Social Icons – What The Heck Are Those Thingys?

I recently set up a new computer for my friend’s mom.  It was her first “in home” computer and her first time using the internet in her home.

Hard to imagine right?!

Oh she had used the internet before at a friend’s house and the library but she had never had a home computer and never really used the internet for any length of time.  To her this was a new frontier.  It was a thrill to watch her as she explored the web.  It was also a very rare opportunity to gain insight from this point of view.  There were so many things that I take for granted while surfing that seemed so foreign to her.  It became very apparent of how ‘trained’ I was by the internet and how I expected things to be in certain places on a page or within a site.  If they were not where I expected them to be I grew frustrated rather quickly as I was attempting to show my newbie where to look for information.  This was, to say the least,  a great learning experience.

As we went to one particular site my friend’s mom inquired about the Orange RSS feed button.  “What the heck are those thingys?”, she asked.

I began to explain what the symbols meant and how they were mostly universal across the web.  I further explained how she could set up a reader and centralize her information (I used a newspaper analogy to make it easier) to save her from going back and forth between favorite sites.  After I explained this to her she told me that I should write an article about the icons so that other new users would know what they were as well.  So as promised, here it is!

WHAT ARE THOSE LITTLE THINGYS ANYWAY?

Those bright shiny buttons you often see on web pages, more often blogs, are called Social Icons.  Website owners use them as a way for readers to connect to other accounts that the website owner may have.  You may also see icons that allow readers to subscribe to the sites content.  These are commonly referred to as RSS Feeds. Although there are various designs for these Icons, they generally have the same recognizable look based on the sites they represent.  Below I have outlined some of the most commonly used Icons and what they are for.

FEED ICON

This symbol represents a link to the RSS Feed for that site or blog.  It allows you to subscribe to the content on the site through a reader. You can read more about RSS FEEDS here. You can find a READER here.

TWITTER ICON

This is a link to a site called Twitter. Twitter is one of many Social Networking sites which are common and growing rapidly on the web today. Twitter itself is a micro blogging site that is used to update information about yourself or your company to others in your network of followers. You will also see many people use various types of little blue birds (Twitter’s well known symbol) to represent Twitter. You can learn more about TWITTER here.

FACEBOOK ICON

Facebook is another Social Networking site that is commonly used by websites and individuals. It is extremely interactive and one of the biggest. You can learn more about FACEBOOK here.

MYSPACE ICON

MySpace is yet another Social Networking site which is similar to Facebook but most commonly used by the teen age group. If you know a 12-17 year old I almost guarantee they are on MySpace. You can learn more about MYSPACE here.

YOUTUBE ICON

YouTube has become the single most popular Video Sharing sites on the planet! It allows users to upload and share their videos with the world. It also allows anyone to view some of the millions of videos available from the web. Learn more abut YOUTUBE here.

DELICIOUS ICON

Delicious is a Social Bookmarking site. It allows users to ‘bookmark’ pages they find while surfing the web and “tag” them according to topic. This allows the user access to all of their favorite websites in one centralized location. You can learn more about DELICIOUS and how it works here.

There are just a few of the more common Icons you will see but the complete list is huge and changing all the time. Sometimes you will see these at the top of webpages, othertimes they will be at the end of articles so that users can share the information on their social network sites.

So now you know.

Keep Learning!

QUICK TIP – Twitter – ReTweet Please?

Do you Tweet? Do you like to get your Tweet ReTweeted?

I do! It’s like that old shampoo commercial “…and she told two friends, and she told two friends, and so on, and so on…” Ok, I’m totally dating myself! =)

Here are a few handy tips I learned for tweeting information what I would like ReTweeted.

1. Put your link at the front – When you message gets retweeted the  retweet will have an ‘RT’ and then the ReTweeter’s Twitter ID.  (ex. RT @Twitternamehere…[YOUR ORIGINAL TWEET] )  If your link is at the end it might get removed in order to fit the retweet into the 140 character space.

2. Keep your message under 120 Characters (Twitter allows 140) – This will allow the (RT @Twitternamehere) at the beginning without loosing any of your message.

3. Follow ReTweeting Twitter users such as @RTsweets, @_rtweet, etc – Some will auto retweet when you note the word ‘ReTweet’ in your message.

That’s it for now!  Hope you enjoy these tips.

QUICK TIP – Affiliate Marketing – Beginners DO THIS NOW

If you are getting started with Affiliate Marketing you will soon begin to notice the abundance of sites that offer Affiliate programs. There are so many and this article will not go into Affiliate Marketing and finding the best Affiliate programs. What I offer here is a quick tip.

Managing your Affiliate Programs will be much easier if you keep your information in one location. Create a text document or a spreadsheet to keep affiliate sign up information organized. You can keep track of your signon, passwords, tracking codes, banners, buttons, and more in one neat place. This way, when you need to find your info you can pull it all up with a click of the mouse.

I use a spreadsheet but you can use anything that works for you and remember it must be secure.

If you would like a free copy of the spreadsheet template I use, just let me know and Ill send you a free copy.

Getting Started With IB – Where Do I Begin?

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” ~ Abigail Adams

I think one of the hardest things for Internet Business Newbies is digesting all of the information that they find, read, watch, and hear.  Just getting started can be a task when you are not even sure what half the stuff you are reading even means.  One of the things I always recommend to anyone starting out with Internet Business is to take a few weeks to learn as much as you can and become familiar with some of the big players and the common terminology used.  Just getting the basic vocabulary down will help you tremendously and will make it so much easier to locate more information and useful tips that you can apply to your business.

Where To Look

There are so many great sources of information out there on Internet Business and some not-so-great sources.  Luckily for you, I have wasted all my time weeding through it so you don’t have to.  Here are some places you can go to get started on your lessons.

1. iTunes – iTunes has some really great podcasts on Internet Business and Marketing.  Even if you don’t have an iPod you can still listen online.  If you do have an iPod even better!  I have an hour drive back and forth from work and I consistently use this time to listen to the podcasts I find in iTunes.  It makes my commute fly by and I am learning something new daily as I drive!  Win/Win!

If you are not familiar with locating podcasts in  iTunes, Butterscotch.com has made this quick tutorial which can walk you through the process.  If you don’t already have it, you can download iTunes for free HERE.

One podcast that I highly recommend is Internet Business Mastery.  This is run by Sterling and Jay who have both escaped their cubicle and designed their dream lifestyles.  They offer many great business tips and their podcast is one of the most professional ones I have found.  Look around and you will find there really is some great content on there.

NEWBIE TIP: Be sure to check the dates of the podcasts.  If you see that one has not been updated in awhile, you may want to avoid it.  The content may be old and have no current relevance in this fast changing arena.  Also watch out for very short podcasts (under 5 minutes).  Most often these are simply promo spots or ads disguised as value content.

2. Blog Talk Radio – BTL has created a format that makes it very easy to set up and distribute podcasts.  This is both good AND bad.  Good because it gives many talented people a platform to showcase their wares and get their information out to the world.  Bad, because it makes it very easy for ANYONE to upload content.  I would proceed here with caution and follow the same rule as above.  If the content is old, just look for something a bit more recent.  You can find their site HERE.  Some good hosts are Bob The Teacher, Willie Crawford, and Steve Weber.  Just  look around.  There is quite a bit of talent on there.

3. YouTube – I am the type of person that learns much faster by watching than by reading.  I think that is why YouTube is one of my favorite places to gain new information.  There are literally millions of videos on there that can show you everything from setting up a new blog to creating a eBook.  YouTube has probably been one of the most useful learning tools I have found for myself on the web.  I highly recommend it and I hope you will take some time to use it as well.  You can link to it HERE.

4. Blogs - Blogs are great for so many reasons.  They are so versatile and you can find one on just about any subject on the planet.  If you want to find some really good Internet Business tips and information check out some of the blogs at WordPress and Blogger.  These are two of the bigger sites and will hold most of the content. Just so a quick search for Internet Marketing or Internet Business and you will find a host of blogs to search through.

I think that should get you started.  Check back often for more great tips and make time each day to learn a little more than you know today!  Soon you will be on your way!

Ancora Imparo!