I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I have been experimenting with Facebook. I, in fact, am about to write about and share what I have found and experienced so far with this social utility tool (or should I say platform?).

Anyway, if you happen to be the type of WordPress user who just glosses over the Dashboard area, then you wouldn’t have noticed this bit of news from WordPress.

Yup! They’ve created a WordPress application for Facebook. This application lets a Facebook user with a WordPress blog post from Facebook and have it appear on his/her WordPress site, and vice versa.

If you have scores upon scores or hundreds upon hundreds of friends in Facebook, now is the time to take advantage of that vaunted network effect to kick off. Each friend gets updated as you create new blog entries.

Bad thing is… I couldn’t create links! Anyway, I am sure the people at WordPress will be doing something about this soon as this app is recently offered.

Okay now… About to push the PUBLISH button…

Voila!

UPDATE (07.19.07, 12:32 am Manila Time):  It worked!  I am now posting this update from my WordPress console.

I profess that I am no expert when it comes to dispensing tips and sets of advice on how to build and establish one’s website traffic and generate a healthy and defensible “repeat business” via page views, clicks, and purchases, as well as how to craft strategies and programs on affiliate marketing, website monetization, etc. All my knowledge come from my relatively scant and fresh learnings based on actual experience as well as common sense.

Maki of Dosh Dosh has built a veritable treasure trove of information about how to do the above and more. Maki has painstakingly put together valuable materials for the consumption of every budding blogger or online entrepreneur who wish to tap the money-making opportunities available on the net. Heck, he can come out with a book on this!

I had the privilege of getting him to drop an appreciative comment when I linked him in a previous post about how to build and keep traffic for and within your website.

Maki, if you see this post, I am sure it’s okay with you to send you my occasional link to your site every now and then.
To those of you who accidentally or occasionally (hopefully, regularly) read Knightly News, I encourage you to subscribe to Dosh Dosh for insightful information. I have added Dosh Dosh to my blogroll (look at my sidebar at the right side of the screen).

I’ve been meaning to get my Last.fm account for the longest time now, but haven’t been able to for so many reasons.

With a slight slack in my sked, I’ve finally done it!

Last.fm made it to the 50 Best Websites in 2007 (Top 5).  It’s a social networking service with a musical twist.  Here’s a much better, detailed description of the service as lifted from the www.time.com feature of the 50 Best Websites of 2007:

“Type in the name of a favorite artist and, in a matter of seconds, music by that artist (and similar artists) will be streaming to your desktop — and it will keep playing as long as that browser window stays open. If you take the time to register and download the last.fm application, the service will dig deeper into your musical life, hook you up with its rapidly-expanding social network and match you with other users who share your musical tastes. Every time you play a song on your computer, last.fm takes note, adding the metadata to your profile. These “scrobbles” are shared with those you designate as your friends; they also help make last.fm a better DJ.”

I highly recommend that you download the application (3.9 Mb file size) so you can have uninterrupted listening extravaganza.

I am now tuned in to the “classical” channel.  I just typed in the artist name, in this case, Mendellsohn, and out came one of his compositions.  Don’t like it?  You can skip the track and move on to the next music of similar artists.  The relaxing tune and tone of “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber came running down my ear drums…

Aah yes… Musical heaven…

Swell! Ain’t it!?

I am a newbie to social networking sites. Heck, I’ve spurned countless invites to set up a Friendster and MySpace accounts!

But now I am intrigued by a similar service which has been getting a lot of buzz and attention lately, especially with its newly launched platform. Top Bloggers (tech experts, VC’s alike, and practically all those in Silicon Valley) have been talking about it. It’s called Facebook. It’s the hottest thing right now as evidenced by its relentless pace of signing up a million new users every week!

I am one who does not jump into the bandwagon for the sake of being in the mainstream. But anything useful and interesting right now is worth trying. So, I sat down and registered an account yesterday. I am happy to inform you that my first “FRIEND” in Facebook is no other than a famous tech blogger — ROBERT SCOBLE! Hehehe… I decided to accept his limited time offer to approve ALL friend requests he’ll get. Lucky me.

I am still going through the features of Facebook as of this writing. So far, I’ve found it quite refreshing. Clean layout. Highly customizable, plus TONS of APPLICATIONS which you can use! Still not sure if all are for free. But I think they are (probably for the time being). Facebook has the usual offering of functions such as messaging, calendar, photos, videos, a discussion board, a Marketplace (where you can post an item for sale, a wanted ad, job vacancies, etc.).

At first glance, I see a potential for business use in Facebook, especially if you want to establish a group or a network related to your line of business. Say, a pioneering business woman who’s into pastries and baked goodies can put up a group for those with the same interest. The Discussion Board (for tips and what have you) and the Marketplace (buy and sell) are features that will be of good value. Calendars for events like bazaar schedules, promo sale skeds, new store opening, and such. Videos can be uploaded if you want to conduct an “online training”. Pictures can be easily posted to give your potential patrons a glimpse of what you are offering.

I’m still learning the ropes and will fill you in as soon as I get acclimatized with the slew of mini-services available in this platform.

For those who are already Facebook experts, you inputs will be of great value. Comments and suggestions on how to use the variety of Facebook applications for business are most welcome.

Everyone now has relatively easy access to connectivity. Most popular, of course, are connectivity through SMS and the Internet.

For anyone who has a business and who are thinking of putting up one, I suggest getting acquainted with the following easy-to-use services to get yourself up and running.

1. Google Applications:
   • When I say Google Applications, I mean the whole lot of it. Registering a Gmail account is the first step. A Gmail account is the passport to use all of the services and applications that Google offers for FREE! Yep, perfect for those with tight budgets or NO budget at all. A Gmail account immediately gives you at least 2 Gigabytes of space and allows you to send up to 20 Mb-sized attachments. Easy-to-use interfaces with conversation-based email trail which allows you to follow the thread of a topic or subject quite conveniently. It also has a built-in chat feature. But no conference chats for now.
   • Once you have a Gmail account, sign up for iGoogle, a personalized portal where you can now find all the available services I mentioned. Everytime you go to the Google homepage (depending on the country where you are residing), you are automatically directed to the iGoogle interface. Lots of helpful applications like: Google Document (like your MS Word), Google Spreadsheet (like your MS Excel), Google Calendar (like your MS Outlook Calendar), Google Photos thru Picasa (like your Flickr and Photobucket), Google Maps, Google Video (Google bought YouTub, remember?), Google Reader (if you are an avid blog reader… good for research), etc, etc.
   • Google Document and Spreadsheet allow you to:
     • Use our online editor to format documents, spell-check and more.
     • Upload Word documents, OpenOffice, RTF, HTML or text.
     • Download documents to your desktop as Word, PDF and more.
     • View your documents’ revision history and roll back to any version.
     • Invite others to share your documents by e-mail address.
     • Edit documents online with whomever you choose.
     • Publish documents online to the world, or to just who you choose.
     • Post your documents to your blog.
   • The Google platform is collaborative and participative. It allows you to share almost anything, making it much easier for the businessman to connect and discuss and work together with their customers or suppliers or partners.
2. Excel File:
   • A Classic. This is most probably the “back-end application” of choice of the small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs). With an excel file you can create:
     • Financial Statements (Balance Sheets, Income Statements, Cash Flow Statements, etc.)
     • Inventory Monitoring System
     • Customer Relationship Management
     • Sales Pipeline or Funnel Document
     • Order Entry System
3. Blogging Services:
   • Numerous blogging sites have come out the past few years. There are a whole lot to choose from, but one can start choosing from the more popular and easier to use ones like WordPress (what I am using right now), Blogger.com (a Google service — you automatically can sign up for one once you have a Gmail account) and Typepad. All services are FREE to start with. If you need to add more features, such as, registering a domain, getting more diskspace, and the like, you will have to pay for such on a periodic basis.
   • Now, one may ask… how will a blog site help an entrepreneur? For one, you can setup your own online presence and make yourself known thru the internet medium. You can write about your products and services and post numerous articles that are related to what you are offering. Creating content is key to drive traffic to your site. Once you’ve generated enough regular, unique eyeballs to your site, you can start directing them to another one where you are actually selling your wares (like your eBay listings) or inform them of where you can be found in the metropolis, that is, if you have a physical store. A simple and free blog site (like the one I am using) doesn’t have rich online store features like the ones you see in Amazon.com, NBA Store Online, etc. If you are content with the basic, then take advantage of free services. If you want a more professional and more functional website, then it is time to hire a developer to create the site for you.
4. Multiply.com:
   • I personally don’t have a Multiply account. But I’ve heard of countless testimonies from friends and acquaintances about how happy they are with having one. Multiply.com is much like your Friendster account. It is mainly a social networking site that allows you “to create, share and discuss your blog, photos, videos and music with more of the people you know, and less of the people you don’t”. Multiply members have found a way to apply the features of the service to their businesses.
5. eBay:
   • Ah yes… My favorite. For starters, it’s FREE (at least here in the Philippines). At no cost to the entrepreneur, you can register an eBay account, list items for sale, add pictures to your listing, and sell your items online. And you get the chance to sell globally, especially if you have a hard-to-find, very unique item to sell. I have seen a lot of housewives, students (one must be at least 18 years to legally transact), unemployed individuals, and day-jobbers (who want to earn more money on the side) who have done well in eBay.ph. There are also quite a number of brick-and-mortar operations which have leveraged on eBay’s vast marketplace, extending their reach and augmenting their sales with online revenues in the process.
6. Instant Messaging Services:
   • Any average internet user knows the two (2) most popular: Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger. In case you didn’t know, both Yahoo! and Microsoft decided to agree (yep, “decided to agree” is the phrase… sounded like it didn’t come naturally) on allowing their respective members to IM one another. Buyers and sellers can exchange YM or MSN ID’s and chat about a particular deal, inquire about the stock of items, share pictures of the merchandise online, go on conference call with various entities. Very big user base so you can most likely expect a prospective customer having their own IM ID.

I will next post a list of services that are up and coming. These are services that are quickly becoming accepted in the mainstream and are worth considering.

In my earlier posts, I mentioned Marc Andreessen’s recently created blog. I think I don’t have to tell you that it is a great read. If you are curious to find out how thinks and what is a day like for a man his stature (dang… he’s only 35 years old! Turning 36 this year!) , then, read on.

Marc has accomplished so much (need I mention Netscape again??) in his young life and we can expect more from him in the years to come. Presently, he busies himself with his new company called NING, apart from the myriad other things he preoccupies himself with (his blogging, his VC concerns, etc.).

So, to the point of this post… if you are carrying a hellish schedule and are looking for ways to maximize the 8-hour or 10-hour or 12-hour or 18-hour (Hey! Get a Life!) work day, take a look at Marc Andreessen’s Guide to Personal Productivity.

Can’t keep a schedule? Then, don’t keep one!