Blog•
on January 25th, 2012•
Google has just made huge changes in how they are presenting their search results. And this has major implications for your online presence.
The big change is that Google has begun to personalize search results. That’s a pretty big deal, right? They actually made that change in 2009 and most people didn’t even notice.
The big change I am talking about is what is referred to as Google Search results plus your world. These results are largely based upon what your contacts are sharing within Google+. Don’t have a Google+ account? Doesn’t matter. Even if you are not signed into a Google Account, Google will begin showing you results based upon past searches that you have conducted through the use of browser cookies.
Google noticed a very important shift that is occurring. Google was absolutely right when ranking websites in the past based upon how many other websites were linked to that website. The problem is, how often do you link to someone’s website? Another question, how often do you share someone’s website, an article, or a funny video?
Links are no longer an effective measurement of web page popularity. Sites that have been shared offer a better measurement of a website’s popularity and clout. It’s the 2012 version of linking.
But there’s a problem. When people share information, it is largely within the confines of Facebook & Twitter. Google can’t always see this information.
Thus, the birth of Google+.
And the pendulum has swung. Perhaps too much. I want to present a few examples here of how Google searches (conducted while signed into a Google account and while not signed in) have been skewed towards Google+ results.
The first is this one. I am signed into my Google Account when I search for Egypt photos. The very first results I see (and anyone who is connected to me on Google+ will see) are photos from my 2008 Egypt trip:
The second example is a search for ‘music’ when I am signed into my Google Account. Instead of seeing a Wikipedia entry about music, I see what my Google+ contacts have shared about the topic of music. It appears that the only requirement here is that the item shared contained the word music.
If you are signed into your Google Account, you do have the ability to turn personalized results on and off through.
But here is the kicker. Look at what happens when I begin typing in a search for Britney Spears. You can see that I have not even come close to finishing my search but Google has suggested 4 options for terms I may be searching. They got the first one right. But look at #4. That is Britney’s Google+ page. Fortunately, Britney is up to date on her Google+ page and has quite a bit of content there. Now, do that same search for Mark Zuckerberg. His Google+ page also shows up as you are typing. Mark Zuckerberg understandably does not keep up his Google+ page. Wouldn’t a better search result be his Facebook page in this instance?
Do you see what is happening here? Google is going to show Google+ results for you whether you’ve updated them or not. I’ve told my clients for a long time that you have a web presence whether you created it or not. Google is collecting information about you and your company all over the web and compiling it into profiles. You can either let them dictate what is said about you or you can control that. It’s better if you are in charge.
You have a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a LinkedIn profile. That’s great. But, as you can see from these Google search results (remember Google has roughly 70-80% of the search market), these are being pushed down as Google+ takes more precedent. Is it right? Doesn’t seem to be. But as the FTC debates that question, you must create your Google+ account so that you are not left in the dust.
Blog•
on January 18th, 2012•
I recently worked on a website project where I tested out some of the WordPress Translation plugins. Here are my thoughts on the plugins:
This is by far my favorite automatic translator tool. It is fast and has an awesome design integration. The flags to determine the language site at the very top of your page. If you click a flag, it immediately translates the page without making a big fuss. Some of the other translation tools take longer and don’t have as seamless as a process.
The only problem I had with this plugin, and this happens with them all, is that I wasn’t able to use Cufon for the fonts. The only way this translation tool will work is to use Google Webfonts. This is quite easy with a Google Fonts plugin.
The other difference between this one and the others I list below is that Ajax Translator Revolution costs $15. But for interface and speed, it is worth the money.
Website that utilizes Ajax Translator Revolution – www.avantiministries.com
With qTranslate, you do the translations yourself. What’s great about this plugin is that all translations are editable on one WordPress admin page. You just choose between different tabs per language. This makes things so convenient when adding page/post content in the different languages. This one also allows you to place the flags on the page or to use a widget. The widget shows flags, country names, or has a drop-down option.
Again, this is not an automatic translator, but is a great one to use if you have the translations professionally done and ready to go.
Website using qTranslate – www.tonyanthony.co.uk
Global Translator is another automatic translation tool that has you place some code on the page where you would like the particular language’s flag shown. The user then clicks that flag for an automatic translation. You get some nice URL’s that just list a two-letter code at the end of the URL signifying the language. This one is pretty seamless and it is free.
My beef with this plugin is that there is no sidebar widget that has a drop-down menu choice of languages. I don’t want a huge widget listing every flag or country name. I want a simple drop-down menu that doesn’t take up a lot of space. Didn’t get that with this plugin.
Website that utilizes Global Translator – www.glennecooper.com
Transposh is a great combination of an automatic translation tool and one in which you make translations. It allows you to set up access so that anyone can go in and make updates to translations from the front end of the website. Once someone has made an update, the translation tool will use that word from that point forward.
I ended up not using this one because the option to fix translations was not working on everything on my site. I know some of that had to do with my use of Cufon fonts, but it seemed a bit cumbersome. But the idea is great and it made it easy to have non-computer literate people make updates to the translations from the front-end of the website. Also, I believe that a drop-down option was not available in the widget, which made my widget bigger than what I was hoping for the design of that particular website.
If you have used any other translation tools, please note those in the comments form below and describe your experience using that tool.
Blog•
on January 14th, 2012•
Instagram is an app available for the iPhone that allows you to doctor up your photos. It’s pretty straightforward. You take a photo, open up Instagram, and add cool effects.
Here’s the brilliance. If you are like me, you take a lot of photos on your iPhone. I don’t want to share every one of those photos with other people. But there are photos I want to share.
I can open these photos in Instagram, add some cool effects, and then share the photos on Facebook or my website. In fact, there is a widget available in WordPress where you can show just the photos you have in your Instagram account.
Instagram solved a problem (I have too many photos on my phone and don’t want to share them all) and made it fun and beautiful to share photos.
Blog•
on December 29th, 2011•
Flat Screen & Bose in the Waiting Room
I recently had the opportunity to set up the entertainment system at a new gynecology doctor’s office in the Atlanta area. The entertainment system includes the following:
- TV in the waiting room
- Music in each of the exam rooms
- Conference room TV setup
I decided to develop a system that could be controlled from an iMac at the receptionist’s desk at the front of the office. From this iMac computer, all videos shown on the TVs and all music playing in the exam rooms will be centrally controlled. And I did this all utilizing Apple products.
Here is a full list of the items purchased for this setup:
- 55″ flat screen monitor for waiting room
- 46″ flat screen monitor for conference room
- Two Bose 3-speaker stereo systems to be connected to these flat screens
- Two Apple TV devices to connect to the two flat screen monitors
- Two Bose wave radios for the two exam rooms
- Two Apple Airport Express devices to connect to the wave radios
- One Apple 22″ iMac computer
- One Apple Time Capsule to be used as a router and automatic backup
The idea here is that all content is stored on the iMac. There are videos and music that the head surgeon wanted available to play on any of the TVs or stereos in the office. Therefore, all music and videos were added to the iMac and added to the iTunes library. From this library, videos and music can be sent to the flat screen monitors using the Apple TVs and music can be sent to the exam rooms. The same song can be played on both TVs and both wave radios so that the same music is playing simultaneously throughout the office. Fun videos like Disney & Pixar movies can also be added to quickly show in the waiting room if children are present.
The first item I installed was the Apple Time Capsule. The Time Capsule functions as a wireless internet router as well as an automatic backup device for the iMac. This is the backbone of the entire system as all Apple TVs and AirPort Express devices will connect to this wireless connection. A Time Capsule is not required, but makes connection a lot easier. Plus, the Time Capsule could also be used as a shared storage device between multiple office computers.
Apple iMac for Receiptionist's Desk
The second item I installed was the Apple iMac computer. I went with the base iMac model for a few reasons. First, the iMac just looks incredible and sets the tone for the office as it is one of the first things a patient will see at the receptionist’s desk. When I installed the iMac, one of the other contractors working in the space just stood there in awe looking at the computer wondering where the hard drive was. Also, the iMac is fast and has the required storage space I needed for all music and videos to be added to the computer for playback throughout the office.
Then, all TVs were mounted with the Bose stereos connected to the TVs and connected to Apple TV. Also, I installed the Bose wave radios in the exam rooms and connected those devices to the AirPort Express devices. AirPort Express allows you to do a couple of things. One, the AirPort Express can actually act as a wireless connection repeater, which will strengthen the wireless signal throughout the office. It also acts as a receptor that the iMac can connect to and dictate the songs being played on the wave radio. The AirPort Express and Bose wave radio are connected using a simple stereo cord.
Bose Wave Radio with AirPort Express Connection
Next, I opened AirPort Utility on the iMac and set up each of the AirPort Express devices. I named them so that the receptionist would know the exact room where the music was being sent. I named the Apple TVs as “Waiting Room TV” and “Conference Room TV” through the actual Apple TV setup process. I then turned on Home Sharing on the Apple TVs and the iMac so that content could be pulled right from the TV using the Apple remote (instead of pushing all content from the iMac).
The beauty of this system is that everything is integrated. The head surgeon can even bypass the iMac and use an iPhone or iPad to push videos and music to specific devices. The conference room also contains an HDMI & VGA connection so that people can plug their computers directly into the flat screen to show specific presentations or items from their computers. In most other office setups, each TV would be a separate entity and the music system would be completely different. With this solution, everything works together and can easily be controlled from one location (or many if so desired).
Blog•
on December 28th, 2011•
I’m beginning to see a common theme in the status of the online presence of most of my clients. They nearly have all of the pieces of a solid online presence, but those pieces have never been consolidated into a strategic online presence. They had a designer put up a website 5 years ago. They caught the Facebook bus 3 years ago. Twitter took a little more time, but they have a couple Twitter accounts for different aspects of their business. And they’ve been collecting email addresses for a while, but newsletters are spotty if they are sent out at all.
No vision exists for the total online presence.
Facebook is going one direction, the website another direction, and the newsletter in a 3rd direction. What is needed is someone who can come in, do the necessary research, and determine a consolidated path forward where all platforms are utilized for their relative strengths with a clear goal or set of goals to be achieved. Once implemented, close attention must be paid to user analytics to make sure the strategy is working.
The set of skills required to set an overall online presence strategy comes more from a business background than a web designer or social media background.
I also see the desire to consolidate happening with personal technology. I continue to meet people who want to simplify their lives. The new technology is overwhelming. On one hand, people want to utilize the new technology to assist with their business, but on the other hand they don’t want the requirement of learning the technology to take more time than not using it.
I’m seeing a huge need for people to understand how their phone can connect with their computer and to their tablets. People want to know how to save time by saving documents in the cloud instead of on one computer. They want to be able to access those documents on their computers, tablets, and phones.
These desires to consolidate a company online presence or personal technology use is driven by the two main scare resources – time and money. An online presence without a strategy is like IKEA furniture that is still in pieces in a box. A solid presence will not happen until those pieces are put together.
Anyone who can work with companies to consolidate their online presence or with individuals to simplify their use of technology will have a job in 2012.
Blog•
on December 26th, 2011•
I spend a lot of time on Apple products and consult a number of clients on how best to use computers & mobile devices. For this blog post, I am sharing my ten predictions I have for Apple product, marketing and service releases for 2012:
1. Apple will begin Courting the Businessperson with Renewed Effort
The incredible list of products already exist. But there is a huge gap between Apple product knowledge and use in the business world. Apple needs to begin devoting massive ad spending to court this segment of the market. This prediction isn’t as much about upcoming product launches as it is in marketing focus.
For example, I go into board rooms and meeting rooms all around the city of Atlanta. I have only seen one Apple TV in a meeting room. Every board room and meeting room should have an Apple TV hooked up to the projector or flat screen. It’s just $100 and it allows any person with an iPad to show a presentation through a WiFi connection. I hear that Turner Broadcasting is installing Apple TVs in all of their meeting rooms. Other companies should do the same. Think of the savings in time from not having to have different presenters plug their computers into a projector.
2. Apple TV will be Renamed
The Apple TV device has expanded beyond its name to the point that “Apple TV” actually confuses people. Is it a TV? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? And plus, the rumor is that Apple is actually going to release a TV this year, as in an actual flat screen TV.
3. AirPlay will be extended to All Devices and All Programs
Right now, I can mirror my iPad screen onto a flat screen through Apple TV. But I can’t do that with my iPhone or MacBook computer. What if I could show a presentation on my MacBook without having to get up from my seat and plug in my computer to a monitor? What if every person in the room could show their spreadsheet, presentation, or document by simply clicking a few buttons? The ramifications for the board room and meeting room alone are enormous.
4. Apple will Advertise more about Inter-connectivity of Devices
This is another marketing prediction. Apple will (or should) use advertising money to show how seamlessly a MacBook can connect to an iPhone and how photos, documents, etc can be backed up automatically. As people use 2012 to simplify and connect their device use, Apple is in a prime spot to show how they can do this best.
5. Apple will purchase Dropbox
This prediction is one my brother-in-law has recommended for a few years. Apple should purchase Dropbox. iCloud is great for photos and a few other things, but it seriously lacks as a viable solution to saving any type of document in the cloud. With Dropbox, this could easily be integrated into iCloud.
6. AirPlay will be extended to include Multiple Devices that Play Different Songs
For instance, if I have TVs and Airport Expresses connected to different stereo systems in one location, the only way that I can pick and choose which device should play music is through iTunes on a computer. If there are 4 rooms, I can choose to play music in 2 of the 4 rooms. Right now, I can’t do that on an iPod touch, iPhone or iPad. I can only push music to one of the rooms. So, the prediction is that I can choose which room and further to that, I will be able to choose different songs, videos, etc for each room. Right now, I can only play one song. Sonos already has the capability to play different songs in different rooms. Apple should too.
7. Another AirPort Express device will be Released
My prediction is that a new AirPort Express device will be released that costs just $50 and allows for connecting to WiFi to print or connect to a stereo. The drop in price will occur because AirPort Express Lite will not have the router capability but will just be a receiving device.
8. The Mac Mini will Wirelessly Connect to an External Monitor
This will render an HDMI connection from the Mac Mini to an external monitor unnecessary. If the monitor has an Apple TV connected, the Mac Mini will connect automatically.
9. iPad & iPhone app developers will begin to treat these devices as tools instead of interfaces
Right now, you can play a racecar game on your iPad where the iPad becomes the steering wheel and the actual track shows on the flat screen through Apple TV. This is just the beginning. We will begin to see the iPad become the paintbrush and the flat screen TV will be the canvas. The iPad will be the keyboard and the TV or monitor will be the output. iPad Mirroring was the big thing for 2011. Separate interfaces will be the big thing for 2012.
10. The iPod Nano will add a Telephone Feature and WiFi Connection
Most people talk on their phones through a headset already. The actual iPhone device may not be required as a phone if that could be moved to the iPod Nano. Plus, it would be incredibly awesome to start up Siri and tell her to call your wife by slightly lifting up your arm and dictating to your watch. The WiFi connection will open up the device to Apps and more connectivity.
Blog•
on December 21st, 2011•
I was recently interviewed by Greg Levine at The Business Catalyst radio show about topics related to starting EPR Creations, website development and social media. You can listen to the entire interview below or click the link to download the interview:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download Interview Here as MP3
Blog•
on December 13th, 2011•
I just did an email transfer for one of my clients and we were having trouble organizing the emails within Google Apps / Gmail based upon the original date the emails were received. The emails were all showing as having been received yesterday since the transfer happened yesterday. That created a problem when trying to view emails by the date received.
Here is what I did from the beginning:
- Using Outlook 2011 and IMAP, I backed up the client’s email into a brand new Gmail account
- I then moved the emails from Gmail to the client’s new email account
- In doing so, the emails show up in Gmail as the date they were uploaded instead of the original date the email was received.
The Solution
Get Thunderbird.
http://www.getthunderbird.com/
Thunderbird is an free email client created by Mozilla (creators of Firefox). I installed Thunderbird, added the IMAP instructions for my client’s new email, and they all came in ordered by the date the email was sent rather than the date the email was uploaded to the server. I also found that Outlook 2011 for Mac orders the emails in this fashion, but if you don’t have Outlook 2011, it costs a bit of money to get that.
Blog•
on December 10th, 2011•
2500 small businesses were recently asked the following question:
“If you had to put all your marketing time and budget into only one channel, what would it be?”
Guess what the answer was?
SEO. And SEO won by quite a majority.
The survey was initiated by MerchantCircle/Reply.com and the available choices for the question were as follows (also including % of votes):
- Search Engine Optimization (32.9%)
- Traditional Media (19.7%)
- None of the Above (17.9%)
- Social Media (16.0%)
- Paid Search Advertising (9.8%)
- Mobile Marketing & Advertising (3.7%)
What I find so interesting about this list is that SEO beat Social Media by twice as much. Also, traditional media (billboards, newspaper ads, tv ads) still ranks second for these small businesses.
This shows the power of a high Google ranking when a business is starting to get off the ground. I think back to the small businesses where I have created a web presence, and SEO definitely had the biggest impact on sales and notice about the product or service.
Here is a link to some more details about this information.
Blog•
on November 30th, 2011•
Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of taking quite a few trips overseas. I’ve traveled for work, for school, for fun, for music, and one time to see an opera. I’ve learned a few things on these trips that I try to take into account on my other trips. Here are a few of those things:
When to Sleep
I’ve heard of people preparing two weeks in advance for the time change coming up for their trip. They might try to go to bed 30 minutes earlier each night until they get on the right schedule. I don’t do that. I sleep when I’m tired. What I’ve found is that I’m going to have adrenaline that will get me through the first day of most trips. I usually wake up early the first morning from jet lag, but I try my best to get through that day and begin sleeping through the night.
I also try to work out every morning to get the blood flowing. I take vitamins with breakfast. On the plane ride over, I try to stick with water and avoid alcohol. Alcohol can mess with your ability to sleep.
Also, if it is a crazy time change like going from Atlanta to Hong Kong, I try to arrive a day before my first commitment. This helps in the case of a flight delay but also provides a day to get situation, get acclimated, and see part of the city. It’s always good to go into a meeting on that first day telling your hosts how much you like their city and what you’ve experienced so far.
Communication
I use two different tools for phone calls when I am overseas. The first is Google Voice and the second is Skype. With Google Voice, I have my voice messages run through the Google Voice technology which writes out any message that someone leaves on my phone and sends it to me by email. It also sends the voice copy of the message. When I’m overseas, I can usually get on WiFi, but phone calls are super expensive on my mobile phone. With Google Voice, I can listen to the message and call the person back if need be.
The way I make calls overseas is through Skype. Again, as long as I have WiFi, I can call using Skype at the price of just $0.02 per minute.
I also use TextFree, although with the new iPhone operating system (5), I can text over WiFi to anyone else who has an iPhone.
HDMI Cable
Go to the Apple store and buy yourself a $19.99 HDMI cable. With that, you can purchase an adapter to connect your computer or iPad to the TV in the hotel room. This could be used to watch movies or to use the in-room TV as a second monitor as you work.
Internet Connection
Most hotels have an Internet connection whether it is free or paid. If the hotel has an Ethernet cable, you can use computers like the MacBook Pro to set up a WiFi zone for your other devices. If you don’t have a MacBook Pro, you can get a device like the AirPort Express to create a wireless network in your hotel room. Read my previous blog for more details on how to do this.
Airlines
If you are not signed up for rewards and points systems that airlines have, sign up for those immediately. Even if you don’t think you will fly a particular airline ever again, you might in the future, and those points usually add up and don’t go away. One day, they might add up to a free ticket.
Peace
I carry earplugs and an eye cover on each flight. When a baby starts screaming, I put in the earplugs. When I want to sleep, I put in both the ear plugs and the eye cover.
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