Social media triage chart

Here is Jeremiah Owyang's adaption of a social media triage decision chart. This is from his presentation Social Strategy: Getting Your Company Ready. And here is another decision chart on how to handle online comments. (Click on image to enlarge.)

How to easily group and total data in Excel

Let's say you have an Excel spreadsheet listing the address information of 4,000 people who attended an event. And let's say you want to know how many people came from each city grouped by state. Here's how you can quickly do this using Microsoft Excel's PivotTable.

Here's a snippet of the 4,000-row table we'll group by state and city. Be sure to include a header row. If you don't, Excel will prompt you to create one.

Now do the following:
1) Select the columns you want to group.
2) Click on the Insert tab.
3) Click on PivotTable.
4) Click OK in the Create PivotTable dialog box.

This is where you create your PivotTable by dragging the fields you want to group and total into designated areas.

After dragging the fields we want to group and total into the designated areas, we end up with the final PivotTable. The data is now grouped by state and then by city. And there are total counts for each city.

How to create a mobile website fast and free

Just because you're on a lean budget doesn't mean you can't make a basic mobile website for your customers. What you can do is create content on Google's free Blogger platform. After doing so, go to "template" settings to activate and choose a mobile template.

Once you activate the mobile display setting, then anyone accessing the site from a smartphone will see a mobile friendly version.

How to track QR codes

To create a custom URL for a QR code to track in Google Analytics, follow these steps:

1) Go to Google's URL Builder and fill in the requested information to create a unique URL. After you click the "Generate URL" button, copy the URL.

2) Go go Google URL Shortener and create a shortened version of the URL. The reason why is the shorter the URL, the less complex the QR code graphic will be. Now copy the shortened URL.

3) Finally, paste the shortened URL into a QR code generating website such as the ZXing Project.

After generating the QR code, begin using it in your marketing media.

How to scan and save business card info to your smartphone

Just a reminder that Google Goggles can scan a business card and save the information from the card as contact information on your smartphone--or at least on the Android smartphone. (I haven't tried this on the iPhone.) Once you launch Google Goggles, simply take a photo of the business card. The app will scan the card and convert the scanned image into text to save into your smartphone's contacts.

Here is my business card that I scanned with Google Goggles:

And here are the scan results, which I can now save to my smartphone's contacts.

4 Android apps for the well-prepared business traveller

Here is how these 4 Android apps can help you be better prepared for business travel:

1) Access and edit your Word and Excel files with Google Docs. Before you leave on a trip, upload important Word or Excel files to your Google Docs account. Not only can you view the files, Google Docs lets you edit them too.

2) Access files from your office computer with TeamViewer. Let's say there was a Word or Excel file you forgot to upload to Google Docs. You can still access this file from your office computer with TeamViewer. The program is free if it's used for personal or noncommercial purposes.

3) View airport maps with GateGuru. In addition to viewing maps, GateGuru shows you which restaurants and stores are in airports.

4) Download maps as a backup for no internet connection. Google Maps has a neat little feature that's probably more handy for international travel. For example, let's say you're traveling to Canada, but you want to keep your data connection turned off to avoid high phone bills. What you can do is download a map of 10 square miles of the area in which you'll be. To access this feature on your Android device, open Google Maps. Then press the menu button and select More > Labs > Pre-cache map area.

How to share files up to 9 GB in size

Fyels is a free web-based program that allows you to share files up to 9 GB in size. Once you open the program in your browser, you simply drag a file from your computer into drag-and-drop area. Fyels will upload the file and provide a unique URL, which you share with whomever you want to download the file.

How to see what a photo will look like using different camera settings

CameraSim is a free web-based program that lets you see how different camera settings affect a photo. For example, change the ISO or aperture and then click on the "Snap photo" button. You'll see the test photo change to reflect the settings.

How to use Kindle ebooks as a marketing medium

You can expand your marketing mix by distributing content in Kindle ebook format. And without going through the Kindle Store. For example, maybe you want to provide the first three chapters of a publication as a Kindle ebook. All you have to do is use Mobipocket Creator to convert your Word file into a Kindle-compatible document. Once created, you can distribute your book via email or through your website.

Those who own a Kindle can copy your free ebook via the device's USB connection. Keep in mind that Kindle ebooks also can be read on Windows, Macs, and mobile devices such as iPhone or Android. So in other words, potential customers don't have to own a Kindle to read Kindle books.

A convenient marketing feature of Kindle ebooks is that you can include hyperlinks. So if a potential customer likes the first three free chapters, he may decide to click on the link you provide to purchase the complete product from your website.