Welcome to our first Tech Talk Friday! Where we’ll showcase tech/geek gadgets and accessories, review WordPress plugins, and/or start sharing great content from around the web. This week’s showcase is: Blend Creations.
Uber cute for the Twitter Fanatic!
Are you frustrated because your not getting the comments you hoped for? Don't vex and don't give up! Here are 6 Absolute Tactics for getting more comments on your blog.
This is a great topic for many of us solo or flexible entrepreneurs. How do you deal with insecurity and self doubt in building your business. Enjoy the video. Love Marie's vibe.
What to do when your business contacts want to friend you on your personal profile. Do you add them? Ignore them? Here's some great answers to the dilemma every blogger crosses when using Facebook for social media.
While I think its an awesome idea, Gizmodo recently wrote about the ill effects the Japanese people were feeling from the 3d technology of the games. Am excited, but reserved at the same time.
First the good news: Nintendo’s 3DS will hit the US on March 27, 2011 for $249. That’s less than the speculated $299 price but still $70 more than the current most expensive Game Boy. The 3DS comes packaged with a charging dock and a 2GB SD card. Cosmos Black and Aqua Blue are going to be available in North America at launch, which are the same colors available at launch in Japan.
The 3DS is the next-gen Nintendo DSi. The form factor is the same and it still uses a touchscreen for the bottom screen with a unique glasses-free 3D screen above it. There’s an analog nub above the traditional 4-way pad and the top screen is 10% larger. The 3DS is backwards compatible with DS and DSI games but they’ll just work in boring ol’ 2D. There’s even a Blackberry-ish notification light on the top corner to indicate if data is incoming or outgoing.
Games! Games! Games!
As Reggie Fils-Aime, President and COO of Nintendo of America stated during the 3DS press announcement, the 3DS’s launch support is robust in terms of game support. Pilotwings Resort, Nintendogs + Cats, and Steeldriver will launch alongside the 3DS. Then there’s Zelda, Ocarina of Time 3D, Kid Icarus Uprising, Dead or Alive Dimensions, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, a new 3D Madden game, and Super Street Fighter IV 3D plus so much more as well. There will be “30+ titles” in the initial launch window of when the system is released and the gaming conference, E3, which happens in June.
Forget cartridges though — well, sort of. The Nintendo e-shop will launch with the 3Ds and provide digital downloads of Game Boy and Game Boy color hits. New games will eventually hit the store as well. The outlet will also feature demos and videos of upcoming games.
The 3DS just isn’t about gaming, either. The portable system can also playback 3D videos and capture 3D pictures as well. Two outward facing cameras are used for this mode while one inward facing camera captures the gamer in action and allows for a personalized Mii through the Mii Maker app. There’s also a pedometer app for tracking and encouraging movement. A just-announced Internet browser and Home button placed under the touchscreen reaffirms Nintendo is positioning this unit as more than a gaming device.
Backstory
Nintendo announced the 3DS, although it wasn’t officially named yet, back on March 23, 2010. It kind of came out of no where and most believed that Nintendo was forced to announce it to stem a leak. It wasn’t until E3 2010 in June that the company actually showed it off to the world. They actually paraded demo units out strapped-down to beautiful models at their press conference. We then got to spend a bit a time with the system but only tech demos were loaded onto the systems.
The 3DS’s price and release date were then announced, but only for the Japanese market. Still, the February 26th date lead most to believe that a worldwide launch would then come in March. This of course was just confirmed.
At $249, the 3DS isn’t cheap. But Nintendo is on a streak lately. The Wii sold like a jillion units, and the DS is more popular than Bieber. That doesn’t mean it won’t flop though.
Early reports out of Japan indicated that some people were getting sick looking at the 3D screen and I found that I couldn’t make out the 3D in some of the E3 demos. Plus, it’s rather expensive. Is it going to be the next Virtual Boy? It’s up to you (and your kids).
10 Powerful LinkedIn Tips
Powerful LinkedIn Tips
Without an identity on LinkedIn, your personal brand will suffer tremendously.
LinkedIn is also the only major social networking site where you can build a large database of highly targeted leads and access that database at any time (by exporting your connections emails).
Since LinkedIn is without a doubt the # 1 business social networking site, it’s important you put the energy and effort into getting the most out of your LinkedIn marketing. Here are my top 10 LinkedIn tips to achieve this.
1. Control Your Brand
This is the most important aspect for me, and why I included the video with Gary. The best way to take control of your personal brand on LinkedIn is to fill out your entire profile and write concise, compelling, value driven copy.
For most, when you search for your name on Google, your LinkedIn profile is one of the top five results that show up. Control what others view about you by completing your profile 100%, and making it stand out from the rest.
There are thousands of groups on LinkedIn. Connect with the ones that fit your interest or industry. Each group has a job board, a discussion area and forum, and a place to ask questions. Get active in groups as it’s a powerful way to interact and find like minded professionals.
This is something I debate with people often. I believe this is a limiting mindset when you don’t allow others to introduce themselves by reaching out to connect with you. How do you expect others to want to hire you or do business with you if you shun them away? Connecting with everyone on LinkedIn not only opens up new possibilities and opportunities, it also increases and expands your 2nd and 3rd degree connections, allowing for more people to find you, contact you and work with you. Simple as that.
4. Ask Compelling Questions
That’s right. Actually get on LinkedIn and ask a few questions every now and then… is that so hard? I asked two questions that took me five minutes of my time and received over 50 helpful answers in return. Just make sure you ask the right questions and tag it in the places where your target audience is searching.
5. Become An Expert
A great way to share your expertise is to answer questions. One of my connections told me he spends 15 minutes a day, 3 days per week answering questions related to his topic. He says in brings in around 3-5 new clients each month after he follows up with each person (this results in $3,000-$5,000 more each month for him). If leads are your concern, then answering questions could quite possible be your answer.
6. Host Your Own Event
You would not believe the energy and enthusiasm created by hosting a live LinkedIn networking event. I’ve hosted over 20 live events and promoted them all through the LinkedIn events section. One event had over 1,000 RSVP’s and the average event had around 350 paying attendees. It allows you to connect with those online connections… offline, and make powerful face to face relationships. Learn about the benefits of hosting your own LinkedIn event here.
7. Say Thank You
In the real world, people love it when you say “Thank you”. It seems to solve a lot of problems in general. Be sure to say those two important words every time someone does anything for you, such as makes a recommendation, makes an introduction, or answers your questions. Saying “Thank You” is another thing Gary recommends, in fact it is the entire topic of his new book The Thank You Economy.
8. Become Transparent
It seems as though the only way to be successful online these days is to become completely transparent. The more you try to hide something, or stay generic, people will move on to the next thing. Seth Godin says that being remarkable is nothing more than having others remark about you. Take this advice into account as you go along your LinkedIn ways.
9. Create a LinkedIn Group
I can’t say enough about LinkedIn groups and what they have done for my business. They give you more credibility, help you get more leads, and more sales. Here are my top 10 reasons to start a LinkedIn group and other thoughts on how to create a profitable business from your LinkedIn group.
Chris Brogan has a great post on LinkedIn recommendation tips, and I suggest you check it out before you give any. Of course it looks good to have a lot of recommendations on your profile (Chris has almost 150 of them here) but I always recommend giving them first before you ask for any. Most likely if you give a great recommendation, that person would be happy to return the favor.
(Bonus Tip) Use LinkedIn Applications
LinkedIn does a great job of adding more and more advanced applications to their tool belt. It’s a great way to enhance your profile and stick out from the rest. You can add a video to your profile, showcase your blog or your graphic design work, include your presentations, put up a picture of your book from Amazon, run a poll for your connections, and more.
Amazon doesn’t really say how the pricing is set for blogs. Most big company blogs run $1.99.
Speaking of big blogs… these are the only ones categorized in the Kindle front page directory at this time. As a publisher of a lesser publicized blog, you’ll most likely need to push for your Kindle blog to be seen and subscribed to (like writing a blog post). This is why I play the importance of using targeted keywords when setting up your account. Think about what people search for and use the Adwords Keyword Tool to zone in your niche.
Kindle Publishing Available for Blogs
And the other cool thing, you can starting making your blog available to the Kindle Publishing for Blogs Beta program.
All you need to do is sign up for an account (this is separate from your Amazon account). Add your RSS/Atom Feed Address. Specify how your readers will identify to your blog and how your blog will be categorized. Then agree to the terms and conditions, hit Save, and Publish blog to Kindle.
In 24-48 hours will blog will be available in the Amazon Kindle Store!
Revenue Royalties
According the the terms and conditions, it specifies that publishers of blogs will receive 30% of sale revenues actually received from the sale (that’s $0.297/per sale for me!). Ya, its not really a great money maker. But it is another method to increase your blog’s visibility.
*Tip: Make sure when you target keywords when specify how readers will identify to your blog.
You can read anywhere with a free Kindle Reading App. Available for your iPhone, Windows PC, Mac, BlackBerry, iPad, Android and Windows Phone 7.
