Do you miss Google Notebook? Two free fantastic alternatives.

January 23, 2009

The death of Google notebook has caused issues for many. While Google believes Google docs is the answer, I don’t think docs is a great place for notes. Google Docs is fantastic for collaboration; but isn’t an easy place to save and organize many notes.

Here are two fantastic alternatives to Google Notebook:

ZoHo Notebook

ZoHo has one of the best online suites that exists in the marketplace today. Notes, email, calendar, meetings, etc in a single login.

I’ve been a fan of ZoHo for quite some time. Most of their tools have free trials, or some limitations, and there are some paid upgrades. However, many of the tools are completely free. They were one of the first tool sets to have very functional document processors, spreadsheet, and notes on the web.

Email Hosting, CRM, Project Management, Office Suite, Document Management and more_1232549765842

ZoHo recently announced some new tools for notebook. One of them is a Google notebook import. This makes it quite easy to switch from Google notebook to ZoHo notebook. ZoHo notebook functions very similarly to Microsoft OneNote, except it’s online.

Odds are, you won’t pay for ZoHo notebook, but you might be so enamored by other tools they have (ZoHo Meetings is great) that you end up paying for other tools that are quite useful.

Screenshot of ZoHo notebook from the ZoHo notebook blog.

Evernote

I wrote a long article about how applications need to set your data free. You should have access to your data on your computer, a friend’s computer, your phone, online, and offline. Then, you should be able to easily sync that data across all of those platform.

No one has come closer to matching this everywhere-access to your data than Evernote.

Who doesn’t want to keep notes on your computer for offline access? Evernote can:

Sync your notes to your online account.
Write notes in your online account.
Sync your notes back to your computer.
And then access your notes via a mobile phone.

It is the absolute best multi-access point and sync application I’ve seen.

Evernote is free for most users. If you sync files, huge amounts of data, etc – then you might want to upgrade to a premium version ($45/year or $5/month).

Evernote just announced an importer for Google Notebook.

Honorable Mention

OneNote from Microsoft is not a free app. However, it is a fantastic note taking tool. If you want to integrate your notes into Outlook, or other Microsoft products – OneNote is the way to go. It was my favorite note taking tool for quite some time until I discovered ZoHo and Evernote.

Conclusion

Google missed the user need with Google Notebook. There was opportunity for a great product, but the product wasn’t integrated properly across your Google account.

Data storage and access will only become more complex over the coming years. Companies need to learn how to mesh 2.0 applications and real world functionality.

Choose your apps wisely, they may not be there tomorrow.

Posted by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper | Filed Under PPC Marketing Blog, eWhisper's Notebook | Leave a Comment

Did you forget about me? How to engage visitors who don’t interact with your website.

January 15, 2009

There are visitors who you see in your analytics account each day.

And then there are those you forget.

Those forgotten visitors can still interact with your content, contact your business, forward along your information, and help your business reach it’s goals.

Think about the visitors who see your content off your website:

However, these visitors are not necessarily fully engaged with your site, yet they are still valuable.

Image: RSS ad impressions for a few days in December. 4700 easily forgotten page views (of users who have java enabled in a RSS reader)

For bloggers, the most common of these visitors are those reading full text RSS feeds.

Engaging forgotten RSS subscribers

Your everyday readers know what change are going on in your company or website. They don’t need to be reminded about a new forum section, new newsletters, tools, etc.

However, RSS or eMail readers are often skimming their feedreader and inbox for interesting content. They will skip some of your posts. Some of your emails will be deleted. Don’t take it personally – we’re all busy. The question is: How do you keep forgotten visitors abreast of changes?

Engage these users where they are currently engaged – in your offsite content.

For RSS subscribers, use a plug-in that will add some additional text to just your feed. This way your everyday readers will not see it, but those reading your content in a feedreader will see it.

Wordpress plug-ins such as:

Can add content to the bottom of your feed.

For eMail campaigns, add a ‘recently changed’ section. Don’t rely on a single email to make your announcement. If you’ve devoted part of your website to showcasing these sections, devote a part of your RSS feed or email to continue reinforcing that news. If it was worth a section of your website, isn’t the same true of your newsletter and RSS feed?

Don’t Forget About Your Visitors

It’s easy to get caught up in testing, and testing, and testing some more.

However, what testing tells you is what combinations make visitors more engaged and trusting of your content.

Don’t forget to do the same for your off-site, forgotten visitors.

Posted by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper | Filed Under Blogging, PPC Marketing Blog | 7 Comments

The Best Entertainment Distractions that Easily fit into your Computer Bag

September 19, 2008

Being a frequent traveler you quickly have to learn how to relax on a daily 30 minute commute or a 5 hour cross country flight without carrying a 20lb backpack.

I’ve played with many distractions over time, and these are the best way to entertain yourself for minutes or hours that will easily slip into into your bag.

Personal Video Player

Archos 605 WiFi. This small video player did something unique; its basic version is not that expensive allowing a low cost to entry; and it has many add-ons which do raise the price – but you don’t have to pay for it you’ll never use them. It’s main purpose – watching video. A clear crisp screen and decent battery life will allow you to watch several TV shows or movies on your flight. It supports quite a few formats, more than most players and doesn’t lock you into a single provider like the next selection.

iPod Touch. This is the iPhone for those who don’t want AT&T. While it doesn’t make calls, it’s other features (WiFi, music, video) are top notch. I only have two complaints about the touch. The first is that you’re locked into iTunes (one of the biggest walled gardens ever created). The second is that it does not have stereo Bluetooth support. When it has bluetooth 2.0; this product might leapfrog the Archos just due to the simplicity of use.

CNet did a great prizefight between these two products.

The only product that can be considered in 3rd place is the new Cowon. The last product worth considering is the 80gig Video iPod, especially if you connect it to a set of video glasses. Note: Some people (including me) hate video glasses; they just don’t look right. Some people love them. Make sure you have the option of returning them.

<added>Since I wrote this post, Archos launched a new set of products. They are more focused around being an internet tablet than just a PVP player, however, they are worth a look.</added>

Free Video

For those of you who want free *legal* video; there is absolutely one best option – TiVo.

TiVo offers a desktop software which will let you transfer (via the net) files from your TiVo to your computer. If you don’t have an encoding program, you can also use the upgraded TiVo software to create mp4 files for your iPod that can be managed via iTunes. Easily auto-schedule your favorite shows and movies to be moved to your computer.

Which headset to choose?

Everywhere you look around first class you will see the Bose noise canceling headsets. While they are decent headsets (and heavily promoted by the affiliate-minded airlines) – they are too big to easily fit into our commuter bag. Here’s the best of the small headsets.

The best bluetooth stereo headset is from Jaybird Gear. This headset has nice sound, and easily pairs with bluetooth 1.0 and 2.0 devices. You can also buy bluetooth receivers that work with an iPod, iPhone (which also isn’t bluetooth stereo), or any device with a standard headset jack. If you ride a train everyday, the lack of wires between your iPod and headset that catch on things will make your life much easier.

My favorite bluetooth headset for my phone (while Jaybird gear is a great stereo headset, I don’t find it’s noise canceling technology great for calls) is the Jawbone II. My only complaint is that it does not fit everyone’s ears perfectly; and if you’re trying to adjust the fit, you can accidentally make a phone call.

Since you can’t use bluetooth on a plane, there is a need for a corded headset with a small footprint that sounds great. The Sennheiser earbuds have been my favorite – but not just for the sound. The street and sport earbuds have a version that does not actually fit in your ear. It has a twist clip at the top of the earbud that easily fits into the ear without having to push them into the ear. I find this is better for the changing ear pressure of a plane. Best of all, they’re under $50.

If you want top of the line small footprint earphones, the Shure e3 or e4 doesn’t have a comparison. They are also $300+ depending on the model you choose. Due to the air pressure of planes, I’ve found that my ears will actually push these out of my ear on decent making them unusable for me. So, the Sennheiser’s are 1/4th the price and almost as good for a few hundred dollars less.

Music

If you choose the iTouch under video; you’re probably done picking music. If you choose the Archos, there’s only one reason to carry a second music device – size (the larger Archos isn’t always jeans pocket friendly).

There’s been so much written about iPod vs Zune vs Creative, etc – I’m not gong to rehash the conversation. However, if you carry a larger PVP device, you might want to also carry a small iPod or Zune for music listening; this can be useful if you’re working on a laptop and just want some extra music to drown out the neighbors on a plane.

Portable Games

Nintendo DS vs PSP. While the Nintendo DS does have some interesting abilities to connect DSs together. The PSP has Wi-Fi, has been known to be hacked for Skype, and includes more mainstream games. Overall, if this is your first portable gaming unit – take a look at the types of games available for each system – that will help you decide more than a feature comparision list.

Reading – Carry Thousands of Books with You

Don’t want to carry 10 books with you? Don’t even want to carry one heavy book? I don’t blame you; I now carry hundreds of books with me. How? The magical Amazon Kindle. I can’t say enough good things about this device. Easy-to-read screen interface. No LDC to wear out the eyes. Due to the ink technology, I’ve had the battery last two weeks before recharging. Need a new book? Use the built-in wireless technology to shop for new books on Amazon from the device. You can even send your PDF files to the Kindle so you can catch up on all the eBooks you download but don’t read.

There are rumors of a new one coming out before Christmas, so while you might want to hold off buying one; I’d recommend the first generation if they go on sale when the next gen is released.

Posted by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper | Filed Under PPC Marketing Blog, eWhisper's Notebook | Leave a Comment

Speed up Wordpress by Trimming Your Bloated Database

September 12, 2008

<new>I’m slowly cleaning up old drafts. This is one from 5 months ago before the redesign (and I’ve not reintegrated Google search yet). However, for those wordpress users – it’s a worthwhile read.</new>

I love analytics. No where else on the web can you get lost in the purity of statistics.

However, there’s a dark side to analytics – storage space.

Admittedly, I don’t take good care of this blog. However, when I went to back up my database today it was 950 mb. Yes, that’s correct, the database was nearing a one gig in size! It wasn’t spam, it wasn’t the huge amount of content on the site, it wasn’t hacked – it was wordpress analytics programs storing stats in the database.

While it’s fun to have access to every possible analytic stat, there’s also something to be said about the speed of your blog (not to mention one should be more concerned about actionable data).

Using phpMyAdmin I removed shortstat, slimstat, and counterize II tables from my database which brought it down to a much more reasonable 50mb; which still seemed large to me. So, after some more rummaging around the database, it seems that Search Meter (a nice plug-in that saves all the searches conducted on your blog) was taking up the last unnecessary 20+ mb in the database.

It was a tough decision to actually put an ad back on the blog. But, the best alternate to the wordpress search was to add a Google custom search. I haven’t figured out the correct layout for the search yet as on some browsers part of the search box is obscured which I’m sure is against the Google TOS – but I’ve not figured out an OK looking CSS yet. However, searches on this site will now have some ads from Google on them. However, I can now get search stats in my AdSense reporting. Unfortunately, that’s not integrated with any other analytics programs yet. I’m waiting for the day Google’s CSE is integrated into Google analytics. That seems the next logical step. One of the best places for keyword research is search results on your own site.

So, after removing those plug-ins, I made sure that both Microsoft Analytics (review here) and Google Analytics (and soon IndexTools by Yahoo) are installed in the blog for full stats. (More free stat programs found via SEMMYs.)

When installing these scripts, please put them in the footer tag (or just above the </body> tag) so that your content loads immediately. It’s ok if you don’t track all your visitors because the tracking script didn’t load. It’s not ok to have your content not load because some tracking script is taking too long to load.

The accomplishment? This blog is loading about 70% faster than previously. A leaner database means a faster site.

P.S. Please use absolute URls for your Favicons. If you use relative paths, the icons will not show up on all pages of your blog.

Posted by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper | Filed Under Blogging, PPC Marketing Blog | 2 Comments