twitter empire and connecting with people who share your interests.

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Top 10 Sites for File Sharing

"File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images, and video), documents, or electronic books (wikipedia)." As w/ any business or educational institution integrated w/ technology, it's important to have a solid grasp on file sharing and be fluent in the use of file sharing technologies.

Top 10 Sites for File Sharing

Box - Probably the most popular of the web based file sharing sites that integrates w/ Google Apps. Also, has the ability to share/store files in a folder which is ideal for embedding into a site.

Minus - A simple file sharing site that allows users to embed their file into a blog/site or share w/ a unique URL.

File Dropper - A free easy to use site that allows users to upload up to 5 Gig of data.

Pipe Bytes - An ideal way to share files in a private setting either as an URL or embed code.

DocDroid - A great site for file sharing which allows for password protection and the ability to choose what format you want to download the file in.

Papyrs - An excellent site for sharing files in a social network type setting.

Go Pileus - A simple to use site (drag-n-drop) for sharing files that also integrates nicely w/ bit.ly for URL shortening.

Sendoid - A site that is also available as a free app for sharing files person to person rather then storing on a server.

Air Dropper - A unique site that allows a user to create a dropbox that allows others to access via a request and then download.

WeTransfer - A fun site for transferring files w/ a nice user interface. Also, a person has the ability to add a message to their file transferring email.

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5 Ways to Encourage Customers to Share Your Content

Nearly every brand has realized that integrating social elements into most or all of its marketing programs is essential. Companies are also thinking about social media as an integrated element that spans all of its campaigns and channels – not as its own silo. But enabling people to share a campaign with friends is only half the battle; you’ve got to give them a compelling reason to socialize.

Here are five creative ways to motivate social sharing. We’ll provide insights as to how you can structure campaigns to encourage more people to share, alongside examples of brands that are getting it right.

1.       1. Increase the Payoff When People Share More

With the advent of DIY group deals, you can create campaigns in which the more people share among themselves, the more they all save. The idea of collective benefit also plays to team dynamics: people will mobilize when lots of folks can get a benefit.

Oscar Mayer’s recent program for its new Oscar Mayer Selects hot dogs provides a good example. Oscar Mayer offers consumers a coupon to try the product, and encourages them to come back to share a “Taste-a-Monial” (essentially their personal review of Selects Hot Dogs) to get a second coupon. But this second coupon is progressive in nature: for every 5,000 people who share their Taste-a-Monial, the value of the coupon will increase by $0.50. The value continues to increase until the deal becomes a free pack of hot dogs, or until the promotion ends on August 15. At that point, everyone who shared a Taste-a-Monial will be rewarded their coupon.

Snoop Dogg made headlines recently for the progressive group deals he runs from his Facebook page’s “Shop Snoop Now” ecommerce tab. Each day, one product is featured for a special group deal – the more “Likes” the product gets, the lower the price for the product.

2. Give Them Something Exclusive

Giving people something unique or exclusive in return for sharing can be a powerful motivator — we all want to feel privy to something special.

For example, in a recent campaign to build awareness for recording artist Cady Groves, RCA offered fans a free song download for registering on the Cady Groves website. RCA also incentivized fans to share Cady’s music with their friends by offering a free merchandise pack to every fan who convinces five people to download the song.

Many brands are also rewarding fans by providing early access to content. For example, a big trend we’re seeing in the music industry is “share to reveal,” where fans get advance access to music videos or song tracks in return for sharing with friends.

3         3. Appeal to Their Altruism

People are inherently good. If you make it easy for them to help, they often will — and your brand will get a major boost along the way.

For example, Clarisonic recently ran a fundraising campaign for “Look Good, Feel Better,” a program that helps women battling cancer cope with treatment-related skin changes and hair loss. It contributed a $1 donation for each new “Like” on its Facebook page. The campaign made it fun and easy to share the program with friends by designing different “calls to action” that visitors could choose to share. As a result, Clarisonic generated over 30,000 new Likes on the page.

Of course, many fans will share simply because they love the cause and want to spread the word — so make sure you’ve at least added social elements to all your customer touch points.

4         4. Let Fans Help Create the Offer

Giving fans the ability to choose which version of a product should be offered, or to vote for the discounts or special offers they want to receive, helps ensure they’ll share it. For example, HarperCollins’ Bookperk website, which keeps readers up to date on new books and special deals, lets members select which books will be offered at a discount. Once members have chosen a book, they have the option to log into Facebook and share their selection with friends, therefore spreading the word about the discount.

5.       5. Identify, Recognize and Reward Superfans

Humans are inherently social beings, and like to be recognized for their expertise and achievements. Recognition can be a powerful motivator for social activity.

In the Cady Groves example mentioned above, not only was the campaign successful in getting many fans to share with their friends, but furthermore, quite a few “superfans” took sharing to the next level. They generated their own tweets, direct messages and Facebook posts. Some individuals managed to recruit several hundred new fans to the Cady Groves website and Facebook page.

These superfans aren’t necessarily motivated by the incentive; they’re interested in promoting the artist, getting free merchandise for their friends and establishing their reputation as someone in the know. Smart marketers will look to identify and reward these superfans on an ongoing basis, and further provide them with ways to carry on their message.

Once you’ve identified your superfans, make them part of your marketing mix. Give them preferential or early access to new items, and reward them with recognition on your Facebook page, Twitter or your website.

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Why Is Bluetooth Called Bluetooth?

When two devices need to talk to each other, they need to have a handshake on various parameters before the conversation starts. The first agreement is on the medium – will they use wires, or talk over some wireless signal?

Bluetooth is one such wireless signal (protocol) over which two (or more) devices communicate over.

Strange name though isn’t it – are the bluetooth waves invisible but blue and shaped like teeth? Wrong! There is absolutely no relation between the name and the meaning.

The Bluetooth protocol was created by Ericsson (pre-Sony Ericsson) which is a major Swedish telecommunication company.

They named it after the Danish viking king, Harald Blåtand. As legend goes, Blåtand had the blessed ability to bring people negotiate with each other, and come to talking terms.

So skilled was he, that he was able to unite Denmark and Norway together! The literal translation of Blåtand means blue-tooth, hence the name Bluetooth for the protocol. It does precisely what Blåtand did – lets two wireless device to communicate with each other!

The Bluetooth symbol has Harald Blåtand’s initials inscribed into it (in Runic). The two lines sticking out of the back of the B actually represent a Runic H – thats H for Harald .The B for Bluetooth also stands for Blåtand!

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