With the start of the EReader price wars this last week, I wanted to let my readers know about the hot deals on Summer EReaders going on right now. There are some really good deals to be had, So, this is a bit off topic for me, but  it was worth passing on. I do a lot of reading on my iPhone, and am ready to get the eReader also.

Barnes and Noble started the whole deal out by announcing that they were lowering the price of the Nook to $199, from $259.   They have also come out with a cheaper WiFi only version for $149. That’s not a bad deal, considering the amount of ebooks available from the bookstore giant. You could read the rest of your life.

Amazon has struck back though. They have lowered the cost of their base line Kindle to $189.  So, this places them in a clear price war with Barnes and Noble.

Sony is going to be the loser in this deal. Their low end model is $169, but lacks many of the wanted features of the other two. Sony had better get busy and cut a new deal.

The giant in the game, for now, is the iPad. It’s $500, but adds a lot more functionality to the game.  It does everything but kiss you goodnight.  Further, Apple is re porting that they have averaged 2.5 book sales for every iPad sold, since the launch a couple of months ago.  There’s some real cashflow.

So, look for more good deals over the summer. Also, keep an eye on Ebay. There are almost always good deals to be had there.

Happy hunting

Ray Province, M.A.

So you are ready to ramp up your social presence in the webosphere. Well, here are some sites that can help you get going.  They are 40 of my favorite social sites on the web.  I also use these to help my customers.  No tricks here.

The reason most people fail on these sites, though, is that they never use them.  Weird, right?  They may set some up, add a couple of bits of data, or a link or comment, and they are done.  They just sit back and wait for the new contacts to come rolling in.  Wrong!

You really need to be commenting on, uploading and ranking different newsworthy articles. You can also create a member profile that directs traffic back to your company’s Web site. You need to ask people questions, respond to other people’s comments.  Social media branding is not about “set it and forget it.” So, If you are not going to put some time into these sites, don’t waste your time!  Hire someone to help you.  Better yet, let’s have a discussion about what my company can do to help you!

1. Reddit: Upload stories and articles on reddit to drive traffic to your site or blog. You will need to use this one often. Make the uploads relevant to your business. A great cupcake article won’t sell your power tools!
2. Digg: Digg has a huge following online because  it is really easy to use. Visitors can submit and browse articles in categories like technology, business, entertainment, sports and more. As a technology company, it is one my my favs.
3. Del.icio.us: Social bookmark your way to better business with sites here. This is always a good one to tag when you have added fresh content to your website.
4. StumbleUpon: You’ll really get some great mileage out of this site by adding the toolbar add on.  Then, you can mark great  info as you browse the web.  Don’t just use this one to mark your stuff.
5. Technorati: If you want to increase your blog’s readership, consider registering it with Technorati, a network of blogs and writers that lists top stories in categories like Business, Entertainment and Technology.
6. Ning: After hanging around the same social networks for a while, you may feel inspired to create your own, where you can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers in a confidential, secure corner of the Web. Ning lets users design free social networks that they can share with anyone. You could very well build the next Facebook of your niche.
7. Squidoo: According to Squidoo, “everyone’s an expert on something. Share your knowledge!” This is the best site in the world for building pages about your business.
8. Furl: Make Furl “your personal Web file” by bookmarking great sites and sharing them with other users by recommending links, commenting on articles and utilizing other fantastic features.
9. Tubearoo: This video network works like other social-bookmarking sites, except that it focuses on uploaded videos. Businesses can create and upload tutorials, commentaries and interviews with industry insiders to promote their own services.
10. WikiHow: Create a how-to guide or tutorial on wikiHow to share your company’s services with the public for free. It makes you look like a mini encyclopedia.
11. YouTube: Video is getting watched more and more each day. You really need to be making videos and video blogs about your company. (called vlogs).
12. Ma.gnolia: Share your favorite sites with friends, colleagues and clients by organizing your bookmarks with Ma.gnolia. Clients will appreciate both your Internet-savviness and your ability to stay current and organized.

Professional-Networking Sites

Sign up with these online networking communities as a company or as an individual to take advantage of recruiting opportunities, cross-promotional events and more. These are the sites to really talk about business on. You’re not trying to be everybody’s friend.  Build some real business connections.

1. LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a popular networking site for professionals to meet and network around business.
2. Ecademy: Ecademy has one of the best chat rooms around for connecting with business. And, it will be more productive than just Facebook.
3. Focus: Focus is a business destination where business professionals can help each other with their purchase and other business decisions by accessing research and peer expertise. Most importantly, Focus provides open, quality information for all businesses that is freely available, easily accessible, and community powered.
4. YorZ: This networking site doubles as a job site. Members can post openings for free to attract quality candidates. In return, you can also look for work, if you are still working while building your fortune!
5. Xing: An account with networking site Xing can “open doors to thousands of companies.” Use the professional contact manager to organize your new friends and colleagues, and take advantage of the Business Accelerator application to “find experts at the click of a button, market yourself in a professional context [and] open up new sales channels.”
6. Facebook: is rapidly becoming one of the biggest sites in the world. Just be careful not to push business too quickly here. Give people some free help to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Also, build a business Fan Page.  Leave your personal page for your friends and family.
7. Care2: Care2 isn’t just a networking community for professionals: It’s touted as “the global network for organizations and people who Care2 make a difference.” If your business is making efforts to go green, let others know by becoming a presence on this site.
8. Gather: This networking community is made up of members who think. Browse categories concerning books, health, money, news and more to ignite discussions on politics, business and entertainment. This will help your company tap into its target audience and find out what they want.
9. MEETin.org: Once you’ve acquired a group of contacts in your city by networking on MEETin.org, organize an event so that you can meet face-to-face.
10. Tribe: Cities like Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Chicago have unique online communities on tribe. Users can search for favorite restaurants, events, clubs and more.
11. Ziggs: Ziggs is “organizing and connecting people in a professional way.” Join groups and make contacts through your Ziggs account to increase your company’s presence online and further your own personal career.
12. Plaxo: Join Plaxo to organize your contacts and stay updated with feeds from Digg, Amazon.com, del.icio.us and more.
13. NetParty: If you want to attract young professionals in cities like Boston, Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Orlando Fla., create an account with the networking site NetParty. You’ll be able to connect with qualified, up-and-coming professionals online, then meet them at a real-life happy-hour event where you can pass out business cards, pitch new job openings and more.
14. Networking For Professionals: Networking For Professionals is another online community that combines the Internet with special events in the real world. Post photos, videos, résumés and clips on your online profile while you meet new business contacts.

Niche Social-Media Sites

These are the sites you want to use to build a link to other professionals in your business.

1. Pixel Groovy: Web workers will love Pixel Groovy, an open-source site that lets members submit and rate tutorials for Web 2.0, email and online-marketing issues.
2. Mixx: Mixx prides itself on being “your link to the Web content that really matters.” Submit and rate stories, photos and news to drive traffic to your own site. You’ll also meet others with similar interests.
3. Tweako: Gadget-minded computer geeks can network with each other on Tweako, a site that promotes information sharing for the technologically savvy.
4. Small Business Brief: When members post entrepreneur-related articles, a photo and a link to their profile appear, gaining you valuable exposure and legitimacy online.
5. Sphinn: Sphinn is an online forum and networking site for the Internet marketing crowd. Upload articles and guides from your blog to create interest in your own company or connect with other professionals for form new contacts.
6. BuzzFlash.net: This one-stop news resource is great for businesses that want to contribute articles on a variety of subjects, from the environment to politics to health.
7. HubSpot: HubSpot is another news site aimed at connecting business professionals.
8. SEO TAGG: Stay on top of news from the Web marketing and SEO (search-engine optimization) industries by becoming an active member of this online community.

General Social-Media Sites

These are the great old standbys that have been helping people build an online presence for years.  Don’t leave them out of your portfolio.

1. Wikipedia: Besides creating your own business reference page on Wikipedia. You can also add expert articles on your subject matter.
2. Newsvine: Feature top employees by uploading their articles, studies or other news-related items to this site. A free account will also get you your own column and access to the Newsvine community. Kind of like a news press release.
3. 43 Things: This site bills itself as “the world’s most popular online goal setting community.” By publicizing your company’s goals and ambitions, you’ll gain a following of customers, investors and promoters who cheer you on as you achieve success. It is also a great site to help you build a folowing for your company. Hit this one around once a month.
4. Wetpaint: If you’re tired of blogs and generic Web sites, create your own wiki with Wetpaint to reach your audience and increase your company’s presence online. You can easily organize articles, contact information, photos and other information to promote your business.
5. Twitter: Is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you answer the question, “What are you doing?”  The secret to Twitter is adding personal stuff, as well as professional stuff.
6. Yahoo! Answers: Start fielding Yahoo! users’ questions with this social-media Q&A service. You can become an expert for the Yahoo gang.

Well, here are 40 sites that can help you ramp up your social presence.  Don’t forget, though ,that you will need to spend time each day on some of these sites.  My recommendation is that you do 30 min a day.  You’ll be happy with the results.

I have been taking time to read about the new search engine for the iPhone. Namely, it looks as though Bing will become the new search engine. I don’t need Bing. Here’s why.

I don’t think the MSN works any better than Google, for all the hype about intelligent searches. The look is cleaner.  But it is slower in searching than the big giant.  So, why change?  Why not Yahoo, or Ask, or Digg, or any of a hundred other search engines?

In addition, the voice recognition technology I use on my current iPhone 3GS is set to do Google searches by command.  I have a paid copy of the ap, and don’t really care to buy a new one. The one I have works fine. Now granted, there may be no change in the functionality of the ap at all on the new iPhone, but I don’t know for sure.

In many respects, this whole deal sounds like a way to try to slap Google back!  With entrance into the Android market, this may be Apples way to try to fight back. Who knows?

I don’t need Bing.  If you agree, dear iPhone fans, I ask you to spread the word.

We’ll talk again soon,

Raymond C. Province

I added a new ap to my iPhone this week from Concur Travel.  This is the software that my current employer (day time job) uses for booking my travel. It allows me to book hotels, cars, plane tickets, as well as turn in expense reports.

Now all that functionality is available to me on the iPhone.  And it works. I booked a hotel for an upcoming trip on the iPhone with no issues.  That’s a time saver.

The ap is free.  You have to have an account set up with http://concur.com .  Once that is done, there is a section in your profile that is called concur mobile. It will walk you through the steps of setting up your account info. You will also have to create a “PIN” for the mobile ap. You can use alphanumeric characters. Once this is done, you will use your email address UserID for Concur, and the pin, to activate the ap on your iPhone. The website also has a link to download the ap. For you Blackberry hounds, it can also link to your Blackberry.

I have decided to start the Great Comment Experiment on my website.  I have a fairly open policy with comments on my blogs, but there are extremes. I don’t like people linking their website to mine with irrelevant links. 

If you are just spamming websites with comments, you are obviously not keeping up with the current conventionality on what really helps your website get noticed. I had a comment added today to this site, for running criminal background checks.  What’s up with that? Link it to a website that makes sense. Oh, the comment was nice enough. So, that part I don’t mind keeping.

So now, I am going into the comment via the edit comment functionality in WordPress, and changing the link to something relevant. That way, when you click on the person’s name in the comment, you get something worth looking at. If you have a site related to mine, let me know, and I’ll link some back to you!

If you want to just spam websites, be warned. My comments links will be put to good use.  Join the campaign to see what this does for your SEO ratings.

Raymond Province, M.A.

In today’s economy,  advertising can be expensive.  It can also be hard to really sell your business in a few short seconds. In order to improve your changes to sell your brand, you may want to start a blog for your business.

By pure definition, a business blog, or corporate blog, is a blog that is located on your company website.  An external blog would be one located on, let’s say, Blogger.com.  It can be a great way to draw people to your website more often. Especially if you add RSS feeds, bookmarking buttons, etc., to make it easy to keep getting new information on your company.

The biggest thing to remember is that you need to have quality content. Many times, corporate website blogs get filled with verbal garbage, just designed to hit keywords.  Well, you may draw someone to your site once by search methods and SEO, but you won’t keep them coming back. If you provide quality content, it will keep people coming back for more. That’s the kind of advertising side of why to start a blog for your business.

The other point to remember is you want to keep new information coming.  Static information can only be spun so many times, before people get tired of it, and move on.  You may fool them a couple of times, but that will be it.

Video can also be a nice addition to the blog.  A few scattered videos will really get people interested in visiting your site. I try to use articles and videos both, in a ratio of 10 to 1 (articles to videos).  The articles help with SEO, the videos help the human eye. In fact, I am about due to shoot some new video on this blog. (You see, even people in the business of SEO have to remind themselves to do the basics!)

I really think that it’s time to look at quality, ever fresh content more, and keyword saturation less.  I am now cutting back to around 1-2% keyword saturation.  I also still try to bury the title in the first and last paragraphs.  SEO gets your visitor there once.  Quality, new  content will keep people coming to your website for years to come.

We’ll talk to you soon,

Raymond C. Province, M.A.

Celtic Ozark Solutions

Folks, get ready for the eMagazine boom.  As products like Kindle and the iPad start to generate more interest in the portable PC/Reading device, there will be more interest than ever in having eMagazines available for all those wonderful devices. Not only will the eMagazine boom effect the way we read, and what we read, it is going to effect our search engine results.

The publishers of magazines online will be working harder than ever to have their content indexed by the search engines. We will be seeing bits of the text, often called “snippets” in the industry, that will be designed to tempt us to get the article. The little morsels will be designed to help you quicklly figure out if the information is useful. Content will be kind in the first 100 words.

Once you get hooked on the summary you are given, the publishers will attempt to get you to buy the article content.  There should be a modest price for the articles. Better yet, they will want to sell you a subscription to the magaine. That will be where the big money will be.  Once you have a subscription, you’ll be subject to the advertising that will be presented. Right now, all the new ebook and eMagazine readers to set to handle advertising, and video, with the exception of the Kindle. The technology of the Kindle is still very simple, and does not lend itself well to advertising and moving graphics.

The search engine crawls will be limited to the summary material. We’ll have to see if any0ne wants to break that rule.  Google can already run with such a senario. Just take a look at Google Books.  Google Books has a large database of print publications, which also includes eMagazines. Once they have the propriatary rights to index content from the major publishers, they will be off and running. Although Bing/Yahoo! have no similar publication search database, they will probably also be able to find ways of indexing “hidden content”, in an effort to keep up with the Giant Google.

Flash based ads will only be the beginning. New technologies will be developed to exploit this new media market. Publishers will be glad to hop on board, as this new media will offer new sources of income from advertising, interactive programs, and the like. They will also have faster access to data about how the campaign is going. Real time results will be possible, versus surveys, focus groups, and the like. So, get ready for the eMagazine boom. Coming in  an eReader near you.

Ray Province, M.A., ACMPE

Celtic Ozark Solutions

Staying connected for important meetings, no matter where you may be, is a huge benefit in today’s business world. I know Cisco Webex has been an old friend of mine for a long time in the healthcare industry. Now, we are able to redefine what we can do with remote meetings through the new Cisco Webex for the iPhone app. We are able to collaborate in real time with the people we need. You can even leave the computer in it’s case.

Here is a kind of down and dirty plan for what to do to make use of this iPhone application today:

• Join WebEx

• View presentations, applications, and even a full desktop—with live annotations—shared from another computer.

• See a list of attendees and participate in the meeting in real time, just as you would from your computer and phone.

• Make the most of the iPhone support of 3G networks and available Wi-Fi connection and collaborate in a fast, secure environment.

• Zoom and rotate the image to ensure that you get the best seat in the house wherever you are.

• Shake the iPhone to reload the meeting list. (You’ll need a WebEx account to see the meeting list within the app.)

• Stay connected to your meeting, even if you lose your cellular connection. Let the WebEx audio system call you back and reconnect you—automatically.

• See who’s in your meeting and chat privately with individuals or with the whole group.

• Transfer your WebEx meeting from your iPhone to your computer seamlessly, with a flick of the wrist, using the Meeting Handoff feature.

It is important to note that you do not need  a WebEx account to attend a meeting on your iPhone. The invitation can come to you from someone with a Webex account, in the form of an email or iPhone calendar entry. The app will also let you enter the number directly, and attend that way. So, even if you don’t want your own Webex account with Cisco, you can make use of this handy little app.

Obviously, you can do more if you have a Cisco account. You can view and participate in WebEx meetings with the free WebEx Meeting iPhone application.  You  can slso schedule meetings and invite participants to your meeting  from your iPhone. Full capabilities will still need to be handled from your account on your computer.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Here is the scoop from Cisco: all WebEx services are delivered on demand over the global Cisco WebEx Collaboration Cloud. No new software or hardware is required, making these services easy to implement and scale. The WebEx Collaboration Cloud offers better than 99.99% reliability, as well as robust security, to meet your strict requirements. Your session content is never stored on our servers and 128-bit SSL and 256-bit AES encryption ensures privacy during transmission. WebEx services are stringently audited against standards with compliance details provided in SAS 70 Type report and other third-party security reports.

The new Cisco Webex for the iPhone app can be a handy way to help you stay connected in your business life. I would love to hear from you about how it works, if you decide to grab this free iPhone app.

We’ll talk again soon,

Raymond C. Province, M.Div.

So, you are thinking about buying a bare bones computer, from one of many good vendors on the Internet. But, you are not sure that it will be a good deal for you. Your suspicions might be correct.  I have purchased bare bones systems for a long time, but I know what I am wanting, and where the “cuts’ have been made to be able to offer great deals. Not everybody, though, will feel that comfortable making that decision.

I found a good article on the subject written by Peter Stewart, and I wanted to share that with my followers in its entirety.  I have also sent a blast out to my followers. The 7 tips were good.

Getting a new computer should be a cool thing, especially a cheap computer. After all that time struggling with you old machine, probably fighting with it to get the latest software to run, your new computer should be a ray of light for your computing future.

Oh, if it were that simple. If things were really that easy or simple when buying a cheap computer, life would be much easier, but just like every other thing, its not that simple.

Barebones computers have become extremely popular, and for good reason. Getting a barebones computer which does not include a monitor and comes with the bear minimum of parts makes them an upgradable, practical and cheap computer.

But not all things are rosy in barebones computer land…

1. Missing parts

Although barebones computers do come with the essential pieces, most people need at least one or two extras for their day to day barebones system. This is simply due to different applications people use them for. Don’t get caught missing that extra part from your barebones system that you then need to get later. You still need to do some homework and research to find out what you really need from your barebones system.

2. Super cheap computer deals

Beware, many corners can be cut to get those sub $200 dollar barebones systems. They can be great, but not always, carefully analyse the components of the package. Also remember that a barebones system couldn’t possibly include a monitor for that price, which adds a lot to the price.

3. Mismatched parts

This could become a problem if building your own computer, but it even happens in pre-assembled barebones computer deals. There is a chance that you get something that doesn’t fit with the barebones system. There are lots of different connections and speed ratings between parts. Make sure the ones you get match up to the other parts and your needs. Although not common, incompatibilities between parts are not unheard of.

4. Outdated components

To get super-cheap deals older parts are sometimes used in cheap computers. Although this can be a great cost-saver and some old parts are fantastic, there is nearly no chance of an upgrade without putting a major amount of money into your barebones computer again, perhaps as much if not probably more than you paid for your great deal.

5. Defective parts

Although this is another one that has gotten better as the competition has gotten stronger, there is a chance of defects in cheaper products. Your motherboard could be faulty, your power supply might give up after a month or two. These may not be intentional problems, but come hand in hand with “cheap computer stuff”.

6.Refurbished computer parts

Refurbished computer parts are a great way to save some money. Not always the biggest saver, but there can be problems with the updates to these computers in much the way as mismatches happen in barebones systems. Often the computer is slightly updated to meet needs, but is really quite an old model, just with upgrades. Can be fine, but the parts they replace might be replaced with something newer but inferior.

7. Claims of great warranty

To try and entice you into feeling safe, offers of long warranties are made. Most of the parts in the computer could have past their warranty dates, so the warranties are purely from the company that put the computer together. They can be hard to contact and take their time to get replacements to you as well as expect you to mail the computer to them so that they can do the repairs.

Barebones computers can be a great way to put together a second computer, build a computer for simple purposes, like writing documents and casual web surfing. Barebones fit perfectly as a second computer. Just keep these things in mind and you won’t get bitten by the bargain bin monster.

About the author:

Get the most honest and useful reviews to make the right choice at our Desktop Computer Hardware Reviews site or get practical computer buying tips at our Computer Buying Guide site

Written by: Peter Stewart  I have left you his links to his website.

We’ll talk again soon,

Raymond C Province

Ray Province

The Godaddy.com people have published their own iPhone application. I have to tell you that I really like it.  It has really opened up some new possibilities for managing my account on Godaddy.com.

I realize that some of you may not be as excited about Godaddy.com as I am. You hear good and bad stories, though, about every Domain Hosting Company. I have just always had a good experience there. Granted, my need for technical service is minimal. I can usually handle my own issues. However, I have needed them at times, and I have always been able to get a live voice from Tech Support that speaks English as well as I. (or almost so!)

The new ap has components that will let you check your email. You can also handle Domain Management, and order new products. You can renew also. In the future, I expect to see total DNS managment as an option.

If you’re a fan of the commercials, there is also a link to that.  A Contact Us section will also allow you to communicate with the Godaddy people. There is also a WHOIS search feature.

It’s not bad for a first edition of the iPhone application. Hang on. I’m sure there is more to come. Want to more more about Godaddy.com services, just click here.

We’ll talk again soon,

Ray Province, Celtic Ozark Solutons