For years I have or someone close to me has had a subscription to Consumer Reports magazine.  You are making an important purchase and you look up with they think about it.  AND they dont accept advertisements so you feel a certain comfort level in what they report.  I love the format, I love the ease in figuring out what the selling features are with the grid – what I don’t like is the information on the last 3 products I bought using their recommendations.

The first product was a digital camera and it turned out to be a disaster – I ignored my own experience to buy one they reported as “Best Value.” Well Best Value is sitting on a shelf broken and I am too frustrated with the company to send it back.

The next one is a vacuum from Sears – Kenmore.  I absolutely hate it and it wasnt cheap.  Today I was ready to throw it into the river.  If I spent as much time actually vacuuming as I did trying to fix the one I have (that is a year old and I have a housekeeper that hates it so much she brings her own) I would have the cleanest house in the world. I was so frustrated I posted something on Facebook and sure enough I learned another friend was unhappy with this thing, while 2 others told me DYSON was the one I should get!

The other one is a front loader washer.  It has been fixed twice and there are 2 people in my house, no kids.  It doesnt get much of a work out, but it cannot take whatever 2 people can give it.

So now what will I do? First, I will buy nothing ever again from Sears and I won’t ever bother with “Consumer Reports.” I don’t think they are bad people, I just think they are not like me and I don’t need to pay a subscription to somebody that gives me bad information.

And neither do you have to.  User generated reviews are changing how people get information and make decisions.  “Consumer Reports” has an online website where members (you pay) sign up to get information.  I am not doing that, when Amazon has reviews that website companies like consumersearch.com link to for people’s opinions.  YOUR experiences, your opinions, free of charge.

There is a great user generation travel tool called tripadvisor.com that allows the traveling public to provide their experiences easily and for free.  For those of us that use it, we need to also tell the good news when it happens, because oftentimes it is just people frustrated and angry that bother to participate and that is only half of the story.  So if you decide to use these sites, I suggest you put in your two cents worth. Tell the people and products that are important to you that you like them!  It only takes a minute.  Then the time YOU want information from someone you will get it.  Keep in mind information isn’t always accurate, so poke around and check it further before you make a decision!

A not-so fancy site is consumerreview.com and it takes tons of clicks and unlike consumersearch.com the content seems to be organic, meaning a person has to go to that site that has purchased something from somewhere else and tell it.  With a site using an Amazon feed – the people are there anyway and Amazon prompts you for your reviews on products that they sell.

I suggest as this buying season is upon us, you participate in the review process, it is painless and helpful to those of us that really want information.

Happy Holidays and use the internet as the convenience and time saving tool that it is!

Our family is full of Veteran’s and probably so is yours. Everyone, elected officials, celebrities, it is a hip thing to say how much they mean to us

and the freedom of our country.  Right now, it is the season to lower the flag at half staff and tell them we care.  We do. In the meantime, let me tell you a story about my current active duty National Guard Airman.  She is my niece.  Just came back from the Persian Gulf safely, thank God.

She taught me how to use a very special service called Skype.  Now I have heard lots about it, seen it on interviews on TV, but just didn’t know a lot about it and to be truthful, I am just learning how it works, but I have used it enough to know that it does. And so far it is FREE!

Here are 3 quick reasons why you should use Skype:

• It works on any high speed internet connection (DSL, Cable)
• It works whether you have a web cam or not. (audio and video options)
• To subscribe is FREE and if you call another subscriber it is also FREE!

The military reference comes from the fact that Skype is used often by military personnel to connect with family and friends thru video and audio for free.  And that was exactly how I started using it.  BUT there are many other reasons you may want to use it.  A conference call with a client or to stay connected with your relatives that are far away.  With kids growing so fast, we can Skype grandkids, neices and nephews or anyone else we would like.  Skype helps you see and hear them wherever they are.

Bad weather and cannot make a long distance trip to see a client?  The possibilities are endless!

If you have an older computer you may need a webcam and maybe a microphone.  But for under $100 in hardware,  (you know me I love Best Buy) you can be up and going in no time!   The holidays are coming and not all of us can be together so start using Skype and get your family to do it too, you will love it.  Test it on a friend, remember if you are both subscribers it is FREE.  Just like anything, practice makes perfect – by the holidays you will be an old pro — or better than that, you will be a “COOL” pro!

After I wrote this post for my Daily Rant Blog, I figured it may belong here too.  So I am posting it in two blogs, because it is important.

Over the past few months I have heard some pretty crazy stuff. I have had people get frustrated, sound fearful and make bizarre claims about social media, as if it is the demise of the universe as we know it.

The universe?
No.

Traditional Media?
Maybe… talk to me in 10 years, maybe sooner.

Here are a few random comments and I will keep it to 3:

1. Social Media is “narcissistic.”
2. “I don’t want to become like people I know and be on Facebook all day.”
3. “Twitter freaks me out, I am afraid of it.”

Social Media can help you attain your goals:

1. Help YOU navigate the vast expanse of information on the internet that increases ten fold every day.
2. Help YOU find people that think like you and share with them – most of them you may never meet.
3. Help YOU get your own message out in your voice and on your terms – most often for the cost of little of your time.

Does any of this sound so bad?

Social Media is hardly the Anti-Christ, destroyer of all we know as reasonable today, but it may be the transformer or catalyst that moves us into a next level of how we receive and PARTICIPATE in delivering information.

Here are some other truths:

Social Media allows just about anybody to have an opinion, type it into a computer and let the world see it. Like it or not.

Traditionally,  we were SPOKEN TO, fed or preached to… a writer from our newspaper, a reporter from a TV or radio station, someone that told us the NEWS.

Only sometimes from their perspective, it was really opinion, based on the reporters “take on things.”   It’s amazing how many few GREAT, true journalists were in my life, but even they had to rely on information from others and had to translate it.

If you are my age, you have memories before the 24 hour news cycle of cable TV and pressures related to get stories to the listening public – sometimes before checking facts, making sure that the information is accurate.

What social media does is, it invites YOU to participate.  For example: Did you see a tornado and take a quick amateur video of it?  Did you go to an event that no traditional media reporters was able to attend, but you were there with your camera?

And how about your own business?
You know it best.
You know YOU best.

Social Media helps you control your message and support other marketing/advertising you may be doing, your website, your promotions, it answers the questions the customers ask “Why should I spend my ‘hard earned’ at your company, on your product?”  You get to ask what is important to your customer YOURSELF and answer those questions DIRECTLY and be in control.

It isn’t narcissistic, it is reality.  Yeah you get to “toot your own horn” and what is wrong with that?  If you don’t believe in yourself and what you do, then why bother? Your passion is hard to translate expecting others to do it for you in your way also takes time and energy – why not use that time and energy to make the tools of social media work for YOU!

Being from Maine and just like my parents before me, I have seen lots of “progress” while I have lived here.  In fact, I even moved north from the region I was born in, to get away from all that “progress.”  Whenever I go back to my mom’s house, I cannot wait to leave, I hardly know the place much less see many people I know! I am proud to be from Maine, proud of the way I talk and how I think.  It may not be the perfect place for everybody, but it is the perfect place for ME.

And as life gets more complicated,  I find that I long for traditions and things that are familiar to me. Because sometimes life isn’t so easy We have lots of humor and humorous people here.  My dad used to listen to Marshal Dodge of Bert and I albums and roared. My dad was also a friend of Judd Strunk – the folk singer that made the small towns of western Maine famous with a song called “Daisy a Day.” And like the true storyteller Judd Strunk was, this one is my favorite, “The Biggest Parakeets in Town”

Now with YouTube, podcasts, blogs and Facebook, we have all kinds of other ways to stay tuned to the old stories, accents and our old friends.

Here are a couple of some of the new kids on the block that I would like to share with you!  If you are a current Maine inhabitant or “Maine-iac”  (or a Mainer in Exile as I refer to my brother), there are some great resources that can link you to the minds of those doing great things to keep our heritage in tact!

Here is a quick funny tune for you…

Then there is Dickie Baker or Dickie Richards. He has a YouTube Channel.  He has a video cast he does called, “What’s f’Suppah?” My favorite one he does is showing us the recipe for Moxie Boomers.  Of course Moxie being a Maine beverage, he also has some other more random, fun videos, about Cutter Bug Dope and Port-A-Potties.  He is a gem, I don’t know him personally, a friend of mine posted one of his videos and tagged me on Facebook and instantly I was a Fan.

Then, the truly multi-media treasures I JUST learned about are Rose and Trout.  They have a website, blog and weekly podcasts that are just wonderful.  They tune up their downeast Maine accents and have a conversation similar the ones my brother and I used to listen to at Jack’s Trading Post in Farmington.  We used to hide in the back of the store and just love listening to the stories that were told.  Now we do the same at MC’s in Birch Harbor. My brother comes for a visit each year and every day he goes to “the beer store” and I get to do it nearly every weekend in the summer.  The locals  don’t think what they are talking about is funny, it is just their life and we love how they stitch the words and humor together!  It is the “realness” of it all that makes it extra special.  Check out Rose and Trout  – I promise you will not be sorry!

My friend Brett Slater of Slaters Garage just shot a commercial for Dick Stacey.  For all of you that know Dick Stacey’s Country Jamboree on Channel 7 out of Bangor about 20 odd years ago, this is just for you!  Here is a video Bret shot promoting the DVD for Dick Stacey’s Country Jamboree.  And of course, there is Jenny Shontelle with the “On the wings of a snow, white, dove…”  It is a bargain and you can order it now!  I know a few people that I will be stuffing their stockings with that gem of a gift!

Being proud of our heritage and having a sense of humor is something we are desperately trying to hang on to here in Maine, we have lots of folks “from away” that move here because they like it so much only to want to change it to be exactly like the places they left behind.  We like our dirt roads, our small towns without WalMarts, early frosts and our state flag with the motto of “DIRIGO” on it.  (Most of us even know what that Latin phrase means!)

So the next time someone teases you about your accent and asks if you are from Maine – just give them a jolly “YES-SAH” or a “WICKED” with a big smile and know you must be doing something right!

For those of you that read this blog regularly, you may know that I have had various friends sick or pass away within the past year. THAT isn’t what this is all about, it is just an introduction to get us all on the same page.

For anybody that has a serious illness or has a friend or far away person that needs support for their loved one, there is this gem of a website and it is FREE to use.

(In their own words), Caring Bridge,  “personalized websites that support and connect loved ones during critical illness, treatment and recovery.”

The advocate or patient can make entries about the daily trials and successes of long term illness or conditions.

For the person that is in treatment or in the hospital, everybody that is invited can sign on to Caring Bridge with their email address, and gets notified when updates are made to the blog.

For the caregiver (or advocate), the condition and circumstances are described one time as well as a Journal that helps them vent and tell friends and family just where they are at.The caregiver can privately pause to cry, or save to look at later, but Caring Bridge allows the creator of the blog to control the flow of information.  That is one great thing about the computer.  It is just between you and it.

There is a really nice area “My Story” that tells the “How we got here” for those late comers that need to be brought up to speed.  And the blog entries are kept chronologically and time stamped so the family member of friend can keep track of the events.

Let’s face it, even though we all want to help, sometimes those 20 phone calls after a long day just drains everybody that is truly living the drama. Caring Bridge can be accessed from anywhere there is an internet connection.  Hospital, while waiting for a test or home with your feet up on the couch.

As I said in the beginning Caring Bridge is free to use, which is so great for the people with these insane hospital bills.  But as anyone that owns a business knows it isn’t free to run and to keep running.  There is a place to donate and even though the minimum donation choice on the secure form is $70, they certainly will take less, every bit helps and it is a very special service for all of us to know about.  Here’s how to donate if you are so inclined.

I have used the link for my college roommates husband that has had brain surgery nearly 2 months ago and is still in the throws of it all.  But if you are ever invited to join the Caring Bridge “family.” Please think a moment and give what you can.

A few times over the past couple weeks people have asked me about BING.  What is it?  How does it work? Quite honestly, until then, I didn’t care to know anything about it. All I knew was it was a Microsoft product and I am not a big fan of Microsoft.  Nothing personal, “Bill”  but with all the bugs, viruses and careless products, once I got back to Mac, I realized I was home.  Besides, I use Google I am happy with it.

But for some of the same reasons I didn’t like Microsoft, I guess I shouldn’t really like Google.  Competition is good. It makes us sharper and make better products and if it weren’t for competition we would be sitting around like fat cats, producing mediocre products and services and shoving them down the consumers (that is you and me) throats.

So I checked out Bing.  To you and me, we would call it a search engine.  To Microsoft, they call it a DECISION ENGINE. Their ad slogan is “Bing and Decide.”

So what? You still don’t know what it does, do you?  I had a friend of mine walk me through it and it is kind of neat in some ways. Then I try it on and off when I feel like it.  It pulls together a lot of media (many of which have been purchased or morphed by Microsoft), into one place.

What makes it different from Google?

Click here to read an amusing article in PC World.

Anything with Smackdown in the title and it doesn’t relate to wrestling, immediately gets my attention.

But the minute you log on to Bing, you know it is different.  It is pictures, it is motion and the page art changes every day.  Hardly the static geek look of Google, but if you know your search words, “Who needs all those pretty pictures?” I say.  Bing, like Google allows gateways to their products, Google has maps and street view (great for stalkers and data junkies) while Bing focuses on more lifestyle things.

So I am not saying it is better, I am just saying it is different.  As different as the personalities and marketing strategies of Microsoft and Google.  My suggestion?  Take a few days and give it a try, you may not want to give up your Google or dogpile, but it is good to see what else is out there to use, for FREE!

I read a lot of things on line.  If you read my posts very often,  you probably know that all ready.  But something interesting happened to me yesterday and I felt the urge to share it.

I was in a meeting with a person that expressed frustration and confusion with social media and feels overwhelmed.  She starts off with the list, “I know I am supposed to twitter, blog, facebook and I don’t know where to begin and I am embarrassed to admit it to anybody! Everything I read out there online makes me feel really intimidated.  I am so far behind the 8-ball, I don’t even know – what I don’t know.”

She reads lots of blogs and we both agreed how often we’re shocked by blogs and blog comments that are arrogant and hurtful. Almost as if there isn’t a person on the end of that keyboard.

If a person from the “40+ something” generation reads stuff like that, it is intimidating and often discourages them from engaging in a wonderful sharing process that 95% of this whole Social Media “thing” is.

In the Social Media world, I personally believe there ARE NO REAL experts – in fact it is really SO NEW for us NON-TECHIE types, it is okay to feel uncomfortable sometimes.  In fact if you are over 40, my guess is you come from a culture where asking for help isn’t easy.  ESPECIALLY from a complete stranger.  You feel as though you are exposing your inefficiencies and in our day, you could get terminated for that – especially if you are female.  I think half of the jobs I had in the 80’s were kept because I knew how to use a telex, was polite on the phone and could type!

How I got started.  I have had a Twitter Account for a long time now – (longtime in Twitter years is like “dog years” on steriods-2 years in Twitter time is like 20 years because of how fast this Social Media thing is moving!)

I am lucky.  A man that works with us here (@justinrussell) at Sephone, suggested I give Twitter a shot.  The second best suggestion from him was that I follow a guy named @chrisbrogan.  So I did.  Chris Brogan is a thoughtful, information seeker and social media philanthropist in the Social Media world. (My definition, not his – in fact I haven’t even asked him if I can mention him in this post- oops!) Chris is a helper.  His blog is written in a helpful, non boastful way.  I have NEVER met the man and yet I suggest people follow him whether they are in PR, Marketing or anything else.

Chris gets out there-speaks, blogs, does webinars, podcasts and is available.  As far as I am concerned, he is the center of my Social Media – but I think that may embarrass him. He always asks for feedback when he posts something and you know he is listening and reading it all.

A little tip: When you read a blog you don’t like or makes you feel uncomfortable, just leave it and don’t go back.  “We” are not their target audience anyway. But keep trying.  Eventually,  you will find the people that are “your experts,” in the meantime, your skin will become thicker and those “other people” wont make you feel so bad, because you are finding your own way, at your own pace, for your own reasons. It is about you, and after all it is what you want to accomplish.

So, “Come on in, the water is fine!” Get your feet wet, find some people like Chris to follow or read if you choose not to have a Twitter Account and know that most of us are finding our way as all this changes at a rapid pace. Social Media does not take a summer vacation!

As I typed into my calendar on my laptop this morning the schedule of events I needed to attend in relationship to a recent death of a friend, it seemed weird to type the words “Funeral -(my friends name)” and actually put a “from this time – to that time” and schedule it.

In fact in the past few months, I have had several friends and relatives of friends die and I am feeling as if I may be bad luck or something. I guess it comes with the territory when you have lots of people in your life and you are a “people” person as I admittedly am.

But it brings me back to the biggest fear I have with all this technology around us.

Are we swapping out the greeting card or phone call of support to friends for the Facebook wall view of people you would normally TALK to and CONNECT with?

There is no doubt that Facebook, text messages, etc. have their places in our lives.  They are convenient ways to check in with each other in our all too busy, hustle, bustle world we are in. When I posted my blue mood on my Wall this past Sunday, there was a flurry of people encouraging me and even one surprise guest in my chat box sharing with me a Tao website that I never knew about.  I had no idea how many people checked out my Facebook page and certainly no idea how much those words would mean to me – instantly.

Then it reminded me also, how much I treasure that special note that comes to me in my mailbox (you know the one on your street?), the flowers picked for me out of my friend Marion’s garden that she brought to my office.  The last note I got was from my friend Katy.  I was so touched but her taking the time to buy a card and write me a personal note.

Isn’t that what it is all about anyway?  TIME?  Connecting?

We all know time is so precious and the 24 hour day is non-negotiable, but it is “time” that you can share with someone that is truly precious. You are saying, “You matter to me. I care about you.”

So the next time you poke around on Facebook, leave a note behind, just because you see my Wall Post, doesn’t mean I know that you cared enough to think of me and type in my name to see what I have been up to.

Be spontaneous. When you see a friend’s car in the parking lot somewhere – take out a piece of paper (or grab that empty McDonald’s bag in your own car) and write a note and put it under the windshield wiper. Or pick up the phone – WHEN you think of it and even if they arent there, leave a message telling them you were thinking of them. Leave some “footprints” of yourself behind and I promise it will make you feel as warm and as special as it does them!

I promise my next post will be less philosophical and more “brilliant” (ha ha!) and more to the objective of this blog, to be helpful in choosing technology that works for you in your life.  But sometimes technology is just that.  We are humans and we all need hugs, all the gadgets in the world will ever change that!

nfz46rwasq

This will be a quick post because once you start reading will be nodding your head you’ll be saying, “Hell YEAH!”

Do you buy insurance because you KNOW you will be in an accident or have something terrible happen to your home?

I doubt it. But you do buy it, JUST IN CASE…

There are a few times that knowing how to connect remotely to the office or to family is imperative.

Once may be during a family emergency and your kids or whomever is trying to reach you. Maybe that is why you have a cell phone?  But if you have to relay information to a bunch of people, your cell battery (or your personal battery just wont make it!)

Another time may be when you may just need to work from home because your child is sick with the flu.

Or  may be when you are going to a meeting and the information you were waiting for is sitting on your computer- 2 hours away from where YOU are-speeding down the highway, fearing you will be late!

If any of these scenarios sound like you, then you are no different then I am.

The difference between us, could be that I have some great business partners that have thought these situations through FOR ME and know I need support from them in trying to figure it out when I am NOT in a crisis rather than when I am in one. I  do a lot of road time.

3 things you can do to make your life “hands down” easier, less stressful and complicated.

1. If you don’t have a laptop, get one. (I am a MAC person and it works so wonderful I cannot even tell you!) If you DO have one, make sure it has a wireless modem inside it and plan ahead or ask friends/family where there may be a place – like a library or coffee shop that you can access email or other things you may need where you may be going.  Sometimes if you google the city site of the place you are going you may find a Borders, a library or a Starbucks there.

2. Know how to work your cell phone. Other than “You had me from HELLO…” so romantic but REALLY, you need to know a few simple tricks. I LOVE my friends at Central Maine Wireless -they have been so wonderful in helping me learn how I can access information I need or send information, through my phone. They also tell me what will cost me money. (Thanks you guys!)

I resisted a blackberry for a long time and now I have one, it is that little life buoy that I have when I cannot find a wireless connection or I am in a place where my cell phone (voice) has a bad connection, but my data and texting works perfectly. If you have a blackberry, go to berrytastic.com they have real world forums and a great network of people to help – and yeah, it is FREE!

3. Facebook. I know, you may be cringing when I say that. Don’t use facebook to spy on your kids. Use facebook to connect with family and friends. My brothers graduation class has organized many impromptu BBQ’s, lunch dates, etc. JUST because somebody is in town for the weekend. If you have a family emergency where you need to connect with your relatives for whatever reason – you will be able to do it easily.  Worried about that “friend” you don’t like or feel that you know that well?  Hit IGNORE and you are all set, they dont get a note saying they are unloved, you have control over people that you care less about.

So there – of course I droaned on longer than I promised.

BUT buying INSURANCE for when you need it, is just like making sure you have remote access to your family, friends and office.

You wont be sorry!