It’s called SQUARE
If you have a smartphone, you have a credit card machine… iPhone or Android users can easily download the app for free and create a free account. Once you create your account, Square will send you an actual card reader 100% free…. I received mine 3 days after I signed up.. and.. it blew my mind.

Its a little square not much bigger than a quarter that plugs into your headphone jack. It will work on all smartphones and tablets that I know of, and the functionality and ease of use is above par.

There are no monthly or annual fee’s.. They will deduct 2.75% from every card swipe transaction, and 3.75% and a .15 cent fee every time you key in a cards information.. did you hear that?? you can now take orders over the phone, on your phone.

Screenshots

Some of the cool features worth mentioning:

Touch Screen Signatures
Once you swipe your clients card, you hand them your device, and they use the touchscreen to sign their name – either using their finger as a pen, or you can hand them a stylus, talk about wow factor.

Tips Accepted
After your client signs their name for you, they will have the option to add a tip to the purchase amount.

Email or Text Receipts
Once the client presses accept, they can choose if they want a text or an email to be sent to them.

Instant Transfers
You don’t have to log into your account to transfer funds to your bank account. At midnight the funds will be sent to your bank for you.. (I always have the funds in my account the following day).

I’m not writing this post for any reason but to share this with you.. I thought it was the coolest thing since Hugh Hefner, and decided it was blog worthy. Give this a try if your looking to accept payments, after all, it is 100% free.

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SOPA and PIPA put to bed.
House and Senate leaders abandoned plans to move on the legislation today (Friday) — the surest sign yet that a wave of online protests have killed the controversial anti-piracy legislation for now and maybe forever. Lets hope so anyway.

Website developers, owners, marketers, and users are all breathing a little easier today.. If this would have passed, there is a strong possibility that the majority of my websites and content would have been blocked by the US government.. The idea that someone would have the power to moderate all the Internets content is preposterous. Little known fact… not even 2% of the internet’s information is readily available to the public. Imagine the task of moderating this huge world wide web, and then doing it 49 more times.. I’m sorry to say, but it would take almost as many people to block the internet, as it would to build the internet.. America is a strong country, but the resources it would take to remove all copyrighted content online would be a military worthy effort.

As one of my favorite high school era movies (Anti-Trust) quoted.. “Human information belongs to the world”. Could u imagine if we had to pay rights every time we saw the Mona Lisa? or be limited to the information we can access online?? I for one wouldn’t be able to cope. Having an encyclopedia of knowledge constantly available at our fingertips, is in my opinion, one of the greatest accomplishments our civilization has ever and ever achieved. Innovation, technological advances, financial growth, and our futures stability, all depend on this informational freedom to grow at the pace we need to be at to stay above the global curve.

“The overwhelming input I’ve received from New Hampshire citizens makes it clear there are many legitimate concerns that deserve further consideration before Congress moves forward with this legislation,” said Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who represents that state. She is among the senators who pulled back their support of the bill. Thank you Sen. Avotte for listening to what the people are saying, and not letting the lobbyist sway your vote with rhetoric propaganda. (As if there was a choice..) I believe there would have been a complete legislative change-up if these bills would have past, as we the people, truly do have a say in our freedoms, as long as we band together and use tools such as the internet to make our voice heard.

I, as a person that depends on informational freedom for my lively hood, am overjoyed with today’s news and will continue to keep my eyes and ears open for the next battle, in which I pray will not be during this lifetime. Today is a day to celebrate and take advantage of these freedoms.. I may download some pirated music tonight, and read a copyrighted e-books as part of my celebration. Remember, it’s not about informational freedom, its about what we do with it… We live in a place where this is possible, so count your stars and capitalize. Congrats to all… and keep in mind, that if pirated content is valuable to you, give credit where credit is due, and support the content owner with a payment if you can.

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Be the Change
Instead of focusing on things we should change, I say we should let our aspirations manifest in our everyday life, and start living like we’ve already achieved our goals. After all, if you want to be successful, you have to start acting like you already are. This doesn’t mean slack off and act like a big shot… lol. It simply means that we should try to change our mindsets, and become the person we ultimately want to be.

Make your Agenda your Boss
If I had to give one bit of advice on how to have a more successful 2012, I would have to bring up something I started doing in 2011.. I started scheduling my goals… and I mean down to the minute! I would have to say that I’m a more schedule driven person when I have someone telling me what needs to be done – (this is not a good quality for a leader to have!). I found that when I had a big list of things to do in a day, I would start with one task and spend to much time with it, pushing every other task down the list, throwing off my whole day, and then finding myself feeling as if my day was a lost. I have often told others that if I was my own employee, I would fire myself… so in an attempt to better myself, I started treating myself as my own employee. I gave myself a very detailed daily schedule and follow it down to the minute, allotting each hour of the workday a different task. If I do not finish a task in my given time frame, I will force myself to move on to the next task and continue on with my day. My results the first day changed the way I work now, because even if some tasks were not completed, the majority of them were, and I now end my work days feeling more accomplished and successful.

Reward Yourself
For someone that enjoys their job, it’s very easy to become a workaholic and end up getting burned out. I know how easy it is to become wrapped up in a project and go non stop until it is finished.. As hard as it may be to turn your back on a project, I think it’s a must… Force yourself to take some time off and do something you enjoy doing. More times than not, you will come back feeling refreshed, and with new perspectives. A wise man once told me, success has nothing to do with happiness, and in order to be truly happy, you have to have a good grasp on your work/family life, because working hard and playing hard go hand in hand.. so make sure you know your priorities and never neglect either side.

Stay Motivated
I have had much more failure than success in my lifetime.. Here’s one of my favorite quotes: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill. Try to keep one thing in mind, failure isn’t as bad as it sounds, because your still getting first hand experience and knowledge out of it. When you do not succeed, keep your chin up, learn from your mistakes and try again. I like to surround myself with pictures of things motivate me, like family, places I would like to travel to, and even that big mansion on top of snob hill. Once your truely motivated, your unstoppable, so find out what motivates you, and go for it.

Stop being a “Lone Wolf”
There is nothing better than the feeling of accomplishment, and knowing that you did it all by yourself. When I first started in the marketing industry, I was bull-headed and didn’t want anyone’s help. I felt like I could be successful on my own, and asking for help was a big sign of weakness. Boy was I wrong.. Threw the years I’ve learned that surrounding myself with positive support, and other people in my industry, was a major benefit. Seek out people you trust, and respect, build a good relationship with them, and never turn down a collaboration. It’s all about who you know… NOT because of where they can get you, but because of the support, advice, and insight they may be able to provide you with. Let your new comrades know that they can come to you for advice anytime they want, and do your best to help them as much as possible.. 9 out of 10 times, that assistance will be rewarded somehow or another.

The sky is the limit this year people.. Remember when dad told you that you can be anything you want to be? Well, even in today’s economy, and strong competition, he still right.. If you put in the hard work and strive to accomplish something, there is no reason you cant make it happen. Make 2012 your oyster.. Never stop trying and always stay motivated. Believe in yourself and stay the coarse – it will payoff eventually… Happy New Years everyone and good luck with all those aspirations!

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Web Development.. What is it?? A product?.. A service?… It’s certainly not a physical item your client can hold and admire.. But if I had to give it a definition, I would call it the first source of communication between customers and a business/company. I very rarely seek out an item to purchase without looking into it online.. If the website or feedback about the item is not up to par, I look elsewhere.. THAT friends, is easily the biggest consumer change of the last decade. Of course I could go on forever about the importance of a website, but instead I’m going to talk about all aspects of web development, and what your biggest priorities should be while creating a landing page or full scale website.

Content is always King – SCIENCE
The one and only thing that drives people to your website is the content, you MUST have something with either educational, or entertainment value in every single circumstance. I have often heard people say, “My website looks great and it’s optimized for my keywords, but my bounce rate is very high and I don’t know why.” If your bounce rate is higher than 50%, your doing something wrong. Even if your website isn’t content oriented, you can still find ways to make content available – A great way to do this, is to provide links to additional (content locked) pages, then you have the option to monetize that “roll-over” traffic and receive likes, +1′s, or other social media kudos.

Clean and Simple Navigation – ART and SCIENCE
When I create the layout for any of my designs, I always ask myself one thing – can my Grandma navigate through this site easily? If there is any doubt in my mind, I start over. One of the biggest things I have learned as an internet marketer, and please forgive me for saying this, but it’s that the average web visitor is not Albert Einstien, in fact, I have discovered that the more I dumb down the adverts/creative, the better my offer tends to perform (some offers more than others). You can’t just lay down a cluster of design/information and expect results. Keeping a site clean and eye-appealing takes a a great deal of give and take. As a foodie would say, presentation is a huge part of the culinary experience… The same goes for web development, you must present the sites content in a way that makes your visitor want to experience more of what you have to offer.

Theme and Color Scheme – ART
I labeled this aspect as ART, but there is a tiny amount of science involved as well when it comes to picking your color scheme and theme.. I wrote a post titled “Subliminal Messages in Internet Marketing” that will better help you understand the science here – Blue color schemes can be used to depict professionalism and soft cornered themes can be used to demonstrate comfort and an easy going atmosphere – so on and so forth. But ART is hands down the winner, as it takes a skilled artist to create a theme that flows and visually describes the websites/business’s attributes.

Marketing, Tracking, and Split Testing – SCIENCE
When I develop a website for a client, I always give a free consultations on how they can manage, launch, and propel their site to the top, and in that conversation I determine whether or not they intend on purchasing traffic, or going the long haul haul with SEO. The reason I ask these questions, is because their answers factor in on the back end of the project. If a client is planning on running large scale paid traffic campaigns, then setting up high end tracking software is necessary. If your doing high volume, its very important to track every aspect of visitor trending, and then be able to split test different copy, function, images, color, and even layout. There is much more science behind this than the average consumer would ever know.. If you don’t optimize your website to bring the best results/ROI, your traffic is a complete waste of money/time and other resources. This in my opinion, is the absolute most important aspect of any web development job, because if you can pinpoint the highest converting design, your financial returns can go up dramatically. I have seen extremely simple changes (like font color/images), make or break campaigns… The key here is to find out what changes are performing best, and theoretically piece together the perfect website.. If you can successfully optimize your website, you know you are getting the highest returns possible, and that my friends, is one of the reasons I love this industry…

Banner Creatives and Adverts – ART and SCIENCE
These two aspects correlate hand in hand with paragraph above, because tracking and split testing these items is just as important as tracking/testing the website itself. BUT, there is a huge amount art and science involved. When I create banner adverts, I generally keep a couple factors in mind:
#1. Will this media buy place my creatives in a position where my visitors eyes are forced to look. Always buy ad space that is “above the fold” (the part of the website seen before scrolling down). This will guarantee that the visitor will take a better look at the banner, and their eyes will not glance by in a fast paced scroll while looking for the content they searched for.
#2. Load Times – You MUST have high end servers that can handle your traffic loads. If your server can load an image faster than the website its displayed on, you have a huge advantage, because it will be the first thing the visitor see’s. If you have slow banner load times, your wasting your advertising dollars, because there is always a possibility that the visitor will scroll or click past before your banner is visible.
#3. Does the banner catch the viewers eye? I always check out the traffic source first (where the banners will be displayed), and then attempt to make the banner look like it is not supposed to be there. I consider my biggest creative strength to be my “shock and awe” mentality. If you can use an image or headline that forces the viewer to focus on it, and contemplate why its there, your 10 steps ahead of everyone else. You must force the visitor to acknowledge and ponder.
#4. Does the banner look appetizing? A purely graphical element – If your banner looks better than the site its displayed on, the visitor is more apt to click on it.. It’s all about the art of attraction – make your viewers fall in love with the design so that they want more of it.
#5. Branding. Embed the websites brand into the ad so the viewer feels safe clicking on it. This will demonstrate professionalism and allow the viewer to feel comfortable making a purchase or completing a lead with personal info. Nobody wants to tell a hobo their phone number, the same goes for websites.

Social Media Functionality – SCIENCE
Facebook hit a benchmark last year when they overtook search engine traffic volume. In the world of today, your website must have strong social media power. This means that all websites should have proper sharing function. Not only should you embed things like the “+1″ or “like” buttons, but you should also have your content set up in a way that when it is shared, the proper images and textual description are used. If a visitor attempts to share your links or content, you need to have the social media site spider and load exactly what you want it to.. You simply cannot afford to have irrelevant pictures or information displayed on your social media links, as it will detour other potential visitors from clicking.

If I personally had to give web development a label – art or science… I would have to say that SCIENCE is the winner here. Others may disagree, but as a performance marketer, I fully understand all the sciences behind different traffic generation techniques, and the importance of tracking and testing. If you agree/disagree, or if I missed any aspects of web development that you feel are important, please start a discussion below and we can continue on with a debate that has no purpose besides a web developers self worth.

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Most Important Factor in any Negotiation – YOU HAVE OPTIONS
One of the big things people tend to forget in this recession, is that any good business owner knows that making some money, is better than making no money at all.. Everyone is wheeling and dealing these days, desperate to supplement their less than adequate incomes. When you enter into a negotiation, one of the first things you want to do in EVERY situation, is let the person your negotiating with know that you have other offers and options.. If they ask what your other offers are, I would generally suggest saying something like.. “I don’t want the other dollar amounts to affect your offer..” That way the other person knows your serious about getting a good deal and will much more likely give a higher bid on the first go around.

Know who your Dealing with.
Something you should always take into account, is the business relationship you have with the other person… Are you hoping to do long term business with this person? Is it a one time transaction? And lastly, is this purchase a personal buying decision (is the item a want more than a need?). Depending on who you are doing business with should affect your strategy. It never hurts to make a deal with someone as a favor IF you will be able to do repeat business down the road.. If this is a one time transaction, that has no possibility of repeat business or referrals, then I would say go for the throat.. I live for those “one-offer stand” negotiations because there is no cap on how ruthless I can be, and I never feel bad about making a decent profit.

Be the first to make an offer.
A lot of people entering negotiation will start in hopes of having a friendly vibe, after all, being friendly will get you a better deal, right? Wrong… This is where you want to put your big boy pants on and demonstrate that you are the alpha dog in this situation. Many negotiators will actually want you to make the first offer, either because they are unsure of a solid dollar amount, or they want your opinion first so they don’t start with a ridiculous offer.. Bringing me to my next bullet point..

Aim HIGH!
This is something you NEED to integrate into all your negotiations – You must know how much you want to pay before the negotiation starts, and know your bottom dollar. Change your strategy here depending on who your dealing with (as mentioned above). If your the vendor, ALWAYS shoot for a higher dollar amount than what you really want… For instance, if I am selling an item or service, and I (Unbeknownst to the other person) would like to get $25,000, but the starting offer is $20,000, then I would add the difference between the offers, and double it, making my offer $30,000. This counter offer may sound ridiculous to a newbie negotiator, but this tactic will give you a lot more wiggle room, and should start you in the right direction, allowing you to hit the dollar amount you originally aimed for..

Close Close Close!
The true art of negotiation is the ability to close the deal. They key here is to make every single counter offer seem like its your bottom dollar. This can be tricky, because you want to make them think your at a stalemate when your not, and leave somewhat of an open end, so if need be, you can try again. I’ve heard good salesmen say “bottom dollar” half a dozen times before the deal was made. A good poker face is a necessity when it comes to closing, so don’t take this advice lightly.. Never feel guilty about a nice profit, and take pride in being a ruthless negotiator, as it is not only our right, but our obligation as professionals to always get the best deal.

There are a lot of other tactics you can use, like walking away in hopes of getting called back.. or having a great teammate reinforcing your offer.. Once in a while I even use the “I’m gonna have to sleep on this” strategy. Be creative, be ruthless, and be the man. I hope this opened your eyes to the importance of good negotiation skills, and motivates you to step your game up!

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I have to give Domino’s some props on this one… It took some serious cahonies to run a campaign with self-depreciative honesty. I’m not shocked to tell you, that this campaign has been paying off BIG for them… In the second quarter of the year, (shortly after they launched the campaign), sales when up 16.5% and are still growing.. They are going to continue on with this “We Suck” strategy and I actually saw a brand new commercial today that focused on them having barely any cheese on their breadsticks.. I will post the new commercial HERE when it becomes available. Until then, here is the original commercial that caught my attention..

Domino’s CEO tries a new strategy

Another clip that has even more bad customer feedback

Why do YOU think this campaign style is working? How does human psychology fit in here?.. and is it normal for us consumers to appreciate the self deprication? It’s almost like he established trust with America by announcing that his company isn’t perfect. Now that he has earned your trust, the buying process feels personal. At least that’s my take on it..

If any of you readers know of any other “Self-Depreciative” style strategies being used, please comment below as I would love to learn about them..

I guess to sum this post up, the lesson learned here is that demonstrating honesty can have a huge effect on your campaigns… This strategy has inspired me to start creating banner adverts with negative customer feedback about the web viewers search query. I intend on doing a case study from my personal “we suck” style campaigns and will post a link here in the future… Make sure you subscribe below to get notified about tha future case study, and until then… Thanks for reading!

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Odds are likely that if you have been in this industry for a minute, you have received a cease and desist email or two, and if you haven’t, you can almost guarantee you will. Here are some tips on how to handle the situation.

NOTICE: I am NOT a legal adviser, and have not had any legal training or consulting, this information is based purely on my experiences. I will NOT be held responsible for any ill effect caused by you reading this post, or taking this advice.

CALL THEIR BLUFF!
Unfortunately, internet marketing is a VERY competitive & cut throat industry loaded with ruthless “affholes” (AFFiliate a**HOLES). I have received quite a few Cease and Desist emails from other marketers in my day and most of them were completely full of it, trying to use scare tactics, threatening legal action for using trademarked terms and what have you. This scare tactic is not only used in internet marketing, but all business. Below I embeded a video of Domino’s Pizza CEO Dave Brandon using a competitors Cease and Assist letter against the sender in a commercial. I am a fan of Subway, but I have to give Domino’s marketing team props, as they did their due diligence (consulted their legal team) and strengthened their campaign even more by not backing down, and publicly announcing it. Great move Domino’s!

CEO (Dave Brandon) CALLS THE BLUFF and oven bakes a Cease & Desist letter

DO YOUR RESEARCH!
Research the person/business who sent the notice, and try to find out if he or she may actually be a threat. Do your best to find out if this person has sued others and if they had any clout at all. If the notice you received is actually legit, the sender will include information about the trademark; like a reference number, date of trademark, and info about what the trademark covers. Usually if the trademark in question is a popular word or slang term, your in the clear, as the US trademark office will usually only issue trademarks of commonly used words to huge companies/conglomerates. Use http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/process/search/ as a guideline, and if you think you may have a serious threat on your hands, contact a “Trademark Search Service” BEFORE contacting a lawyer.

WAS IT AN EMAIL OR LETTER?
My general rule of thumb is, if it’s an email, forget about it. If it is an actual paper letter WITH delivery confirmation, you know the threat is much more serious.

INDIVIDUAL OR LAWYER?
Who sent it to you? If the notice came from an individual, odds are pretty likely it’s a mere scare tactic. If they already contacted a lawyer, then the notice would be sent from their lawyer – if indeed the notice was from a lawyer, it may be smart to pause your activity and get some real legal advice, OR adapt, and that takes me to the next bullet point.

IF THE NOTICE IS SERIOUS, SIMPLY ADAPT!
Back in the hayday of viral facebook campaigns, (when anyone could make bank from using simple viral scripts and a good headline), I ran a campaign that targeted farmville users. My domain had the trademarked term “farmville” in it, and used the logo and term frequently in my landing pages content. (I know, I know.. that was wrong of me.. lesson learned.) Anyway, I received a letter from Zynga requesting I take down my website. It was a serious threat as they were going lawsuit crazy at the time, and it simply wasn’t worth the risk.. Soooo I adapted. Even tho I was getting 150,000+ hits a day from links posted all over facebook, I decided to disable my domain. I then purchased a similar domain (without a trademark infringement) and pointed it to the same directory on my server. I then modified the design and removed any terms, logos and color schemes that were in question. Even tho I lost out on TONS of traffic, and had to completely start over, my business model never changed… I was still targeting the exact same audience, with the exact same offer, BUT this time around, I didn’t have to worry about legal issues. Ohh, did I mention that the new landing page went viral too? well at least until facebook killed all my links… (ahh I miss the good ole days!).. My point here… just adapt and you will probably end up doing just as well.

NEVER FORFEIT YOUR DOMAIN NAME!
Let me repeat…
NEVER FORFEIT YOUR DOMAIN NAME!
If the notice you received is requesting that you hand over your domain, completely ignore that request! One of the reasons people send out Cease and Desist letters, is so that they can aquire domains that are already receiving traffic. They usually say things like “I legally own the domain because it has my trademarked name in it” – a completely false statement. If your domain has a trademarked term within it, AND you do comply to cease activity, you can still own the domain as long as you do not use it to compete with the trademark holder. If it’s not possible for people to confuse your landing page with a trademark holders brand, you are completely fine. Also, you cannot resale that domain.. but don’t give the Cease and Desist sender your traffic.

I really hope I was able to give you guys some good info here.. As I stated above, I am NOT a lawyer or legal adviser, and I could be wrong in some circumstances. If you have had any experiences in this topic, or want to call MY bluff, comment below, I would love to hear what you have to say.

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The Interface is exactly how I envisioned it should be.
The subtle changes in navigation structure & language seem to be geared towards business owners as opposed to web analysts with comprehensive grouping of metrics and expandable menus enabling easier navigation between reports. The new dashboard options outlined below create potential for powerful business dashboards , aggregating key data of interest and presented within single screens. Ohh did I mention that the back button doesn’t erase previously set variables anymore??

Multiple Custom Dashboards with Widgets
The new Analytics dashboard is completely customizable and is based on widgets which can be added, deleted, edited and dragged around at will. Each user account will be able to create multiple dashboard (up to 20 per profile) as opposed to the single dashboard available in the current version.
You can add multiple widgets to your dashboards and there are 4 main types of widget. These are Metric, Pie Chart, Timeline, and Table. Metric: Displays the numerical value of a metric over a period of time. Pie Chart: Can be used to display a metric and group this metric by dimension for example you could display ‘Visits by Country’. Timeline: Displays a metric of choice in graph format over time. New functionality allows you to compare two metrics in the same graph. Table: You can display one dimension with two metrics and display data in a table (select number of rows – up to 10).

Graph Plotting Functionality
The Analytics graph view gives such a useful picture highlighting peaks and trophs, trends and so on. While the current version of Google Analytics allows you to drill down and chart other areas such as traffic sources etc the ability to compare traffic sources on the same graph was previously not possible unless you used advanced segments. The new version of Analytics allows you to quickly and easily compare different traffic sources on the same graph. So for example by selecting Google organic traffic and facebook referral traffic you can get a quick graphical view of how these 2 traffic sources contribute to your overall traffic view. This ability to select Plot Rows and graphically compare data should be possible in just about any report that has a data table.

Well, I’m impressed Mr. Google, I’m sure millions of webmasters are out their playing with all your new features.. and Christmas isn’t even here yet. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to leave your opinion below!

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THE PRESENT: America is jaded – We are wired and Wireless to the hills. We have a million communication platforms at our fingertips, and there are TONS of social networks available online (I even ran my own social network – profyles.com – the domain is for sale btw… lol). Facebook is still a useful tool for people, and a decent way to kill some time, but it lost it’s “cool” factor… After all, our grandparents use it… NOT COOL. There are still a ton of “facebook addicts” out there.. but most people will tell you it’s just becoming annoying. I’m not trying to be a “hater” here, but I do have a personal grudge against facebook – even tho my facebook campaigns made me thousands of dollars, I lost out on other traditional marketing techniques.. facebook did some serious damage to internet marketing.

So what do we do when something isn’t cool anymore? We move on. If it doesn’t have to be cool anymore, it MUST be useful, and that’s exactly why I LOVE Google+.

Reasons Google+ is better than Facebook

Privacy Settings – Circles
You may argue that Facebook has a great privacy feature where you can block certain people from viewing your profile, photos, videos and other information. However you cannot deny the fact that these privacy settings are more complicated than ever. It often creates confusions due to which you may end up making various blunders.

In real life, we like to expose certain areas of our life only to certain people. Just like you wouldn’t show your wild side to your boss, you certainly wouldn’t want to show your nerdy side to your buddies. Google Plus understands this and have developed “Circles” to easily share what you want, when you want, and to whom you want. This circle feature will create a different profile page for every individual group of people in your circles. You can create a totally separate circle for your family, a separate circle for your friends and a totally separate circle for your bosses. If you choose, you can even create new circles, I have circles that I place internet marketers in, and another circle specifically designated for cigar connoisseurs. Using circles, you will find it very easy to share different things with different people. Big thumbs up on this one!

Hangouts – Virtual Meetings
You can’t deny how annoying “walling” on Facebook can be. Let alone the privacy part, but when you and another friend are trying to have a conversation, you’ll find somebody else bumping right into it. To avoid this, you may resort to sending messages over to your friend’s Facebook inbox. But where is the fun in that? What are we living in 1952? This is the 21st century. The 21st century calls in for something definitely cooler than that.

The Google Plus feature called ‘Hangouts’ is a life-saver for all those who are waiting for the technology of teleporting to arrive. For the very first time, unplanned bumping into each other is introduced online. Google Plus lets you select your favorite people or a complete circle to know that you are hanging out. These specially chosen people can drop by to have a face-to-face chat with you if they wish and if they are also online at the same time.

Instant Photo/Video Uploads
While uploading photos and videos is a pain with Facebook, many-a-times we find ourselves struggling with them. In a hassle, we tend to make mistakes and the wrong people view the wrong pictures.

Google Plus’ feature that is known as Instant Upload, makes the job twice as easier and twice the fun. It automatically gets your photos and videos from your phone uploaded on a private album. You only have to choose whether you want to share it or not and with whom. You can even save the photos and videos to share later. Doesn’t it sound like such a breath of fresh air?

Chat/Huddle
Many, often complain about how uncomfortable Facebook chats are and how they share poor connectivity. Opening two or more chat options also ends up becoming rather complicated. Then there are cases where more than two friends of yours pop in online at one time. Where you could talk to both of them together, you have to juggle from one chat box to another. How frustrating can that be?

If you can relate to the above situation, Google Plus’ feature Huddle is like a blessing in disguise. We all love texting, don’t we? Except for the fact that it can be a little too harsh on your thumbs. Huddle lets you turn all those conversations that you have with your friends separately into one group chat. You can discuss parties, gossips and information as a group together. Chatting just couldn’t be anymore fun unless it were face-to-face.

No Ads
Considering I make most of my money from Internet advertising, I am not sure if I shall call this a plus or a minus.. For the time being, Google+ does not have ads, but I would imagine that once they overtake facebook, (which wont take long) google will place ads into +, and I can only PRAY that their future platform will be completely different than facebooks.

Want to delete Facebook yet?

I doubt I talked you into that, after all, it sort of feels like loosing an appendage, but if your a renegade like me, Here’s how to delete:

Go Here: http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account
Click Submit and follow the instructions.

Now here’s the clincher…
Your account will be deactivated for two weeks, and if you DO NOT USE FACEBOOK IN ANY WAY during that period, your account is permanently deleted.
I REPEAT: Your profile isn’t deleted right away! You must NOT log in to, or interact in any other way with Facebook for at least two weeks, as it will cancel the deletion request. That includes NOT logging in to Facebook using any client (like iPhone/Android app’s or Instant Messengers like Pidgin). Do NOT click embedded Like-buttons on other facebook buttons on individual websites, do NOT log in to other services using Facebook Connect (like Digg) etc etc.
While your at it, delete all your browsing/forms history, passwords, and cookies as well, to minimize the risk of accidentally using your account!
If you want out you have to stay out.

I am in no way trying to start a kill facebook revolution here, but simply stating that if you only want to participate in one social network, Google+ (in my opinion) is going to be the big dog very a very long time. Hopefully the rest of the world agrees with me, and if you do or do not agree, please feel free to announce your opinion in the comments below… Thanks again for reading and have a google+ day!

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This is easily my favorite time of the year! The trees are changing color, It’s not too hot or too cold outside, the fields are being harvested, and there is a holiday that actually has purpose besides gifts or fireworks (not that there is anything wrong with those!), but during Thanksgiving, the only thing that matters, is FAMILY.

One more person for me to love.
This year I was blessed with a first. I am going to be an uncle!!!! My sister Kacie and husband James Birkel are soon to be parents, and I was so excited with the news that I had to share it online. I have been waiting for 2 weeks to post this sucker because I was actually the first they told, and had to wait for them to tell the family over thanksgiving. I almost let it slip a couple times and found myself shopping online for a box of cigars, until I realized I didn’t know if they should read “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl”… haha
I am very excited and just needed to vent it out.. (ahhh… I feel better).. If your still reading this, I am shocked, as I would have clicked the back button the second I read the word “baby”… To Kacie and James, I am up to the challenge of being an awesome uncle and would wish you luck if you needed it, but you don’t.. Your both gonna be great parents and I cant wait to spoil the little fart!

Anyway… This Thanksgiving was special. I never really focused on the real meaning behind this holiday, but I figured it out this year, and now I’m an official fan of the turkey day. (As long as people wait a couple days before decorating for Christmas that is.. uggg… the damn radio is already blaring those joy-full crappy jingles.. lol)
That is all I have for this post, I hope I didn’t waste anyone’s time with my greedy uncle rant.. If so, please feel free to comment below and I’ll try my best not to delete them.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope yours was as excellent as mine, and that all you fellow marketers out there have a prosperous Cyber Monday!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it with friends or subscribing to my rss feed. Comments are appreciated! Thank you for reading! Sincerely,