Until twitter came along I didn’t have much use for services that shorted web addresses.  I quickly learned how useful they are, even beyond twitter.  I saw many people on twitter were using bit.ly and decided to check it out.  Here’s what I liked right off the bat:

• There is no limit to how many web addresses (URLs) you can shorten
• They offer a bookmarklet reveals a sidebar to shorten and share any page
• It works with multiple twitter accounts

Though I’ve used bit.ly mostly with twitter,  I learned it’s power and protection go beyond twitter.   Here are a few examples.

Including a bit.ly link in a direct message on twitter (DM), an email, or blog comment gives me insight to the links being followed.  This is particularly useful if the link is to somewhere other than a site I own.   If I need to follow up, I know the message was opened and the link was followed.

I’ve also found a nifty Chrome extension from bit.ly that goes beyond the bookmarklet and offers even more.  Like the bookmarklet the extension will reveal the sidebar but also ads a hover feature.  Hovering over a bit.ly link (and a few other types) not only shows the destination of the shortened link but also how many clicks link has generated.  Hovering over a twitter id will show a snapshot of a persons profile.  I can usually decide from the snapshot if I want to follow a link or the person.

Before I had this visibility I followed a short-link about local flooding on twitter and suddenly landed on a fake virus scan site!  The spammers targeted the trending topics on twitter to grab traffic.  Seeing where a link will go eliminates my biggest fear with following a shortened link.  Now I know exactly where the bit.ly link will go anywhere a bit.ly link appears.

I’m recommending bit.ly.  Let me know what you think and Consider subscribing.

First I tried using twitter’s mobile page but I was left wanting a lot more functionality without having to install yet another application.  Then I found Dabr.  Unlike the mobile twitter page, Dabr:

• Let’s me see my direct messages
• Many more lists like who follows me, my favorites, direct messages, etc.
• Search

If you’re like me and want a mobile twitter page check out dabr.

Though it’s been a gradual process I have completely switched from using Outlook to using Google Apps for calendaring, contacts and email.  When I started using a Blackberry about two years ago I was using blackberry’s desktop application but infrequently.  I needed a way to keep everything up to date and found Google’s Mobile Sync App.  I prefer it because it:

• Synchronizes wirelessly.
• Works with contacts and calendars ( I have multiple Google Calendars)
• Runs in the background and doesn’t “take over” during a sync process.

The only reason I ever connect using the Blackberry desktop app is to backup and sync media files.

Some things I write about are just to put them out there.  Other things like my resume are pages I want people to find when searching with Google or Bing.  Before I start writing I need to know the words people are using to find what they want.  That is the value of doing keyword research.

The keywords and keyword combinations are determined through keyword research. Research the search terms (aka keywords) people are using to find pages you want them to find.

The primary tools I use are:

• My brain, based on my own knowledge of the subject
• Google’s Search-based keyword tool and Google Insights for Search
• Market Samuri which is a tool available for purchase
• Job posts from positions you want

In some cases you might use a single keyword for very unique product names. If you’re targeting a very competitive keyword you’ll need to find keyword combinations. Some will be a few keywords other will have many keywords.

For example I have a job board site I created primarily for my own education and research purposes at Commission Sales Jobs.  Using the search based keyword link tells me the keyword combination “Sales Jobs” is highly searched and highly competitive. But there are many additional and more targeted terms that people use to find sales jobs. These are the keywords you need to be using when building site content.

If you’re looking for employment look for keywords in job postings.  Try searching on some of the terms and see the search results.  I’ve had several recruiters contact me based on my online resume appearing in search results.

Searches with lots of keywords are a pretty good indicator that the person knows exactly what they want. I would argue that those are the people you really want to reach.

A group of us from high school decided late in the year we wanted to have a 30-year high school class reunion.  Because time was limited we needed a quick way to get the word out get classmates to attend.  Using facebook, wordpress and eventbright we were able to have a very successful and well attended reunion.

Ticket Sales for High School Class Reunion

Jeff Davis Class of 1979 Reunion Registration Page

To ensure the cost didn’t keep people away, we sold several different types of tickets ranging from $0 to $75. There is no commission for the free events. Eventbright charges a small commission for priced tickets so using the eventbright registration cost $115. For that raised $4,500 for the event by selling 214 tickets.

WSJ’s Sarah Needleman talks with David Perry and Kevin Donlin, author and co-author of “Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters,” about how to stand out from the overcrowded pool of job hunters and offer new tactics to get a foot in the door.
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