Editor’s Note:  This is a gust post from Lindsey Harper Mac.  Please read more about Lindsey Harper in the bio footer.

Linked In, a hybrid social networking and business connections website, is one of the fastest growing arenas for networking online. According to the LinkedIn company website, it is the world’s largest Internet-based professional network. The website touts its membership at more than 135 million people in more than 200 different countries.

With this kind of professional reach from the comfort of your home or office, it’s no wonder that Linked In is one of the most powerful tools for creating and enhancing your career. Despite the potential effectiveness of Linked In, surprisingly few people truly utilize it for its intended purposes.

Linking Your Resume with Linked In

Whether you’re in the midst of a career or haven’t yet embarked on one, your resume is the dynamic representation of who you are and what you’ve accomplished. If you’re considering some form of online learning, having a resume that is connected with your LinkedIn profile puts you far ahead of the competition and right where educators and potential employers can see you.

Rather than using Linked In as a substitute for your CV or resume, think of it as an enhancement. The information you put on your resume or CV can’t be expected to cover everything you’ve accomplished or will accomplish. Instead, you can direct potential employers to your LinkedIn profile so that they can garner more information that supplements what you’ve provided briefly on your resume.

Higher Education and Linked In

Whether you’re pursuing a degree online or simply taking a college course, people, particularly potential employers, should know.One of the most proactive things you can do for your future is to further your education.

Perhaps you don’t have the time to attend on-campus traditional classes, or you’re too far from campus for regular commuting. E-learning is a viable alternative to the traditional classroom environment. Although some individuals may perceive online coursework as inferior to or simply different from traditional classroom learning, the demands of modern life have made online learning a more flexible choice.

Including this coursework on you resume and LinkedIn profile can provide potential employers with supplemental and important information about your willingness to continue to pursue knowledge that is relevant to your chosen field.

Cultivating a Network by Using Your Resume and Linked In Profile

No one likes to land on a website only to see it hasn’t been updated in a year or more. The same can be said about your resume and LinkedIn profile. Both should be current, making regular changes as your experiences and career progress.

You don’t need to update every minor change. Instead, make an effort to do a review of your life every few months and update both your resume and LinkedIn profile to reflect the events that would be pertinent to potential employers.

Harness the power of Linked In. It’s a no-cost way to network that allows you to expand on the information contained within your resume, at absolutely no cost.

Related articles

• How to Find New Clients via LinkedIn (xemion.com)
• 7 Effective Tips to Turn Your LinkedIn Profile into a Social Media Battle Winner (socialmaximizer.com)
• Looking for a New Job? Update your LinkedIn Profile Secretly (labnol.org)

Social media is a part of many people’s daily lives. Checking Facebook and Twitter several times a day is not uncommon. I recently wrote about the cons of social media for writers. I would also like to address the positive aspects of social media for writers.

Social Media Pros

The Pros (© Anatoly Maslennikov)

In an attempt to cling to my strong desire to remain an optimist, I believe  that these pros outweigh the cons. Social media opens doors for writers. It gives them a way to dip a toe in the publishing pool without significant hoops to jump through.

By creating compelling content, you can become a celebrity. ~Paul Gillin

Okay, celebrity may be a strong word. But even if it is only fifteen minutes of fame, a well-written piece can get you noticed through social media.  Who knows? It may be tossed into the lap of the right person. A well-known publisher or even a popular blogger may see it. And like it. Both literally and digitally.

Facebook Pages, Twitter Lists, and Linked in Groups connect writers, publishers, bloggers, and editors from all over the world.  Sites like Linked In allow you to present your writing without getting past the receptionist. It is not always that simple, but it gives writers a more equal playing field.

• Ability to reach many. With social media, you can put your writing in front of thousands with just a few clicks. No stamp required. Social networking sites like Digg, Stumble Upon, and now Pinterest make it simple to expose your writing to the world.

• Opens doors. Long before the days on the Internet, writers had to send queries by snail mail. These letters came along with hundreds of other letters that came across the editor’s desk. If it was accepted, it could take months before you knew. Although, most print publications still require a query letter, there are other outlets to get the attention of an editor or publisher – social media.

• Constructive feedback. This may teeter between the pro and con list for some people. Constructive criticism is invaluable for a writer, as much as it stings. The essential word that puts this on the pro list is constructive. There are people that just like to be negative, all the time. Without advice that offers something of value, it may be perceived as hurtful. Sold advice from a mentor is definitely positive!

• Virtual Networking. The Internet, especially social media, provides many ways to connect with others in your niche. Even if you only connect online, networking provides both professional and emotional support to writers. Writers can find inspiration from other writers. The news of a writing conference or seminar travels through social media. Local publishers, editors, and writers form groups or Meetups and advertise them on social media.

• No one cares.  I realize this was on the con list, too. I think it depends on how you look at it. If the writing is not your best foot forward, but just something you had to get off your chest, maybe it is best that no one really cares. If no one is responding to your writing, this provides a way to use it as feedback. Is the writing entertaining, interesting, helpful, or educational? Often times, if it is one of these things, people will take notice. If not, rethink your next piece of writing.

National borders aren’t even speed bumps on the information superhighway.  ~Tim May

I would like to know what other people have experienced through social media!  Please share your comments!

Related articles

• Social Media: Helping or Hindering the Art of Writing? (writeandgetpaid.wordpress.com)
• The Photographer’s Social Media Handbook (taylordavidson.com)

Long before the Internet and social media, I was writing silly love poems in the back of my grade school notebook. No one ever read these and when I look back, they were pretty horrible. I am grateful that social media did not exist back then. I may have been tempted to share them.

In my teen years, I wrote a few short stories. Again, no Pulitzers or any Literary Awards in my future.

In Comes… Social Media

Social Media

Before social media and blogs, unless their work was a best-seller, writers did not get the same opportunities for recognition that they have today.  This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Just like two sides of sandpaper, when you share your creative words on social media, results can be rough or smooth.

If you are a risk-taker, you may expose your poems about your high school crush on Facebook for all the world to see. Who knows? If they are good, maybe it will go over smoothly. No offense, but if your poems are anything like mine were, prepare for some rough feedback.

Well, that’s if you are popular on the social media scene. If you have twelve followers or friends, I guess there is not much of a risk.

Whether valid or not, with the advent of social media and blogs, everyone is a “writer.”  Social media does provide quality writers more channels to share their work. Just like American Idol opens doors for unknown singing talent, social media allows unknown writers a chance to get noticed. This open door policy can have positive and negative results.

Let’s start with the negative side first.

Social Media Cons

The Cons

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” ~Einstein

What would he think TODAY?

Has the invention of gadgets, wireless, and social media allowed us to be so in touch that we have lost sight of simple human touch? Has technology replaced our need for face to face interactions?  Maybe the pithy comments has watered down our genuine interest in others? The ability to hide behind a screen.

It is possible that negative rhetoric and  controversial statements in 140 characters or less stems from the need to be noticed among the large crowd gathered around the virtual water cooler. Our words get lost in the constant streams of information. Or get magnified under a critical light.

• Prepare your heart for battle.  Writers, just like other creatives, bare their innermost personal thoughts when they write. For many, writing provides an escape route for their deep-rooted fears, wonders, chagrin, amusements, and passions. Sharing our writing with the public is like exposing a piece of ourselves. So, both good or bad feedback is tender on the heart.

• Dealing with critical feedback. You will eventually offend someone. No matter what you write, people will either agree or disagree. They may not like the content or your opinion. Grammaticians and English majors will come out to the party, too, if they happen to read what you wrote. As a writer, you have to constantly build up calluses to the criticism.

• Social media consumes you. We have all been there. How many people will “like or “retweet” my post or update? It is a sad state of social media obsession today that feeds the self-absorption zeal. In the digital world, vindication of our words comes from the number of Retweets or Likes. So, we check our accounts at stop lights, in public restrooms, while hiking, or even before we get out of bed in the morning.

• No one cares. This revelation is what wounds our self-esteem. Some writers have a stronger steel plate of confidence and are better than others at taking the journalistic snub. You may write what you believe to be an inspirational or informative piece and not one person reads it, responds to it, or shares it with their own circle of social media friends. Once again, mature writers had a more developed armor of confidence. They realize that sometimes, no one really does care. And that’s okay.

Every bit of software wants you to be “social.”  What ever happened to being grumpy and alone in your writer’s fugue?  ~Doug Green

Related articles

• Social Media: Helping or Hindering the Art of Writing? (writeandgetpaid.wordpress.com)
• The Pros of Social Media for Writers (inspiredtowrite.com)

Editor’s Note:  this is a guest post from David Lazar.  Please read more about David in the bio footer.

Image via CrunchBase

Here you can improve your writing skills, get honest criticism of your writing, and some needed and deserved encouragement. You can also learn new words, help others, and find and make friends with many like-minded Redditors.

Let me help by sharing some of the most helpful subreddits for every aspiring writer or fan of words in general.

1.) Writing is a subreddit with over 24,000 readers and the first stop for aspiring writers on Reddit. As its name says, the focus is on the written word: anything about fiction, nonfiction, your own creative writing, popular authors, and so on.

There is also a similar, still growing, subreddit Writers. I cannot help but agree with the creator of this subreddit, who says, “Life is all about art, and painting pictures. Some do it through music, some take the literal route, and some get creative with the dictionary. This subreddit is for those of us who prefer to manipulate language to our advantage, and create characters out of thin air.”

Make sure to check out both of these subreddits, subscribe and join their community.

2.) Literature is all about books and plays. Find literary criticism here along with insightful articles and food for any writer’s brain.

3.) Freelance Writers intention is to share tips about writing and landing writing jobs and gigs. If you are serious about your writing and plan to build a career with it, keep tabs on this subreddit.

4.) Logophilia is a place for “the lovers of words.” Share and learn interesting and unusual words here. What is awesome about Logolites (Logophilia’s redditors) is that you can use their vast knowledge when looking for a word you’ve forgotten or an evasive synonym.

5.) ScreenWriting is, as its name suggests, an aspiring screenwriter’s haven. This is a subreddit where it is acceptable to submit y.ur own scripts. Don’t expect pats on the shoulder or lukewarm praise here. Brace yourself for some strong criticism and a good walloping. Redditors are famous for their sincere and strong opinions. What you can expect though, is some sound advice and tips on how to improve your screenwriting. If you want to have your script read, definitely check out ReadMyScript as well.

6.) Reddit Stories is actually a regularly updated collection of longish Reddit comments that are very well written and a treat for avid readers. Comments on Reddit are what make this community so addictive and precious.

7.) OneParagraph is what I like to call “fiction on the go.” This is a subreddit for small format fiction, limited to a single paragraph. Try to tell a story in only one paragraph and contribute to OneParagraph – it is an excellent exercise for polishing your writing skills.

8.) RoundRobin is a subreddit for collaborative writing. You can start a story by writing an introduction and can continue others’ stories as well. This is also a great place for practicing your writing skills and spurring your creativity.

9.) Wordplay is a playground for writers, wordsmiths, story weavers and all other creative users of the English language. Wordplay gives you the opportunity to explore the meanings of words and enlarge your vocabulary.

10) Poetry is a must for aspiring poets. Submit your verses or find inspiration and food for thought in poems written by lyrically inclined Redditors. Encourage and advise in order to get the same in return.

And of course, every true writer and word-addict should check out Bookit. You will find many book-related posts, including recommendations, reviews, stories about books, book technology and lots of other goodies.

See you on Reddit!

Image by Bruce Clay, Inc via Flickr

Google started with a lofty goal, their mission statement sounded more like the ratings of a madman than a proper goal for a company back in 1998 when first developed and still privately owned – “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Within a decade it didn’t seem so insane anymore, and truly today there are very few pieces of information in the entire world one cannot access from Google within a couple of seconds.

And despite being a multibillion dollar international corporation today, amidst much ill-will toward such entities, it remains beloved by all (except maybe Yahoo and Bing). They’ve done so by concentrating on relevant results with little opportunity for companies to pay their way to the top (unless you use Adsense, which is still easily identified as a paid ad in search results) and by following their slogan in all aspects of their worldwide doings, “Don’t be evil.”

Indeed they’ve made the world a smaller, more accessible place to nearly all 6 billion of us, increasing overall knowledge, making life more convenient, and creating endless opportunities for businesses in the meantime.

There is one area that has eluded Google thus far however, that is the world of social networking.

Introducing Google+.

Social Networks

This is not their first attempt at breaking into Facebook’s near monopoly of the social network scene. The good news for Google is that the nature of a social network allows for multiple players in the game. The bad news is that people really, really like Facebook.

If you have been in a cave the last few years, a social network is a site where you can instantly find and communicate with friends and family, all around the world, for free. Sharing pictures, writing, creating a page unique to who you are, even playing games. While primarily user-based and “casual” in nature, it provides opportunities for business to create brand awareness and to drive traffic to their site.

Twitter is a slightly different beast, allowing only short updates but which provides the opportunity to link to pages like Facebook, and even your own site. Twitter is today the second most commonly used social network, in business best used in conjunction with a Facebook page.

Google+

Where does this new site fit in? Google claims they offer a number of advantages over Facebook. They also say it is easy to use with the ability to quickly link to other Google-based sites like Youtube (Youtube is a Google site too). In addition, there are functions available on Google+ you simply won’t find on Facebook.

The value of these applications is yet to be determined, but it may be something worth looking into. The primary benefit as of now is that it is backed by the largest online entity in the world, and they are determined to make it work and they certainly have the resources to continue trying to make it work no matter what it takes.

Creating a profile is simple, and costs a company little in manpower or time. Updates may be the primary concern but you may choose how much effort to put into this depending on the results of your efforts.

The main negative is its newness. There are no stats as far as results for companies, while positive results have been well-documented on Facebook.

Conclusion

For now, put your primary social networking effort into Facebook and Twitter – definitely don’t abandon those two tools for Google+ at this point. However, it may be worth the effort to create a Google+ account and to update it occasionally so you will be established and ready if it does takeoff like Facebook.

Editor’s Note:  This is a guest post by Gary Shouldis.  Read more about Gary in the bio footer.

It's all About ME!

Building your reputation online is similar to building your reputation offline.  Through steady and consistent acts.

This can work both ways.

If you are the type of person who genuinely likes to help others? Are you interested in other people and super helpful in every way? If you answered yes, you are well on your way to building yourself a fine reputation online.

On the other hand, if you are that guy who stalks people at networking events and thinks eye contact is an invitation to move in for the hard close, you may be in trouble.

When you are first starting out online, whether for personal blogging or for business, you are eager to jump right into the online community and be heard. While it is important Being active online is important for building your reputation, but certain activities can quickly turn you into an online pariah.

If you are new online, here are 4 things to avoid doing when trying to build your online reputation. If you are already active online and are doing any of the following, please stop.

1. It’s All About Me

Yes, social media is a self aggrandizing platform. But those who excel at it are the ones who use that platform to give value to others — valuable content, resources or useful connections to others. The ones who tend to suck at it are those who only speak about themselves and have a me, me, me attitude.

If the most interesting thing you have to Tweet about is yourself, you’ll be Tweeting alone. Stop thinking about what you can get and start thinking about what value you can deliver to whomever might be listening to you.

2. I Only Recommend My Own Content

You’ve seen it online, the guy who pops up out of nowhere to promote his services or his newest article, without actually engaging in any sort of useful communication.  Just like the first tip, only showing off your own content makes you look selfish.

Nobody likes a person who only talks about himself. Become a resource for the people who follow you, that often means directing them to places other than your blog or Facebook page. It’s okay to recommend yourself and your content, as long as it’s not the only thing you recommend.

3. I’m a Comment Spammer

Commenting on articles is a great way to get involved in the conversation, stir up debate, and to voice your opinions online. Unfortunately, far too many people use it as a poor mans link building tool and offer little value to the conversation.

You’ve seen it before, generic comments like “great article, I’ll be sure to come back again” or even “incoherent” comments that make it obvious you didn’t read, but skimmed over the article. Only comment on articles that you actually read and feel motivated enough by it to offer some useful insight or praise.

Want a tip to build goodwill online? Instead of leaving your own two cents, next time praise another person for their insightful comment. That’s building goodwill.

4. I’m an Auto-Reply Spammer

How many times have you connected with someone on LinkedIn or Twitter and almost instantaneously received an email telling you to also “Like” them on Facebook or to follow them on their blog?

I’m not saying you shouldn’t let people know how to find and follow you online, what I am saying is that you should build up some trust equity before slamming them with multiple Like, Follow and Join requests. It’s like asking for a second and third date before the first one even started. Show some value first before you ask for a bigger commitment.

Building a Good Reputation is Easy

The underlying theme here is avoid constant “me” and instead, focus on the “you.” The quickest way to earn a bad reputation online is to make everything about yourself.

The ones who are really good at building an online reputation know that you can ask for a little, then you need to add lots of value before getting permission to ask for even more.

Have fun, join in the conversations and just like in real life, don’t look at every encounter as an opportunity to promote yourself.

Editor’s Note:  This is a guest post from Pat Tate.   She gives you a good rundown on the proper use of PLR. Please read more about Pat in the bio footer.

If you’ve been hiding on some secluded island somewhere dreamy, you may not have heard about Google’s latest attempt at cracking down on spam in March 2011. The ‘Panda’ is the latest of Google’s algorithm alterations in the battle to remain number one. This Internet content ‘raid’ targets low quality, repeated content.

Rightfully Worried PLR Users

We’d be lying to say that PLR users shouldn’t be at least concerned about Google’s fairly recent actions. Numerous webmasters and article directories like Ezine Articles were most affected by this clean sweep.

Many PLR users think that their products won’t be ‘wanted’ anymore but that may not necessarily be the case. Although it may mean a little more work for you. As PLR sellers, you will have to teach the public about the right way to use the products.

Proper PLR

Did you know that original PLR was not supposed to be used just as it is? It was supposed to be tweaked and altered, even just a little, to make it better. The idea with PLR was to save time on brainstorming and to give you a solid base to start from.

So What Is PLR?

Private Label Rights (PLR) is content that anybody can buy instead of content made specifically for someone. As long as you aren’t re-selling it, you can use it over and over again. PLR is found on sites as content, blogs, press releases, and product information, and basically anywhere you need content of any sort.

The Goods Of PLR

Simply put, you can have instantaneous access to lots of content that is ready to go when you are. If you are a very slow typist or hate researching, PLR could take that pain away from you. PLR also allows you to get your website up and running at lightning speed because you don’t have to wait for the writing to get done and that can take quite some time.

The Not-So-Goods of PLR

Well I’m sure you’ll agree that the main negative with PLR content is that it’s not unique, there’s nothing ‘special’ about it. Chances are, someone else bought the exact same content, which makes it difficult for you to find your ‘niche’ in the market.

Another downfall is that the content is crap. You are getting it cheap you get what you pay for. As well, you’re taking your chances because Google is not fond of it. Don’t forget, Google decides the rules when it comes to Internet content.

PLR has really become popular with web masters and Google has caught wind of this. They don’t like this and have taken action to make it tough for PLR users. Right or wrong, that’s the way it is.

Now you can get away with using PLR content as intended originally, by tweaking or rewording it. Even just changing the headings is enough to technically make it original. Although if you completely re-write PLR, Google will view this as an original article and reward you for it. Obviously this is the best route to go.

Is This The End Of PLR?

Well the sites most affected were article directories. These sites use PLR specifically for republication. Before Google pulled out their ‘Panda’ move, these sites did well in the rankings. They took a big hit afterwards, knocking them on their fannies.

The general idea is to offer free content to the directory. By having a link at the base of the article, you will draw people back to your site. This happens every time the article is republished; hence you get a wide range of users visiting your site, while you’re sitting in the beach sipping a cocktail.

Of course you will get a healthy dose of backlinks doing this and in theory Google would see this as a good thing and rank you high. The issue arises when the site that your link is on is crappy and ranks a zero, so you have a zero backlink and this does nothing for you.

Does this make sense?

Can We Still Use PLR?

The simple answer is yes. Although not like you’ve been able to in the past, that’s for sure. Try not to have a big freak out session. Stay calm and choose to have a fresh look at marketing strategies and use fresh eyes to look at content.

Google did the update to erase as much of the poor writing out there that it could and they did a pretty good job of it. They targeted the larger sites with weak content and the smaller sites with original good content are just fine.

So essentially if you have good content and don’t try to get your high ranking by being lazy and cheating, you should do just fine. If you’re on the flip side of the coin, you’re not going to get off so easy.

By using high-quality content you will avoid any issues and if you choose to use junk and ‘filler,’ you are going to end up sorry you did.

There Are Ways To Effectively Use PLR

Chances are pretty good that PLR will still be an effective method of getting content for your site, so long as you make a few minor adjustments in your thinking.

Use Your Own Words

Didn’t you learn in school not to copy? Shame on you if you did! The simplest route by far to use PLR is to rewrite it. If you don’t want to or can’t do it, hire a writer!

It’s a lot cheaper to hire a writer to rewrite an article, rather than research and write it from scratch. A good writer will be able to quickly give you an article that’s so much better than the low quality PLR content you bought.

Redo With Templates

By plugging the PLR content into templates, you can create new content. An example might be that you have an article on ‘Ten Ways You Shouldn’t Swing Your Golf Club.’ If you turn each of these into positives, your new content would be ‘Ten Tips To A Good Golf Swing.

Hook The PLR’s Up

Another route would be to take a few PLR articles and connect them to make a larger article. Of course you will need to make a few changes but that won’t take too long. As well, you could take sections from a few different PLR articles and mold them together to make a brand new article you can call your own. Again, you will need to change a little bit of the wording to make it flow together nicely.

Educate Yourself

A PLR article can give you a base to the topic of interest. In other words it can warm you up to start your research. If you had an article on convertible cribs you could find out the basics of baby equipment and then research the parts that interest you to write your own original article.

By reading through these PLR articles you will become knowledgeable and have the choice to find more information or to just write the article in your own words.

Find Another Purpose For PLR

Rather than using PLR for WebPages or articles, you could use it for information products, auto responder messages, free reports or an analysis. Here, it really doesn’t matter what Google does because it won’t make any difference, as you don’t need them to pick up your content.

Transform Your PLR Content

Google can only look for repeated or copied content, if it’s in text form. So if you translate the PLR text into a video or audio, it won’t be detected. One valuable option is to use your PLR content as script for your video works. Video has really taken off lately and it’s quite simple to make use of this affective marketing tool.

If you are stubborn and refuse to change, your PLR content for your articles or websites it just isn’t going to work for you. You need to flip your mindset and start putting quality first, not quantity.

Not Finished Just Yet

There’s a good reason why Google is on top of the Internet world. It’s because they are always ahead of the game. They don’t like low-quality content and figured out a way to start getting rid of it. By regularly refining their search algorithms, they ensure the world Google will stay on top.

The ‘Panda’ update was just Google’s latest bid to get rid of the crap that’s out there on the web. But don’t kid yourself; this isn’t the last time something like this is going to happen. There will be a lot more changes for the better in the not too distant future, as Google continues to deal with lots of unfinished business.

Bottom line is, you can still use PLR, just don’t use it naked. Make sure you change the article and rewriting it is the easiest route. If you’re a little lazier, ensure you at least change a few words around or combine a couple articles together.

If you want to be a couch potato and plaster your site with PLR content, your ranking will go down and you’re basically going to get nailed because YOU are what Google is determined to get rid of.

And guess what? Google usually gets what it wants more often than not!

Whether you are a blog owner or have a website that offers customers different products or services, social media is an integral part of marketing your site. Social media opens the door for connecting with people, which helps you grow your business. Honestly, there really is no way around it today if you want to build your online presence.

As a business owner, marketing yourself through social media can start to get a bit tedious with all the different accounts – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and now Google Plus.  Signing in and interacting each day can take up time that you don’t have.  Plus, it is easy to spend hours getting lost on Facebook or Twitter looking at other people’s profiles, updates, etc.

There are services out the that can do all the social media management for you – from one central account.  This may be a good option, depending on your situation.

With Netvani you can manage ALL your social media accounts through a single interface. You can update your social media accounts and even see fresh updates from them all in one place. This website is a one stop shop so you don’t have to log in to your different accounts  All of your contacts and your incoming messages will be filtered through Netvani.

For single blog owners or simple websites, this may not be necessary.  However, I can imagine a larger business or website owner needing this type of streamlining process in order to be more efficient with thier organization.

Netvani currently only focuses on Facebook and Twitter, but I imagine there are plans to include other social sites like Linked In and Google Plus.

The starter package is reasonable at $4.99 a month, and they do have a free trial if you want to try it out for 30 days. For businesses that have teams that manage their social media accounts, there are more advanced packages that allow for different users.

It may or not be something that applies to your business model, but if your business can benefit from this type of service, Netvani is worth checking out!

Well, it finally happened.

After a few false starts (or Waves, or Buzzes), Google has finally produced a platform which might be capable of unseating the mighty Facebook.  Since Google Plus is still a work in progress, it’s hard to say exactly how worried Facebook should be, but I can assure you, they are worrying.

Charlie Sorrel works for Wired.com in the Gadget Lab, and he sums up the situation very nicely; “It has been said that the biggest feature of google Plus is that it’s not Facebook. However, there’s another feature that may be of interest to all you Gadget Lab photo nerds out there: the photo integration. It turns out that G+ is a pretty sweet way to manage and view your shared photos.”

Since the photo gallery is one of Facebook’s most popular features, it certainly makes sense that Google would ramp up Google Plus by first showcasing a more convenient, better looking and more intuitive image sharing feature. Before I start crowing about all of the Google Plus advantages, though, we should come to an understanding about how Google is “showcasing” this.

First, Google Plus is at the moment accessible by invitation only. That means you have to be somebody or know somebody to get access. If you aren’t properly connected, you’ll just have to take everyone else’s word with regards to what this platform is like.

Second, you can’t currently upload anything to Google Plus with a Blackberry or an iPhone. Of course, Google’s own Android plays nicely with the new site, but the Blackberry and iPhone apps are “in the works”. This is a minor annoyance to iPhone users like myself, but my son Justin and my friend Vinny both had the foresight to purchase an Android, so they’re in a happy place right now.

If you are one of the happy people who received the invitation and purchased the right phone, then, here are some reasons to take a look at Google Plus;

Google Plus Photos Are Convenient to Load

One of my favorite definitions of “convenience” is being able to do the same job in less time or with less effort. Loading photos to Google Plus is quite convenient. I don’t have to toggle or configure the photos to load them, which saves keystrokes and therefore time.

Of course, the convenience is multiplied by the number of photos you plan to load. Six new pictures of your goldfish will take about the same time to load as on Facebook, but the 150 photos you took at your daughter’s dance recital will load much quicker on Google Plus.

Google Plus Photos Will Look Better

I suppose if you’re going to showcase a photo gallery, you should make sure it looks good, right? Google raised the bar on general-use galleries by including the ability to load high-resolution pictures, as well as easy-to-see oversize thumbnails and some
very nice looking lightbox views.

This way, when you post your Goldfish photos, they’ll look absolutely smashing. For that matter, whether you’ve just started digital scrapbooking with a cell phone or you have perfected infrared photography with a digital camera, your Google photo gallery will be the ideal place to display it.

Google Plus Plays Well With Smartphones

Remember my buddy Vinny? In addition to being an Android owner, he is also a proud denizen of Brooklyn and was able to enjoy the July 4th fireworks over the Hudson River this summer. Because of his handy Android, he was able to share those fireworks with everyone else, as well.

Vinny was able to upload the photos directly from his phone to his Google Plus photo gallery, which made them available to everyone else pretty quickly. I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that eventually, the iPhone and Blackberry owners will enjoy the same privileges.

In my case, though, it probably won’t matter. Between Justin’s bragging, Vinny’s posting, and Google’s obvious favoritism, I have already decided that my next phone will be an Android.

Google Plus Offers Real-World Social Networking

In the real world, we have close friends, convenient friends, work friends, and friends we haven’t seen since high school. In the Facebook world, we are expected to have friends, and everyone else. Google had noticed this discrepancy between social networking and reality, and they have come up with a cure for it.

Google uses “Circles” to define groups of friends, and this allows us to share images and text based on who would actually be interested, rather than who we’re simply on speaking terms with. Let’s face it,your old college roommate does not care what your Labrador Retriever looks like, and prospective employers don’t need to see pictures of you at the Lady GaGa concert.

Is Google Plus the Next Facebook?

Um, probably not.

I’ll invoke the wisdom of BusinessInsider.com’s David Seaman regarding G+; “It will be a huge success, and Facebook is in trouble – although by no means obsolete.”

Google plus will likely be a fun new toy, for a while.

If Google has figured out how to successfully market a new platform, then the soccer moms with cell phones and engineers with infrared digital cameras will stick around when they realize that Google Plus is better looking, more convenient, and easier to control. At that point, Google Plus will simply be Google Plus.

The next Facebook will probably be whatever Facebook evolves into as a result of this frontal attack by Google. Which, for a more committed iPhone user, could be a good thing.

The bottom line is: the winner of this current battle will most likely be consumers in general. Whenever two big bruisers like Facebook and Google get into a battle of the features, the one sure result will be better social networking for everyone.

Related articles

• How to Use Google Photos for Google+ (lockergnome.com)
• Google’s Photo Sharing Service Photovine Gets a Website (mashable.com)

Editor’s Note:  This is a guest post by Jade Evans.  Please read more about Jade in the bio footer!

Writing for search engine optimization is not about gaming Google. I’ve had a lot of people tell me that SEO was ‘that thing you do to trick Google.’

“No, person-who-does-not-understand-that-Internet-Explorer-is-not-the-only-way-to-access-the-internet, it is not that.”

Not if you do it the right way, anyway. There are quite a few ways to do it the wrong way and try and game Google. But if you did that, you could – and likely would – end up like JC Penney, dropping completely out of the first page of Google search results only to land somewhere on the sixth or seventh page – which is completely in Neverland when it comes to search engine results – who ever goes beyond the first or second page of search results anyway? We’re all too ADD and/or lazy anyway.

What writing for SEO is all about is finding the right words to use and integrating them. Of course, if you’re a heating oil company and want to get your website found for the phrase ‘heating oil prices’ you could just write an article about heating oil prices and use it every other phrase – but my friends, that is called spam, and I don’t mean the weird meat you eat from a can.

As a relatively well read person, the hardest thing for me when I was learning how to write good content for websites that would get found in Google, Ask, Yahoo and the like – was re-learning how to write. See, unlike authors – who avoid repetition in favor of synonyms, if you want to get found for a specific keyword, you have to use that specific phrase multiple times. No way to get around it. So you have to build your content around your words to a degree, rather than letting the article form itself completely organically.

Looking back at some of my initial writing for websites, I wince. It was legitimately like learning to write all over again. A lot of the writing sounds like a four year old wrote it.

As someone who has done quite a bit of SEO writing now, let me tell you, it is not easy. SEO is not easy. Nope. It’s not just writing relevant content or having a pretty site – though that is part of it. There are so many layers of SEO – from analysis to programming to content writing and design. I can’t say I know all of them, but I can tell you it is an odd combination of art and science and your average Joe can’t walk off the street and say they’re an SEO expert.

Unless that average Joe is named Matt Cutts.

In steps Google…

And though writing is only one facet of search engine optimization, it is a very important part of it. Google recently changed their algorithm – they called it ‘Panda’ – to increase the importance of fresh, relevant content. You would think that would be something that was a default for everyone who owns a business, who owns a website. But it isn’t. There are a lot of people out there, apparently, who think that gaming the Internet is better than just being honest from the get-go.

So long story short, my advice to anyone who owns or manages a website is as follows:

Know your company and your main selling points, and regularly write a blog on your site using the kind of language you want people to find you for.  It’s a rough sketch of what SEO could do for your website – but at least it’s a start.

Related articles

• Old SEO is DEAD! Please Stop Using it! (inspiredtowrite.com)