Google Me… is it really gonna be

THE Facebook Killer?

Lately there’s been lots of Google vs. Facebook domination talk.

Kinda like the Dems vs. Repubs back and forth on every issue…

But imagine if Google took the high road, dusted off the iGoogle framework and simply invited Facebook, Twitter, and all the others to the party?

How would this all work?

Take a listen to Travis Campbell and Chris Lang talking:

10 Reason Why iGoogle is Google Me

Next, let’s look at some “Real-Time” Google tweaks:

Do a Google search for a Sports Team…

Let’s Google ” Philadephia Phillies”  (since they’re close by, currently in the midst of kicking the Braves asses… and the Playoffs are coming up soon)

WHOA…

Check that out!

An “Add to iGoogle” link. Never saw THAT before!

Funny the “Sports Scores” gadget (see the first screen cap of my iGoogle page) is blank…

Looks like the Google Geeks are doing some behind the scenes tweaking… just in time for MLB Playoffs.

As Chris Lang points in his Digg of 10 Reasons Google Me is iGoogle:

“We can create custom gadgets ourselves for iGoogle that share activity like YouTube, Google Buzz, Digg, Stumble, what ever we want. So we the users of Google Me / iGoogle can create social layouts as we prefer to see them.”

My take on Google Me/iGoogle thing:

Imagine the power of being able to link-up all your social apps and activity in one place… and integrated into Google “real-time” search…

I don’t really see it as a Facebook Killer. I see it more as a online and business experience enhancer.

What are your thoughts on this latest Google move?

Do you agree with Chris and his reasons as to why Google Me will find its home in iGoogle?

What are your ideas and observations about how iGoogle gadgets that link together social networks could potentially change how you interact with online friends and contacts?

Check out Ryan Healey’s 31 Ways To Grow a Business.

You’ll want to:

1. Print this post out…
2. Check out the links…
3. Study it…
4. Apply the ideas to your business…

And…

Do It!

Oh yeah, thanks to Jonathan Fields for Tweeting this post of Ryan’s today. Picked up Jonathan’s Tweet scanning through my Google Buzz stream.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Listening to real time conversations for opportunities, leads, and reputation management is now a standard marketing item on the to-do list.

While there are services such as Radian6, Trackur and Jive Software (Filtrbox) that provide this kind of tracking for a fee, there are a number of tools that any do-it-yourselfer can employ to capture much of what’s being said about their brands, people, products, and industries in real time:

1.  Google Alerts

This one is certainly not new, but I still find people who don’t tap into it. Google Alerts allows you to set up as many custom searches as you like and have Google alert you via email or RSS when any mentions of those search terms hits their radar. Not 100 percent foolproof, but very good.

2.  Google Reader

Google Reader is an RSS reader, which means you can use it to subscribe, capture, read and display anything that produces an RSS feed. Most people use it to sort and read blogs, but anything with an RSS feed will show up here, so you can filter a great deal of content, including tags in bookmarking sites such as Delicious. Every customer and competitor blog feed should be in here.

3.  MyReviews Page

Rating and review sites such as Google Places and Yelp have become essential marketing tools. Monitoring reviews is a big part of managing and building reputation on these sites. MyReviewsPage alerts you when a new review shows up on many of the more popular review sites.

4.  Backtype

Backtype primarily focuses on blog comment streams and is a handy way to track this important content source.

5.  Boardreader

Bulletin boards and forums have lost a lot of their buzz due to social networking sites, but many industries still have very strong and active ones. Boardreader is your alert tool for the most popular bulletin board and forum sites.

6.  Social Mention

Social Mention is a real time search engine and important part of the mix because it not only catches things that others miss, it offers a wide variety of content types such as images, video and audio mentions, as well as giving some data about the influence and sentiment of the mentions.

7.  Netvibes

Netvibes isn’t a tracking or listening tool, but it’s a nice way to manage viewing all of the data you collect. Netvibes allows you to create a custom dashboard of RSS feeds and other elements and can be a great way for you to bring all of the content created by the tools above into one handy viewing station.

John Jantsch is a veteran marketing coach, award winning blogger and author of Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine.

He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing small business marketing system. You can find more information by visiting http://www.ducttapemarketing.com

Photo Credit

I’ve been meaning to post something here.

Been seriously thinking about sending something out to my list…

Pretty much disconnected from social site time… rarely Tweet or Facebook or Buzz.

Heck, some of my online friends sent me emails asking if I’m alive and ok.

Yep.

Doing great.

Playing golf.

Wrapping up work with two remaining real-world offline clients.

And actually fired a couple other clients. Not actively looking for any new clients.

Not looking to become a GURU or do any big product launch.

Just quietly working away on some little niche sites.

Maybe someday I’ll share some How-to’s and secrets.

But, thing is…

There ain’t really any secrets.

1. It’s focus on a Starving Crowd.
2. Understand EXACTLY what problem this Staving Crowd wants to solve, or desire they want to fulfill.
3. Give ‘em what they want.

Yep, there IS a Big “How do you do that?” question around those three things.

But, I’ve found only a rare hand-full of clients appreciate the value and the investment required to deliver this to their businesses.

And, I don’t have the ego and the moral fortitude to become a GURU and teach the “How To”.

So, I’ve decided to simply…

DO IT!

Thanks Doberman Dan. I’ll make my MILLIONS the old-fashioned way too.

P.S.—  For a more detailed explanation of where I’m coming from, click on the link to DD’s post above.

What he said.

If you’re on my Gmail contact list, and you received the following email from me, please accept my sincere apology.

Hello (Your Name),

Your contact Walt Goshert invites you to participate in an iPad review program.
Marketing research companies are looking for individuals who are interested in reviewing the new Apple iPad. The testing period lasts one month, after which reviewers can keep the device as a reward.
To see more details or to register to our program, follow the link below:

http://www.betaincgroup.com

Thanks,

The Beta Testing Inc Group

I know you’re busy. My intention here is to give you top-notch money-making marketing ideas and resources, along with marketing tools that increase your productivity and save you time.

While I too received this offer from a trusted friend, I hit the email friends button (perhaps you did the same?) before I checked out the entire details of the deal. Yes, the trials, products, and services appear legit, but without checking them out I can’t vouch for them. Plus,  what’s the time price and hassle if you respond? How many hounding phone calls and emails? It’s my practice NOT to recommend something I haven’t used or know, and also it must fit my “Sniff test”. A big thing for me, and you, is how much time, because as business owners, nothing is more precious than our time.

One marketing resource I DO recommend:

Screenr.com

It’s FREE. No trial offers to complete. No friends list to email. No catch.

Screenr is a simple, easy way to create screen capture videos. You can record up to five minute videos, save and promote them on Twitter, even upload to YouTube or your own site. It’s so easy even non-video peeps, like me, can do it.

Check it out.

(Not sure if you can use Screenr on your iPad… I don’t have an iPad ) )

Photo Credit:Flickr

More on Screen Casts

• How to Create a Screencast Like A Pro with These 6 Free Online Tools (makeuseof.com)
• Screencasting In The Cloud (slideshare.net)
• Technology Tools and Ideas for Real Estate Brokers and Managers (slideshare.net)
• Media Stream Digest for April 9th (piosocialmediatraining.com)