My Deal Board

You have heard the word Deal thrown around a lot lately. Its been growing for a little while

with the likes of WagJag, Groupon, TeamBuy (Featured on Dragons Den) and a whole batch of copy cats. Well imitation is the

best form of flattery but there is always someone to go beyond and I feel this project is going to be it.

A tip for my fellow network. From what I have heard so far this is will blow your mind.

It would be in your best interest to keep an eye on this link My Deal Board
it's actually a Daily Deal Aggregator

I will keep you posted here as well on when the site will launch and any details I can drag out of the guys.

If you have any tips tricks or resources you would like to share please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com

Teachers and Facebook

Facebook is everywhere and it is what the students are using to communicate.

For this reason, teachers have started to join Facebook and connect with their students.

However, there is great risk involved when choosing to go online especially connecting with

students. The wrong thing could cost your job. A friend of mine suggested that I share this link with all of you. Even if you are not a teacher, these tips are really good.

I really like the advice of not connecting students to your personal account. A better idea is to create a teacher account. This account can provide information on events, assignments coming up etc. It is a little more work to have two Facebook accounts but better the extra work than the risk. The alternative is don't connect to students.

Here is the link. Hope it helps you build your network safely.

http://www.onlinedegree.net/50-useful-facebook-tips-for-teachers/

If you have a tip, trick or resource you would like shared with everyone please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

ViaSoc Media Review

I got invited by a friend to check out ViaSoc. I registered and logged in and got verified.

Next I invited a couple people I knew.

As any user, I like to test drive before wanting to upgrade but any time I click on a member I get the "Sorry, you don't have the appropriate credentials to access this page. To access this page please change your Member Level credentials".

My first response to this page was to edit my account details. I saw the different levels but could not find a description on what each level gives me. What is the killer functionality that will make me upgrade. If its only access to member details then why don't I just use Facebook or Linked In?

I look forward to hearing what other members think about these limitations. I would also love to hear from ViaSoc itself on what the differences are between the Member Levels.

If you wish to contact us please email Chris Williams at chrisw_88@hotmail.com or Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com

Gist Workarounds

I have been playing with the beta version and as I found issues I will list them here and the workarounds if I find one.

1) If you have a contact with a very long name and you click on it to get to detail view. You will not be able to edit the contact name as the jquery edit icon will disappear on hover.

WORK AROUND: Look up the contact in the list view and the edit icon works well there to let you rename them.

2) Since Chris Williams is popular, I am running into the issue that Gist automatically took the other chris williams and merged them to me. If it is a contact that has the same name it will ask but not for your account.

WORK AROUND: You will have to create separate contact yourself and vary the name slightly maybe Christopher Williams or put in an initial or a number after it.

If you have any tips regarding Gist please insert them here.

Gist - Contact Consolidator and Manager

I came across this application on a fluke. I was looking at a way of consolidating my contacts into one place. I had contact in gmail, Google Contacts, Plaxo, hotmail, you name it.

I was looking for a tool that would let me tag contacts and help me merge duplicates. Luckily I stumbled upon this tool. It will do all this and more. Since it connects directly to gmail, facebook, twitter and linked in directly, it can tell me which contacts I have contacted most recently and give me an importance level. I can adjust this level myself as well.

It is a beta application but even so, I have only found some minor issues so far. I look forward to see where this application is headed once it comes out of beta.

If you would like to check it out go to http://www.gist.com

If you have any tips tricks, resources or articles you would like to share with the group please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them.

How to lock down your Facebook profile

A friend of mine twittered this to me and I thought it was important to share with the group.

The Facebook security settings are very complicated to navigate. This link will guide you step by step with screen shots on how to lock down your profile. There were actually a couple steps I missed so I am sure others missed them too.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-lock-down-your-facebook-profile-2010-5#facebook-will-show-you-what-your-friends-can-see-if-all-looks-good-then-congratulations-32

For those confused and think they may have missed something, or even if you think you found it all. You may want to run this Privacy scan. I ran it and found I missed a couple spots.

Step 1: Navigate to the link below

ReclaimPrivacy.org | Facebook Privacy Scanner

http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/facebook

Step 2: Drag and drop the scan for privacy link to your toolbar

Step 3: Navigate to your facebook privacy settings page

Step 4: Click on Scan for Privacy in your toolbar.

Hope you find this link helpful. If you have any other links you would like to share please email Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com

SocialGrow - Will it be the next big thing?

This tool is being hailed by a lot of power networkers I have spoken to as the next big thing in Social Media. I have not heard a lot about it other than it can "help automate recruiters invitations to connect with candidates across multiple social networks with a few clicks."

If you are a recruiter and are interested in the Alpha release please go to http://socialgrow.com and sign up. Only 500 people will be able to register for the alpha release that is scheduled for February 1st.

If you have any tips, tricks, resources or tools you would like to recommend to the group please contact Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com

ipoint.to - The new Url Shortener

ipoint.to URL Shortener is a service that takes long URLs and squeezes them into fewer characters to make a link that is easier to share, tweet, or email.

I may be a little bias being one of the developers myself, but I highly recommend using this application to shorten your urls for the following reasons:

1. ipoint.to URL Shortener was developed by someone you know and network with (chris williams). Knowing the developer personally, you have more access to make suggestions on improvements.


2. We have a proven track record with custom and out of box products like Launch Pad for Web. You can find out more about this product on the website at http://www.lp4w.net/
   
3. We are accessible on all the social networking sites:


• ipoint.to has a Facebook fan page at: http://ipoint.to/ip2fb
  You can follow this product on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ipointto
  


• Launch Pad For Web has a facebook fanpage at: http://ipoint.to/lp4wfb
  You can follow this product on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/lp4w
  


• Point Alliance has a company facebook fan page at: http://ipoint.to/pafb
  You can follow this company on twitter at: http://twitter.com/pointalliance
  


• Most Point Alliance staff members are on Linked In or Facebook.



4. There is an actual company behind this product with a proven track record. You can check out their website yourself at http://www.pointalliance.com/
   
   

   Point Alliance is a premiere Information Technology services and consulting provider¸ specializing in innovative collaborative¸ web and wireless solutions. Point Alliance delivers a competitive advantage by being able to tailor flexible solutions to meet specific customer needs. Our approach is to architect solutions that build on clients' existing investments in technology. Point Alliance solutions drive value by leveraging our extensive business and technology experience¸ thus minimizing the development time and cost. By focusing on user experience and the integration of business and IT strategy¸
   
   Point Alliance implements solutions that add significant value to both the user population and the organization. Point Alliance offers strategy¸ design¸ application development¸ systems integration¸ and support services to a wide variety of high profile clients. Our firm has a solid track record of successful engagements and offers an unparalleled level of service to a loyal client base.

Please make use of this free tool and pass it on to all your friends. If you have any suggestions about the tool you can post a comment on this blog, email me or communicate with us over any of the social networking sites.