jessestay, Author at Stay N Alive - Page 7 of 105

Author: jessestay

How to Get Notified When People Talk About Your Website on Google+

Posted on by jessestay

Want a notification any time someone comments or posts about your website on Google+? You can do this with Google Analytics:

1. Go to the “Traffic Sources” section of Google Analytics for your website
2. Expand the “Social” sub-section.
3. Click on “Sources”.
4. Click on the “Activity Stream” tab next to the “Social Referral” tab

Now you’ll have a list of everyone posting and commenting about your website on Google+. You just need to create an email alert. To do this:

1. At the top of the page, click the “Email” link (next to “Advanced Segments”).
2. Select the attachment type you want.
3. Choose how frequently you want to be notified (I choose “Daily” – it would be nice if they had an “Immediately” option).
4. Designate an email address for who will receive the report.

5. Enter some text into the body of the email that you want to appear in each email you receive.

Click “Send”, and you’ll soon be receiving notifications of every person that links to your website from Google+!

This #dummiestip will be in Chapter 13 of Google+ Marketing For Dummies

The Marissa Mayer Era is All About Product

Posted on by jessestay

People keep saying Yahoo engineers and employees are going to feel less-likely to want to leave Yahoo now that +Marissa Mayer is the CEO. While I’m sure it will be a more comfortable environment, I would be worried right now if I worked there. Here’s why:

Yahoo needs a complete reboot.

If Marissa’s smart, she’ll kill just about everything except a few core projects the company is good at, and start over. Yahoo’s now the underdog, which means they need to move fast. They need to go back to startup mode. The mode Google was in when Marissa joined Google. They’ve got to be able to move faster, move better, and out-pace the likes of Google and Facebook as they move forward. They need a core focus as they do this.

For that reason I anticipate many employees being let go and Yahoo going back to core principles and values. Yahoo, more than anything needs to focus.

My Yahoo? Goodbye. Yahoo mail? Goodbye. Flickr? Goodbye. You can probably say most programs outside search, social, and perhaps mobile will go. Or, Yahoo will decide a different focus and get rid of everything that is not that. If they don’t, Yahoo won’t survive. They simply can’t, nor can they move fast enough right now to beat the competition. In many ways, this is what Google did with Google+ (but Google could afford not to need to lay anyone off in the process). I bet Marissa does the same at Yahoo, at even greater scale.

Marissa’s an expert at Product Management – that’s what she did at Google. This means she’ll pick a few products, iterate quickly, and move fast. Then, they’ll expand from there and adapt as they grow. At the moment Yahoo’s stuck in waterfall mode and Marissa’s the perfect person to get them out of that mess.


Posted originally on Google+.

2012 Google I/O – Is This the 2007 Facebook F8?

Posted on by jessestay

All eyes should be on Google’s Annual Developer Conference, Google I/O next week. As the first Google I/O with the Google+ Team, and a serious read/write API yet to launch, I predict we are about to see an explosion of social apps at a level we haven’t seen since Facebook’s F8 Conference in 2007 when they launched their platform to the world. The parallels are very similar.

Let’s look first at the original APIs for both. Some may not be aware of this, but previous to Facebook’s 2007 F8 conference, they too had an API very similar to the state of Google+’s API today. Called “Facebook Developers”, the original API in 2006 was limited to a small number of requests per day, very similar to Google+’s current platform. It was mostly a read-only API, with, eventually, the ability to create widgets that could be embedded as apps on a person’s Wall – a new feature of Facebook at the time. You could also access very limited data about a person’s friend graph and wall posts. It wasn’t until F8 of 2007 that Facebook really opened the floodgates for this, increasing API requests, opening up the ability for “Canvas apps”, and giving full access to integrate apps into multiple “integration points” within Facebook itself. In fact, it wasn’t until years after that that developers could really start integrating this data into other websites and mobile apps. Just like Google+, Facebook took baby steps to launch their API, but when they were ready, they launched big.

Google+ is in a very similar state today. Their platform is limited in the number of requests you can make per minute, and per day. They only allow a few select enterprise partners write access to the news feed. They’ve opened up a few elements, such as games, to a few partners to integrate right on Google+, but in very limited form. They’re in a very similar state to Facebook in 2007. When Facebook launched though, developers came in droves, seeing user growth in the millions in a matter of days. Facebook itself grew significantly during this time.

It was during this time that I met Paul Allen, who was looking to launch his company, FamilyLink (originally called We’re Related). He and I both saw eye-to-eye on the power of this platform, and while we both took our separate ways we saw first hand the power of platforms like these.

While I’m sure Google has had the opportunity to learn from Facebook’s mistakes (Facebook has had to change their platform quite a bit since they originally launched), I anticipate we could see a similar flood when Google+ finally launches their full platform to the world. Will we see a Canvas Page-like approach? I’d guess we will – OpenSocial supports this and much of Google+’s current platform bases on OpenSocial standards.

I anticipate a number of integration points, a raised request limit, and as a result an increase in apps, and developers coming to the Google+ platform. There’s one advantage Google+ has over Facebook though: Google+ has Google. Remember always that Google+ is just a social layer over all Google products. That means even their platform will likely some day extend across all of their products. This is exciting, and what will bring similar success to developers in the same way Facebook did back in 2007.

Next week is a very exciting week for Google+ and Google as a company! I’ll be there every day of the conference, and I can’t wait to see what gets announced. To me this is one of the most exciting conferences in the history of Google, and it will be fun to have a front seat to this moment in history. Keep watching my stream on Google+, and on StayNAlive.com to keep updated of the event!

(Disclosure: FamilyLink is a former client of mine)


Originally posted on Google+!

Why Changing Your LinkedIn Password Is Not Enough

Posted on by jessestay

The news is spreading today that LinkedIn’s database was hacked, and millions of users accounts have been compromised. I keep hearing over and over again to “change your password.” That’s smart. I changed mine this morning. Something that people aren’t saying though is that your other social networking accounts could be at risk as well thanks to LinkedIn’s poor security policies. Here’s why:

If you’re one of the majority of people that use your password on more than one social network (yes, I’m looking at you, because you’re likely one of them – there are even security professionals that make this mistake), the first thing I would do as a hacker once I decrypted the digested passwords obtained is not target your LinkedIn account. Instead, I’d start going through Facebook, Twitter, and even Google and start trying it there where I could do more damage.

Is it the same as your Gmail account? Sweet! I get some LOLz on your behalf, and I can now start making password requests, without your knowledge, to all of your other accounts. Now I can post to the Google+ Pages you manage. I can post to the Facebook Pages you manage. See where I’m getting?

If you were using the same password on LinkedIn as anywhere else important on the web, you need to go now and change your password there as well. Here are some quick tips as you do so:

  • Make it more than just a word and numbers. Make it a sentence, preferably with letters, spaces, numbers, and even non-alphanumeric numbers (like $ and * and others).
  • Keep it at least 10 characters long – if you take my above recommendation, that should be easy because sentences are easy to remember.
  • Use a different password for each social network. You could use a similar password, but add a different set of numbers or words to the end to help you remember which is which. Figure out a system that works for you and that you can remember.
  • If you can, rotate your passwords every so often. Change the numbers or words added to the end. Add a character or two. It’s up to you. That will prevent this from being a problem in the future.


These tips should keep you safe, and they really aren’t very difficult to do. You just have to build a system, and do it!


This article was shared first on Google+.

Why do I Think Marketers That Don’t Embrace Google+ Will be Out of Business in a Year?

Posted on by jessestay

(Want to skip all this and get the courses right now? Go to http://www.pluralsight-training.net/microsoft/TwitterOffer and sign up now!)

As I mentioned earlier on Google+ (where you’ll always hear tech news first from me!), I recently just finished a course on Pluralsight all about how you or your friends can embrace Google+ better for your business or clients (you can see what this course covers at http://www.pluralsight-training.net/microsoft/Courses/TableOfContents?courseName=googleplus-business). In a new series for businesses provided by the video training site, Pluralsight, we’re doing a new deal that will expire this week where you can get 30 days to watch my videos for free. This is an excellent way to get your friends and family to understand the value of Google+!

In my new, 2 hour, Google+ course, I show why Google+ is about so much more than plus.google.com, and step-by-step demos on how you can link your website or blog to Google+ and instantly improve your site’s presence on the web. You’ll learn tips and tricks and techniques to get engagement flowing, and how to build your audience on the entire Google platform.

This new training course complements my already existing Facebook Applications course targeted at marketers and businesses to learn how they can do some very simple things to fully integrate Facebook into their existing apps and websites (see the overview for this course at http://www.pluralsight-training.net/microsoft/Courses/TableOfContents?courseName=intro-fb-dev). The 30 day free course is a super deal, and gets you 4 full hours of training from me on the subjects I know most about. I’ve put a ton of time into these!

To get the 30 days free, just go to http://www.pluralsight-training.net/microsoft/TwitterOffer, follow me on Twitter (@Jesse), then follow @Pluralsight, and they’ll DM you a trial code to get the free access. Go do it now, and get your friends to take advantage as well so they can learn why I think Google+ is such a powerful tool!


This was originally posted on Google+.

Custom Tailoring 2.0 – "Dress Code" is Set to Become the Zappos of Tailoring

Posted on by jessestay

Back in October I had the opportunity to visit Hong Kong for business. While I was there I decided to get a custom suit made. I’m a sucker for a good suit! While Hong Kong is certainly not as cheap as Thailand when it comes to custom-made suits, it is generally much cheaper than the typical run-of-the-mill tailor in the United States. In the United States it’s typically “go cheap (as in poorly designed) or go broke (as in way too expensive for the 99% to afford)”. In Hong Kong for about $300 I can get a pretty nice suit that is completely custom-tailored for my body type and size, something that would typically cost near $1,000 in the United States. I’d say that’s a pretty good deal.

That’s why I was a bit curious when +Chase Murdock from Dress Code heard about my trip to Hong Kong, and approached me to consider having them doing a suit for me. He and his partner offered to make a suit for me for free to show off what they’re able to do that other tailors aren’t able – create a custom suit is typically affordable to the average consumer. A free suit? Why not? I’ll bite.

The arrangement through their site is simple. Dress Code has no physical stores. They’re a pure e-commerce model. So I just visit http://DressCodeCustom.com, schedule an appointment by filling out some simple information on their site, and soon they’re knocking on the door at my home or business to measure and consult with me on what I want them to make for me.

My visit with them was very pleasant. Chase and his partner came to my house dressed in very stylish clothes, and I could tell they knew what they were talking about. We went through some fabric books of theirs, and they gave me all kinds of suggestions and recommendations of things I would have never thought about. My tailor in Hong Kong just asked me the basics and went with it. These guys were much more thorough, and wanted to ensure every step of the way that every little detail was thought of. We went through number of buttons, tapering of the pants, and vents in the back of the suit coat. But they also recommended various linings for the inside of the suit, and even the color of the seam that ties the lining to the rest of the suit. By the end I was relying on them to be my experts, and I trusted their expertise to do so.

By the end of the appointment I asked them what a suit like this would normally cost. When they said “cheaper”, I thought they would say in the range of $500-$700. I almost gasped when they told me $250-$300. That’s not much more expensive than a typical, non-tailored suit!

I’m very excited to see what comes of this appointment. If the suit turns out as well as the service and simplicity of ordering that I experienced with Chase and his partner, I anticipate I’ll be very pleased. The good news is if all goes well I won’t have to travel overseas to get my suits any more. I’ll just call my “suit guy” and he’ll make me whatever clothing choice I want, all at a lower cost, and I barely have to make any effort to make it happen.

My suit is currently being made by their company at the moment. I should receive notice in the next couple weeks that it is done. When finished I’ll provide a final review of their service and product for everyone to see.

If you’re looking for custom clothing of any kind, these guys are worth taking a look at. They currently service Utah and Nevada/Las Vegas. However, they do take trips to Colorado, as well as the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas on occasion. Contact them and have your company get them to come set up a pop-up location to get your employees all styled up for cheap.

Stay tuned – I’ll share more when I get my suit! Oh, and be sure to follow their style blog at http://www.dresscodecustom.com/blog – if you’re into understanding the latest styles, this blog really shows they get it!

I got a free suit in exchange for doing an honest review of their services – while certainly biased, I am always truthful and objective in these types of reviews.




You’ll Always Hear it First on Google+

Posted on by jessestay

I’m starting a new experiment. From now on every post I make to StayNAlive.com will originate on Google+. This goes in line with my earlier post where I suggested that the Blogging landscape is significantly changing, and the blogs that want to survive will need to embrace social means of publishing and discovery. You’ll recognize this trend immediately as you visit my blog and see the ability to automatically share the articles you read on StayNAlive.com to Facebook, and today I’m going to continue that trend with the strengths that Google+ provides.

The Power of Google+ Circles

One of the coolest features of Google+ is the ability to not only target posts by Circles and groups of people, but also the ability to send updates to specific email addresses and people. This opens up the ability for some really cool hacks. For instance, want to archive a post? Send it to your Evernote email address (Evernote allows you to send content to an email address and it archives right inside Evernote).

For all future posts on StayNAlive.com I’m going to use this same hack. One of the advantages to hosting StayNAlive.com on Blogger.com is that I can post to an email address, and it will post automatically to the blog. I’m going to set it to save my posts as a draft so I can go in afterwards, add links and pictures, etc. But you’ll immediately receive updates on Google+ the minute I hit share. All other social networks will have to wait for the blog post to go live because I’ll need a link to share those with.

The Best of Both Worlds

Now you can get the immediacy of Google+, while at the same time getting the RSS Feeds, and customized interface of the blog. If you want to subscribe via Google+, you can subscribe via Google+ (Go to http://profiles.google.com/jessestay to subscribe). If you want to subscribe via RSS, or receive updates to posts via Facebook or Twitter, you can go to StayNAlive.com. I still have a home base, and you have the option of getting real-time updates via Google+.

So come follow me on Google+ if you want real-time updates from the blog, or subscribe right on the blog – it’s your choice.

Wanna Learn Facebook Development? Check Out My New Video Series

Posted on by jessestay

Facebook application development isn’t just a skill, and it’s not just for developers either – it’s a mindset and a culture that you have to understand to truly understand and implement its value. It’s something both marketers, business owners, as well as developers should understand to fully have a grasp against the competition in this increasingly social world. That’s why I jumped at the chance to work with the popular online learning site, Pluralsight, to do a new series on Facebook application development. My first video went live yesterday, and I hope will be the first in a line of videos you can use to hone your skills both as a marketer and developer to take advantage of the most of Facebook Platform.

In my first course, you’ll learn why Facebook is such a valuable tool to integrate with your business or marketing strategy. I’ll show you example apps that have seen success on the Platform, and then take you through, step-by-step, on how you can set up a custom Facebook Page tab on Facebook without any HTML knowledge necessary to get started. You’ll end understanding the different integration points you can use to build an app, or just integrate Facebook into your existing website or app design. I teach you social design philosophy and the different touch points you should understand no matter what your skill set.

Whether you’re a marketer, a developer, or business owner I think you’ll enjoy this course. I think you’ll be surprised with what you’re able to accomplish by the end, and what your understanding will become when you’re finished. If you’ve ever wanted to get your hands dirty with what you can fully do on Facebook, this is a course you can’t neglect, regardless of your skill set.

The course is part of Pluralsight’s learning platform, and I hope will be one of many future courses you can learn from on these topics. It also joins Facebook’s own Yasser Shohoud’s Facebook Platform Overview that serves as a great primer for where my course will take you.

When I considered this I thought about just doing my own video series and charging monthly for access to those. I would have likely charged around $100-200 for access to that for it to be worth it to me. I realized though, that by partnering with Pluralsight, you could get my content, as well as hundreds of other courses from other experts that are top at their game. Instead of $200 for one-time access to my videos, you can pay as little as $29 per month (you cancel whenever you like) or $299 per year and get unlimited access to mine and anyone else’s  courses on their platform. To me I think it’s a great deal.

With this course you’ll get:

  • Material for all types to understand – marketers, business owners, and developers
  • Step-by-step videos taking you through the entire process, which you can step away from at any time.
  • Assessment to test your knowledge at the end of the course and grade you on your understanding of the topics covered
  • Knowledge of why you should understand Facebook Platform
  • Step-by-step tutorials on how to build custom Facebook tabs
  • Hands-on videos giving you the basics of Facebook’s developer platform, allowing all to understand all they need to get started
  • Access to all future courses on Facebook by me and others.
If you want to understand Facebook in a way your competitors don’t, go register for my Facebook development course today! The tips I cover are things not many in the industry know, and you’ll have the upper-hand in your industry.
To register, just click here and follow the instructions. Then go over here to my course’s Facebook Application Development page to get started in knowing what your competitors don’t!
For the first 20 commenters that ask below I’ll give a code for a free unlimited 7 day trial to try the service and take my course.

Still Think Facebook’s Not Threatened by Google+? Facebook Now Supports "+" Tagging

Posted on by jessestay

As a Google+ user (Author of Google+ For Dummies), and also avid Facebook user (Author of Facebook Application Development For Dummies), I often find myself getting my keys mixed up going back and forth from Google+ to Facebook. This is particularly frustrating for tagging friends. When Google+ launched, I found myself constantly putting in the “+” button to tag friends on Facebook, only to realize Facebook’s form of tagging was the “@” symbol. It appears some time in the recent past Facebook has now adopted the “+” (plus) sign to allow tagging in status updates.

From the start, Google+ supported both formats. This is no surprise, as Google+ had the most to gain from trying to adopt users that were used to Facebook’s tagging format. At the same time, the “+” sign added a level of branding to the Google+ experience making it unique to Google+.

It would seem that some Facebook employees are also enjoying Google+ perhaps a little too much, because someone likely got annoyed enough (or maybe their user testing showed they had a problem) to where they felt the need to support the “+” symbol as well when tagging your friends on Facebook. Now, to tag your friends on Facebook, you can either tag them by starting to type with the “@” symbol followed by their name, or starting with the “+” sign followed by their name.

I think it was awfully nice of Facebook to think of us Google+ users as they integrated this. I wonder how long this has been happening. I only realized it after doing it a few times and not even realizing I was doing it. I always argue Facebook and Google aren’t competitors – that would be nice if Facebook’s just being nice for this reason. However, I have a feeling Facebook is seeing some pressure from the other Google+ users using Facebook and running into the same issue.

Either way, I’m happy to not have to think twice now whenever I use that “+” sign to tag my friends.

Google+ Marketing For Dummies: My New Book!

Posted on by jessestay

Today I mailed in the contract for my new book, Google+ Marketing For Dummies. This will be my 5th book and 3rd in the “For Dummies” series by my publisher Wiley. It also marks my second book for Google+, among 3 other books for Facebook.

You may have seen articles recently, fueled by Wall Street Journal, suggesting Google+ traffic is dwindling. As a result you may be asking yourself, “Why is he writing another book for Google+ if it has no traffic?” The truth is, I wouldn’t be writing this book if I didn’t see such potential for Google+. After articles like Wall Street Journal’s, I realized there is clearly a lack of education out there on the value Google+ provides for both consumers and marketers. I’m writing this because of articles like that, and I hope I can convince you of the best secret on the internet right now.

In preliminary tests, engagement is already proving to be a higher-weighted factor now in Google search results. Articles outside, and posts on Google+ are showing to weigh very heavily above even recency of articles in search results on Google. We also see this with Google now integrating Google+ results into Google search results. This is just the tip of the Iceberg. For that reason alone, marketers need to be giving Google+ another look. Google+ is not just about traffic to plus.google.com, but even more about how you rank and appear in other Google products. As I have always said, the future of Google+ is just Google.

Google+ Marketing For Dummies will make a very nice companion to my first Google+ book, Google+ For Dummies, Portable Edition. The first targets consumers and shows them how to get used to the social network, see results and value, and how to make the most of the service as a user. Google+ Marketing For Dummies will then take you, as a Marketer, Brand Manager, or Business Owner, to learn what matters most: how to use Google+ to generate more awareness for your brand, generate new leads, and in turn convert those new users into customers. In fact, you may want to offer the first book to your customers, and use the second book to learn how to market to those customers.

I’ll begin writing in the next week, and should have the final manuscript submitted by middle of this year. If all goes well you should see this in print by late summer or Fall. This book will be a welcome addition to your arsenal of books to further your edge against the competition. I’m very excited to get this book out the door as quick as possible so you can learn what Wall Street Journal doesn’t.

As a Teaser, here are the currently planned Chapter names (these, of course, are subject to change) – see anything I’m missing?:

  • Chapter 1: Getting Started With Google+
  • Chapter 2: Understanding Google+: The “Plus”
  • Chapter 3: Understanding Google+: The “Google”
  • Chapter 4: Integrating Google+ Into Your Existing Social Media Strategy
  • Chapter 5: Learning Your Audience on Google+
  • Chapter 6: Building a Google+ Presence
  • Chapter 7: Building a Search Strategy Using Google+
  • Chapter 8: Focusing on Real People and Relationships
  • Chapter 9: Utilizing Hangouts to Share Your Brand
  • Chapter 10: Advertising on Google With Social Ads
  • Chapter 11: Building Relationships Through Google CRM
  • Chapter 12: Building Website Authority Through Google+
  • Chapter 13: Measuring Google+ Activity
  • Chapter 14: Building Apps on Google+
  • Chapter 15: 10 Ways You Can Add Value to Your Website Using Google+
  • Chapter 16: 10 Examples of Good Google+ Business Practice
  • Chapter 17: 10 Tips For Small Businesses Using Google+
I’ll keep you updated on Google+, Facebook, and the Google+ Page for Google+ For Dummies. Or, keep searching for it on Google or Amazon.