I’ve learned about a bunch of tools that help your internet experience be much faster, streamlined, and content-specific.
Here’s a list:
Firefox by Mozilla - an internet browser that allows a lot of customization and fewer problems than Internet Explorer. For now, it’s also more secure, but with its growing popularity security issues will arise I’m sure. It’s easy to set up Firefox with custom toolbars to allow you to get to the information you want to see fast.
Once you have Firefox installed you can load add-ons (tools) to it that allow you to work faster and more easily. You can do this in IE, too, but I’m finding Firefox to be much easier to use and customize. See the 30DC pre-season blog for all the add-ons and tools we’re using. Scroll down to Summary of Pre-season Content. They aren’t just for internet marketing! You don’t have to be a member to view the blog or watch the pre-season videos or listen to pre-season podcasts. You do have to be a member to get the training. It’s free if you want to join and learn. Whether you’re interested in internet marketing or just in learning about all the cool stuff in web 2.0, it’s worth your time. Just the pre-season content will get you pretty far and then you can explore the tools at your own pace for your own purposes.
A list of the tools we’re using:
- Firefox Bookmarks Toolbar
- Firefox Custom Toolbars
- Firefox Session Manager
- Twitter - a quick way to stay connected online and by cell phone text messaging
- Facebook - social networking site (like myspace without all the pimping)
- Digg - site rating tool
- del.icio.us - web bookmarks with note and tag areas to file with each bookmark
- Technorati - blog search engine. Can bookmark blogs and content you like with Technorati Favorites
- Stumbleupon - install it, select your topics of interest, then push the button and see what you find. It’s great for idea generation and for exploring your favorite topics, but you can spend a lot of time stumbling, so use with caution!
- Google Notebook - online note-taking and web-clipping tool. Notes can be exported to Google docs web-based word processor
- Scribefire - makes blogging easier. Punch a button and write
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Search Status
- Fleck
- Meebo for instant messaging. All your IM accounts in one place on the web
- Flicker - for photos and images
- Email - whatever your address is that you check regularly
Bloglines - a blog and news reader for RSS feeds. I save all my RSS subscriptions to bloglines and I open one reader and see everything I want to see at one time. It’s also a button on my Bookmark Toolbar so accessing it is easy.
Try out Firefox and the above listed tools and add-ons. I posted a link to the 30DC blog in the sidebar that has all the tools and setup information you need to set Firefox up to run like a dream. You won’t believe how much easier taking care of your usual internet business will be. Not having to go to the bookmarks (favorites) menu all the time to get what you want is so much faster and easier.
This is the power of web 2.0 and the future path of the internet. The more you use it the more you’ll wonder how we ever lived without it. Just like we don’t know how we lived without email.
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