The Internet, and the agenda of webmasters, has now made it possible to not only express your words and thoughts as  easy as can be on the Internet, but it has also made it possible to get paid to be doing so. And sometimes – if you’re good (and efficient) enough – that can mean “the big bucks.”

Not all freelancing jobs are created equal however. And in the Internet world, reputation can mean everything, and if you are new to the game and haven’t required one yet, you might be struggling for a while before freelancing starts to become a good source of income for you. There are also many different types of freelancing gigs you can get on the Internet.

Working for a Content Writing Company

The need for companies to hoard information on their websites to give them a chance to rank high in the SERPs is never-ending. There is an infinite thirst for quality content for websites, and because of that, content writing companies that can produce quality content on a high scale are a very much needed service in the Internet industry. There will always be a high demand (at least in the foreseeable future) for these types of services. This makes this type of writing platform one of the most consistent writing jobs out there (and may not qualify as freelancing in some cases because you will actually be employed).

That being said, this type of job does not suit everybody. Even though the work is very consistent, and you should never be out of a job if you are good at it (if you work for the right company), you may not make as much money per word. This is because the companies themselves have to make money as well, and therefore are always scraping a percentage off of the top. This also doesn’t allow you to choose what you will be writing for the day for money. You may be forced to write about some boring topics and you may have to write about them repeatedly.

Sometimes, working for a content writing company can mean you will be focusing a lot on volume and turnaround time – which is true for all types of writing, but even more so when you are working with these types of companies. It’s all about be willing to give up a little bit of your freedom and personal interest for having a little bit more job security and consistency.

Working with Content Farms

Pre-Panda (click here if you are unsure what Panda Algorithm update is) working for the “content farms” good have been pretty close to something of a golden ticket. Sites like Suite101.com could bring in some very lucrative dollars for you. Although leaders in the SEO industry claim that content farms will be here for a while, they are definitely less profitable then they used to be. Site like Suite101.com got completely annihilated by the update and left top senior writers wondering whether or not they should continue writing with the site as the profit margin with their revenue sharing was nowhere close to where it used to be.

Content farms, the highly advanced one anyways, still continue to be a profitable business, and you can still do well if you pick and choose who you want to write for. Many of the times, this type of writing can be the most flexible, and it is a great way to write when you want, and make money when you want. Demand Studios is one of the leaders of the Industry and if you know how to work the system for maximizing your profits – you can do very, very well.

Niche Forum Freelancing

Probably the least consistent, but also one of the most thrilling, flexible, and pioneering types of freelancing includes marketing your services (directly or indirectly) in forums that you are a part of, or have become a part of because of your intentions of making money off of freelance writing.

There are all sorts of different types of forums out there (the best way to find them is Big-Boards.com) and if you can find one that pertains to what you love to write about, and one that also has a heavy collection of webmasters in it with websites relating to that niche, you can constantly find work. And in a lot of cases – even long term clients.

In fact, a little known kept secret is that many online businesses, especially in the service providing industry – yes I mean businesses – can be founded out of a forum, and many Internet marketers work behind the scenes, without the need of a website. It is very cost-effective to do so, and many different opportunities can be found just by building relationships with people over time. Forums can have an exponential positive effect on your business. Simply put, forums are online gold mines.

Re-”Search” Freelancing

Obviously, one of the biggest spots for freelancing on this planet is Freelance.com (especially in India where the site gets most of its traffic), and other freelancing sites like it, but if you want to find the best freelancing gigs – they are usually left un advertised and are not posted in monster freelancing gigs website platforms.

In fact, using the search engines for finding the best freelancing gigs usually does not involve using the keyword “freelance” anywhere in your search query –at all. This search market is highly over flooded, and this will usually turn up freelancing gigs that require a lot of work that are done at a very cheap cost. You have to get more creative with your search terms, and usually what will happen is that you will find a private company that needs some freelance writing done for their company’s website, and they will usually offer up the work at a higher paying price.

Another advantage is this is that you can keep researching until you find the perfect job for you. Half of the battle of freelance writing is researching the market out there. Take your time, and find a job that pertains to what you love to write about!

Writing in SEO services

Contextual link building is a service that is very high demand, and with it, comes the need of the highest type of content. If you can create content that other webmasters are just dying to get up on their website, then you can make a lot of money being a guest posting subcontractor.

Getting into this business is not as easy as the other ones mentioned above. Mainly because you have to have your foot in the door already with either an SEO company, or a couple of webmasters that currently need the service. One way to do it is to pitch the idea of guest posting to somebody you are already providing article writing services for, and how it can greatly benefit their website. If you are good at explaining it, and fully understand the benefits of guest posting, it should be quite an easy pitch.

This type of writing can be your most profitable. But it will also be your most time consuming, as it has to be your best writing and you have to do a lot more than just write articles when it comes to guest posting.
Becoming a full-time freelancer is within your midst. How much money you make doing so depends on your ability to come up with creative strategies. The Internet is a giant frontier for business ventures, and the same goes for freelancing on the Internet. There is no golden rule to freelancing – except for making it happen.

This article was contributed by Philip Russell. In his spare time, Philip loves to join the online world in discussion about SEO, Internet marketing, and the newest and coolest way to make money online. By day, he helps to provide link building services over at www.inetzeal.com – an established a reputable white label SEO Company. He also enjoys computer programming, basketball, and music.

An important factor in making the jump, as with everything, is to be well-informed and to have a great sidekick. Fisher Investments is a money management company founded by multi NYT-bestseller author Ken Fisher.  This group is a great partner in learning about investing, receiving investment advice, and management. With its great series ‘Fisher Investments On‘, the Woodbridge money management company led by the author of The Ten Roads to Riches, several books are offered, each tackling specific markets such as technology, energy, and utilities. These books are great at giving their readers a first introduction in to the specific markets, as well as providing the possible future investors with frameworks to make analyzing opportunities and investments more successful.

Ken Fisher Investments now manages billions in both Institutional and Private sectors, and a partnership with him and his team can only bring benefits to any blogger who is aiming to go further with his finances. While some may have an inborn propensity for investing and similar activities, not everyone can succeed in this area without some sort of guidance. After all, we can’t expect everyone to become just like Jason, Brian, and the rest! For sure, they are brilliant individuals, but for all we know, their success in investing in projects may be attributed to external forces – say, advise from people such as Ken Fisher.

Blogging may be your main activity right now, but who is to say that you won’t want to become a recognized entrepreneur on your own right in the future? If that is the path that you are aiming to take, the smart move is to begin right now by arming yourself with the right information and by taking advice from those who know best.  Dreaming does not cost you a thing, they say, but I say it is better to do something about that dream and reap the rewards sooner than later!

Flat World Knowledge, a new entrant in the educational text book scene, brings a new platform and setup to both professors and students. With their “MIYO” setup, professors and students get access to the complete Flat World Knowledge library and can easily customize, publish even, their own textbooks.

Considered the creative uses of WordPress we have seen in the last two years it is difficult to say that WordPress does squash creativity. Both developers and designers often do push WP to its limit, sadly sometimes a little bit too far even, thinking that WordPress can be used for anything online.

Source: Envato’s Webdesigntuts+, hat tip Bradley Potter

Our own Jonathan Bailey, author of BloggingPro’s Blogging Pitfalls column, founder of Plagiarism Today and CEO of Copybyte, explains how we generally deal with plagiarism and content theft at Splashpress Media in a new entry on Jack of All Blogs.

The surprise for many is probably that in most cases we do not react at all, instead we have found a new way to turn MFA and content scraping sites into free advertising. Check Jonathan’s entry out over at JOAB.

See the complete infographic at The Blog Herald.

Whatever you do, don’t pull the plug. Drastic thinking may kick in during the holiday season, when you are pulled in a dozen directions at once. But don’t give up and don’t lose hope. There are ways you can keep it real online, degrees of blogging success that you can use to make sure that your blog stays fresh and relevant, so your following continues to grow, and most importantly, so that you continue to enjoy your own creation.

Offer Content That’s Valuable

Let’s start by looking at the content you post. You need to give your readers something of value to take away with them once they finish your article. What are you giving that’s of lasting value to your readers? If your audience knows that you always offer them something of value, they will continue to come back for more. It’s an ongoing attraction, because they want to see what you’ve got today and every day.

So what makes content valuable? Neatly packaged advice, how-to’s, suggestions, and critiques always offer something to your readers. This is why “How to” blogs are popular, as well as the perennially in-demand list format. If you write a fashion blog, for example, you can’t go wrong with “10 Tips for Looking Chic This Winter”. If you write a blog for dog owners, try “How to Train Your Dog to Tolerate Your Cat”. If you write an educational blog, you can always regularly publish entries with the newest online degrees academies in different states.
These are posts that offer instant value in exchange for your reader’s engagement.

Offer Content That’s Fresh

OK, so now we’ve talked about value, but what about content that’s fresh? And what does “fresh” really mean? Well, fresh content means not recycling the same topic over and over, repackaging it in a new format whenever you need to update your blog. Instead, it means finding new and exciting things to talk about. This is not only what will keep your readers engaged with your blog, but also what will keep you engaged with writing it. If you’ve been feeling stale, chances are it’s time to freshen up your content.

But how can you get inspired? Ah, that’s a big problem. Think about what blog posts you enjoy writing, and also ones that you enjoy reading. Is there a blogger you follow, one whose posts keep you captivated? Think about what keeps his or her entries fresh and relevant for you. This should clue you in to where you need to make changes in your own blog.

Never Update Just to Update

This is a big issue for the constant blogger. How often should you update your blog? In the first rush of excitement, you probably wanted to update your blog several times a day, right? You were brimming over with ideas and excitement. Now, you find that pace hard to maintain. How can you update your blog regularly when you don’t have the time, or the energy to do so? What constitutes a regular updating schedule?

Ultimately, you will have to decide how often you can commit to update, but be careful – you can loser readers if you don’t update on a regular basis. Most successful bloggers update at least once per week. Updating less frequently can cause you to fall off your audience’s radar. Updating more frequently is fine, as long as you never update just for the sake of updating. In other words, always have something to say when you start your new entry.

The Elusive Interview Blog

Interview blogs can be a lot of fun. They freshen up your content, offer something of value to your readers, and ease up your need to come up with a new idea for a new entry. They can also introduce an entirely new audience to your blog if your interviewee has his or her own following. Too many interviews can cause your audience to wane, unless you choose to go to a strictly interview format with your blog.

On the other hand, a good interview can go far to spread the word about your blog. Think about what kind of interview you might use to drum up interest. Using our examples above, a fashion blogger might snag an interview with an up and coming designer or a buyer at a well-known department store. A blog devoted to dog owners might schedule an interview with a veterinarian or a trainer. Giving your readers the chance to ask questions in advance is always a great way to get interest going for your interview blog.

Blogging Giveaways: Give ‘Til It Hurts

Need another way to get your audience engaged? Try a blog giveaway. Many bloggers give away signed copies of books, gift cards, and other types of swag to get audiences engaged in their blogs. Giveaways can be great for getting reader participation going in your forums, comments section, or simply via email. These contests can also help you figure out what really resonates with your readers.

But again, it’s important to make sure the giveaway matches your overall blog theme. Don’t settle for giving any old thing away. Instead, figure out creative ways to tie in swag with your blog. For your fashion blog, you could offer a gift card to the person who sends in the ugliest Christmas sweater picture. For the dog owner blog, offer a pet supply gift card for the most heartwarming dog rescue story. Share the results on your blog (voila, instant content!). The possibilities are endless.

Remember Why You Blog

Finally, remember why you started your blog in the first place. What got you all fired up and eager to write? Embrace that original inspiration again. Hopefully these suggestions will help you step back and see what’s causing your blog malaise, then help you get back on your feet and writing again.

The Infographiclabs crew created another amazing infographic, this time on request of Techsmith, the creators of the excellent Camtasia screencasting software. The infographic analyses the emergence of online video over the last 5 years. Below a partial infographic, hop over to the Blog Herald to view the complete history of online video graphic.

In other words, if you want to get paid for your writing, you need to make sure you can do the things in the list below.

1. Spell

If you can’t spell and you choose not to use a dictionary or effective spell-checking tool, then you won’t get far as a freelance writer.

2. Follow Grammar Rules

If you don’t know where to put commas and when to capitalize, then you need to learn how — quickly!

The graphic covers all basics of SEO and explains the different components of search engine optimisation: link infrastructure, keywords, social media campaigns, PPC and linkbait.

With thanks to Datadial for inspiration. And to SEOMoz, Pharmas and Social Refection for their information on the SEO tactics and social media sections.
Infographic by Infographiclabs.

No matter how private or reclusive we may be in our own personal lives,
I believe we go “public” because it’s inherent in our “wiring” to want to change the world, inspire, and “win friends and influence people.”
And for us it’s through our creative ability.

As such, many of us set our sites on becoming bloggers as a way to expand our platforms, our influence base, and our bottom lines.
We in fact are told through an array of sources that we must!
Blogging has become the “new black”.

SIDEBAR…

This kind of reminds me of how when a new, “popular” fashion or fad is introduced in the women’s clothing arena, many females will embrace it regardless as to whether or not it’s appropriate to their lifestyle, size, figure or age.
And some really shouldn’t.
Case in point?
(Spandex is not every woman’s friend!)
The point of this piece?
Not all writers should necessarily become bloggers just because it’s the “in” thing to do.

In other words, blogging should not be considered a natural “write of passage”.

This revelation came to me some time ago when I put out a call for bloggers for a creative project I was working on.
I got submissions from folks from all walks of life, with all sorts of degrees, awards and credentials.

And some, to be quite honest, with more impressive backgrounds than my own!

Unfortunately what I ended up with were blog posts that were too technical, or too cerebral, or too long, or too “vanilla” and bland in nature.

I hate to say it, but I was over worked and

underwhelmed.

These very talented authors were skilled in “communicating” but not “connecting”.
(Are you with me?)

Here are a few reasons that “all” writers do not necessarily make good (pro) bloggers.
They lack one or more of the abilities that fall under the categories I like to refer to as the 3C’s.

• Conversational tone-–Blog writing calls for an informal style, smooth flow, and brevity. Some writers, in their desire to impress, use hundred dollar words, uncommon acronyms, or technical jargon that is not easily grasped by the average reader. Don’t be one of them.
• Consistency—Bloggers with paid gigs, or those hoping to cultivate a solid following for their own personal blogs, must blog well and blog often. One has to produce with or without a “muse”.
• Creativity-–Gifted bloggers know how to take an old topic, theme, or event and give it new life in the way that they spin it. Like good chefs they take the same everyday ingredients and blend them together differently to yield “food for thought” for readers’ enjoyment.

Should blogging have standards?

Do you think that blogging calls for different writing skills than more formal forms of writing?

Are all writers “blogging material”?
What are your thoughts on this?

In my mind, reading an enjoyable (or minimally interesting) blog and not leaving a comment is like dining at a restaurant and not leaving a tip. And isn’t “food for thought” just as gratifying?

Ask any blogger and they’ll tell you that comments left on a blog by visiting readers are the equivalent of finding a 20 dollar bill in a back pocket of some old jeans, or receiving extra chicken nuggets in your value meal package that you didn’t have to pay for.
Or getting a date with Keanu Reeves.

Okay, well maybe that’s just me.

But anyhow…
Consider this a public service message: We wanna hear from you.
Or it kind of defeats the point of taking our “journals” public.
I don’t say this to be crass or crazy.  Really…

We know you’re out there.
The electronic “click counters” confirm it.
Whether you’re reading our blogs because you accidentally landed on our spot, were referred, got bored, or actually dig our style and our platform, we welcome you!
Now stand up and be counted. Your ‘two cents’ is valuable.

I admit that until I started on a regular basis, I too didn’t realize all the work that goes into building and sustaining a blog. There’s the design and set up, the content, formatting, the marketing, and many hours of solitude sitting in front of a computer until your back and your eyes hurt.

Now, of course I’m not suggesting that we don’t get something out of it too. But, I’ve always believed that successful communication is a two-way street. Bloggers don’t want to always talk “at you” we want to “talk with you”.
And although I think it’s neat when I get a “tweet,” I dig a little intellectual online exchange every now and then. Then again, maybe it’s a chick thing; women hate the “silent treatment”, unless we’re giving it.

I kid you not, on some days it’s so quiet, we’d welcome hecklers!

Let’s Look At The Problem And Solutions

If perhaps you’re not shy, but instead time constraints are a factor, I can certainly understand. Everybody is hugely busy these days. Consider this.
A comment doesn’t have to be of epic proportions. A simple, “I enjoyed your post” would suffice and potentially qualify you for B.F.F. status. Or even something like ”I give this post 4 grunts.”

Also adding insult to injury are fellow bloggers who refrain from giving comments on your post for fear that you’ll have more responses than them in what they perceive to be an online popularity contest. Go figure.

The Payoff

If you still need some gentle convincing, here are 5 reasons to leave comments on your favorite Blogs.

1. Because it’s free. That’s right; it won’t cost a dime and just a few minutes of your time. And think about it, how often is your opinion really sought? Probably not as much as you’d like.
2. Because it helps us decide the future direction of our blogs.
3. Because it helps to build a cohesive community in the Blogosphere.
4. Because it leaves a “virtual paper trail” that leads readers to your joint, and potentially increases your Blog traffic.
5. Because it promotes good karma. You don’t owe us anything, but it sure would be nice.

Well, I’m off my “soap box” for now. It’s Tuesday ni and I anxiously await the “comments” of Simon Cowell on American Idol. Cheerio!

So how do you avoid that kind of inconsistency? The answer may be found outside your notebook computer.

It has been found that moods can affect work and an improvement in a person’s mood results in a positive outcome at work very often.  There have been studies from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Ohio State University’s Fisher School of Business that strongly suggests that mood you bring to work sets the tone for the rest of day and affects productivity.

Mood improvement differs for person to person, but here are a few tips that may help bloggers:

• Blog in a comfortable place – Blogging on the go can be exciting but really stressful. In order to come up with a quality post, try to find a place where you can site comfortably and has good lighting.
• Take a little break – So you’re a blogging junkie, but that doesn’t mean you should be in front of your computer 24/7. Little breaks can be a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively.
• Work in your own machine – Have you tried blogging in someone else’s notebook? It feels like you’re visiting a foreign country if you ask me. Try as much as possible to bring your own machine if you’re blogging actively and on the go.
• Avoid blogging right off the bat – Athletes always warms up before competition and there’s wisdom in that. Some bloggers may find it refreshing to watchthat funny viral YouTube video before opening WordPress or Blogger.

Like I’ve said, ways of improving one’s mood vary. But one thing is clear: a better mood will result in better, more enjoyable blogging.

Performancing Hive is a dedicated forum specially built for professional bloggers. Their membership usually costs $10 a month but right now they’re giving it away for free to anyone who is interested to join. Yes, you’ve read it right, free!

All you need to do is to sign up by filling in the form found here using the code 093588648A.

This promo is valid only until the 11th of December so you may want to sign as soon as possible!

For questions or comments regarding Performancing Hive you could leave them on the post found here.

WPWorldMap.net is a new website created by Oliver Schloebe of WPSeek.com that lets WordPress users mark their location onto a map for others to see. Each marked location reveals user profiles complete with personal information, a link to their blogs, and also their Twitter accounts.

Powered by Google Maps, the site is relatively easy to use. To map yourself all you need to do is to place a pin marker on your location and then signing up by filling in the required fields on the site’s registration form. It’s so easy that it only takes a few minutes.

Surveying the world map, on the other hand, is as easy as clicking and dragging. You can zoom in and out and even display the world in terrain, map, or satellite form. There’s also a search functionality that let’s you search according to users. You can even add a filter if you just want to display WordPress users, developers, core developers, WordPress related companies, or even fans.

The great thing about this new site is that it gives us a good picture of how many WordPress users there are, not just in the whole world, but also in a particular country or area. This is great tool if you want to find out if there are any WordPress users near your location which is ideal for making new friends and for blog networking!

But of course, the site needs the cooperation of the community as it cannot populate itself. So if you don’t mind revealing your location to others, why not sign up and map yourself now. Oh, and don’t forget to share it to your friends!

Go WordPress Warriors!

From the Blog Post:

So effective immediately, we are ceasing development of SimplePie and shutting down the project. We will shortly be pushing all code to GitHub. The mailing list will continue to serve users for the time being, but my sincerest hope is that someone will take up the charge to fork SimplePie, fix all of its issues, and continue on with this project that’s been such a huge part of my life for the past 5 years.

While I am not sure what this means for the long term use of the code as they are going to give away the final release to whomever wants it via GitHub. It is always interesting to me to see big projects loose steam, despite the sadness that surrounds the demise of an otherwise great project and product.

The question now is: who will continue on helping people parse RSS feeds in the future? WordPress 2.9 was set to use SimplePie version 1.3. What will they use for WordPress 3.0? Only time will tell.

During the study, they “observed 46 people for one hour as their eyes followed mock news websites and real multimedia content.”

The results are pretty interesting, and a bit surprising in a few places. They talk about the effects of homepage layout on how people read the content of the page, the best placement for images, using font size to increase reader focus and avoid having them quickly scan through text rather than reading it all, and even the effects to paragraph length on how/where people’s eyes drift around the page. It’s all pretty damn cool.

Especially important might be the results of what happens when people get to a break in the text (say, from an ad), that could cause some people to rethink the layout of their ads, and site in general. They actually go into pretty good detail about advertising. The study is worth checking out for that section alone if you run ads on your site.

There is also a bit about navigation placement that could help some sites struggling to get people to drill down into their site past the initial entry page.

All in all, if you want to learn a TON about how people are likely to be reading your blog, and get a lot of tips about how to control the flow of their attention, I’d highly suggest reading through the Eyetrack III study. It’s a bit lengthy, but it’s so packed with useful info that it’s well worth it.

It is always interesting to me to see how people brand themselves, and I think a logo can say a great deal about a brand, and its goals. That being said, I also wonder if with a big site like LogoPond, if you couldn’t find at least three or four logos in the last few months under almost any “trend”.

I enjoyed the selections though, and would love to hear about any of you using the trends listed on that post.

The first was my own attempt at writing a free college software guide on College Crunch which then was noticed by Online College which built upon the list, adding more things that students (but really anyone) could and should use.

Then, I found another great post, on noupe, one of the blogs I frequent, relating to Mac Applications for Web Designers, and so the question then is, what do you all use as a blogger? I don’t just mean blogging software, but Twitter applications, day to day software. What is installed on your computer that you rarely go a day without launching? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to mention which operating system you use, and please no OS snobs.

Here are some of the enhancements that Otto covers:
â–ª Creating a 2.7 compatible comments.php file
â–ª Password protection check
â–ª The comments loop
â–ª The power of Ajax
â–ª Styling

We all know that commenting is one of the great features that WordPress is known for. Apparently the development team is taking this feature a step further by offering important feature upgrades like threading, paging and javascript enhancements.

I bet ‘ya this will result in better blogs as people can now interact intuitively from one comment to another.

Show your love for good ‘ol WP!

I’ve seen several creative WordPress fan art lately, which brought  me to think if there are any official or unofficial collection of all WordPress logos on the net.  If you’ve got any WordPress fan art yourself, you may want to consider writing the WordPress team to submit it for all the world to see, or use, or whatever… maybe to just brighten up their day.

The WordPress fan art above was from WordCamp Philippines.  Matt was quoted to “really like this art work”, though I’m sure he favors every fan art made for his WordPress work.  We’ve seen this fan art on t-shirts and bags… they really rock!

What makes me wonder though is “can people copy these logos on shirts”, some of them really are cool and would be great to wear a few myself.  Is there a way to ask permission to use them?  hmmm…  of if you would like to make fan art, would that require a permission from WordPress? double hmmmm…  wonder how that works? anyone?

Set your browsers and travel to this fan art page … and this one too.

 

What does placing “ninth in the highest internet users in the world “mean?  It means an undisclosed amount by Google purchasing Korean blogging company Tatter, that’s what it means.  Google is setting it’s eyes on Yahoo dominated Korea with this move to “Google-ize” the country’s popular blogging software “TextCube” by Tatter.  TextCube has been compared to Blogger.com rival WordPress.

 

“We are excited to welcome Tatter and Company’s engineering team to Google Korea”, announced a Google spokesperson in an e-mailed statement. “Acquiring Tatter and Company will allow us to enhance our online publishing tools in Korea, benefiting a large number of users who already depend on and enjoy Google and Tatter and Company’s products”.

An excited Tatter co-chief executive Chang-Won Kim confirmed the deal on his personal blog, noting that Tatter had been “Googled”.

In a country where it’s all high-speed internet access (mostly), it is no wonder that with this move by Google, all other big names in the “cloud” and the computer industry in general will take a definitive move towards connecting with the Korean market.

 

 

Now imagine your message as the first thing people see when they turn on their computers?  It’s a CEO’s dream.  Instant communication from the head down the line.

Digital Memo is a system based on the power and convenience of instant messaging that notifies users each time you add a new post to your blog.

 

 

By integrating the RSS feed that is published with your blog into the Digital Memo system, Digital Memo enables you to use your blog as a tool to automatically send memos digitally. Get set-up in 3 steps:

• Administrate your blog RSS feed into Digital Memo
• Install Digital Memo onto desired machines
• Start sending your memos digitally!

This tool has successfully integrated the “user-friendliness” of a blog software and the “formality” of a corporate communication system.  Each computer belonging to the company network will surely receive every corporate memo, promptly alerting each user with the attention your memo deserves.

Digital Memo also has an online tutorial if you wish to see a demo.

Now, let’s see how the CEO “work flow” looks like:

Step 1:  You come in the office, turn on your PC and fire up (or open) your blog.

Step 2:  You compose a short memo informing everyone about something really important, or maybe inform them about their attendance to the company barbecue on Saturday perhaps.  Or maybe write everyone a “good job” note for a change.

Step 3:  You hit “publish”, and that’s it!

Your blog’s RSS feed will be monitored by Digital Memo and any new blog post you publish will automatically be fed into the Digital Memo system and distributed company-wide to everyone’s computer desktops.

Now I know what you’re thinking – Is this very secure?

Yes it is.  You and only you would know what your blog user name and passwords are.  Your blog can well reside in the company server, where presumably you’ve got that box all firewalled and tamper-proof.

Is it easy to install? Yes it is.  The Digital Memo reader can be installed on multiple systems by using the MSI installer. Full instructions are provided with your documentation on purchasing.

Will the staff really see these memos in a prominent way?  Yes they will.  Every new memo you post will automatically pop up on everyone’s computer desktops.  There’s literally no way people will miss reading your memo.  No way.

What if I send say a series of memos in a day, will the staff have access to every one of them?  Yes, they will. Digital Memo will appear only as one memo box (or a neatly tucked icon in the system tray) in everyone’s computer desktops with “next” and “previous” memos distinctly accessible with just a click of a button.

What are the other benefits of using Digital Memo?

• It won’t clog everyone’s mailbox
• It won’t trap any of your important messages/memos in crazy spam rules and folders
• People can’t “loose” the memo.  There’s no excuse like “I didn’t see that memo” from now on.
• It’s turn-key, you install it and use it immediately
• Oh, and it saves the forest too.. we don’t need to cut down more trees to make paper!

 

The only sad news is that Digital Memo is only available for Windows XP or Vista.  Too bad for Mac users, but hey, if we can create enough demand maybe they can make a Mac version too!  

Oh, and another thing …  if your company’s communication structure is based on a strong policy that every memo should be “written on paper”… too bad.  Maybe it’s time to change the policy?

The Test

We’re only 5 PCs in the company network, I gave it a try, and found that it is very “snappy”.  There were no installation snags, the operation “CEO Workflow” (described above) was a 1-2-3 winning combination that even the most cyberphobic CEO would appreciate.  Messages were instantly received by every PC.

The Recommendation

I’d encourage you to go and download the trial software, there’s nothing to lose, really.  You may want to try it out on the IT department, to start with, and slowly add more departments in due time.

Digital Memo is made by Popuload Software.  A company, based in Montreal Canada, noted for their innovative range of software solutions that help change the way users interact with the “usual” operating systems.  A leader in providing RSS tools for communicating and tracking information, digitally.

The evaluation version is a fully functional and unlimited version of Digital Memo. The only difference this has from the purchased version is that each distributed post will contain a “trial warning message”.  Not bad if you want to see how this new memo distribution method performs in “the long run”.

The full version costs US$195.00, it is downloadable right now by purchasing it online thru your credit card or PayPal.

Program updates are distributed via the Popuload website as well.  

Check out the company website at www.popuload.com

Editor’s note: This review was written upon request by Pouload Software.

 

Honestly, I was both surprised and happy when I heard that Google’s taking on Microsoft head-on by introducing an open-source browser… Chrome.  It will be launched tomorrow in close to 100-countries.  For now, I believe it’s limited to the Windows beta version though.  Rightly so if they’re taking on Microsoft first hand.  But for the Mac and Linux fans, there is a promise of a special version for Leopard and beyond.

Google has published an online comics board to explain what Chrome is all about, you can see it right here. 

I personally believe that doing a browser program as open-source from ground-up is a good idea.  There’s nothing like user power.  With the community behind developments we are all sure that every feature will be born out of a real-life need, or a user demand.

Check out the comics they’ve published, I’ve somehow related to my usual wrestles with browser problems.  

Oh and do pass by their Wikipedia page for more information.

 

 

Seems that Amazon.com is growing their stake in books as they have recently acquired Shelfari (one of the biggest online book community).  While it’s widely known that Amazon has been involved with Shelfari since its early beginnings, it is a natural course to solidify the relationship.

According to the Shelfari blog:

Amazon has been a long supporter of Shelfari. They’ve worked closely with us as we introduced readers, like you, to our global community of book lovers. They’ve been there each step of the way as we brought forth new features, like the cool Facebook application and our virtual bookshelf. And now Shelfari and Amazon will work hand in hand to continue to grow our dynamic community and create innovative new tools around the books you love.

The acquisition terms were not made public but it seems that Amazon is indeed cornering the online book cloud.  This same month it has also acquired yet another massive online book community, AbeBooks.

What are all these you may ask?  My personal opinion in these acquisition series points to the strength of online networks and communities.  It would appear that market studies have added an additional “source of influence” for consumers.  I remembered a good laugh late 2007 when a marketing questionnaire included the question “Would you change your (beauty product) if a person in your online network suggests you should?”.

Back to Shelfari… I would be interested to see what comes out of this news.  While I read that there would be no significant change right now… Amazon must have something up its sleeves. hmmmmm….