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Check out these 10 Free Social Applications for Macs

August 28, 2009 By

Have a Mac? If so, check out Barb Dybwad’s article “10 Fabulous Free Social Apps for Mac” on Mashable.  Barb writes, “In this post we’ll take a look at 10 gratis programs for connecting to your social world via OS X. From file sharing to instant messaging, from Twitter (Twitter) to social television, there is very likely something on this list for you.”

Apple Retail Store, NYC (#28896)
Creative Commons License photo credit: mark sebastian

Here’s an abbreviated breakdown of the top 10 applications from Barb’s article:

  1. Dropbox. “Looking for a dead easy way to share even large files with people quickly? Check out Dropbox (Dropbox), a great utility app for the Mac (it actually runs on Windows and Linux (linux) as well) that essentially gives you 2 free GB of unrestricted cloud file storage.”
  2. Skitch. “We really can’t rave enough about Skitch (Skitch ) (we recently profiled it in our fun image generators list). Part screen capture tool, part easy doodling app, Skitch is also a dead simple way to quickly share screencaps, images and illustrations with others.”
  3. Tweetdeck. In an informal survey I conducted on LinkedIn back in March, Tweetdeck won hands down as the favorite Twitter client. Enough said.
  4. Gruml. “Gruml is a desktop application that synchronizes with Google Reader (Google Reader) for feed reading and brings many of the social features of gReader along with it.” Gotta check this one out.
  5. NewNewsWire. “If you don’t already use Google Reader and are looking for a good desktop RSS and Atom client for the Mac, check out NetNewsWire.”
  6. Flock. Flock is a social web browser that Mashable recently reviewed here.
  7. Adium. “If you use more than one instant messaging service regularly, you’re going to want a chat client that can support multiple protocols and accounts seamlessly. Not only does Adium (Adium) deliver that, but its default sound when your contacts log in or out or send you a message is a quacking duck.”
  8. Boxee. This one sounds great, “Boxee is basically a socially-enabled media center for your Mac, allowing you to browse both your personal media collection as well as your favorite online video services in one convenient and easy to use interface. It’s designed to give you a great experience for internet content on your television screen, and works with the Apple Remote control that ships with a number of Mac models (and is available for purchase separately).”
  9. Hulu desktop. “If you’re a television and/or movie buff with a penchant for streaming content, the desktop app offers a nice fullscreen viewing experience as well as support for operation via the standard Apple Remote.”
  10. Skype. “Skype (Skype) is one of the leading voice over IP (VoIP) services on the web, and you can use it to make free voice calls between any two computers running the software. For an astonishingly small amount of money you can do a lot of other cool things with Skype too, like send text messages from your computer, get low-cost international calling to landlines around the world, forward calls to your cellphone, get a “Skype In” number your friends can use to make a local call to you from regular phones, get voicemail services and more.”

What other free social applications for Mac do you like? What’s missing from this list?

Filed Under: How to, social media, social web, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last Minute Tips for College Students to Save Hundreds on Textbooks

August 8, 2009 By

Disclaimer: Best Book Buys is a client.

IMG_8429-2
Creative Commons License photo credit: brainchildvn

LA CANADA, CA, August 10, 2009 –Over the next month more than 19 million college students will head back to college during the deepest recession of their families’ lifetimes. But, according to Steve Loyola, president and founder of Best Book Buys (http://www.bestbookbuys.com/), a leading online comparison shopping service for books and a service of Best Web Buys, students can save hundreds of dollars on their textbooks.

“Although times are certainly tough, today’s college students have so many choices for acquiring their college textbooks,” said Loyola.  “By venturing outside their college bookstore, and going online, students can save hundreds of dollars on their textbooks.”

Loyola offers the following tips to save money on textbooks:

  • Start now and order early. If you have your fall schedule and are away from campus, you can check to see if your professor has a syllabus online or can simply email your professors requesting the book lists.  The lowest priced and highest quality used textbooks are most often found when supplies are at their highest.
  • See if your school has a book swapping site.  Just google the name of your school and book swap (e.g., “UCLA book swap”). Also, use Facebook to see if any of your friends have the book you need.
  • Check to see if the college library has your textbook available. If so, you might be able to read it at the library instead of purchasing it.
  • Use comparison shopping sites like BestBookBuys.com which search the Internet for your textbooks across thousands of sellers. BestBookBuys compares the cost of more than 6 million book titles and also enables consumers to compare the costs of books via their cell phones at http://m.bestbookbuys.com/ .
  • Compare the costs of buying used, new and international textbooks against the price of renting textbooks or electronic textbooks.  When you compare costs, also factor in the amount of money you might get to sell your textbook at the end of the semester. If you rent, you will not recoup any of your purchase. In addition, renting a book requires returning the book in good condition or you will be required to purchase it at the end of your rental term. Also realize that semester, quarter, and summer rental periods usually refer to a certain number of days (e.g., 125, 85, 60). Even if you are on a semester schedule, if you only need a book for part of the semester, save money by choosing the quarter or summer rental if that’s long enough for your needs.
  • Consider buying an international edition. An international edition may have a paperback cover instead of a hardcover and may have different text or graphics than the U.S. version. Before purchasing any alternate edition, check the seller’s website to confirm that the book has the same content as the U.S. edition.
  • Check availability and shipping time before ordering.  Buying from the least expensive seller is probably not a good deal if the book isn’t immediately available.
  • Check for store coupons and free shipping offers.  Google the store name and coupon (e.g., “Amazon coupon”).
  • Before ordering, check out the store’s reputation and return policy. You want to make sure the store will accept returns and that the store provides ample time to return your books in the event you change classes.
  • Don’t forget to sell books back when the semester is over.  Best Book Buys has links to participating online bookstores that buy textbooks at http://www.bestwebbuys.com/books/buyback.html
Filed Under: How to, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How to be a Citizen Journalist Courtesy of YouTube ‘Reporters’ Center’

August 4, 2009 By

Do you have a story you would like to report on? Are you ready to join the ranks of the citizen journalists? If so, you might be interested in the YouTube Reporters’ Center.

According to the YouTube Reporters Center:

The YouTube Reporters’ Center is a new resource to help you learn more about how to report the news. It features some of the nation’s top journalists and news organizations sharing instructional videos with tips and advice for better reporting.

Filed Under: How to, social web, Uncategorized, YouTube Tagged With: , , , ,

Eight Tips for College Students to Save Thousands of Dollars on College Costs

July 27, 2009 By

Disclaimer-Client news release

LA CANADA, CA, July 27, 2009— Over the next month nearly 19 million students are set to return to college campuses across the country during the worst economic crisis in more than 70 years. Making matters worse, over the last 25 years, tuition and fees have risen four times faster than the rate of inflation. But according to Steve Loyola, president and founder of Best Book Buys (http://www.bestbookbuys.com), a leading online comparison shopping service for textbooks and books, students can save thousands of dollars off their 2009/2010 college costs

“These are very challenging times for students and their families,” said Loyola. “But, with a little planning, research and good bookkeeping, students and their families can save thousands of dollars off expenses including textbooks, room and board, taxes, car expenses, health insurance and cashing in on AP credits. You just need to get started now and not delay.”

Loyola recommends the following tips:

  • Buy textbooks online. According to the College Board’s Annual Survey of Colleges, students spend more than $1000 per year on books and supplies. By comparing the cost of buying textbooks at an online comparison shopping site like BestBookBuys.com, students can save up to 76 percent off the list price of their textbooks. BestBookBuys.com compares the cost of renting or buying used, new, and international textbooks across thousands of online sellers and online stores including eBay, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Abebooks, Powells, Textbooks.com, Chegg, half, Overstock and many others. BestBookBuys compares the cost of more than 6 million book titles and also enables consumers to compare the costs of books via their cell phones at http://m.bestbookbuys.com
  • Compare the cost of meal plans. Meal plans vary widely in price and the number of meals allowed.  For example, at Occidental College meal plans range from $1,790 to $2,615 per semester and at Vassar College meal plans range from $2,140-2,742.50 per semester. By selecting a mid range plan, students can save hundreds of dollars annually.
  • Consider making a financial aid appeal. If your family’s finances have taken a detour in 2009 compared with 2008, do consider filing an appeal with your financial aid office. Check your college’s website for instructions. If you can’t find instructions, call your college’s financial aid office. If one of your parents lost their job or the family income was reduced, explain in detail. If you haven’t applied for financial aid, do so by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
  • Don’t forget to claim the new higher education tax credits made available by the stimulus plan signed in February. Under the credit, taxpayers can get a reduction in their 2009 tax bill of up to $2500 per student provided the tax filers have an adjusted gross incomes of less than $80,000 a year (if single) or $160,000 (if they file jointly). An eligible family with two kids in college could get a tax credit of $5,000. In order to get the credit, you will need to fill out IRS form 8863.
  • Check your health insurance. Many colleges charge a built-in fee for health insurance through the college. If you are already insured on your parent’s policy, appeal this amount. At the University of California Irvine, for example, you could save $671 per year if covered under a separate health insurance policy.
  • Leave your car at home. By leaving your car at home you will not only save on the amount you pay in car insurance but also on parking permits ($711 annually at UCLA and $568 annually at the University of Arizona), gas, oil and other upkeep. Check out instead if your college town offers free public transportation to students, many do.
  • Make sure to claim your Advanced Placement (AP) credits. By now, incoming freshmen have received their AP scores. Check out www.collegeboard.com/ap/creditpolicy to see if your score may have earned you college credit. In addition, if students received scores of 3 or higher on at least three or more AP Exams, they should check with their college to see if they have sophomore standing. If you have sophomore standing and attend a public university you may have saved yourself at least $6,585, the average tuition and fees at a four year public university according to 2008 Trends in College Pricing from the College Board.
  • Consider going to summer school. By attending summer school at a junior college, students can potentially save hundreds if not thousands off their college expenses. Just make sure to take the description of the course(s) you are considering to your college advisor to make sure they will accept the credits.

Best Web Buys first made a name for itself twelve years ago with the launch of one of the first online price comparison sites- Best Book BuysÒ. Best Book Buys has been helping college students from more than 1500 colleges across the nation find the best prices for their new and used textbooks since 1997. Best Web Buys’ five product specific sites — Best Book Buys, Best Music Buys, Best Video Buys, Best Bike Buys and Best Electronic Buys — compare prices, shipping and availability of more than six million titles and items at hundreds of online stores and thousands of Alibris, eBay, half.com and Amazon marketplace sellers. Steve Loyola, a former Jet Propulsion Laboratory computer scientist, founded the company.

Filed Under: books, How to, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

How to Score Funding, Andreessen’s New VC Firm has $300 Million

July 12, 2009 By

Marc Andreessen, founder of Netscape, co-founder of Ning and co-author of Mosaic, recently announced, “the formation of our new venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, and our first fund — $300 million in size — aimed purely at investing in the best new entrepreneurs, products, and companies in the technology industry.”

According to Andreessen, “We have the ability to invest between $50 thousand and $50 million in a company, depending on the stage and the opportunity. We plan to aggressively participate in funding brand new startups with seed-stage investments that will often be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. But we will also invest in venture stage and late stage rounds of high-growth companies.”

bay bridge across troubled waters
Creative Commons License photo credit: Darwin Bell

In Andreessen’s post “Introducing our new venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz”,  he outlines seven characteristics he and his partner are looking for:

  • Above all else, we are looking for the brilliant and motivated entrepreneur or entrepreneurial team with a clear vision of what they want to build and how they will create or attack a big market. We cannot substitute for entrepreneurial vision and drive, but we can help such entrepreneurs build great companies around their ideas.
  • We are hugely in favor of the technical founder. We will generally focus on companies started by strong technologists who know exactly what they want to build and how they are going to build it.
  • We are hugely in favor of the founder who intends to be CEO. Not all founders can become great CEOs, but most of the great companies in our industry were run by a founder for a long period of time, often decades, and we believe that pattern will continue. We cannot guarantee that a founder can be a great CEO, but we can help that founder develop the skills necessary to reach his or her full CEO potential.
  • We believe that the product is the heart of any technology company. The company gets built around the product. Therefore, we believe it is critical that we as investors understand the product. We are ourselves computer scientists and information technologists by experience and training; therefore, we plan to focus on products in the domain of computer science and information technology.
  • Here are some of the areas we consider within our investment domain today: consumer Internet, business Internet (cloud computing, “software as a service”), mobile software and services, software-powered consumer electronics, infrastructure and applications software, networking, storage, databases, and other back-end systems. Across all of these categories, we are completely unafraid of all of the new business models — we believe that many vibrant new forms of information technology are expressing themselves into markets in entirely new ways.
  • We are almost certainly not an appropriate investor for any of the following domains: “clean”, “green”, energy, transportation, life sciences (biotech, drug design, medical devices), nanotech, movie production companies, consumer retail, electric cars, rocket ships, space elevators. We do not have the first clue about any of these fields.
  • We are primarily but not entirely focused on investing in Silicon Valley firms. We do not think it is an accident that Google is in Mountain View, Facebook is in Palo Alto, and Twitter is in San Francisco. We also think that venture capital is a high touch activity that lends itself to geographic proximity, and our only office will be in Silicon Valley. That said, we will happily invest in exceptional companies wherever they are.

So, do you fit the bill?

Filed Under: How to, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

How to Pitch to Angel Investors

June 28, 2009 By

In Brent Bowers recent New York Times article “In Pitching to Angel Investors, Preparation Tops Zeal”, Bowers’ writes, “For entrepreneurs hoping to land start-up capital from angel investors, here’s what two recent studies found: Don’t get carried away when you pitch your product because the investors may lose interest faster than you can say “almost unlimited market.”

In Bowers’ article he cites Jeffrey Sohl, the director of the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire, estimate that there are 260, 500 active angel investors in the United States and they constitute the “largest source of seed and start-up capital for entrepreneurs.”

This vale of tears
Creative Commons License photo credit: e³°°°Bowers points out that:

Even last year, as the recession gathered force, these angels spent $19.2 billion on more than 55,000 ventures, he said, though that was down from $26 billion in 2007. The average investment for each deal last year was $346,500.

By contrast, venture capitalists made only 440 investments in start-ups last year, putting the bulk of their money in later stages of a company’s growth in deals that averaged $7.5 million, Mr. Sohl said. “Angels provide the seed and start-up funding that turns acorns into trees like Starbucks, FedEx, Amazon and Google,” Mr. Sohl said.

Two reports studying angel investors and cited in the Bowers’ article both agree that what angel investors are looking for  “is evidence of a market opportunity with growth potential, a strong management team and an exit strategy, including a list of possible acquirers, since the eventual sale of the companies they invest in is how they make money.”

The article lists the following tips gleaned from the two angel investor reports:

¶Memorize an “elevator pitch” for your product and its potential in 90 seconds or less. It will bolster your confidence, and you can recycle it to win over customers, vendors and employees.

¶Consider hiring a speech coach, but only one familiar with angel investors’ thinking.

¶Attend “pitching contests” that many business schools and angel groups sponsor.

¶In presentations, be upbeat but realistic in your profit and revenue projections. Better yet, draw up optimistic, middle-ground and pessimistic projections to show how carefully you have thought them through.

What tips do you have in securing funding from angel investors?

Filed Under: How to, marketing, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

Need to Organize Your Tweeps?

June 9, 2009 By

How many followers do you have on Twitter now? How many are you following? Do you know who you are following or who is following you? What causes some of your followers to stop following you?  Josh Catone writes today in “10 Twitter Tools to Organize Your Tweeps” in Mashable that if you are like many of us, “You’ve followed so many people, it’s hard to keep up, and it’s probably time to do a little housekeeping.”

Downing Street
Creative Commons License photo credit: Nils Geylen

Here are Josh’s “10 Twitter Tools” to check out:

1. Twitter Grader – Using a detailed 5 piece algorithm, Twitter Grader assigns every users you run through its system a grade from 1-100. Using this tool you can investigate how engaged the people you’re following are and that can help you decide if you want to keep following them.

2. Twinfluence – Twinfluence is a scientific approach to measuring the influence of Twitter users. It’s another set of metrics you can use to help you figure out who you want to follow.

3. Tweetcloud – One of the most important factors when deciding whether you want to follow a Twitter user is what sort of content they tweet about. If someone tweets mostly about topics you don’t care about, they might not be the best person for you to follow. Tweetcloud creates a tag cloud of a person’s tweets to give you a bird’s eye view of the type of things they tweet about.

4. Twitter Karma – Twitter Karma is a great app that lets you sort through all of your follows and see who’s not following you in return, who you have a mutual follow/follow-back relationship with, and who is following you that you’re not following back.

5. Friend or Follow – Friend or Follow does essentially the same thing as Twitter Karma, helping you figure out who your friends, follows, and fans are on Twitter. The difference is in the presentation, and it might be a little easier to use for those with a large number of follows or followers.

6. Qwitter – Once you’ve done your initial cleaning, Qwitter is a nice app that will update you via email whenever someone stops following you. It will even let you know what you tweeted that caused them to stop following you, which could be useful (if you lose five followers every time you tweet about your cat, for example, that might be a hint to stop talking so much about your cat if you want to retain followers).

7. Nest.Unclutterer – Nest.Unclutterer will automatically block Twitter users who are following more than a certain number of people or who have been inactive for a certain number of days. You can specify those thresholds and white list certain tweeps so that they are exempt from the cleaning. Nest.Unclutterer is actually less about who you’re following, and more about making sure people following you are actually friends you want to be associated with.

8. Twitoria – Twitoria scans through your Twitter account and finds anyone who has been inactive for the past week, two weeks, month, two months, six months, or year.

9. TweetSum – TweetSum digests all your new followers, rates them using what they call the DBI (”Douche Bag Index”), a number that supposedly weeds out Twitter users likely to be annoying, and then lets you easily follow them back or categorize them as tweeps you don’t want to follow. You can see a list of recent tweets for each new follower as well, which is helpful.

10. Tweepler – Tweepler is a new follower management application that lets you make quick, one click decisions about whether to follow people back or drop them into an ignore pile (out of sight, out of mind). In addition to being able to view recent tweets, Tweepler gives helpful stats about new followers, such as average tweets per day.

What are you using to organize your tweeps?

Filed Under: How to, marketing, public relations, social media, twitter, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Questions Brands Should Be Asking About Twitter

May 13, 2009 By

I had other plans for my blog today but on my way to writing I stopped by Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang and read his blog “7 Questions Some Brands are Asking about Twitter.” This is an excellent blog for any company contemplating their Twitter strategy to read.

Below are the questions that Owyang wrote that a handful of others brands are starting to ask:

  1. Should we create multiple accounts for different divisions? How should we name them?  How should the content be different?
  2. Is it ok to just tweet out news on our main corporate account? Or should we be conversational?
  3. How do we get our corporate reps (sales, product teams) to use this tool, and be conversational?
  4. Should we follow folks? If so, what’s the protocol? Should we only follow folks that follow us? We don’t want to appear like ‘big brother’
  5. What are the tools to use to manage multiple authors/tweeters?
  6. How can we find other examples of B2B twitter examples?
  7. How should we brand our Twitter backgrounds images?

Twitter
Creative Commons License photo credit: respres

Based on my experience with clients, Brands should also consider asking:

  • Whose voice should we be using? CEO, Marketing? Should we identify who is posting?
  • How do we jump into conversations? And should we?
  • How much time should we be spending on Twitter?
  • What image for our Brand should we be using? Should it be a photo of the author or company or brand logo?
  • What’s the proper balance on our Brand’s tweets? Should it all be self promotion or should we be informational?
  • What is our purpose?

Any questions I missed?

Filed Under: How to, social media, twitter Tagged With: , ,

How to Construct an Elevator Pitch Online? Try the Harvard Business School Elevator Pitch Builder

April 21, 2009 By

When was the last time you had to describe yourself and what you do in order to get something you wanted? Were you successful? Do you know the key ingredients of a successful elevator pitch?

According to the Harvard Business School, “You have one minute to explain yourself, your business, your goals, and your passions. Your audience knows none of these. Are you prepared? Can you present your vision smoothly, enticing them to want to know more?”

Man on the Mound
Creative Commons License photo credit: Matt McGee

To make it even easier to craft your pitch, the Harvard Business School has an online tool that explains the mechanics behind the pitch and then steps you through creating your own pitch–even suggesting key words for you to use. Once you are done, the Harvard Business School Pitch Builder will  then analyze your completed pitch. Try it out here.

Filed Under: How to, marketing, public relations, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Backing up your Tweets

April 18, 2009 By


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Filed Under: How to, social media, twitter Tagged With: ,
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