How To — James Poling

What’s Your Story?: How to Become a Social Media Success

October 21, 2010 By James Poling 1 Comment

I went to nyXpo yesterday and besides getting to meet a lot of great people I got to see Gary Vaynerchuk and Robert Scoble speak to a large room full of people about social media. One thing from their talk that really stuck with me was their emphasis on telling your story.

The gist of their story was that too many entrepreneurs and small business owners spend too much time trying to figure out how to make their story work around social media rather than the other way around. Every single one of us has a story to tell, whether you own a business or not, but if you’re a small business owner and you are looking to engage potential clients, getting your business’ story across is one of the most important things you can do.

Don’t spend so much time focusing on which tools you use, spend more time figuring out how best to tell your story. Sure, Foursquare is huge right now, but if you don’t have a business with a brick and mortar location it’s obviously not a tool you need to be focusing on. Sounds simple, but it’s a question a lot of small business owners ask.

Facebook has over a half a billion users but if you set up a Facebook page for your business and no one sees it who cares? By it’s very nature Twitter is one of the easiest ways to engage clients/potential clients. It’s stream of conscious and open streams provide a lot more for business owners to use. According to Gary, “if you own a business and you’re not on Twitter, ‘You’re an asshole.’” No, really, he said that.

Once you find a way to make contact with people interested in buying what you you’re selling, picking up what you’re putting down, make sure you do it right. Play it smooth. Don’t go in for the hard sell every time, just making contact of any sort turns them from a complete stranger to an almost acquaintance. Once you find someone who is interested and knows you exist, someone who has heard or is willing to tell “your story” then you’ve gone from a complete stranger to someone who has some semblance of a real, vested interest in whether or not you succeed.

The bottom line is, if you start using any social media tool solely to sell your product you’re going to be disregarded almost instantly. Fifteen years of the internet has given people really good bullshit detectors. I don’t want to buy my windows from some slick asshole trying to sell me his windows, I want to buy windows from some guy that busts his ass but is also interested in other shit and doesn’t just look at me as a lead.

That’s where you can become a social media success story. Skip the bullshit marketing routine that everybody does and use it to follow up with people whom you’ve already serviced. The only way you’re going to be able to compete with the “big guys” is to out care them. That’s the key. Once people see that you really, truly care about satisfaction, or practically anything else, and not just selling, the sky’s the limit.

Filed Under: How To, Social Media Tagged With: facebook, foursquare, How To, small business, Social Media, twitter

Add Gravatar Hovercards to Your WordPress Blog

October 10, 2010 By James Poling 2 Comments

While my commenting system of choice is Disqus, however there are some people I know, who for whatever reason, don’t like Disqus and still use WordPress’ native commenting system to handle their blog’s community. This tip is for all of you.

If you are using WordPress native comments your blog already supports people’s Gravatars by identifying their email address as they comment. Well WordPress is rolling out a new feature for Gravatar called Hovercards, which is a cool feature that allows you to see more of how people are interacting socially. While the official plugin is still in the works, Otto on WordPress came up with a temporary plugin solution for those of you that can’t wait.

Otto actually wrote code that creates and calls in a plugin but since it’s unsupported for now we’re going to skip the plugin code and just edit a line in your functions.php file since that doesn’t require you to even FTP anything.

In your WordPress Dashboard go to Appearance > Editor and choose your theme and then click on the functions.php file in the right. You should see the file show up in the editor and once you do just add this line of code to the bottom of it:

wp_enqueue_script( 'gprofiles', 'http://s.gravatar.com/js/gprofiles.js', array( 'jquery' ), 'e', true );

Once you’re done, hit the Update File button and you’re done. The next time someone leaves a comment connected to their Gravatar account you’ll be able to hover over it and find out a lot more about the people leaving comments on your blog.

Special thanks to Otto and Alex for coming up with this quick fix for those of you who can’t wait until the official plugin is out.

Note: once the official plugin is release and you install it, be sure to go back in to your functions.php file and remove the line of code you added to make sure there aren’t any wires crossed.

Filed Under: How To Tagged With: comments, gravatar, hovercards, How To, Social Media

Deleting a Post From Your RSS Feed

August 4, 2010 By James Poling Leave a Comment

I was working on cleaning up some old posts on my site earlier today and wound up accidentally publishing a post I meant to delete. If you’ve ever had this happen to you then you probably know that even if you catch your mistake immediately and proceed to unpublish or delete the post in question it’s too late, it’s already been pulled into your RSS feed.

Obviously if it was important enough to delete the post immediately it’s important enough to get it out of your RSS feed. Depending on what the content is this could range from a minor annoyance to oh my god I just crapped myself.

If you’re leaning toward the latter then you more than likely are freaking out about how to get the post you already deleted from your site out of your RSS feed. The bad news is if you’re not using feedburner to handle your feeds you’re on your own. The good news is if you’re using feedburner to handle your feeds then removing a post from your feed is quick and easy.

Step 1: After you’ve deleted the post in question from your site, go to login to feedburner and click on the feed in question.
Step 2: Once you’re in the correct feed click on the “troubleshootize” tab.

Step 3: Scroll down until you see the “Resync Now” button and click it.

Although it’s called the “Nuclear Option” it’s not nearly as serious as it sounds. The only thing the resync does is to delete all of your current archived RSS posts and immediately crawl your site for existing posts that belong in the feed. Since you’ve already deleted the post you want gone, feedburner rebuilds your entire feed without the post in question. That’s all there is to it.

For the record, I’m not saying that there isn’t a way to get rid of a post in your feed if you’re not using feedburner, I’m just saying that, if there is a way, I’m not familiar with it. If you know of a solution for non-feedburner users feel free to share it in the comments section and let us know.

Filed Under: Blogging, How To Tagged With: Blogging, feedburner, feeds, How To, rss

Zen and the Art of Blogging: Hosted vs. Self-Hosted – Where to Begin

August 3, 2010 By James Poling Leave a Comment

One of the first things you need to do once you’ve decided that you want to become a kick ass, famous blogger that can change the world with a few keystrokes is to decide what type of platform you your blog to be built on. No matter who you are, or how big or small your audience will be initially, everyone has to make this decision before they begin.

First, let’s start off with some basic definitions so that we’re clear on what we’re talking about.

Self-Hosted

Choosing a self-hosted blog means that you, not the blogging company, will be taking care of hosting your site. If you choose to go with a self-hosted blog you’ll need to make a few more decisions like which platform to use and where to host it. As far as the choice of platform goes, for the purpose of this post, I’ll only be dealing with WordPress.org. For hosting, that’s up to you. You’ll need to start off with a simple hosting package from some place like GoDaddy (affiliate link) or Bluehost.

While a self-hosted blog gives you the most flexibility to what you want with your blog, it also means that you, or someone you hire, will be responsible for virtually every aspect of you site. Fortunately WordPress now has an automatic update feature so when a new version is released all you need to do is click a link that shows up at the top of your dashboard and the update will be handled for you. Installation shouldn’t be an issue either considering virtually every hosting provider worth its salt (certainly the two mentioned above) have one-click installs of WordPress that handle everything from the database creation to populating the initial files for you.

Hosted Blogging Solutions

Hosted blogging platforms do one thing spectacularly. They let you focus solely on content. Once your site is set up you never have to worry about what’s going on in the background, upgrades and general maintenance is taken care by the blogging platform itself.

WordPress.com – WordPress.com is a hosted and slightly crippled version of WordPress.org. The main difference is that you can’t run ads on your site. In my experience the ability to theme a WordPress.com site isn’t quite as flexibility as the self-hosted version. WordPress.com is free but they do charge for certain add-ons such as using a custom domain name.
Typepad.com – Typepad has been around for a long time and has a lot to offer the small-business types. One thing Typepad does well are their clean, professional looking themes. Typepad is a paid service.
Tumblr.com – Tumblr is a “short” blogging platfrom that makes it easy to post a wide variety of content while drilling each post down to the specific kind of content you are posting.
Posterous.com – Another “short” blogging platform boasts it’s the easiest way to post and it probably is. The only thing you have to do to start your blog on Posterous is send a post to post@posterous.com and you’re all set.

If you’re looking for a hosted blogging solution you’re going to need to do a lot more research to find out which one of these is right for you. Don’t be afraid to sign up for an account and play around with the dashboard of each and see which one you’re more comfortable with. Even Typepad, which is the only service that charges, has a 30-day free trial so you can get in there and see what it’s like.

This is by no means a complete list of every blogging platform out there. These are just a few that I’ve had a good deal of experience with and would feel comfortable recommending to someone who asked my opinion.

Filed Under: Blogging, How To Tagged With: Blogging, How To, posterous, tumblr, typepad, WordPress Tips, zen and the art of blogging

Five Chrome Extensions That Will Make Your Life Easier

July 20, 2010 By James Poling Leave a Comment

One of the reasons I was so hesitant to move from Firefox to Chrome was that I had my FF tricked out with so many custom plugins that it really slowed me down to try and surf without them.

Now that Chrome has opened up the floodgates and allowed extensions, the playing field is starting to even out. Here are five quick and easy Chrome Extensions that come in handy and will make your life easier.

Webpage Screenshot – While not as slick as Firefox’s ScreenGrab! it still does the job. This is probably one of my most used extensions.
AdBlock – Basically the same concept as the FF version but since Chrome doesn’t fully support the code it’s not quite as effective as it is on FF but it still gets the job done.
MeasureIt! – I love this extension. This is actually one that I could never find on FF and have always wanted. MeasureIt! is a simple tool that let’s you measure the width of something right on your browser. It’s a lot easier than doing a screencap, firing up Photoshop and measuring it that way. This app will save you lots of time when trying to figure out the dimensions of something you like.
Google Mail Checker – It’s simple, that’s exactly what it does. You don’t have to worry about keeping Gmail open in your browser, Google Mail Checker lets you know how many unread emails you have in your inbox and once you click on it, it opens a new tab and takes you right to your inbox. Pretty handy, especially if you’re waiting on an important email and don’t want to keep hitting refresh all the time.
Eye Dropper – This is another app I use a lot. Again, it’s not quite as good as its FF companion but it still does the job. If you need to find the color on a page this will definitely get the job done for you.

Honorable Mention: Web Developer - This didn’t make the list because I think it still needs a little bit of work. The Web Developer add-on for Firefox is arguably one of the best plugins out there for anyone building websites. This plugin has a lot of potential but still seems a little clunky and harder to use.

There you have it, enjoy. Let me know what some of your favorite Chrome extensions are and maybe I’ll check them out.

Filed Under: How To Tagged With: browser, chrome, extensions, google, How To, Web Apps

How to Tune Out the Droning of the Vuvuzelas on Your Samsung TV

June 16, 2010 By James Poling Leave a Comment

How to adjust the equalizer on your Samsung TV to drown out some of the incessant vuvuzela noise.

Samsung Vuvuzela Killer

Press the menu button
Scroll down to Sound > Equalizer option
100Hz all the way up
300Hz all the way down
1K all the way up

This is what I found works best for me. You may need to play around and tweak to find something that works better for you. It doesn’t completely tune out the vuvuzelas all together but it definitely helps drown them out a bit, especially when the commentators are speaking.

If you give it a shot let us know how it worked in the comments.

Also, while I have Samsung tvs, I presume that the basic equalizer options are the same on most tvs that actually have an equalizer so go ahead and give it a shot. Look at it this way, it’s not like the sound could actually get more annoying so what do you have to lose?

Filed Under: How To, Uncategorized Tagged With: equalizer, How To, samsung, television, vuvuzelas, world cup 2010

Skype and Google Voice Finally Start Playing Nice

June 10, 2010 By James Poling 2 Comments

It seems clear that I’ll probably never get my wish that Posterous and WordPress get wasted and make beautiful blogging babies, but my dream of Skype and Google Voice hooking up is finally a reality.

Skype has always allowed you to change the number that shows up on caller ID when you call with skype, the one caveat has been that it has to be a mobile number because they way Skype verifies that you actually own the number is by sending you a text to your mobile device which you then enter into Skype.

For Google Voice users this seemed like the perfect match, the only problem was that, for a long time, Google Voice wouldn’t accept text messages from Skype, meaning you couldn’t verify your Google Voice number as your Skype caller ID. There is a workaround to this but it’s more of a hassle than having to open up Skype and just dial.

I just found out that recently Google Voice adjusted its settings and now allows you to receive that verification text from Skype meaning that you can use Skype all day long and make sure the calls come back into your Google Voice mailbox.

How to set up a Google Voice Number as your Skype Caller ID

Log in to your account at Skype.com. Note: this is not the same as logging into the desktop client. Go to the account tab and select Caller ID.
Enter your Google Voice number.
Check your Google Voice inbox. You should almost immediately receive a text in your Google Voice inbox with a confirmation code.
Type or copy the code into Skype and click the “verify” button.

That’s it, within 24 hours your Google Voice number should start showing up on caller IDs whenever you make a call with Skype.

Filed Under: How To Tagged With: google voice, How To, skype, sms, voip

Zen and the Art of Blogging or: How I learned to Stop Wasting Money and Love the Blog (pt. 1)

May 22, 2010 By James Poling 1 Comment

The one thing I absolutely love about the internet and what gets me just as jazzed up and excited as the first day I ever logged on to Mindspring for the very first time back in 1998 is one person’s ability to connect to the entire world with the push of a button. That concept, that idea drives me. That is my passion. To teach, to connect, to change the world.

Sounds cheesy right? I know, but I honestly can’t think of a better way to say it. Whether your running a powerful, feature packed tech blog with millions of readers or a simple, free WordPress.com blog you have the power to change the world. At the exact moment that the “publish” button is pushed on a blog post the playing field is level. Every single person on the planet with access to a computer has the ability to share their thoughts and ideals, their sorrows and triumphs and their point of view with the rest of world and that is a stone cold fact. It’s a mind blowing concept to actually consider the power we have at our fingertips. Each and every one of you out there has the ability to change the world with the push of a button.

Of course, as with anything else in life there is a learning curve. You’re not going to sit down in front of a computer, sign up for a blog and start reaping the benefits immediately. To be successful, and for our purpose success is not defined by page views and revenues that will come later. Success is defined by the quality of your product and by your ability to connect with your readers. Focus on those two things and everything else will take care of itself. Too many people have a tendency to put the cart in front of the horse so to speak and get frustrated by their lack of results.

Think of your blog as a bonsai tree. Your blog needs your attention, you need to feed it, you need to prune it and you need to make sure it sees the light of day. Of course there’s more tan one way to skin a bonsai (or something like that) and what works for one person may not work for another. You have to find out what works best for you. Just like with basic bonsai care and maintenance however you will need a few simple tools to get started and get you one your way. As your blog grows and evolves and as you became a better caretaker for you blog you may find new and more advanced tools that you want to use to spruce up your garden of knowledge. That will come in time, what we’re going to focus on now are a few, simple tips and tools that will get you on your way to changing the world one click of a button at a time.

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Filed Under: Blogging, How To, Uncategorized Tagged With: Blogging, How To, zen and the art of blogging

Thesis 1.6 Upgrading Tips

October 21, 2009 By James Poling 9 Comments

Total credit goes to Kristarella for figuring out these two bits of code that were stumping me. If you are upgrading to Thesis 1.6 and you have a customized nav and a custom header background there are three bits of code you’ll have to tweak in order to get them to work.

When I first upgraded I followed the instructions on the Thesis site but something was still not quite right. The site looked like this:

For the most part everything worked flawlessly with the obvious exception of the nav and the header background. So, if you’ve upgraded to Thesis 1.6 and you’re site looks something like this don’t fret. You’re a few quick changes away from getting your site back to where it needs to be.

All of these changes will need to be made in your custom stylesheet. All can easily be accomplished with a few quick search/replace.

In Thesis 1.6 a few div ids and classes have changed

#tabs are now .menu

Current page item has been trimmed down to just current.

.current_page_item to just .current

This step wasn’t necessary in previous versions but in 1.6 you’ll need to proactively add a transparent background to the “page” class

#header_area .page {background:transparent;}

If you’re having trouble upgrading to Thesis 1.6 and keeping your current design, try these three steps and 9 out of 10 times your issue will be resolved.

Filed Under: Blogging, How To Tagged With: code, How To, thesis, WordPress Tips

How to set up MMS on your iPhone

September 25, 2009 By James Poling Leave a Comment

Everyone is going nuts over AT&T finally opening up MMS (picture messages) for the iPhone. Personally I much prefer sending images via email anyway but I can see how it may come in handy for some people.

Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes
You should see the following message
Choose “Udpate Settings” the update should only take a few seconds and you will get a confirmation
Restart your iPhone. You have to reset your iPhone for the update to show up.
Confirm the update worked by opening up your Messages app and looking for the camera icon next to the entry field. (screencaps below)

That’s it, you’re ready to start bringing AT&T’s network to its knees. Wait, it’s already on its knees, so you can start kicking it in the face by sending pictures messages constantly to everyone you know.

Filed Under: How To Tagged With: apple, att, How To, iPhone, mms, mobile, picture messages

Fixing Gmail’s IMAP on iPhones running 3.0

August 29, 2009 By James Poling Leave a Comment

Not long after upgrading to version 3.0 on my iPhone I began to notice that my Gmail IMAP began being unresponsive. In other words, actions I would take on the iPhone wouldn’t show up on the web. It’s pretty frustrating to go through and archive and organize all of your messages on your iPhone only to log into your web account later and see that none of it is actually reflected.

Apparently the key for people using firmware version 3.0 is to delete your current Gmail setup and start fresh choosing “other” on the setup screen rather than “Gmail”.

It’s still not perfect, but it’s better than what it was before. You can see the full setup directions via Gmail Help after the jump. This is definitely a step forward, but come on Gmail, you can do better than this.

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Filed Under: How To Tagged With: email, gmail, How To, IMAP, iPhone, mobile

How To: Import photos from your iPhone to your PC in 3 easy steps using Picasa

July 17, 2009 By James Poling 8 Comments

If you go searching on the web for the best way to import photos from your iPhone, most likely the answer you’re bound to find is iPhoto. Which is great if you have a Mac, but what about us PC users out there?

Well, as an admitted Google fanboy I have to say that Picasa handles importing photos from your iPhone just as well, if not better than iPhoto.

Once you have your iPhone connected to your computer just follow these three easy steps.

Step 1: Open Picasa and click on the import button

If your iPhone was already connected Picasa will detect that as the correct device to import from.

Step 2: Confirm your device, choose which photos you want to import and execute

Step 3: Enter your info

Enter a folder name and location and description of your photos. Also select what you would like to do with the photos once they’re copied onto your hard drive.

That’s it! Rinse. Repeat whenever you want to grab your photos off your iPhone.

Also, if you’re not familiar with Picasa, it integrates perfectly with Picasa Web and allows you to flip a switch and sync your offline albums to your online Picasa account. No uploading necessary, it’s all done in the background for you.

Filed Under: How To Tagged With: google, How To, iPhone, pc, photography, photos, picasa

Deleting a Post From Your RSS Feed