Yesterday when I logged into my Google Apps email, there was a message telling me that Google will sort my email into three sections if I so choose.  I nearly chose to ignore it, as I have not had particular success with the labeling functions, even the nested ones.  I find it just clunky enough that I forget to set up the filters.

But I decided to check out Priority Mail, and I must say that I am cautiously optimistic about this one.  Priority Mail segments your inbox into three sections. The first is Important and Unread, the second is Starred, and the third is Everything Else.  It makes decisions about what to place in the Important and Unread section, and you then teach it as you go along.

Teaching is easy.  If it marks an email as important, and it is not (at least to you) you mark it unimportant with a toggle switch that appears along with the other mail options at the top of your box.  It then gets moved to the Everything Else section.  If an email is more important to you than Google thought, just mark it important, and it will move to the Important and Unread section.  The idea is that over time, the app will learn what you want in the Important and Unread section, and misplacements will be fewer.

Sweet.  I have missed important email in the past because it got buried in my Inbox. I admit that I have signed up for probably a few too many newsletters, and I intend to read them, so they stay in the inbox until I read them, or give up and delete them. I get the usual collection of group email that I don’t need to act on, and the announcements from various vendors that don’t require my attention. If this really works over time, the email that require me to take an action will float to the top, and the email that can wait until I have more time will stay out of the way.

The Starred section is also useful.  In the past, if you starred an email, it maintained its position in the email stream.  Out of sight, out of mind, so much for the star!  Now the email that you star is gathered in the center section of your Inbox, all in one place, so you can remember why you starred it in the first place. It is now much more useful as a memory tool, to respond to important email that can’t be handled the first time you read it.

There are other features that I have not explored yet, like changing the settings on the sections to change what email appears and stays there.  Sections can be hidden so they are out of the way, and there is an empty fourth section that you can customize to meet needs not covered with the basic three sections.

So with a full work day under my belt, so far I like it.  It can be turned on or off as needed and it works pretty much as promised.  I will let you know if I change my mind about it once I have lived with it for a while.  How about you?  Have you tried it?  What do you think?

Regina Sillitti is Project Coordinator for Dinkum Interactive.  She has worked in programming,  design, business analysis and quality assurance. Her background in design and data processing give her a unique perspective on client – tech translation. You can reach her at regina@dinkuminteractive.com.

What impressed you the most?

I think what impressed me the most was the creativity and unusual business structure at Google. There is no dress code, you can show up pretty much whenever (as long as work is getting done!), free meals and they even have free shuttle service for all their employees. All your necessities are taken care for you if your work there which I thought was really cool.

Were there any major surprises you did not expect?

When we were all handed new NexusOne cellphones to keep. Our class thought our advisor was about to hand us new Python textbooks and then she pulled out a NexusOne box and told us we were all going to be given free phones to keep, it was a pretty great surprise.

Does your experience impact any desire you might have to work with Google once you graduate college?

My experience didn’t impact my desire to work with Google but it did give me and better idea of what type of company I would like to work at. I’m glad I got to work at such a big company and see how much it takes to run it. It has made me think more about if I want to work at a big or small company along with what exactly I want to do in my field.

Did you learn anything new?

Yes, I learned a ton! I had never used the programming language Python before, but after cramming it into my brain for 6 hours a day over 3 weeks I definitely feel confident now when I say I know Python. Our teachers Charles Martin was a great teacher. He had to deal with many different skill levels in our class and did a great job helping out everyone. Other than programing I also learned a lot about the company of Google and how many different pieces there are to it.

Anything else you’d like to add ?

Overall I think it was an amazing experience and I am so glad I did it! I made some great new friends who I hope to keep in touch with as well, and I plan on applying to work at another similar program next summer for Google.

Congrats Kara!  Best of luck at Pitt!

Tamar Weinberg

Let’s face it – if you want to “do” Social Media right, you need to put the research hat on.  It’s not only essential in developing your strategy, but you must learn the tools and find the conversations, and become comfortable with it all.  Naturally, this can be quite a time consuming task, but it is a must when putting together a Social Media strategy.

Don’t fret!  There are easy tools that can help you and many are free of charge.

Some of my favorites include:

Twitter Search – I often use Twitter’s internal search to find people, places, and conversations. I search by using keywords or hashtags (see also: What’s a Twitter Chat). For example, while putting together a Social Media strategy for a higher education client, I plugged in the University name in addition to their schools, academic programs, and a set of keywords as previously defined in their SEO strategy. This not only helped me find people who have mentioned the University, but also people interested in academic programs they offer.

Google Blog Search – If blog commenting will become a part of your Social Media strategy, you need to know the top blogs in your space. Google Blog Search is one of many blog search sites that can help you find blogs. Others I like to use are Technorati, Blog Catalog, and Alltop.

Social Mention – Social Mention truly is a robust research and listening tool. You not only search by topic, but you can also set up alerts – which are free daily email updates of the latest relevant social media results based on topics you choose. A lot like Google Alerts.

These are just a few, of course.  If you’re willing to pony up the money, there are heavy-duty tools that’ll do more than tell you who, where, and what, they’ll also monitor sentiment and provide analysis. These tools include Radian6 and Scout Labs.

Need help with your Social Media research?  Let us know!

Marilyn Moran is an Internet Marketing Consultant for Dinkum Interactive. With more than 15 years online experience and over 10 years in developing & marketing websites and Internet communities, she has spent the past 4 years focused on Web Strategy, Search Engine Optimization, and Social Media Marketing.  Additionally, she is an officer in the Philadelphia Chapter of the Social Media Club and sits on the Board of Directors for Philadelphia Area New Media Association. You can reach her at Marilyn@dinkuminteractive.com or follow her on Twitter @PhillyMarketing.

Our advice is that it’s sometimes worth just giving it a go. There are systems that help you along the way. DIYSEO.com is one of those that can help guide you. A lot of reputable SEO’s offer a website review that’s very affordable and can work as a roadmap for you.

If you’re in the Philadelphia area and you have an interest in trying SEO for yourself, our own Rick Simmons will be presenting a PBN Networking Luncheon at Maggiano’s on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010. For more information on the event, head over to the PBN website. Hope to see you there.

Find the chat – The other day I saw that a #techchat was happening (about social media marketing for the high-tech industry) and Guy Kawasaki was the guest so I decided to jump into it.

Choose your tool – I use Tweetdeck so I set up a column with #techchat and was ready to roll. There are other tools but you can also go to twitter.com, login and put the hashtag into search and follow along that way.

Get Involved – I’m more of a lurker by nature so I sat back and followed along but there was a LOT of activity (sometimes too much) and plenty of interesting tidbits that others picked up on and re-tweeted which gave it a little more weight.

Follow up – I did re-tweet a few points from the Twitter chat and it yielded some interesting comments and discussions so from that alone, I can see the power of the platform. There’s also a transcript of the event if you feel like checking it out.

It still felt a bit weird and the amount of chatter was quite overwhelming but Guy was very interesting and the subject matter also appealing. The concept of the Twitter Chat is certainly an unusual one but the fact that it is free and the level of accessibility you have to thought-leaders is impressive and it seems that there is a subject for everyone.

My own philosophy about the these brave new Web tools is to just try it. We’re all trying to figure these things out but there are others who have just been able to figure things out a little earlier and we can all learn from them. Then you can decide for yourself if it’s right for you or your business.

Cheers,
Paul @flemo Fleming

1. Use modern coding standards. Ask your web developer not to use tables and that your website separates content from code (HTML/CSS).  Search engines care more about your content than about the markup that controls colors, font sizes, and other such things.
2. Make sure you use friendly, descriptive URL’s and that each page has unique page titles and meta data. While you are probably not going to be using the optimal keywords, phrases, and structure – at the very least if you make your page titles are relevant to each page, and populate those pages with a meta description that summarizes the content, you’ve eliminated a number of negative elements.
3. If you’re using a CMS, use Wordpress. Out of the box, it is incredibly SEO friendly.  With a few plugins (such as the All in One SEO Pack, Google Sitemaps Generator, and Redirection) you are in good shape.
4. Use “Alt” tags. Take the time to give “alt” tags to your images, and descriptions to your links.  It only takes a few minutes up front but it’ll save you a lot of work down the road.
5. Generate an XML sitemap.  You can do this for free using www.xml-sitemaps.com.  If you can, use an automatic script such as the Google Sitemap Generator to automatically generate and submit your website’s sitemap to the three major search engines.
6. Use Webmaster Tools. By using Google Webmaster Tools, Bing’s Webmaster Tools, and Google Analytics, it will help ensure your site is being crawled effectively, and stay informed about how many links are indexed, if malware is present on your site, and where visitors are coming from.
7. Avoid Flash. Don’t code your website in flash and if you have an HTML site, do not put a flash intro into your site.
8. Use fresh and relevant content. Write good, unique copy that clearly describes your company and your services and make sure your homepage has 250-350 words of it.  Add new content regularly – and by that I mean make sure you put up a new case study, client profile, add an FAQ page, or highlight an employee every so often.  Search engines like to see that your site is growing at a regular pace – not too fast, not too slow – since it is a sign that your website is valid, updated, and legitimate.

In summary, this list will not ensure that your website is #1 on Google for any particular term.  However, it will help to make sure that your site is thoroughly indexed and available to search engines; that you’ve created a strong foundation for more focused and intentional SEO efforts in the future; and that you’ve fostered a website management strategy that includes the perspectives of the search engines, as opposed to simply a visual user.

Jacob Smith is a Senior Project Manager and Web Strategist with Dinkum Interactive and has led over 150 high-level consulting and website development projects over the last 10 years. He is active in both the internet and cultural communities, and serves on the board of Philly Car Share, the largest car sharing organization in the United States. Originally from Southern California, Jacob and his wife, Meghan, now live in Center City Philadelphia with their young sons Rory and Duncan.

Articles – chances are you may already have some of these floating around but if not, get going. A strong article talking about your services, distributed through the many article websites can be an effective weapon in your arsenal. Depending on what you’re offering, sometimes a single interested web surfer who seeks to take action on that article can demonstrate a significant return.

Video – people love videos, just look at the popularity of YouTube.com. While there are certain elements people look for in an online video, simply touting your wares or even yourself can be a powerful differentiator and yet another way for folks to find you.

Press Releases – the web is filled with these bad boys (a little saturated sometimes) but again, if you have something to say, don’t rule out the power of a good press release to share your news. For some it can be an announcement of a newly designed website. For others, it can be a truly newsworthy announcement that should be shared with the world. Whatever the reason, getting it out there is a good start which may continue through Google Alerts, a blogger picking it up and posting it on their website, someone tweeting it or Buzzing or adding it to Digg or the thousands of other community sharing opportunities.

Guest Blogging – leveraging the power of an existing blogger with a built-in community is a great way to get your message out. Chances are the bloggers will also appreciate the extra input.

If you’re afraid to share your ‘trade secrets’, you’ll most likely be scooped by someone else sharing their (your) ‘trade secrets’. If you’re not a good writer, get one. If you’re afraid of diluting or damaging your brand, spend a bit of time and money doing it right.

As always, time is a factor but there are ways to overcome this obstacle either by getting help or shifting a few things around to make the time. Getting proactive with your content is a surefire way to start or continue building your online foundation, often with some nice side effects (like SEO for example). I’ve been swayed into making purchase decisions by a well written article so don’t think that others wouldn’t.

Cheers,
Paul

Google doesn’t employ a full time blogger for any subject, people get paid to do their job and part of that job sometimes includes a blog.  If it works for Google, why doesn’t it work for the rest of us?

One thing that Karen said that hit home was that if the blog feels like a homework assignment that you will tend to put off, then maybe blogging isn’t for you.  It becomes one more task in a crowded week and the tone of the blog will show that.  If you are uninspired, how can you inspire your readers?

She then went on to say that blogging can be fun and whimsical at times.  Small companies especially can post about the culture of the company, like “Donut Friday” or other humorous topics and include pictures.  Other times, the posts will be longer and more focused on a topic of interest to your industry and community. Posting about news items works as well.  If someone is making a presentation somewhere, announce it on the blog.  If the company wins an award, let people know about it on the blog.  If you are changing business direction, or have a PR issue that develops, discuss it in a post or two. Invite your community to weigh in on these topics.

On the Google blogs, there are also many writers. No blog is owned by just one employee.  There are established guidelines and best practices that they follow, and someone who thinks like an editor who manages the whole thing.  There is no one with sole editing responsibilities.  Suggestions are made along the way on a topic or a post that is circulated internally prior to posting, but each author is responsible for their own posts.

At Dinkum, we understand the SEO benefits of blogging.  We know the value of building a community and keeping our community informed and engaged, and we teach that to our clients as well. It was good to hear Karen Wikre from Google expound on some of this information, and also that Google follows the same guidelines and principles in their blogging campaigns that we consider important.

How is blogging working out at your company? Have you run into the “blogging as homework” dilemma? And Rick, how about Donut Fridays?

Regina Sillitti is Project Coordinator for Dinkum Interactive.  She has worked in programming,  design, business analysis and quality assurance. Her background in design and data processing give her a unique perspective on client – tech translation. You can reach her at regina@dinkuminteractive.com.

Anywho, I believe the Wild Wild West nature of the Internet has created an issue of just what will we, as users, of the medium adapt to versus adopt. First, let’s define the words. From Wiktionary, to adapt is “the capacity of an organism to be modified by circumstances”.  Adopt, on the other hand, is “To take by choice into relationship”.

There are certain things we may adapt to but either feel we have no choice or it may be temporary – like changes to Facebook – often times we adapt knowing the powers that be will finally figure out they goofed and change it – yet again. (Okay I will save my rants about Facebook for another post and I have a few).

There are, however, things we take up and adopt willingly. The difference is not subtle and I believe more attention by the major providers of Internet sites should pay attention to it.  Adapt has a breaking point, adopt does not and we will support and magnify the change. It increasingly becomes easy to adapt then figure out we will not adopt and can choose to abandon.

When you make changes to your site, services, or customer service policy – do you know if your customers and prospects are adapting or adopting? I continue to see major companies thrusting changes upon us – changes that people will not adopt or adapt to. The tools to market test have never been better – why is it not done more often?

Is it arrogance – I believe when you reach the 500,000,000 mark it becomes arrogance and I will review that in more detail on a future post.

Where do you find yourself adapting versus adopting?

Rick Simmons is a principal at Dinkum Interactive, a firm specializing in online marketing solutions for small and medium sized businesses around the globe. With more than 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing, Simmons has spent the last four years focused on search engine optimization, and other Internet marketing strategies.  Reach him at 267-626-9094 or rick@dinkuminteractive.com.

Here are some tips that I employ for keeping myself and our team focused and on-track:

1. Keep Strategy Top of Mind. First off, if you don’t have a Social Media strategy with goals defined, then don’t even bother reading past this point. A Social Media strategy is meant to be the roadmap that helps you get from point A to point B.  A carefully planned strategy will help you stay focused in the long run. Revisit the strategy often to measure your actions. Are you meeting the goals defined in the strategy? If not, why not? Are the tactics being carried out as planned? If not, why not?
2. Revisit & Rewrite Goals As Needed. If you find that the original strategy and goals are impractical then you absolutely must recalibrate. The sooner the better. Also, if you become confused about new goals to set, take a step back and look at what others are doing. Seeing what others (possibly even your competition) are doing, can be inspiring and help stimulate new objectives!  (Read more on Social Media goal setting on Mashable)
3. Create a Schedule. Establishing milestones and deadlines is essential to managing Social Media.   If you’re not using a Project Management tool like Basecamp or ActiveCollab, then try setting up tasks for yourself using Google Calendar or your favorite task management software. Receiving reminders of Social Media tasks due can help you keep focused.  Do this until scheduled tasks become routine; part of your everyday life.
4. Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! Communication is the key to keeping your team focused and committed to the Social Media plan. Schedule regular check-ins or Social Media status meetings. Make sure that everybody is on the same page!  Also, be honest. If there is something you’re not comfortable doing or don’t have the time to do, then let the team know. Tasks can (and should) be re-distributed or re-scheduled if needed. Additionally, if you’re feeling a lack of creativity, ask your co-workers or peers.  Brainstorm ideas together!
5. Keep Track of Activities. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s imperative.  Whether you wrote & published a blog, updated a Facebook fan page status, or tweeted a few things, it’s always a good idea to keep track of those kinds of activities. You can then compare them to what you’ve done previously. Note them on a document somewhere. It can be a Word doc, Excel spreadsheet, or on your Project Management software. Either way, your team to should have easy access to review what has been done.
6. Analyze and Tweak. It is important to know if your efforts are bearing fruit. In other words, keep track of the numbers and measure/review any impact on your efforts.  Over time you’ll see the type of things (and channels) that do well and don’t do well. Spend less time doing the things that don’t work and maximize your opportunities on areas that are strong.  As we’ve mentioned before, setting up and monitoring Google Analytics can help you determine effectiveness.

Social Media may seem like an intimidating, hard to manage venture. But following these few simple suggestions can make it a lot easier to handle.

What are some things you do to stay focused?

Marilyn Moran is an Internet Marketing Consultant for Dinkum Interactive. With more than 15 years online experience and over 10 years in developing & marketing websites and Internet communities, she has spent the past 4 years focused on Web Strategy, Search Engine Optimization, and Social Media Marketing.  Additionally, she is an officer in the Philadelphia Chapter of the Social Media Club and sits on the Board of Directors for Philadelphia Area New Media Association. You can reach her at Marilyn@dinkuminteractive.com or follow her on Twitter @PhillyMarketing.