by Bethaney Wallace

Receiving a carbon copy email – the exact same message others receive, just one address box lower – is a common practice throughout email senders. Although its exact purpose cannot be pinned down, the CC was most likely invented as a way to inform parties, but show they are not needed to respond – a message that logic can also provide. “Great, I needed to know that, but I don’t need to respond,” one might say after reading an email about parking assignments or the forecast. But what the inventor of the CC failed to realize is that, despite subject matter, recipients don’t respond to every single email. We don’t need a specification that does the filtering for us.

The History

A term hailing from the olden days, when literal carbon copies were made from papers or contracts, users had to write with a firm hand to ensure the transfer of paper to carbon layers was made. During this interaction, the most important party would receive the top copy, which had each form properly and boldly filled in with ink. A middle copy almost always read the proper information, having made a successful transfer. While the bottom layer would often be missing dates and other info. The lower down on the priority list you became, the further back your carbon paper was placed. In other words, carbon copy = not important.

Modern Day

While some view this form of email as a way of saying “just so you know,” for many it’s an insult, and a way to clog their email folders. Everyone has a few contacts who are guilty – they CC tens of addresses on each piece of mail, regardless of whether or not it’s relevant. While companies oftentimes ask for this “courtesy” (“Please CC me, the boss, on all work-related emails so we can keep track of your hours.”), unless requested, the CC becomes a nuisance. Soon you’re getting 20 emails a day from Jane, who lost her password to Facebook and can someone help her? Not you specifically, but she wants you to know about this difficult time in her life.

One main downside to the CC is that email does it automatically. When clicking “reply all,” whomever was last to respond is put in the receiving field and everyone else gets slapped in the “not important” section. It’s email’s way of showing some they are on a higher scale than others.

Finally, on a personal level (for me), CC’d and CC’s and their BCC counterparts, are grammatically incorrect, despite what Word may tell you. Carbon copies do not have possessions, nor do they have missing letters that need to be signified through an apostrophe. If you write it that way, in my constant effort to defend the apostrophe, I will send you a harshly worded email.

On the Other Hand…

I have an intense love for the BCC. The “blind” makes all the difference. Either you’re sending to multiple recipients who aren’t acquainted with one another, or you’re pulling a fast one – both are instances I support. Because being shady is in the title, it’s ok. You know what you’re doing and so does the BCC receiver; there’s no class announcing here. Being passive aggressive (i.e. the CC) will only make people hate you. (FYI saying “I’m sorry you misread my response” or “I am busy” – we’re all busy; get over yourself – also fall into this category.)

To sum up, the CC has no purpose in life. What could easily be solved through a subject line has been dragged out and turned into an email clogging past time. Either type your recipients in the “to” field or fully commit and send blindly. No one likes a coward.

Photo courtesy of bgilliard

No related posts.

By Kelsey Jones

The internet is ripe with literally millions of websites that offer free information and media, including music, books, photos, and other media. The important component is deciphering which are legal (including creative commons) and which are not. When looking for free music, books, and photos online, it’s important to be sure you are following all media download laws, as well as any creative commons guidelines.

Free Music Online

Music can be found online for free legally if you just know where to look. Music download services like iTunes and Amazon.com occasionally offer free songs and singles for a short period of time, sometimes only for a day. To find out when iTunes and Amazon are offering free music downloads, visit:

• Free music on iTunes section (link via PCWorld)
• Free music on Amazon.com section

There are also websites that offer free open creative commons music, as well as free streaming music. Sometimes on-demand streaming music services are just as good as having the songs in your own music library, as you can search and play for music on demand, as well as create your own playlists. Here are some more recommended free music websites:

• Spotify – you have to download a free program to use Spotify
• Grooveshark – can stream online
• Free Music Archive – download free music

Free Books Online

Many older books (from the 1800s and 1900s) are offered for free on these sites listed below. Additionally, the Amazon Kindle store also occasionally offers books for free, in the same way they offer music. PDF e-books can also be read on Kindles and iPads, as well as smartphones that have the free Kindle app.

• Project Gutenberg – Over 39,000 free e-books for download
• Free e-books – offers books from new and upcoming authors
• Free Amazon Kindle books

You can also use free book trading services to trade books with other users. All you have to pay for is shipping. Sites include:

• Swap.com
• PaperbackSwap.com
• BookMooch.com

Free Stock Photos Online

If you need stock photos or clip art for your blog, website, marketing campaign materials, or other purpose, there are several sites that offer free clip art and stock images. These photos are often high-quality and just as usable as the paid stock image sites like Shutterstock.com.

• Microsoft Office Images
• Free Original Clipart
• Open Clipart Library
• Stock.xchng – free stock images, some users do require attribution
• everystockphoto –great free stock photo search
• FotoSearch – free stock photo image search

These are just some of the millions of resources available for free music, books, and photos online. Do you have any other suggestions? Let us know in the comments!

Related posts:

1. How to Download Your Facebook Photos and Information
2. Find Our Internet Marketing Articles & Other Work Online
3. How to Find And Advertise Valentine’s Day Ideas Online

by Bethaney Wallace

Remember back in elementary school when it was time for math and you sat around doing the work by hand? An eraser, a number 2 pencil, and lined notebook paper was advanced as it got. Calculators may have been found on those bulky wristwatches, but after the age of 8 our fingers outgrew the tiny buttons that controlled them. Other subjects fared the same: anything battery operated was on a strict checkout basis. And the one piece of technology that stayed constant – the roll-out projector – was a constant source of loud humming, burned out light bulbs, and burned fingers.

Now days though, the game has changed. (The “game” being school.) In fact, two whole years ago, 97 percent of schools in the U.S. had Internet access, according to the Federal Communications Commission. In 2010, a lower percentage had high-speed access. But since the enactment of the National Broadband Plan, more schools have both gained online access and speed.

Another trend catching speed is the use of individual iPads. Through the help of Apple’s learning labs program. Offering different programs, schools can purchase (at a discount), an iPod, iPad, or MacBook learning lab, which comes with a charging cart and portable airport. According to Apple, more than 1.5 million iPads are being used for schools across the country. And with more than 20,000 learning apps to choose from, these devices won’t go to waste. Schools are also on the fast track to purchase more electronic devices for their students. One county in Texas, McAllen Independent, plans to provide each of its 25,000 K-12 students with an Apple device by the end of the year. And that’s only one county in one state; hundreds of other districts are doing the same.

From smashing erasers and getting blinded by the overhead projectors, students everywhere – as young as preschoolers – are now learning through electronics. Education has already grown tremendously and will continue to do so as the technology advances.

Screen shot of iPod station taken from Apple 5-7-12.

No related posts.

by Bethaney Wallace

Everyone knows that renting is a pain. It’s hard to find the right sized house or building, the best neighborhoods, and who’s to tell the friendly landlords from the ones who will fix the leaking sink with duct tape?

But thanks to a new kind of app, renting just got a whole lot easier. Known as RentCompass, the app allows users search, locate, and pin down rentals throughout Canada. But what makes the app unique is that its integrated through social media. Connect to a Facebook account to get instant feedback from others. Thinking of checking out a rental in northern New Brunswick? Perhaps a few (or even several) Facebook friends can offer advice as to which neighborhoods are preferable.

How Does it Hold Up?

Unlike website aggregators who compile listings, RentCompass shows what’s available in real time. When listings go off the market, they are no longer listed on RentCompass, saving users the hassle of attempting to track down an apartment that has already been snatched up.

The app also goes above and beyond the task of just showing rentals, including StreetView and Walkscore ranks to give potential tenants the best possible impression. (After all, who wants to move provinces away only to find out their new apartment is much to be desired?)

As for those without a smartphone or tablet (it’s available for Android and iOS-based devices), or who rock a Blackberry, RentCompass can be accessed online. Just visit their website or link to a Facebook profile to take advantage of the benefits

Downsides

One main downside to the app is that it’s only available for Canadian rentals. Commuters and Americans alike are forced to search for rentals the old fashioned way – elsewhere. The site also seems to fair much better when given an exact location; its zoom map feature (powered by Google Maps), shows an overwhelming number of results over large cities.

All in all, RentCompass creates an efficient, integrative way for renters to find and evaluate new properties. Its social media components allow tenants to broaden their background info, and because it works in real time, users can be sure they are given the most accurate information possible. Who knew finding a new place to live could be so easy?

Screen shot taken 5-4-12

The Social Robot received compensation for product placement in this post.

No related posts.

Guest Post by Claudia Somerfield

You can see lots of evolution taking place in SEO techniques. If you do not keep abreast with the SEO updates surfacing frequently, your site would lag behind in terms of ranking over search engines. To have a consistent ranking of your website or blog over Google and other search engines, adapting these SEO updates are a must. Among the various sources of updates, the best resource for SEO updates can be none other than Google. The reasons are obvious; Google is a giant in search market and can be the best source to guide in SEO techniques. The below mentioned is the top five SEO tips from the source of Google itself.

1. Work with relevant keywords: Keywords are the basics of search engine optimization. Therefore you need to research proper and relevant keywords related to your niche area of your website or blog. Jot down all the relevant keywords with you to effectively use them in your various SEO techniques. You have to come out with the keywords which a customer would think of finding your products or services while typing over Google. Using proper and relevant keywords can help your blog or website visible over Google and other search engines.
2. Meta tags and site structure: Both meta tags and site structure is the important elements of your site as it helps to give a better picture of your website or blog when the search engine robot crawls. Hence it is imperative to wisely create meta tags for each and every web page of your site. It should highlight the topic and content of your website or blog. Google stresses on making your website or blog navigation easy and simple to improve your site structure.
3. Add fresh and original content: Content is an important element of any website or blog. If you want to make your website visible over search engines like Google, it is important to create fresh and original content and keep posting new and fresh articles frequently. In fact, this is considered to be the most important rule by Google, without following this protocol the other SEO techniques would go astray. The Google search engine robots indexes a site or blog having fresh and new content and which is updated on a regular basis.
4. Google Plus and bookmarks: If you have few effective and high quality blog posts or articles over your website then you can think of sharing with other bloggers or website owners over the web. If you can make your blog post or article viral then it can help you a lot in making your links popular. With this you can become a favorite place for the search engine robots to a great extent. All you need is interesting and useful articles and posts which are engaging and of high quality. The visitors coming at your place not only would love it but also keep sharing in their friend circle which will help you to widen your link network.
5. Email forwarding: This is a straight forward kind of rule from Google Map. You as a blogger must register for the email forwarding in the Webmasters tools. This will enable Google to interact with you in an effective way. Google will instantly let you know if you commit any mistake over your website. (This is the most simple but still the best SEO tip coming straight from Google.)

Creating a blog or a site is one thing; however, getting good amount of traffic is vital and requires time and efforts. By following these above five important tips you can certainly make your site or blog more visible over Google and other search engines as it comes straight from Google itself.

About the Author: Claudia is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on luxury and technology. These days she is quite busy in writing an article for why does Google inspired Oogle Sari?

No related posts.

by Bethaney Wallace

The Social Robot is proud to announce its brand new sister site, Crappy Kid Art (crappykidart.com). Built with the premise of celebrating, yes, crappy art, CKA will host an outlet for bad artists everywhere. Although the word “kid” is in the title, we hold no age limits to those with no talent … ourselves included.

Each day, we will examine the ugly creations that adults were once forced to compliment us on. Remember giving your grandparents self-portraits? Even though it was a smudged mess, in no way resembling yourself, and they still said thank you?

Perhaps you created animals by Elmer’s gluing leaves to construction paper. Your parents accepted it graciously and with pride. “Look what an artist we have!” they swooned. It would be years before you learned their praise and thankfulness was a complete sham.

But, now on the other end of kid art, the side where you’re aware kids are messy, impatient, and take no pride in their work, it’s time to celebrate this transformation. Whatever your former forte – paintings, pencil drawings, coloring book failures – we want to see it. And paper isn’t the limit. In fact, David Sedaris, author and regular contributor on This American Life, once gave his mother a homemade ashtray covered in glitter and sloppy painting. It is a piece that, should a picture exist, would receive prime placement on CKA.

We also encourage the submission of current child’s creations. When you receive a handmade calendar for your birthday (even though you bought your child a nice, expensive gift for theirs), share it with CKA and give yourself the gift of entertainment.

So long as the art is crappy, whether in print, clay, or permanent marker on the hallways, it’s fair game. (This isn’t a place for show offs or award winners; if there’s no coloring outside the lines, no random limb placements, and no physics-defying factors, post it on your own blog.)

Please join us as we ponder these pieces of “art” and celebrate the former crappy artist in everyone. Subscribe to http://crappykidart.com and start receiving email alerts today.

Related posts:

1. Maintain Your Online Presence With a Website
2. Unique Website and Social Media Marketing Opportunities Offline

By Kelsey Jones

I never really started listening to podcasts until this year. I falsely believed that they wouldn’t be interesting or entertaining. I don’t know why, much like I don’t know why I naturally avoid pickles and mustard. It just happens.

Luckily, podcasts became the pickle and mustard sandwich that recently got me through my first five mile training run. Even the most terrible activities, like running, are more enjoyable with a podcast by your side (or, rather, in your ears).

The term “podcast” came from combining the words “iPod” and “broadcasting”.

According to HowStuffWorks:

Podcasting was developed in 2004 by former MTV video jockey Adam Curry and software developer Dave Winer. Curry wrote a program, called iPodder,that enabled him to automatically download Internet radio broadcasts to his iPod. Several developers improved upon his idea, and podcasting was officially born. Curry now hosts a show called The Daily Source Code, one of the most popular podcasts on the Internet.

Right now, podcasting is free from government regulation. Podcasters don’t need to buy a license to broadcast their programming, as radio stations do, and they don’t need to conform to the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) broadcast decency regulations. That means anything goes — from four-letter words to sexually explicit content. Copyright law does apply to podcasting, though. Podcasters can copyright or license their work — Creative Commons is just one online resource for copyrights and licenses.

Podcasts have continued to grow in popularity and become more mainstream. The growth of this communication medium has threatened the more traditional radio broadcasts, especially radio that has been streamed online. Even though a 2010 study reported that only 16% of people listen to podcasts, whereas 32% listen to radio, podcasting is still a growing media source that is not only a force to be reckoned with, but is also something that’s very entertaining.

Here are some podcasts I enjoy thoroughly:

• Stuff You Should Know
• Stuff You Missed in History Class (can you tell I’m obsessed with HowStuffWorks.com yet? Here are all the HSW Podcasts on one page.)
• WireTap
• Stuff Your Mom Never Told You (sometimes NSFW due to topics)
• Work Awesome
• Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me
• How to Make Money on the Internet
• Brain Stuff

Here’s another article on podcasting’s effect on radio: Podcasting’s Affect on Radio

What podcasts do you listen to? Let us know in the comments.

Graphic courtesy of http://mediahistory101.pbworks.com/w/page/21438921/PODCASTING

No related posts.

Guest Post by Chris Dyson

There are so many social networks and so few hours in the day. As an online marketer I make my living online, I spend an unhealthy amount of time reading blogs, networking within internet based communities and helping my clients websites to make more money for them. 

Just about every week I see one of my online buddies say: “Wow, Chris, you know this new social network is amazing! If you want your business to grow you need to divert your time here.” But sadly time is not a commodity it’s a finite irreplaceable resource, something we can never get back. And, that is why I love tools that can make my time online more productive and help me to get more things done.

For the last couple of years I have followed David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodology to manage my online profiles, so when I discovered IFTTT it just put even more of my world on autopilot. IFTTT (pronounced “ift” as in lift) stands for If This Then That, it’s a very easy to use tool to help “put the internet to work for you”. By creating recipes based on online triggers and then assigning actions,  IFTTT allows you to connect two web services or applications together to perform tasks on auto-pilot thereby you can be more effective with your online marketing. Getting all of the different channels to talk to one another is very easy all you have to do is authorize the services to connect with IFTTT. One of the great things is that you can use recipes devised by other users so there are lots of very cool ideas on the site.

Sharing Great Content

I’m sure the readers of this blog already understand that the secret to growing your social following and becoming a respected figure in your industry then you need to curate and share really good content. So this recipe is one I use regularly to do that.

As I already mentioned I read LOTS of blogs, most of these blogs I read via my Google Reader, so I have an IFTTT recipe setup so that if I “star” a post in Google Reader it will send out a Tweet to my followers. http://ifttt.com/recipes/956 I prefer this way of sharing content as it allows me to read the article before sharing it where as some people just automatically use services such as Twitterfeed to share their favorite blog’s new posts blindly.

Pro Tip: Don’t simply set IFTTT to tweet the blog title and url add some personalization to the tweet e.g. “I recommend this post” or “Sharing this article” and then add the post detail.

Managing your Different Social Profiles

With the dawn of Google+ marketers have had to find time to grow their following and profile on a new social network. The problem with Google Plus is there currently isn’t an API to help you post across different social networks. That is unless you use IFTTT.

Firstly you need to use http://googleplusrss.nodester.com/ to obtain your Google Plus feed. Then create a recipe to update your Facebook and another recipe to send out a tweet every time you post something on G+.

You can read some of my other Google Plus productivity tips here.There are a number of other recipes that allow you to post across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Posterous and many more.

Pro Tip: When I change my Facebook profile photo, my Twitter profile picture is automatically updated too. I know this seems like something that would only save you 2 minutes, but it’s a task I no longer have to remember to do. http://ifttt.com/recipes/8981

Getting other people’s attention

In my role as a marketer I often want to get the attention of thought leaders to share my content to their social networks or perhaps even write about it on their blog. This next recipe I picked up from Dan Shure. In order to stalk them tag them, you can setup a recipe to send you an SMS whenever they send out a tweet, giving you the perfect opportunity to jump online and send them a response. There are some more great tips in his IFTTT review post.

There are over 40 different services you can use with ifttt and so you are purely limited by your imagination as to how you want to use it. Some users have even setup really cool productivity tasks to use Google Calendar, Email and Evernote to make their offline lives more efficient too.

I’d love to hear of your experiences of using ifttt in the comments below.

About the Author

Chris Dyson is an SEO Consultant for Roots Web Solutions and loves online tools that help to improve productivity.

No related posts.

by Bethaney Wallace

When it comes to web browsers, I’m rarely willing to compromise. Internet Explorer has caused more headaches than I can count, and Bing ranks in the top 10 of things I hate most in the world. While once swearing by Safari, ever since the invention of Chrome, I’ve been using it every day and often. There is the occasional site that forces me to convert back to Safari or use the Fox, or when I’m doing research Blekko is handy, but Chrome is still my go-to browser. Google rarely lets me down, and, if I’m being completely honest, sometimes I’ve just too lazy to switch from the search bar to the address-typing bar; Chrome combines these features into one, convenient place.

BUT, I recently came across a completely new type of browser. One that donates money to charities every time you search. Even those searches for “discount designer shoes” or “how to braid” – this outlet allows users to do good even when being completely selfish.

How Does it Work?

Known as Good Search, this site asks users to sign in and then choose a charity of their choice. The highest earning being the ASPCA with more than $45,000, charities must first sign up so that they can receive funds. The site, powered by Yahoo, even offers users multiple ways to earn for different charities. Users can make Good Search their home page (And FYI, this is not yet available in Chrome, a fact that will cause the makers to receive a harshly worded letter later today) and earn $.01 per search. And if you think you can search like mad, think again; fraudulent searches can hurt a charity’s status, so search organically.

Users can also shop for online coupons within the site, which gives a percent donation – ranging from about 1 to 12 percent – of each purchase. For example, if I were to look through the coupons and find a deal from Zazzle, I’d click on the deal I wanted to use. The website would then link me to Zazzle and donate 10 percent of my purchase to my charity of choice, plus allotting me whatever offered discount. Not a bad deal. Another option for donating through Good Search is by eating out at registered restaurants.

And because no good deed can go unnoticed, each user’s account tracks the amount they’ve earned. Just log in to see how much your mindless Internet searching and online shopping has accumulated to help a good cause. With Good Search, there’s proof that charity can be gained by offering incentives to others.

Download the program today to help earn for your charity of choice.

Related posts:

1. Finding Unique Items Through the Internet
2. How to Tweak Your Internet Marketing Efforts for the Holidays

By Kelsey Jones

If you haven’t watched the short film Caine’s Arcade, drop what you’re doing and do so now:

Caine’s Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

Caine’s Arcade is a short film about a 9-year-old boy in L.A. that built an entire arcade out of cardboard in a section of his father’s used car part shop. The film now has millions of views on Vimeo and YouTube and has its own website. The website includes a link to donate via PayPal to Caine’s Arcade Scholarship Fund, which would be put towards Caine’s college education. As of press time, the scholarship fund now has over $127,000, up over $23,000 from April 11, 2012. What started out as a filmmaker’s attempt to tell the heart-warming story of Caine’s entrepreneurial spirit has now set him up for college when he turns 18.

This is just one example of hundreds of how the power of the internet and social media can be used for social good and change. The internet is made up of millions (if not billions) of people that care about one another. This makes it one of the most caring communities on the planet. The internet ties us all together; it gives us something to talk about and feel passionate about.

To change someone’s life through the internet, check out these websites, which allow you to choose a cause you are interested in or passionate about:

• KickStarter is the “world’s largest funding platform for creative projects.” It allows people to post their idea, whether it be a new product, video game, movie, book, business, etc and people can crowdsource (meaning a group of individuals working together to make something happen) the funds to make it a reality. KickStarter has funded tons of products in a variety of worlds, including music, art, design, food, and publishing and project creators keep 100% ownership and control over their work.
• DonorsChoose.org is “an online charity connecting you to classrooms in need”. Many times, public school teachers will spend their own money on supplies needed for their classroom. On this site, they can ask for supplies and materials for their classroom, including books and computers. Again, donors crowdsource the funds and many times, “Angel Investors”, which are anonymous will double donations from other donors. At press time, the DonorsChoose.org homepage says that “3,506 donors helped 98,741 students this week.”
• Kiva.org is a micro-lending site that empowers budding entrepreneurs around the world. Their mission statement is: “We are a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.” Each individual’s profile describes their business and most have a photo. Kiva boasts a 98.9% repayment rate and lenders have given over $302 million in loans to people in over 60 different countries since the site’s inception in 2005.

No related posts.