Leveraging Google to build your business

I read a nice post this morning about building business with Google by Eric at 過労死 Death by Overcoding.

It covers many aspects that may be involved in administering your business needs, such as:

• Domain registration/host/email/office apps
• Phone Management
• Blog
• The Application
• Payments
• AdWords
• Analytics
• Integration/Optimization

I recommend reading it to anyone who is starting up a web business. Following the steps mentioned in that blog post can be a real timesaver. And you do not need to hire an admin to do it all.

Wordle

This is my blog through Wordle

Google Reader just got better

I use Google Reader for reading blogs. It has become my daily chore as I need to keep track on things happening around our office (we blog internally and externally) as well as other things of my interest.

It was brought to my attention that Jon Hicks created new skin for Google Reader. I thought I would have a look.

I had to install Stylish extension for Firefox first. Then I added a new style that I downloaded from Jon's website. And the result?

Before:

After:

I absolutely love it!

It has made reading blogs so much better. Why don't you give it a try?

Blog Update

I have added subscribe now section on the left, so now you can easily bookmark or add my blog posts Google, My Yahoo!, Newsgator, Feedlounge, Netvibes and Bloglines.

Another useful feature that I added is the browse by category, which shows the labels I used in my posts and their frequency.

My plan is keep improving the usability of this blog. In the next stage (if I find some free time) I'd like to add those little icons for digg, reddit and del.icio.us.

Lastly, if you did not know it already, my blog features microformats. So I guess my blog can be used as an example of how microformats will simplify the web.

Have you Googled Yourself?

As John DellaContrada an UB Internet-Culture Expert says in his "Self-Googling" Isn't Just Vanity; It's a Shrewd Form of Personal "Brand Management"

"Self-Googling" -- searching for your own name on the popular Google search engine -- may seem like an innocuous act of vanity, but a University at Buffalo communications professor recommends it as a shrewd form of "personal brand management" in the digital age.

I don't do this much, but how can I resist? I write this blog and few other things in other places so I wondered what people find when they search my name. So I googled my surname... I got 7 out of 10 results on the first page.

And as John DellaContrada consludes

"Starting your own Weblog or Web site can help you to shape your public image, and make sure that it accurately reflects your abilities and interests."

So what are you waiting for? Go out there and start writing!