TechLifeWeb

When you are brand new to a service it is nice to have someone guide you along. Here are a few great resources to get you started with Google+.

First, if you haven’t seen it, Google’s own video that gives an intro to Circles is worth a watch.

Next, have a look at their video about Hangouts

Now if you are ready to jump in, you need these excellent cheat sheets developed by Simon Laustsen

• I’m gathering tips in Evernote here: http://bit.ly/googleplustips
• Here is a good post on configuring your Circles for privacy: Five Steps to Configuring Privacy on Google+
• If you use the Google Chrome browser I highly recommend the Replies and More extension. It adds some subtle changes to the page that make it more functional like being able to reply right to someone without having to type their name.
• Another Chrome must have is the Surplus extension.  It gives you notifications but the main thing is that it lets you share very easily from any site. Note 10MAR2012: I no longer use the Surplus Extension. I recommend Share on Google Plus Page that lets you share to your profile or any of the pages you manage.
• New 10Mar2012: I’ve also been using Golden View for Google+ for a long time. I has some nice features like User Mute and Default Circle.
• If you want an easy way to search Google+, you can try this search engine for Google+:  http://bit.ly/searchgplus
• Andrew Shotland has a HUGE list of tips here: http://www.localseoguide.com/google-plus-shortcuts-tips/

Twitter users:

If you want to make your Google+ profile show up if someone searches for your Twitter name:

• On the Google+ home page, click on your name (left side next to your picture)
• Click Edit Profile
• Scroll way down until you see Other Names
• Click Other Names to bring up the edit box and enter your Twitter handle there.
• Optionally set who can see this. I’d set it to Anyone on the Web because anyone could find out anyway but you may have different ideas.
• If you are done editing your profile, click Done Editing at the top of the screen
• Tip: While you are on the profile screen you can go to ‘View Profile As’ which is really handy to be sure you are sharing what you think you are sharing.

Filtering the web so you don’t have to for May 6th 2010 through May 8th 2010:

• Spokeo is the New Creepy People Search Engine – If you don’t like the idea of people finding out how much your house is worth on Spokeo, just click on the Privacy link at the bottom of a page of Spokeo search results to request that the engine remove your listing. You will have to enter an email address to do so.
• louisgray.com: Why I am Using Google Buzz as An Alternative to Facebook -
  blog.louisgray.com
  The Internet is a big place, and there are a lot of opportunities for me to find places to spend time. But I am increasingly spending my time in Google Buzz. Google Buzz made sense to me from the first day it was launched, and it continues to improve. This is not a surprise to those of you who have been using the service in the last few months, but I thought I would explain why I am choosing to devote more of my social networking activity there, and why I think it is critical that the product..   show all text
  chrisbrogan: Interesting post from @LouisGrayabout Google Buzz as an alternative to Facebook – http://bit.ly/c7EorJ
• Study finds commercial-skipping DVRs don’t affect purchases, ‘TiVo effect’ may not exist -
• 5 Easy Ways to Drive Social Media Fans to Action | Social Media Examiner -
  socialmediaexaminer.com
  
  Do you know how your social media activities are driving offline sales? How many customers came into your store or called for more information after viewing your social media profiles?
  Here’s one of the biggest questions for businesses: Will the time they spend interacting on Facebook and Twitter affect their sales? Though they spend the considerable effort necessary to create thriving social media communities, small business owners and marketers often fail to drive floor traffic, i..   show all text
  MariSmith: 5 Easy Ways to Drive Social Media Fans to Action – http://bit.ly/cUHPrO via @smexaminer[Good tips here!!]
• How Networks Transform Culture -

As we start August, I note that I have just completed month 2 of my Bing Challenge. I still use Bing as my primary search engine. Do I still use Google? Sure, from time to time. But I am getting nice results with Bing.

This afternoon I did a search that is a good case for Bing. We needed to go to Sport Authority (sporting goods store) for something so I entered the words Sports Authority in my Firefox search bar.

Here is my result on Bing:

The same search on Google:

Both are smart enough to know I am searching for a store and not some guru who knows his sports trivia. But Bing gives me a map with all the closest stores to my location. The Carmel Mountain store is closest to me so I click the details link to get to this page:

I now have directions, a phone number and (if I scroll down a bit, not pictured) the latest ratings from users who have been to this store and are complaining or praising it.

So, I’ll continue to use Bing, not because it is from Microsoft or because it is not from Google but because it works for me. I still love my Gmail and my Open Office and Firefox. Figure out what works best for you.

Sidebar: I mentioned this in the comments of my other post but it is worth repeating here. If you are a firefox user (and you should be) be sure to pick up this Greasemonkey script that puts Twitter search along side Bing results.
http://blog.mikedavidsmith.com/2009/06/twitter-searchad-blocker-greasemonkey-script-for-bing/. This is worth doing even if you are not a Twitter user.