I recently switched applications for my personal email, and have since been on a filtering rampage to improve the quality of the stuff that makes it to my inbox.

My motivation was a change in email tools, but after just a couple weeks of creating filters (taking a grand total of 15 minutes over that time), my inbox is much better than before.

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This post is for the people who aren’t reading it: those who aren’t active Twitterers or bloggers, and who don’t have a product or service that revolves around technology or new media PR. Those who aren’t like us (yet) can benefit the most from social media.

Elizabeth has led me to write this post–she’s a law student, former Teach for America teacher, and far from technical. She has more to gain from social media than most of us as she offers something unique. (Do you know too many lawyers on Twitter? People in the education policy space?) And if there’s one community to be attached to, it’s the bloggers and Twitterers who can spread the word faster than you can drink a bottle of wine.

Case in point: Gary Vaynerchuk. Continue reading…

In the last few months, Gmail has offered two (free) features that everyone interested in maintaining their brand (i.e., @yourdomain.com) and controlling their data (locally, not just in the cloud) should take advantage of. Though I’ve used Gmail for years, I had been hesitant to make it a primary email account, but now I’m on-board and excited.

Note: I’m making the assumption here that using Gmail to manage your domain-branded email is better than using the basic POP or IMAP provided by your ISP. The main reason I switched to Gmail is its superior server-based spam filtering and server-based rules–which means crap doesn’t ever make it to me, especially on my mobile devices.

The first feature is what’s known as Google Apps. While it’s ostensibly an online productivity suite, it includes the ability to use your own domain through Google’s Gmail system. “But wait, Jared, I’ve always been using my domain-branded email through Gmail.” No, you haven’t quite. In the past Gmail emails for your domain have looked like this (though many people don’t even bother and just used their main gmail address for replies): Continue reading…

Twitter is not just another social network, and it’s not for everyone. It’s userbase is mostly niche, the signal to noise ratio is low, and it takes a long time for some of its most useful features to prove themselves. Add to that that it can be a terrible timesuck, and one has to question its utility. But there is a purpose, it just depends who you are.

The motivation for this post was Geoff Livingston’s discussion of how the number of Twitter users “pales in comparison to major social networks.” That’s a reason why it’s hard to find your friends there, but it’s only one of the differentiators between Twitter and other social networks…

1. It can be hard to feel a part of Twitter

I’ve been on Twitter now for 3 months, though I would’ve liked to have been on it longer (as I’d been reading about it so much since SXSWi 2007). The problem was that I didn’t have friends on the site. Since my involvement in DC social media (geeks, designers, PR people, etc) I’ve developed relationships with many people on Twitter, but only a couple of my other friends are on Twitter. In my experience and from those who I’ve read, Twitter users are primarily in the tech and media communities.

2. Quality content is few and far between

Twitter serves a number of purposes: keeping in touch, discovering or sharing new information/links, offering or getting answers to questions, and passing the time. For those who use Twitter to keep up with a small group of friends it can be rewarding–it’s great to know what’s going on in (a manageable number of) people’s lives, but after following more than 75 people that quickly becomes a chore. The same can be said for discovering and sharing information–Twitter can be a good platform for learning or getting the word out, but there’s quickly too much information coming in (especially when combined with RSS and social news sites). More on getting the word out in point #3. Continue reading…

At the end of this I list specific tips for escaping from information overload, but first I address why and how I’ve chosen what I personally read.

For the last few years I was in two book clubs, before that I ran my own, and my yearly resolutions have usually had a “read more” clause. Not this year. I still love reading, but I’ve decided that it must be either a pleasant escape or practical for work. Cutting back has been tough for me, because I enjoy the newspaper, classic fiction, contemporary nonfiction, philosophy… I could read for days and days . But I’ve canceled my Washington Post subscription, I’m focusing on the authors I enjoy most, and constantly trimming my RSS.

One of the reasons why I’m so into “productivity” is because I usually feel I have too much to do. There’s nothing more daunting than a pile of unread books and periodicals that grows ever larger. So I’ve cut back on my inputs and focused on leaving time for reading things I truly enjoy. Never letting too much material get in front of me in the first place has been the key.

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This morning I spoke at a Meet the Members event for the Greater Baltimore Technology Council on the ROI of Social Media. It was great to see so many Baltimore & DC friends looking to get involved! Below you’ll find slides from the speakers that used slides, links to their websites, a video of my talk, and some places to go to get more involved in social media.

Greg Cangialosi of Blue Sky Factory:

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When was the last time you listed all your work responsibilities and ranked them according to enjoyment and value? If you’re spending much time on tasks that aren’t fun or valuable then you shouldn’t be doing them–automate, delegate, or eliminate them. And, if possible, try to get the things you enjoy most to produce the most value for you.

Example: my blogging. Two years ago when I started this blog I had little reason to write entries like this–most of the business I sought related to Microsoft Office productivity…and, to be frank, I no longer get a thrill out of explaining most Microsoft Office end user issues online. But I like writing about bigger issues and offering advice. Now that I’m working on a productivity application and have become more involved in certain circles, it makes business sense to write about this stuff. What I enjoy is aligned with where I derive value.

Counterexample: software development. I really enjoy solving technology problems…and getting my hands dirty with the code (when I’m familiar with the language). But it’s not a good use of my time because I can’t make much progress on a programming challenge when I have a dozen other projects to manage. Instead I now focus more on the architecture or user experience of technology problems, which gives me a similar buzz without the same timesuck.

I’d encourage you’d to make a list of all your responsibilities and figure out why you’re doing them, and what you get out of them. Consider Continue reading…

Just thought I’d share some photos and a video from the event this morning:

www.flickr.com dancingwithwords’ Jeff Pulver DC Breakfast photoset

And here’s a video I took of Jeff Pulver interviewing Jonny Goldstein on Qik while Jonny interviewed him on Utterz.

The most surprising part of building a portfolio for our new web site was that many businesses didn’t understand the value of links to their websites. When I’m so involved with all things social media, it often surprises me just how wide the information gap is when it comes to online PR/SEO.

In planning our portfolio, we asked each of our clients if they would be comfortable with our offering a few paragraphs, screenshots, and a link to their website. Once we had a draft available, they had the opportunity to tweak. They all accepted their case studies…but there was one thing that slowed a few down:

• “I have asked our PR people to take a look and get their blessing since you are linking to our site.”
• “I assume the link to the website is no big deal but I’ll want to check.”
• “Doing the study is fine but I cannot promise that you’ll be allowed to link back to us.”

All of them came around–but the hesitation surprised me. Linking to their website is PR and SEO–so long as they respect the image we’re projecting of ourselves and we say nice things about them, they have nothing to lose and at least something to gain.

So here’s my very basic advice for those new to participating online Continue reading…

I’m really glad that the tech-savvy internet community did some self-policing this past month when it harped on the Facebook Beacon privacy issue. But I must sadly agree that most Facebook users have no idea about the severity of this. It bothers me to no end that they would take advantage of their users. A conversation this morning reminded me of what their more typical user is like, and how Facebook is abusing them:

Me:

Not sure if you’re aware of your privacy settings. You have Beacon enabled…

Here’s how to turn it off. Go to the link below and check the box:
http://www.facebook.com/privacy.php?view=unconfirmed_actions

And her response: Continue reading…