Not quite sure why you should be using Google Friend Connect (GFC for short)?

1. Adding yourself to a GFC gadget, allows you a quick and easy way to keep track of the blogs you enjoy.
2. It allows you to network with like minded people.
3. You will often get a return visit to your site, and grow your GFC community.
4. New features allow the site owner (such as me) to better track your likes and dislikes through questions and surveys, so we can bring you more relevant info to you over time.
5. We can become mutual friends through Google Friend Connect.
6. After we become mutual friends (and are both Gmail users), we are added to each others contact list, Gtalk, and Gchat.
7. You will be given the option to sign up to that sites newsletter.
8. Bonus: Using Google Friend Connect is one of the major pieces in the new Google Social Network, and is becoming the new way to conduct business online.

Check out this cool video:

Take a minute and join my Google FriendConnect Gadget, and if you’d like send me a friend request.

Hope that Helps,

What’s on Your Homepage?

I have to confess, up until about a month ago, I didn’t really “get” the purpose of a homepage.  Well, really I guess there can be many uses for a homepage depending on what your purpose is.  Many people just leave theirs set to the default of a search engine such a Google, or yahoo search.  I actually had mine set to Myspace.

For the last month or so, I have been using the Google homepage, but I am using iGoogle.  OMGosh, I LOVE it.  I think that I would use it now, even if I wasn’t trying to organize my life, and work online again.  There are so many cool things about it.

iGoogle Homepage

This is my iGoogle homepage

I have all the things that I need, right here.

1. Google Reader – I have a list of many blogs that I read.  When I find a good article, I can share it with my friends on my contact list.
2. Gmail – This is now my default email program.  Prior to this, I was just using the local one that I got with my ISP, and had it set up on Outlook Express.
3. Google Docs – Another of my new favorites.  I write all of my articles in here prior to uploading them to my blogs.  If I want to get someones opinion on the article, I just have to share it with them, they can tell me their thoughts and send it back!
4. ToDo List – I mostly use the todo list now instead of going with the tradition scrap pieces of paper that get lost.
5. Twitter Gadget – To keep me up to date with all of the tweeting.
6. Local Weather – just helpful. 
7. Google Calendar – I have expressed my love for this gadget in previous posts.  This will be the first year I don’t have to get a desktop daytimer.  I find the Google Calendar more to my liking.

Those are the things I have on top, above the fold.  Like I said – everything I need, right there.  I also have things like YouTube, Google Blog Search, and Wikipedia.  I don’t use these all the time, but they are very handy to have.  They have thousands of gadgets that you can choose to add to your homepage, depending on what you want to use it for (they even have a hangman gadget!)

My homepage is now setting me up for success.  When I start in the morning, I know what I have to do that day.  My daily agenda is mailed to my Gmail account at 5:19 AM (yup I’m an early riser), I can check to see if there is anything huge that needs to be dealt with through my mail and my reader… then I can grab a coffee (no Google doesn’t have a gadget for that yet) and can get busy doing it.

Two questions:

Is your homepage set up to lead you to success?
If you are using iGoogle, what is your favorite gadget?

Hope that helps,

It is all about being social. Working online these days it’s not nearly as easy to get a following, and find some loyal readers if you don’t let them get to know who YOU are.  Not just what your blog is about.

4 Things that will help with that in a huge wave.. way are:

1. Get a Google account.  I’ve said it before, and I will say it again.  Find your old account, or make a new one.  This is going to be so important in the coming days, weeks, and months.
2. If you’re Google account already has gmail – YAY!  If not – Add it! I have been using my gmail account for about three weeks now as my main, and I LOVE it! One of the many really cool things about Gmail is how you can create a contact list, just by having friends.
3. Create a Public Profile for your Google account.  Let me (and everyone else, ) know who you are and what your likes and dislikes are.  Be real! Whether your profile is for business purposes, or just because.  Be who you are.
4. Use Google Reader for all your RSS needs.  It’s amazing, and actually, it’s the only RSS link I show on my page now.  I WANT you to subscribe to my blog!  But I WANT YOU TO DO IT WITH Google Reader.
5. Start Using Google Friend Connect (GFC)  – Add the gadget to your blog, follow peoples sites.  Add them as friends, if they have like interests.  And certainly if you have them as friends go to their site to check it out, and show your support! ~ You want to make yourself available.  Be friendly, and Be social!

Can you see the pattern here?  That will help you prepare for the wave!  The invites are just starting to trickle out.  But this IS going to be the thing that changes the way people do business, or even just communicate in general online!

Get all this done.  Follow my site, add me as a friend, say hello.  I’ve been out doing the same this afternoon.  Hey – all your blogs for the week are likely already done anyway, right.  Grab your favorite beverage, and spend sometime being social this weekend.  It’ll be fun!!!

Hope that helps,

Heather

Have a great weekend… I hope I get to chat with YOU!

I’ve had a Google account forever.  But honestly?  I’d even forgot the password for it!  It had been so long since I’d used it.  Well I got it all figured out, and realized that I even still had some earnings left in adsense from my old blogging days (so that was kinda cool)!

The Google Account is a unified sign in and integrates all of the Google products and services available.   I have to say I am hugely impressed with this, and here’s why…

When used correctly, this little gem will organize your life,  bring traffic to your page,  find you friends and like minded people that you can connect with, bring you news, weather, interesting blogger, fun and games – The Works!  Basically Google will be in part of everything you do online…

Here is what you need to do.  Find out if you have an existing account.  If you ever did adwords, adsense or gmail — you already do.  Sign in with that account information.  If you don’t just simply go and create an account.

My Google Account

This screen shot shows all of the Google Products that I’ve used or am using now.  All nice and neat in one place.  But then they take it one step further with iGoogle.

Now honestly how ingenious is this?  I never used Google as my home page before, I had it set to myspace, or one of my blogs, and I never really got any benefit from the homepage.

But with iGoogle…  I have atleast one tab open with it.  ALL the time.  I am able to organize my life, appointments, kids, launches, to-do lists.  All in one handy spot – right in front of me.  I think 2010 will be the very first year, I have gone without a desk top (old pen and ink) day planner.

Take a look at this…

I do Google )

You can put everything on here.  I have my calender, a (actually several) to-do list, my gmail account (which is now my main email), I have my Google reader, notebook, and Google Friend Connect.  That is WAAAY Cool!!!

You can customize your iGoogle to whatever you want it to look like, move the items around to make it work for you.

I am LOVING this!   And I would imagine that people being busy, and on the go are really using these tools as well.

And – I haven’t even got into the details of how all of these Google Products are going to help you in your business, and social networking.  I have been reading and listening to a fellow by the name of Chris Lang.   He is one of the foremost authorities on all of this Google stuff.  And he is explaining how it all will interact together, and helping us get it all set up now.

This is just the beginning of it all to.  I am telling you.  Go find your Google Account, find your password, make it pretty, and get ready to go!

Hope this helps…

Heather

Take a minute to add me in your Google Reader, and follow along as I explore this stuff with you!!!

This week has been all about spending time with social networks, and becoming a student of the latest knowledge so that I can share that knowledge with you,  my reader.  I tell you what.  I’ve been stuck on Google — For DAYS now.  Google was huge when I left the blogging community a few years back with things like adsense, adwords, and the like.

They have within my time away, entered the world of social networking, and it is my firm belief, that Google will dominate this area of the net too, with the latest and greatest social networking tool — Google Friend Connect.   My mind is boggled, and I am literally in a case of information overload.  So instead of doing as I had originally planned and just doing a post of GFC as one of the new social networks, I am now planning on over the course of the next few days getting this information shared with you through a whole series.

Google Friend Connect is really now just starting to get HUGE !!!  With the information I’ve been reading tonight, it seems like I can’t even type fast enough to get it down to you.  I’m excited!

This you tube video does a great job of explaining how it is all connected together.  Google has many social tools available and if you use them correctly, it will bring increased visitors, and readers to your blog.

Over the coming days I will share with you the powerful tools and how they all work together.  Social Networking tools such as Facebook, and Twitter, You Tube, and Google Friend Connect.  But that’s not all.  The other networking tools  Google has such as Google Reader, Google Calendar and more.

I’ve even already found a very simple way to start making money, without a website, but just through a Twitter account.  Very Powerful tools, and I will start sharing  that with you tomorrow morning.

Be prepared to catch the wave — the G wave!

Heather