General

SEO – top organic rankings, keywords – and avoiding scare tactics

By Sandra Clitter  |  2013/08/07 19:43 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, Business Processes, General, Tech Tips, Web Tips  |  Comments (5)

Many of my clients have heard me go off on a rant or two about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and how to avoid getting taken to the cleaners by people promising you extraordinary ranking results.

What is SEO, you ask? SEO is the ability of a search engine (e.g. Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) to locate your web page in response to a search string that a user has entered. Simple example: If you’re looking to purchase a cupcake in Maui, Hawaii, then you might enter the following search in your favorite ‘Search’ box: cupcake bakery maui hi (NOTE: I know that there would be proper capitalization and punctuation if you were typing an email or letter, but ‘search’ doesn’t care about capitalization and grammar). Hit return. If you’re the local cupcake baker in Maui, then you want to come up at the top of the listings. That’s SEO. Getting your listing to appear at/near the top.

So now that we’re clear about what we’re discussing, let’s delve a bit further into HOW pages become ‘top’ of the list. Bottom line: Pages come up at the top of the list because they are RELEVANT. Search engines try to prioritize pages by how closely to the question posed during the search matches the specific page content…and it does it based upon finding KEYWORDS. Words on the web page that match the words in the search question.

The trick is to get your pages to show up near the top of results ‘organically’ (no, we’re not talking about Whole Foods). In this case, ‘organically’ means that you’re not paying for placement. Your pages appear in the results on their own merit…naturally.

The trick is two-fold. First, you have to come up with the questions that your potential clients are going to ask of a search engine when they’re trying to find you. Second, you want to get your page to appear near the top when they do ask the question. Being buried on page 5 of the results won’t do you alot of good.

It is possible to ‘do it yourself’, but it requires time, study, and a great deal more patience than I possess. Good marketing people know the ins and outs and can help your pages climb up the ladder of search results by targeting the correct keywords (words used in the search queries) that your potential customers are likely to use. That said, if you’re going to invest in marketing assistance, you don’t want to fritter away your hard-earned money – you want results. And all of the people who guarantee a ‘Number 1 result’ can actually be yanking your chain – ALOT – but they are not necessarily fibbing.

To quote Kim Landry of Hollister Creative, “Their [the people who say they’ll make you number one] guarantee is solid because a web page optimized for a keyword phrase for which no other web page is optimized will take the top spot in search results for that phrase. But that “win” won’t help your business because chances are, the reason none of your competitors optimize for that phrase is that no one searches for it.”

AHA!!! There is the magic moment: PEOPLE HAVE TO ACTUALLY SEARCH ON THE PHRASE THAT YOU’VE CAPTURED FOR IT TO BE VALUABLE TO YOU!

Kim continues by pointing out the following (which I have been preaching for years, so I’m feeling vindicated today by her corroboration). I’m going to paraphrase, but please, PLEASE visit her original post here.

First, your keywords and the content of your page have to be relevant. No one wants to end up on a page for butterflies when they searched “cupcakes”. Kim says: “The best keyword phrase is highly relevant to whatever you are “selling” on your page. It is a phrase your target audience would type into the search field to find exactly that. Brainstorm a list of phrases. Do a Google search on each one. If the results show pages selling something very similar to your page, the phrase is relevant.”

Second, find out how many people conduct searches on a given phrase using another FREE Google tool (we LOVE free tools here). Landry again: “Using the free (and amazing) Google Keyword Tool, find out how many people search your keyword phrase each month. High search volume is good, but low can be fine if your phrase is so specific that only a knowledgeable prospect who is ready to buy would search that phrase. If the search volume is zero, you can pose as an SEO expert and con your competitors into optimizing for this phrase.”

Third, know the competition for a particular phrase. Kim’s tip: “The Keyword Tool will also tell you if competition for your phrase is high, medium or low. High means it is a very popular phrase that many competitors are optimizing for. It will cost you to pursue a page one spot for that phrase. Fortunately, the Keyword Tool automatically suggests alternate phrases, some of which have medium or low competition.”

Bottom line: You need to know your customers, and what your customers need from you, to be able to optimize your website for search results. YOU know best. Do some homework. Give it thought. Then, engage a reputable marketing firm to ‘make it happen’. The results will speak for themselves!

Free Meeting Organizer – boy, does this save time and emails!

By Sandra Clitter  |  2013/03/11 21:09 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, Business Processes, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (2)

I don’t know about you, but for me one of the most aggravating parts of the Administrative side of my business is trying to organize meetings. Who’s available when? How do I organize all of the responses? Usually, I create something in Excel that works – sort of – but it’s tedious and manual and prone to mistakes.

Enter…MeetingWizard.com. Yes, a FREE tool that allows you – very simply – to organize meetings with no back and forth on availability.

Meeting Wizard is an incredibly simple, but elegant solution to this annoying administrative task. All that you and your invitees have access to email and a browser. It’s that simple. They promise it and they deliver!

To get started, you sign up for a free account. They only ask for the basics – your name, location and email address.

To start scheduling a meeting, click on ‘Create a Meeting’ (gee, they even label things with words that everyone can understand – what a pleasure!):

Meeting Wizard - Create a Meeting

I don’t know that I’d use this tool for a “specific time” meeting…I can do that right from my calendar, but I use the tool for ‘Propose one or more dates/times’. That’s the true beauty of this tool.

Select the dates/times that you’re proposing for your meeting. You just select a date/time from the drop-down, then click ‘add’. Select the duration of the meeting, the timezone and select ‘Continue’.

Meeting Wizard Select Dates and Times

Tell the people something about the meeting to which you are inviting them. It’s more likely that they’ll accept if you do :-)! People don’t like going to ‘mystery’ meetings.

Meeting Wizard send invite

Review the meeting invitation before you hit the ‘send’ button. You can even send an automatic reminder to participants a day or two in advance of the meeting.

Meeting Wizard - Review invitation

When the email goes out inviting participants to make their selections, they will get a link to Meeting Organizer. They don’t need a signon…they can just click on the link, then enter their response(s).

Meeting Wizard - Participant View

You’ll be able to see EVERYONE’s selections in one easy-to-review format…in fact, as meeting organizer, you can invite more people, change the meeting time, confirm the meeting, email people on the meeting list, send reminders, etc.:

Meeting Wizard - select the date

All of that back-and-forth and forth-and-back is taken care of. No fuss, no muss. Meeting scheduled.

What a terrific time-saver…and you don’t just need to limit it’s use to business…how about when you’re trying to schedule dinner with a bunch of your friends, or a weekend away with family. Give it a try, it’s painless – promise!!!

(Special thanks to one of our regular readers for telling us about this tool – it’s now an invaluable part of our virtual toolbox!)

How can I split up a PDF into smaller segments or combine multiple PDFs into one?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2013/02/13 22:16 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (11)

How many times have you run into the situation where you have a large PDF and want to share just a portion of it with someone else…or, you have several PDF’s that you want to combine into one large one? Maybe you have the situation where you want a couple of pages from one PDF and a couple of pages from another PDF. Sound familiar?

I had forgotten about a tool that I use ALL the time (yes, it’s free!), but hadn’t written about until someone asked today for just page 2 of a 2-page PDF. AHA!!! The PERFECT opportunity for a post!

There are a couple of ways you can accomplish getting a few pages out of a larger PDF. The first is to open the large PDF, then click on the print icon. Select your PDF ‘printer’ (if you don’t have a free PDF tool, click here to find out about getting one of those for free: Cute PDF), and print ONLY THE PAGES THAT YOU WANT – just as you would a ‘real’ printer. You will be challenged (as is traditional with PDF writers) for a file name…simply name your new file whatever you want and you have your ‘slimmed down’ PDF.

There is also another way to split a PDF AND merge multiple PDF’s in a bit more elegant of a manner. Enter the phenomenal tool by Adolix, “Adolix Split & Merge PDF”.

Go to http://www.adolix.com/split-merge-pdf/ and download the free version. There is a professional version that removes limitations in the free version, but most of the time, I can do what I need to with the free version. Sometimes it takes me a few more steps, but I can accomplish the task that I set out to do. If I were managing alot of large PDF’s on a regular basis, I’d spring for the $19.95 (as of this writing), and get the unlimited version, but I only have this challenge occasionally – and most of the time with smaller files.

Anyway, back to the task at hand…download and install “Split and Merge”.

When you open it, there is a simple (and relatively intuitive) interface:

Adolix Split and Merge Menu

Click on the correct tab to take the action that you want – split or merge – and away you go. We’ll start with ‘split’. Simply click on the + sign on the right side to add a file to be split:

Once you have the file(s) selected, use the middle section to say HOW you want the file(s) split (first 3 pages, one page each, pages 6-9 and 11, etc.)

Click the ‘Split’ button and voila! Multiple PDF’s:

If you exceed the ‘freebie’ length (as I did here), you’ll get this message:

No big deal…simply split your first (large) pdf into two smaller PDFs (or more, depending upon size), then continue to split until you have all the ‘smaller’ PDF’s that you’d like to have.

Next, if you want to COMBINE PDFs, click on the ‘Merge’ tab:

Just as you selected the PDF(s) that you wanted to split on the first step, this time you select the PDF’s that you want to merge. If you want to change the order, use the up/down arrows to move the pages around:

Once you’re satisfied that you have all the PDF files in the merge list (and in the correct order), press the ‘Merge Files!’ button and you’ll have one, larger PDF file…AND, the pages will be in the order your specified.

Hint: If you need to combine more than a few PDF’s into one larger PDF, and it exceeds the ‘freebie’ limitations, then combine a few PDFs, and just keep repeating the process until they are all combined into one big file. Splitting larger files works the same way – first break it down into two files, then break those two files down again, etc. It’s a bit more work, but it’s still free!

Happy PDF managing!!!

Modems, Routers and other things with too many wires attached

By Sandra Clitter  |  2012/08/14 21:13 Posted in General  |  Comments (3)

I feel like it’s time for another ‘Uncle’ update. Those of you who are regular readers know that my uncle is 85-years-old and LOVES technology. He’s pretty good at it, too. Pretty self-sufficient actually. He can put me to shame on some things. Interestingly, I got a 911 email from him just the other day. It goes like this (lifted directly from his text):

Couldn’t get online without going only through modem – so bought new Dlink router and problem solved – new one works, but now the desktop computer DVD player (drive d) doesn’t work and I am unable to get a secured network without installing from the Dlink DVD. Can get what they call an unsecured network but don’t know if that’s OK. Went online for answers to DVD not working. One suggestion said could be a registry problem, but don’t want to mess with that. Have definitely rebooted computer. Could buy an external DVD player, but would that work if there is a registry problem? Don’t want to buy a new desktop but is that the only answer? How about a new laptop with DVD player? TiVo needs a wireless connection for some of its goodies, but programming still works (for now)!

WOW!! How many people even KNOW the word ‘registry’ in terms other than ‘bridal’ or ‘baby’, much less someone with ‘octogenarian’ as a personal descriptor? His fearlessness in tackling technical issues head-on never ceases to amaze me. Of course, I called him back, but by then he’d worked 90% of it out for himself – he had a secure network recreated, so he could tackle the DVD issue at a later date.

I was telling a friend of mine about the email later in the day and she said ‘What’s the difference between a modem and a router’? Its not the first time that I’ve been asked that question, so I figured that even though my Uncle knows the difference, most of the ‘real world’ does not, and an explanation might be in order.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a scientific explanation, but the explanation I use in my head to keep all the pieces of equipment straight myself!

The “Modem” is the piece of equipment provided to you by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). This gizmo connects you with your ISP.

The “Router” takes the connection from the modem and routes (clever, huh?) information in/out of your modem to the various pieces of equipment – computers, tablets, and other wireless devices – on your network. Think of the router as an information traffic cop making sure that bits and bytes of data go to/from the various devices and the web without crashing in the intersections!

The modem is a one-to-one connection between your location and the ISP. The Router is a one-to-many connection between the modem and all of your equipment. Some of those pieces of equipment might be hard-wired (i.e. have a cable) between the device and the router. Others might connect to the router wirelessly. In many cases, printers and desktop computers have a cable running to the router, while laptops and tablets connect wirelessly.

Hopefully, your router has a password assigned to it which prevents people from connecting to the ISP (think, ‘I can’t get to the web’) without the ‘magic code’. If the router allows wireless connections, then it probably has a little antenna (or two) that stick up to help disburse the signal throughout your location.

These days, many ISP’s give their customers router/modem combinations. If your setup only has one ‘box’ to connect to, then your ISP has built the modem INTO the router, thereby making it an ‘all-in-one’ device of sorts. Helps keep the clutter down, but if either part goes down, you’re out of luck. Verizon’s FIOS service has these all-in-one modem/router combinations. These devices connect to the outside world, then between all the devices at the location – either wired OR wireless. On the other hand, Comcast often provides just the modem – you have to go out and buy a router (either for wired connections, wireless connections or both), to disburse the internet signal between multiple devices at the location. Common routers are DLink or Linksys, though there are oodles on the market to choose from.

One last note: If you only have one device to connect to your ISP, you may not need a router…you can just plug your device into the modem, and you’ll be all set. The router is inserted when multiple devices need to reach the ‘outside world’ or you need to connect wirelessly.

How did my Uncle solve his dilemma? Remember, he said that he COULD get ‘out’ by plugging his desktop directly into the modem. He did that – plugged his computer directly into the modem – and went to DLink’s website. Once there he located and downloaded the software to install the new router. He could then complete the installation WITHOUT the DVD player working. Once the software was downloaded, he switched the plug on the desktop from going directly into the modem to going through the router, installed the software, and he was off and running! Honestly, I don’t think that he cares that the DVD is broken now!

Move over OpenOffice.org, Kingsoft Office Suite has arrived

By Sandra Clitter  |  2012/07/05 01:00 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (5)

One of the most expensive pieces of software that I have on my laptop is Microsoft Office. I consider it invaluable…but I use it – intensely – each and every day. Many people don’t. Many people view/manage their email through webmail or on their smartphone. Others don’t work with Spreadsheets or Word documents very often, if at all. Some only make an occasional presentation. In other words, for many people the cost up to $499 for the Professional version (which includes Outlook and Access) is too steep of a price to pay…yet most people need SOME word processing, spreadsheet and/or presentation software at some point in time. Are you going to invest a minimum of $150 for the pleasure? Probably not.

For many people, the OpenOffice.org (www.openoffice.org) suite of software has been the ‘go to’ software for their occasional foray into desktop productivity for quite a while. OpenOffice is a true ‘suite’ of applications…containing modules named Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Base and Math. While I’ve always considered OpenOffice a great alternative to Microsoft Office, I feel like it doesn’t run terribly efficiently. It can take quite a while to open up OpenOffice and makes my computer sluggish. In fact, to my untrained eye, it appears that it actually opens ALL of the apps, even if you’re only trying to work in one of them.

For years, it was really the only viable alternative to Office…but now there is a new player in the F-R-E-E software arena – Kingsoft Office Suite (www.kingsoftstore.com).

Kingsoft has three modules: Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheets. Unlike OpenOffice.org, there is no database component or image editing. Kingsoft is the basics in terms of offering, but not in terms of features. When you open one of the programs up, unless you’re paying close attention, you’d think that you were in Microsoft-land (click on any of the images to see a larger image):

WRITER

SPREADSHEET

PRESENTATION

Kingsoft seems to open/save documents with standard Microsoft extensions flawlessly. The installation is fast and easy. The system resources consumed by the products seem minimal. All-in-all, a FABULOUS alternative to Microsoft Office for people who don’t want to invest the money or don’t use Office frequently enough to justify the expense. Now, when your high school friend sends you a spreadsheet of all your classmates for the upcoming reunion, you won’t have to say ‘sorry, I can’t open that’!

Can’t wait to download and install it? Here’s the link: www.kingsoftstore.com/kingsoft-office-freeware.html

Legitimate Internet Threat – July 9th – You COULD lose your internet connection…

By Sandra Clitter  |  2012/05/27 14:26 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (6)

There is so much misinformation on the internet and about the internet, that sometimes it is hard to tell truth from fiction. This time, rumors that you might lose your internet connection on July 9th, 2012 ARE LEGITIMATE!!!! The more technical description circulating about this malware is ‘DNS Changer’ (which means nothing to most non-technical people).

FEAR NOT, however, as there is a way to check and a way to correct, should your computer be infected.

Background: Back on November 8, 2011, the FBI arrested a group who was using a botnet (one type of method for computer infection) to ‘hijack’ users computers. This group was known as “Rove Digital” and was wrecking havoc in computers across the world. If you’re like me, you ask, “So, if the FBI arrested the bad guys back in November, what do I have to worry about on July 9th”. In laymen’s term, here is what happened:

Something called a ‘DNS’ takes part in every internet search you do, or every connection you make through the internet. The user friendly URL’s that you enter into your browser (e.g. www.google.com) or search results you click use a DNS to translate the user-friendly URL into techno-babble. An analogy is that a street address is translated by your GPS into longitude and lattitude coordinates. Similarly, the internet uses DNS to translate from a URL that you and I understand, to a computer server’s technical address, and delivers you to that site.

The bad guys injected half a million computers with malware that would redirect you from the destination you WANTED when you enter information in the URL to some other location giving you false results on your screen that LOOKED legitimate. In other words, they gave you an alternate view of the internet universe. WHY? To make money from advertising…illegitimately…among other things.

The FBI and others not only uncovered and arrested thieves, but went one step further in making sure that the ‘bad’ servers (the ones that infected machines are directed to) were replaced with ‘good’ servers (clean ones that the Internet Gods control). So, since November, any computers infected with the malicious code have been getting ‘good’ results. In other words, infected machines have been re-routed to the correct web sites according to their searches and URL’s clicked. Infected machines display no ‘symptoms’.

Sounds good, right? Well, here’s the rub. On July 9th, 2012, these replacement servers are BEING TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE. What does this mean to you? If your computer is infected, then your computer will be unable to figure out which website you’re trying to get to when you open up your browser, and you will be in an internet blackout. The idea is that during the time between November 2011 and July 2012, people could carefully mitigate the evil infection without an unplanned outage. Unfortunately, if you don’t check, you might still find yourself with an ‘unplanned outage’.

FIND OUT NOW IF YOUR COMPUTER IS INFECTED!!! Go to http://www.dcwg.org/detect/ (it just takes a second) and find a link with which to conduct a test. If you’re clean, you will have no issue on July 9th. If, however, your computer returns infected, follow the directions on the trusted sites (you can get there through either of the links below) and clean it before July 9th.

(More info here or here or here)

Over time “Rove Digital” infected over 500,000 computers – INCLUDING APPLE COMPUTERS!!! Better safe than sorry!!!

Apple device owners beware…you may not be as safe as you think from malicious hackers

By Sandra Clitter  |  2012/05/01 22:15 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (5)

I finally have what I lovingly refer to as my first ‘iThing’. Yes, I was among those who got the latest iPad (mind you, NOT called the iPad 3, but still, it is the 3rd generation of the iPad). And technically, this isn’t my first iThing…it is my 3rd. I have owned two iPods (one currently still in service), and not newer than about the year 2003, so I think its safe to say that this is my first iThing of the modern era of iThings. My iPod is the ‘classic’ design (‘classic’ being a better term than ‘old’). So, it was with great anticipation that I waited for the UPS person to show up at my door on release day.

I thoroughly enjoy my iPad. Quite honestly, I haven’t explored all its capabilities, but I look forward to getting to know it, and its seemingly infinite array of apps. It certainly is handy! Love being able to slip it in a shoulder bag and hop on WiFi where I find it (I did NOT pay for the 4G version, though I may regret that down the road). Because I work on computers all day – and not just doing emails, etc., but coming up with technology solutions to business problems – I don’t have any interest in playing games, etc. I’m looking to use my iPad for office productivity solutions, so that will take some trial and error. Suggestions from you readers on ‘must have apps’ is welcome!

Anyway, I figured that if I am now in the world of (modern) Apple device owners, I should brush up on any protection software required for Apple products. I know that many people consider the Apple operating systems fairly bullet-proof and/or low on the radar, so that the ‘bad guys’ who spend their time writing malicious code just ignore it. In fact, in the Apple App Store, there are a couple of Apps out there which give INFORMATION on malware threats, but don’t actually provide protection to the iPad/iPhone. So, IT people might like them for alerting them to breaking threats which might be positioning for attack on their Microsoft based equipment, but the apps do NOT protect the ‘iThing’.

Hmmm…why, I ask? A little more searching found the explanations…all the apps install in their own ‘sandboxes’. In other words, each app is discreetly partitioned from the other apps. Therefore, an ‘iThing’ (either an iPod, iTouch or iPad) is inherently safer from attack than a traditional computer. As I understand it, data in one application is not accessible by other applications. In essence, each area is blockaded from other areas. Safari (the internet browser installed by default) or other browsers that you might install, would be the most susceptible to infiltration by ‘bad guys’ which might pick up (and steal) keystrokes, information, etc. as you type them. So, even on your ‘iThing’, use safe browsing techniques. Don’t surf the web carelessly when you’re on public WiFi.

What I found most interesting as I was reading up on Apple and susceptibility to infection was that the Mac platform is actually susceptible to infection by trojans (malicious software that gets installed without the computer owners knowledge). I found two recently published articles about the rise of vulnerability as the platform gains popularity – one in Forbes magazine and one in a technical site called CRN. Both say that there are over 600,000 infected Macs. The more people decide to leave the Microsoft world, the more the Mac system will get attacked.

Not to worry, however, as there is free software available to protect your Macintosh. Just head over to Sophos or ClamXav and download/install a free anti-malware tool. After all, while the threat of infection on a Mac is less than on a Windows machine, there is a chance – and that chance is increasing as the popularity of the Mac OS grows. Why not protect yourself?

Radio Show – Critical Mass: Coast-to-Coast – February 16, 2012

By Sandra Clitter  |  2012/03/18 16:13 Posted in Business Processes, General  |  Comments (0)

I had the pleasure of being asked to appear on an Orange County, CA Radio Show, Critical Mass: Coast-to-Coast on February 16th, 2012. It was a distinct honor to be asked to appear, however, I was delighted to learn of the show because it is a fabulous resource for business owners, C-level managers, and people who are striving to become C-level managers or business owners. I’ve had a blast listening to recordings of past shows, and now try to catch it live if I’m at my desk late Thursday afternoons (6pm on the East Coast).

Ric Franzi, co-host of Critical Mass (the the host who interviewed me), is very able at blending two of his greatest passions: educating CEOs and talk radio. Ric has a unique interviewing style which helps his guests feel comfortable and enables them to focus on answering the questions in a conversational and relaxed environment. With expertise in running CEO Peer Groups, Ric knows the questions to ask and the ‘pain points’ that that top-level management experiences.

CRITICAL MASS: The Radio Show strives to share knowledge and information from an assortment of top business leaders. By sharing information and experiences, Ric enables anyone to gain knowledge often only available during CEO Peer Groups experiences.

The format is one that can be used when meeting new people, networking, and developing business relationships of many shapes and sizes. Here’s how Ric approached the interview with me:

1. What does your company do? (That question SOUNDS far easier to answer than it really is – at least for me!)
2. How did you get to your current position (owning or running a company)?
3. What is your guiding principle in business?
4. What is a current challenge facing your firm and how are you working on/approaching a solution?
5. If we speak again a couple of years down the road, where will your company be?

When I thought about it, that question ‘formula’ is perfect on a radio talk show, but also in meeting new clients, developing new vendor relationships, not to mention in those Peer Groups that Ric runs.

To hear how I answered those questions, click below on the podcast icon below, or on the link below that.


Listen to the interview with Sandra Clitter

(Shameless plug: The part of the show on which I appear begins at about 2:20 into the show)

How do I know if someone is talking about me on the web?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2012/03/06 10:00 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, General, Tech Tips, Web Tips  |  Comments (2)

As “they” say, your reputation is everything. This includes your reputation among family, friends, colleagues, and now, what appears about you online. Yes, you need to make sure that you stay abreast of any information posted on the web about you.

Have you ever had the experience of having someone – maybe a casual friend or business acquaintance – call you out of the blue to congratulate you on the award that you just won, tell you ‘atta boy’ or ‘atta girl’ for a speaking engagement you just landed? As a former boss of mine used to say, “How do it know?” (please forgive the poor grammar, that’s a direct quote!). In this case you might be wondering, “How on earth did they find out already, I didn’t tell anyone/see anyone, etc.?”

Well, back-in-the-day, just a little after dinosaurs roamed the earth, there used to be services called ‘clipping services’. Companies paid handsomely for people to comb through various publications for mentions of the name of their company, mentions of the appearances of their top executives, etc. You paid by the number of periodicals you wanted reviewed, as well as, by the number of times those periodicals were published, plus the number of names/mentions you were searching.

I was always fascinated by this concept. Did one person read the same newspaper or magazine 100 times, each time with an eye out for a separate reference, or did they have an incredible memory and were able to scan the names/references that they needed to find, then read the publication once and picked up all the mentions – whether it was one or many? I still wonder. I could probably do a search and find out. If you want more information on “Clipping Services”, you can start with this Wikipedia link.

But I digress…Those services have sort of gone the way of buggy whips. They were indispensable at one point in time, but are used only by a select few today. Why? Because each and every one of us has access to our own “Clipping Service” – FOR FREE!

Google (yes, good ‘ole Google again) provides the free service called ‘Google Alerts’…and I strongly advise each and every one of you to at least set up a ‘vanity search’ for your own name…so you know what people are saying about you on the web.

It couldn’t be easier to set up. Simply go to www.google.com/alerts. The service DOES require a Google signon, but its a small price to pay for a VERY powerful service.

Use standard Google Search ‘rules’ (e.g. put a proper name in quotes to get results with the first and last name together) to get the results you are searching for, enter the search string in the ‘Search Query’ field. For example, if I want notifications for anything posted on the web about my company, I’d enter “Your Tech Tamer” (quotes INCLUDED). If you have a common name, you might want to tweak your search string to eliminate some errant notifications about the OTHER person/people with your name. We’ll use “Phil Collins”, but not THAT Phil Collins as an example. If you are A Phil Collins, but not THAT Phil Collins, you could enter a search string “Phil Collins” -Genesis -drummer -music. This will give you notifications of “Phil Collins” where the words “Genesis”, “drummer” and “music” are NOT mentioned. That helps to weed out some of the ‘other guys’. Additionally, if you go by a formal name and a nickname, you should set up BOTH alerts, the one above AND one for “Phillip Collins”.

If you want to limit the type of information you receive, you can select from the ‘Result Type’ drop-down and select ‘Everything’ or ‘Videos’ or ‘Blogs’, etc. to narrow down the amount of information. I’m not sure why you wouldn’t want everything for this ‘clipping service’ on your name, but you have the option.

‘How Often’ will determine how frequently results are sent to your e-mail. You can choose from ‘As it happens’, ‘Once a day’ or ‘Once a week’.

‘How Many’ is a quality filter…changing this from the default may create a deluge of e-mail.

‘Deliver To’ is the e-mail address to which the digest will be sent.

Hit ‘Create Alert’ and Google will begin trawling the web for any new posts that match your criteria. NOTE: It does NOT give you all the things ALREADY posted…you can run a normal Google search for those. It WILL give you any NEW posts on the web that meet the criteria.

Sit back and wait for Google to deliver your newly created ‘clippings’ to your Inbox.

Only your own imagination limits the amount of information you can have filtered into your inbox. After you set up alerts for your own name and company, create ones for friends, family, co-workers, clients, and competitors. Then YOU will be the first person saying ‘Hey, I just heard you won that coveted award…Congratulations!’

If you need help with creating accurate Google search strings, check out this post from last August.