Would it surprise anyone to know that only one out of every 10 Americans has adequate broadband internet? As someone who lives in a rural area, I am lucky to live close enough to a city to get cable internet, but if I go on mile further out, I start meeting people who have to rely on satellite or air cards for internet. The download speed on those is fine, but the upload speed can be problematic depending on your location.
If you’re looking to take a business, no matter what type, to another level, many people have turned to coupons and promotions to accomplish this. One of the online coupon sites is a place called Groupon. Groupon by itself is not a bad thing but it could have disastrous consequences for small businesses. The article goes into greater detail, but a basic summary as to why this is because Groupon reaches many people and small businesses may be unequipped to handle the repsonse.
If you’re looking for the most current and most popular topics on the internet, this is the place to go. Alltop is the equivalent of an online magazine rack, but the best part of this is you can browse for free. These guys take the best of all the stories in the news and post a link with a short synopsis.
Well, depending on how you look at a situation, the new Google Buzz could either be going along like any other new startup application or it could be an indicator that Buzz is in big trouble. Google has announced the second major change to the social networking tool since it launched this month. The problem came from people being set to automatically follow others status updates. The concern came from the lack of privacy or the option to turn it off. Now Google has fixed the problem, but it makes me and some people wonder about Google. You would think they would have thought this one out a little better. While many people tried it out when it launched, I wonder if the issues turned enough people away that this will not be successful.
Just read a great article from Yaro Starak about getting exposure for readers. He lists some simple things for getting your name and blog out there. For instance, he advocates writing pillar articles. These are posts that are designed to be a somewhat comprehensive lesson in a topic. If you want to write an article about commercial lighting, discuss the advantages of certain fixtures, explain how to wire them properly and provide some benefits to doing so. Once you get a few articles written, Starak then says to get yourself out and comment on other blogs. This will alert people to your presence, and if your comments are insightful, people might come over to take a look at what you’re writing. There are some other great ideas that he lists in the rest of his blog, so check it out.
I don’t post this to lessen the seriousness of computer viruses or the need for good protection. But, I know a few people who go overboard in terms of sending warnings. So, I think this parody from “Weird Al” Yankovic is quite humorous.
With Haiti devastated, organizations worldwide have sprung into action. Websites have been setup to collect monetary donations from anywhere there is internet access. That’s what humanity is all about. As a global community, reaching out to others in times of crisis, whether it is by donating time or money. You can give to the relief effort by pledging here.
This comes from MSNBC.
They released a story today listing 7 bad bedtime habits. These usually keep people awake instead of helping them get to sleep. One habit is reading a book. Now, I like reading books, and I prefer the actual physsical book as opposed to an e-book, but reading puts me into a relaxed state that naturally puts me to sleep. In fact, I can’t read a book during the day as it is a surefire way to get me to take an afternoon nap.
One habit they listed that I totally agree with is Facebooking in bed. I enjoy Facebook and use it to keep track of distant friends, but doing so late at night is just not good. It’s like flipping through the TV late at night when you know you should be sleeping. Blogging is the same way. Your ideas can wait until morning. Your sleep and the benefits from sleeping mean more than what your blog says or your Facebook status.
As we begin the new year, resolutions are flying around heavily. If you’re a blogger, one resolutions might be to increase the number of readers and commentors. There’s an article written by Jakob Nielsen that talks about the trends of web surfers. The statistics he gives are not very encouraging, but towards the end of the article, he does offer some advice in how to encourage and promote more active participation. You can read the whole article here.
I just read a story about how big companies are looking into optimizing their site to be more accessible to those with physical handicaps. It got me to thinking about the smaller websites and blogs. There are readers everywhere and if you want to get your message out, it would behoove you to try and reach as many people as possible. Now, while you may not have the money to spend on consultants and fancy website design, you can enact some changes to help potential readers access your site. Start small, but at least start.
