All my posts on tech and internet news can now be found at the Inquisitr. Thanks for reading!

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This video will be hilarious to anyone who has ever had to print anything, ever. It just seems that printers will do everything there is to do but actually print your documents. Not without a fight, anyway.

(Warnings for violence against an innocent keyboard and rough ink cartridge removal.)

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I know everyone is tired of the “what is social media” question, but I found this article to be a great quick-and-dirty argument for embracing social media as it happens. It really nails down how the internet became an essential part of business (apparently sometime in late 1997) and concrete examples of how companies jumped in or got left behind.

It’s not just about having a site, or even having a good site- what you say and how you interact with clients, customers and other businesses always, consistently- that is what now defines your brand. Before we had cameras, image wasn’t as important. Now that the Internet is what it is, it’s crucial to manage the perception of you, your brand and your company, or someone else will end up doing it for you.

It may seem like a lot more work (though it really doesn’t have to be) but it’s really amazing how many levels you can reach people on with the widespread usage of social media.

In a test run by BazaarVoice, Rubbermaid discovered that adding customer reviews to their website increased sales and decreased returns of their products. Skeptics said sales of low-rated products would crater. What actually happened is that sales of low-rated products increased. When shoppers were questioned, they explained that when they read why someone else maligned the product, often they disagreed or didn’t care about that particular problem. If the price was right, it was worth buying anyway.

Why you have to engage in social media, even if you don’t want to.

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…and not a second too soon. Fangirls (and boys) rejoice! Is it Sookie time yet?

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Watching companies having to interact with customers and potential customers or run the risk of being internet hated-on has been interesting. Sites like Consumerist make it so one bad interaction with the public can be forever etched into Google Search Results.

One of my favorite things is when companies are really nice without having to be. I started following Overstock.com’s twitter feed because I like shopping and secret deals, and I got a DM from them. Confession: I almost never read DMs because they’re all generally copy-pasted. I don’t mind them or hate them or what have you, I just ignore them. This one caught my eye.

Thanks for following us! Best of luck with Magic Satchel!

Okay, that might not seem like a big deal. But in that short sentence, Overstock communicated to me that they’d taken the time to check out my Twitter feed, and crafted a personal reply.

Have I ever bought anything from Overstock? Not yet. Will I now? Like, as soon as possible.

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One of the most interesting and valuable-to-me blogs I read is The Fluent Self. Authored by a woman named Havi and her promiscuous duck, this blog provides great intellectual and business insights in such a way that it feels like your best friend is gently but honestly nudging you in the right direction.

This particular post on what happens when you dismiss social networking is an excellent read. When you’re using social media to network, there are always people who chime in and knock your efforts. But anyone who has met their favorite client or landed a great project that way isn’t usually so skeptical. The fact remains that much of our networking and social business efforts have moved, for better or worse, to cyberspace.

Havi breaks down the efficiency of working social media into your marketing and networking strategy, and even details some distinctions a newbie might not pick up on, such as the near impossibility of keeping a Facebook profile business-worthy. (Unless you plan on denying friend requests from classmates and relatives, it’s probably best to file Facebook under “just mainly for fun.”) Also addressed is the seemingly universal phenomenon of “I’m on LinkedIn, now what?” with the caveat of knowing someone who uses it a lot. Lastly, it’s a great post to re-read when you feel like you’re having too much fun with social media.

Sayeth Havi:

Let’s see then. So as far as I can tell your other options are:

1. Spend half an hour a day leaving smart, insightful comments on other people’s blogs. No, wait. That actually takes longer.
2. Spend three hours a week crafting careful, deliberate, strategic letters to other bloggers trying to convince them to let you guest post there. And then another few hours writing said guest posts. No, wait. That actually takes longer.
3. Go to two live networking events each week. Let’s see, each thing is probably at least two hours, plus another hour to get there and find parking.
   Plus another hour to shower and decide what the hell you’re going to wear. Plus another hour to transfer the contact information from people’s business cards into your [whatever you use for that]. Hmmmm. 8-10 hours a week. I’m going to go out on a limb and say: that actually takes longer.

And there’s no guarantee that any of those people you meet will end up reading your blog or leaving comments or buying stuff from you, so it’s not only a large investment of your time and energy, it’s also a huge risk.

But I get it. Not everyone has five minutes to hang out and goof off online.

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My Former Flame: The Logitech Trackman

I’m kind of embarrassed to be writing this. I’m a design and productivity fetishist. Design nerds buy Apple machines and peripherals and try to use the word “Microsoft” sparingly, so truly off their radar the general consumer computing experience exists. I even use the whole Open Source set of design nerd programs because I’m clued in and Inkscape, Gimp and Open Office rock. Or I don’t want to give Adobe the better part of a grand for markedly similar functionality. Anyway.

While purchasing my new laptop, I impulse bought one of these little dudes and immediately decided to return it. But it was red, which I liked- even with it being 15-minutes in a catcher-stance next to the display waffling over red or green. But I really had my heart set on a Trackball. I love those. I got one by accident and I’m a total computer geek so it saved my wrist a lot of static. Before I cease digressing, I do recommend these if you prefer a more manly mouse or if you like wires.

The product at hand. Late one night in a trackpad-induced schlump I decided to liberate it from its clamshell prison and give it shot before sending it back to Staples. Wow- this thing is so smooth and light. It kind of almost hugs your hand, cutely, with very little commitment for your thumb and ring fingers to cling back. The two button scroll wheel layout is highly intuitive. I feel like my fingers just have to tapple over it. And having the mouse in your hand is just more integrated to your movements.

Setup is easy- just plug in the little stick (and keep your knees away from it, it confuses the mouse to get tapped on the USB stick) and it starts working. My aunt waved it away at first but ended up liking it more than the YouTube clips we were using it to locate. I have a Magic Peripherals Satchel, and when I work off-site, the charger, little wee mousie, USB stick and headset coil neatly in together so my office can be everywhere.

And just in case you were thinking it runs on palm perspiration and Cheeto-crumbs, it does require a single AA battery that I’ve read lasts a month or two. Excellent functionality, worth a look.

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It’s one of those bloggy quirks. You’ve done it 80 times before, even like, once last week at least. But you’ve gone and forgotten how to embed a video again. Relax. Bookmark this page.

Go to the video’s page and get the embed code there. Pretend Wordpress doesn’t have a button to embed YouTube videos. Just ignore it forever, because that button will cause you nothing but grief. As an added bonus, you can customize the appearance of the video border to match your blog. Nifty!

But oh, no! The video is too small when small and too big when bigger. What to do? In the embed code, go to this part:

“true” width=”660″ height=”525″></embed></object>

Open up your little calculator widget and divide each number by, for example 75 or 125%. Then replace those numbers with their reduced/opposite of reduced numbers. There. Easy, right?

(The comic is a classic from XKCD, one of my favorite sites.)

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This funny video (warning- mild profanity, may be NSFW), while overlooking Twitter’s better points, is pretty funny.

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Instead of sending online shoppers coupons or information about sales, executives and employees at Henderson, Nev.-based Zappos.com regularly tweet about what happens to them at the airport, the fact that they eat marshmallows in between phone calls and the state of the economy.

This article in the New York Times is so informational, I can barely summarize it without re-posting it in its entirety. The most valuable points make the case for overcoming your concerns about social media (like that line from When Harry Met Sally- “it’s out there!“) with the indisputable value of a direct connection with clients, customers and networks.

“You can buy the same shirts at Zappos as at somewhere else. The product almost becomes less important; it becomes about the business.”

via Web 2.0 tools can foster growth in hard times – NYTimes.com.

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So, I’ve been active on Twitter for an entire 50 days now. What’s that in Twitter years? And being the old Twitter salt I now am, I am entitled to list my top Twitter pet peeves. So here they are, not in any order of importance.

• Excessively Retweeting Yourself: “In case you missed it.” I didn’t miss it, I ignored it the last seven times because it was boring.
• Want To Know…?: Yes, I do before I open the link- you have a whopping 140 characters. Use them! I’m tired of being sent to real estate investment sites masked as something newsworthy.
• Leetspeek grammar: Maybe it’s because I’m rapidly approaching 30, but my professional opinion of you drops significantly if you spell “you” as “u.”
• Auto-anything: The usefulness and core premise of Twitter is greatly diminished by bots. If you don’t have the time to say it, I don’t have the time to read it. Automated anything is Twitter cheating!
• Disembodied Chest Avatars: Your userpic is about 25% the size of a matchbook. Even if I wanted to check out your pecs (which I don’t) this is hardly the best medium. This is Twitter, not Hot or Not.
• Secrets and Lies: I’ve seen many a tweet promising to unlock the secret of social media, Twitter, blogging, finding graphics and getting the perfect latte. Guess how many of these Tweets contained actual useful information? Zero. And besides, once you say it on Twitter it’s not a secret anymore, so quit it.
• You’re Not Who You Quote: One or two inspirational quotes are fine. Culling all your content from Wikiquote? Not so much.
• Dry Tweeting: In order for you not to put me to sleep in 140 characters or less, I want some dynamic content. Just as irritating as the constant updaters with little thought behind their tweets are the Twitter cold fish- it’s just as boring to only talk business on Twitter as it is in real life. Personality is important in this format- don’t be afraid to tweet something besides links to your blog or your site. Contribute!

This post would not be complete without including the “fail whale.”

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What exactly *is* Twitter? And why do I need to use it?

I get this question from clients a lot. The other part of the Twitter question seems rooted in misconception. No wants to read you liveblogging your lunch! Until not too long ago, I was one of the people that didn’t really “get” Twitter.

Then I transitioned to virtual business. All of my fellow Virtual Assistants lauded Twitter for its abilities to connect you with people relevant to all areas of your business. I still didn’t really get it. Are potential clients interested in my lunch?

Then I started Tweeting. It was awkward at first- I wondered if my re-tweets looked funny, or if my links were interesting. It’s like all of the apprehension when you first blog, but Twitter-sized portions.

Twitter is the kind of thing you have to just jump into to really understand. Like many web-based trends, the benefits become apparent pretty quickly, and Tweeting gets easier when you build a relevant base of following/followers.

I came across this fantastic piece from the Wall Street Journal on Twitter. It covers a lot of the basics tenets of optimizing your Twitter energy. If you don’t feel like reading the piece, these were the points I found most impactful.

But I have to admit I didn’t understand the appeal of Twitter when I joined, at the prodding of friends, in November. One answer that explains its popularity: It’s not about chatting with your friends — it’s about promoting yourself.

I’d say it’s almost more accurate to say you’re cross-promoting. Twitter gives you ample opportunity to build professional relationships that are mutually beneficial.

So I asked a few colleagues for their Twitter addresses and began following them. I also searched their public lists of followers and who they followed.

This is a great tip- it sounds obvious, but use the “Find People” function and search.twitter.com. Look for people you know, public figures you admire, trade organizations. This is where a lot of your Twitter content will stem from.

I discovered that a better way to get followers was to tweet. Every time I tweeted, I got a surge of followers.

A thousand times yes- Twitter only really works for you if you’re participating.

To understand the medium, I studied others’ tweets. Former Time magazine writer Ana Marie Cox’s tweets are a poetic mix of moments like this: “Afternoon walk. Beautiful day, I now see.”

Another good way to get going is reading the Tweets of those you admire. While you may have a different Twitter style, it’s the best way to get familiar with the <140 concept.

The article goes on to link to a blog post by the much-followed Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. Hsieh makes a great case for how Twitter can be used to strengthen your message and your brand- but an even better example is his Twitter feed.

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And with a VA, you’ll have more time to nip out to Starbucks. This article, via the Examiner, goes through some more basics of finding and using a VA.

My favorite points from the article, quoted below, address the versatility of a Virtual Assistant versus having on-site staff.

I will admit that previously visions of Sci-Fi men and women danced through my head at such a statement only months previously.  So how does it work?  A virtual assistant is more than just outsourced administrative help.  Many assistants offer services to include; hiring, recruiting and marketing.  What this means for a sole proprietor or small business is the opportunity to outsource your entire human resource or marketing department in a cost-effective manner.   This person acts as an independent contractor thus avoiding payroll costs.  Additionally, most virtual assistants will let you know ahead of time how much a project will cost and work with you to stay within budget.  In difficult economic times, predictable expenditures and the ability to offload non-revenue producing activities is not just necessary-it’s critical for survival.

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Virtual assistants, virtual workers, home office pioneers- your space is really your space, and these are some inspirational home-work spaces. Check it out!

WebWorkerDaily » Archive 5 Inspirational Workspaces «.

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It’s a scary time right now for everyone- starter-uppers, employees, employers. But another great article on using the current economic climate as a springboard for your dream career comes via Smarterware.org- an interesting case for making the leap now.

Leaving your full-time job in the midst of a recession is either a really stupid or really smart decision. Since I just made the move myself, I’m going to make the case for smart.

If you can swing it, a recession is an ideal time to stop being an employee and start doing your own thing. Your plans to go freelance, start your own business, or take a sabbatical shouldn’t be on hold right now because of the economy. While the fear mongers might be saying you should be grateful just to have a job at all, I challenge you to expand your vision.

Now’s a fine time to take a risk because there’s just not much to lose.

via Why Now’s a Great Time to Stop Being an Employee (If You Can*) | Smarterware.

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