Screen sharing is when I can see what is on your computer screen, or you can see what is on my computer screen.  It can be very useful, especially with the right free tool.

Join.me

I use a free tool called Join.me for screen sharing.  It is very simple to use.  If you are wanting to share your screen (with one other person) then simply download a tool and click share.  You are given a number.  Tell the other person your number and they enter it into the screen at join.me.  Voila…Your screens are joined.

Ideas for using Screen Sharing

I use Screen Sharing for:

• Tutorials
• Showing someone something specific on my computer
• Trouble Shooting
• My Bookkeeper helped me with QuickBooks
• Learning a process
• Anything where 2 people can teach or learn or share ideas

Give it a try and tell us how you are using Join.me.

Screen Capture is the ability to share what you are seeing on your computer monitor with other people.  This can be via an image or video.  Most Windows users get frustrated with the inability for the Print Screen button to work. (never has for me)

In Comes Jing

Jing is a very cool tool from TechSmith that allows for Screen Capture.  I use it for images but it does have a video element as well.  There  are a few tools available to put arrows, notes, annotations, etc on your images before saving them – which makes this tool way more powerful than just capturing your screen.  I use it to:

•  Create images of completed websites
• Share an error message with a tech person
• Show someone how something displays on my screen
• Show someone what I am seeing at any given time

What are some creative ways you can use Jing?

Yes they do.  Here are just some factors considered while deciding where to rank your website on the Search Results pages.

• Sites that users block get points counted against them. This was taken from the Google Webmaster Central Blog.  If users block websites there must be a reason.  Google is now counting these sites as having poor quality content and they are getting discounted.
• Links from Social Media followers have influence ; if they are from quality users.  Google can determine if a follower is by a bot or automated.  Real followers or fans that are linking to your content give you a positive lift in the rankings.  Matt Cutts (from Google) talks about Social Media links in this video ~
  
• Why Social Media Marketing will help your Google rankings (according to Matt Cutts)
  
• Connecting your website to a Google + pagecan increase your rankings drastically.
• Personal Search – this is the concept that Google will deliver content from people you know before content from people you do not know.  It does this from evaluating the people in your Social Media circles, fans, and followers.  Google assumes you will trust people that you know and interact with before random people.  This could be content created, shared, or bookmarked by these people.  What this means for you ~ no 2 people are going to be seeing your information the same.  The more people you know and interact with the more often your content will be seen on the first page (for these people).  Example pictured below for the search “social media and search rankings” 

If you are still on the fence about using Social Media to influence search rankings now would be a good time to pull your head out of the sand and get a grip on reality.

Facebook just added a Daily Offer feature to FanPages.  You can have a Special each day (if you want) and pin it to the top of your FanPage.  When someone gets your offer Facebook emails them a certificate to present to your business for redemption.  They also include a way to share the offer to their friends.

I created this offer today to see how the system works.  It was very easy and just 2 steps – add and image and write the offer.  I can think of several uses for this off the top of my head:

• Daily Specials
• Restaurants or Coffee Shops offering a Leader to bring in customers
• Specials for your Fans

How would you use this feature?  Leave your ideas below in the comment area.

Dotty

Do you know?  Klout is a website that measures Social Media Influence.  It is a scale from 0-100 with 100 being the best.  The average Klout score is 20.  It gets exponentially harder to increase your Klout score as you move up the scale.  Klout uses an algorithm that takes into consideration things like:

• The number of people in your social media connections
• If your messages are ReTweeted or Shared
• If your messages get comments
• How many comments or shares
• Who is sharing your content
• And more

I do not look at Klout as a number for status or to compare with other people.  I look at it as a guide for improving what you are doing in the social media arena. Go ahead and register and connect up your social media accounts that you are using.  See what your Klout number is then use it to see if you are gaining influence with your social media activity.  If you are not then start to tweak what you are doing – why do something if it is not going to get you results?

Do you know your Klout number?  Mine is currently a 43.  Feel free to put your in the comments below.

• Hoot Suite
• Nimble

To read the article go to Dr.Shannon Reece’s website.

Timeline is Facebook’s new format, as of March 2012, all Facebook Fanpage users will be automatically switched over to Timeline.  Timeline is a completely new way of organizing  posts in chronological fashion, and you can literally go back to the day your business started and fill in all the important events, add pictures, and highlight important business milestones.  Timeline is like a detailed, digital scrapbook of your business growth.

Picture Viewer

The way you view pictures on Facebook has undergone some major changes.  Now, when you click on a picture, it pulls up the picture viewer feature.  This allows you to flip through albums, make comments, and check off what you like without leaving the page you are on.  When you are done, simply close the viewer and you are right back where you started.

Custom Tabs

Welcome pages are gone – but custom tabs have not gone away.  The access point has been moved to the icons below your Cover image.  These icons are customizable so put some compelling message in the image.  You can also link directly to the tab for any promotion purposes.

Julie came to me over 5 years ago without a website, logo, business card, or any other marketing materials.  It was her first year as a Massage Therapist and she had a few clients each week – mostly they were referred by the Chiropractor whose office she rents space from.

We created a very simple website (you will see it is not even totally completed).  www.JulieWirta.com  This is the only industry that can get away with an incomplete website and still get lots of referrals. (In my opinion)  Although Massage is a highly competitive field ~ she does know she would get more calls if her site was finished ~ she is getting more than enough calls for her business. She is getting over 50% of her new clients from her web presence.

She called me about 6 months after her website went live and asked me to turn it off!  I did not.  She was booking about 10 massages per week and working 6 days a week.  She is very busy.  She is now booked about 1 month in advance and sometimes refers new clients to another massage therapist since she just can’t fit them into her schedule fast enough.

Julie is a wonderful client who is an excellent massage therapist and is becoming a great marketer for her own business.  She believes in continuing education and is always learning new techniques and improving her skills.  She is well worth the 1 month wait for an appointment.

You already know that.  Many small business owners know they need to market, but are lost as to how.  They are often given a tool, but do not really understand the power of that tool and give up on it before it really has a chance to help.  This is how I feel about Google +.

Google Plus is an Awesome Tool

Google is integrating Search with Google +.  What does that really mean for your business?  If you have people in your Circles (even if you are really sure who they are) and those people do a search for something you have written or posted about then your post comes up in their search results (if they are logged in).  Think about that for a moment…

If I was looking to make a purchase of a product or service, and I saw someone that I know form my Circles talking about that product or service then I would be way more likely to click on that Search Result and read the post.  I already trust this person so I give that piece of information way more credibility than the next one that is by someone I don’t know and will likely not build a relationship with.

I just did a search for Ipad4 and received 60 personal results – all from people in my circles that I highly trust.  Thinking of this from a business owners point of view – this is the most powerful search tool ever released.

We buy from people we know, like, and trust!

With Google combining Search and Google Plus ~ this has suddenly become a tool that cannot be turned down if you are a business owner.

Google + Offers Free Hangouts

This is a feature you will not find anywhere else.  A Hangout is a Video Conferencing System where up to 10 computers can “Hangout” together and discuss, learn, train, etc.  The uses are limitless.  Just yesterday I watched a recoded Hangout that taught how Klout is useful for small businesses.  I have participated in Hangouts where people in my circles are providing valuable, free information.  How can you use Hangouts to market your business?  Leave your ideas and thoughts in the comments below.

Listen to an interview with Dr. Shannon Reece at her blog.  I reveal my secret for building my business locally.  Get some ideas for what you can do to build your business in your local market.

Listen to the How To Become Locally Famous Interview.