Best for Last – June 26, 2009

Every week I read a lot of stuff online – blogs, articles, reviews, etc. I see my share of the good, the bad and occassionally even the ugly. But oh so often I come across something so great that I want to share it with everyone I know.

This week I read and liked:

Online Identity Calculator – been Googling yourself lately? Online ID Calculator™ is a… Continue reading

Can I Use Twitter to Boost My Website’s Page Rank?

Q: My website’s page rank is 1. I’ve heard that I can boost it by, among other things, being active on Twitter. I’ve been tweeting daily for a few months now, but see no change to my Google Page Rank. What gives?

A: Sorry for the bad news, but tweeting daily or even several times a day won’t help you raise your site’s page rank. Basically, there are three… Continue reading

Twitter for Small Business – Conference Advice

In the past two weeks I’ve given two talks on why and how of social networking for small businesses. It seems most entrepreneurs get the idea of LinkedIn, Facebook and niche networks. It turns out the biggest stumble is Twitter.

Maybe it’s because it sounds funny… or because its interface and setup process is so simple… or because it demands extreme brevity when all other marketing channels encourage verbosity… Continue reading | 1 Comment

Best for Last – June 19, 2009

Every week I read a lot of stuff online – blogs, articles, reviews, etc. I see my share of the good, the bad and occassionally even the ugly. But oh so often I come across something so great that I want to share it with everyone I know.

This week I read and liked:

Should I Blog for My Small Business – If you’re still on… Continue reading | 2 Comments

Connecting to Competitors on Social Networks

Q: Should I connect to and accept invitations to connect from my competitors? How can I benefit from having a competitor in my social network?

A: There are some very good reasons why you should connect with your competitors on social networks. By connecting to your competitors on LinkedIn, following them on Twitter, and friending them on Facebook, you will know what’s going on in their business and learn… Continue reading

Best for Last – June 12, 2009

Every week I read a lot of stuff online – blogs, articles, reviews, etc. I see my share of the good, the bad and occassionally even the ugly. But oh so often I come across something so great that I want to share it with everyone I know.

This week I read and liked:

On Not Having a Social Media Strategy – should you have a… Continue reading

How to Avoid Deadbeat Clients

Some months ago I wrote a long post on how to get paid for your work as a freelancer. It went something like this:
As freelancers, virtual assistants take a risk on each client they sign up and each project they accept. Part of it is not being 100% sure whether a client is going to pay on time, if at all. And so  an exciting new opportunity for long-term work turns into hundreds of… Continue reading | 1 Comment

Best for Last – June 5, 2009

Every week I read a lot of stuff online – blogs, articles, reviews, etc. I see my share of the good, the bad and occassionally even the ugly. But oh so often I come across something so great that I want to share it with everyone I know.

This week I read and liked:

Automating Your Money – ever since I stopped being someone’s employee, I… Continue reading

Blog Categories – Is More Really Better?

Q: I am wondering how many categories should I have in my blog? And when I publish a post, should I publish it to one, two or more categories?

A: A blog post, just like any other piece of content on the Net will be viewed by 2 very different types of audiences. One group is the human readers. The other group consists of search