The Innovative Educator: 10 "Do’s" and "Don’ts" for more interesting and engaging social media updates

The Innovative Educator: 10 "Do’s" and "Don’ts" for more interesting and engaging social media updates

Intro to OneNote

Contact Capture, It's Fantastic, It's A Must Have and It's FREE!

If you are in business you must have Contact Capture! This is the best business tool and it's FREE. You can capture contact information from emails, letters & documents into an Excel Database or Outlook. All you need to do is highlight the information and click on Ctrl+CC and it's there.
I have the app on my iPhone and the desktop version. Click here to find out more.

7 Marketing Strategies for 2012

Start your year out right. If you don't have a large marketing budget or no budget at all, with some time and knowledge you can market your business. 
You can find some great tips from blogs, Twitter and searching the Internet for "Marketing Tips." Here are some great strategies for marketing your business. 

Happy Prosperous New Year!

BusinessCard2....The Cadillac of vCards!

BusinessCard2 is a great new technology tool that will help you market your business and increase your SEO! In my opinion this is the Cadillac of VCards. This company has "Supersized" the vCard. 

What is a vCard?
vCard is a file format standard for electronic business cards. vCards are often attached to e-mail messages, but can be exchanged in other ways, such as on the World Wide Web or instant messaging. They can contain name and address information, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, URLs, photos, audios and logos.

You can add your card to any site or blog. Click on the different links on my card on the right side of this blog to see the many great features. Click here to see a sample card.

Are you a new business with a small marketing budget? This card can be used as a website! You can add all of the information that you would put on a website and for $5 a month you can have your own URL.
How do you share your card?

There are many different ways you can share your card over the internet:
• Import Contacts - Import contacts from any contact manager with one click into BusinessCard2
• Chat - Live Chat with those visiting your BusinessCard2 (from mobile or web)
• Email Share - Enter in an email address to share your card • Social Share - Post your interactive card on your FaceBook wall  READ MORE....      

More great technology tools, tips and tricks to come. I would love your comments.

Have you done your homework?

BENCHMARK EMAIL
I decided to get started on my 2012 New Year's Resolution early. I knew that it was long overdue and time to start an email marketing program. After comparing three different email marketing companies, I have found that Benchmark Email gives you more features for less money, it's user-friendly and has great customer support.
Most people don't have time to research and compare and just choose what the majority is using.
I make it my business to take the time to do my homework and compare these companies so that I can save myself and my clients money and time.  
The main deciding factor was that the Survey and Polls feature
was included in the monthly cost. The competing company that most of my newsletters come from, Constant Contact, charges extra for this feature and more per month for the newsletter. See the comparison chart of the three top companies and decide for yourself.

To see all of the great features and benefits of Benchmark Email click here.

Do you do business with strangers?

What is the first thing you do when someone hands you a business card? If you are like most people you look for the website address and then go to their site to learn more about the person and their company.
Today it is so important to have a web presence. It doesn't have to be anything elaborate. A simple two to three page website with a bio page and a services & products page is all that you need.

You can have a professional looking website for the cost of your domain name only with no monthly charges.
For a Free consultation to learn more visit http://www.lovemylessons.com

Did You Know That You Can Deposit Checks Using Your Mobile Phone?

I was just about to get into my car and drive to my bank to deposit some checks that I'd been holding for two days when my friend called. When I said that  I was on my way to deposit some checks she reminded me that I had a Chase Bank app with a check deposit feature.
I told her about this feature when I first opened my account. At that time I tried using the digital deposit service but I kept getting an error message saying that the bank was having trouble recognizing my check photo and I was not able to complete the transaction. I didn't try using the service again until yesterday when my friend said her client was raving about Chase Bank, my bank, because he could now deposit checks from his mobile phone.

Well, I thought, if her client could do it then I could too. I decided to try depositing the checks from my phone one more time and it worked!!!  I had just saved 45 minutes of my day and I was able to complete a job I was working on earlier than expected.   After doing some research I found that PNC Bank has mobile deposit as well.


If you don't have a smartphone with apps you can also bank from home using Echeck deposit if you have an Ally Bank account.  All you need is a computer that is connected to the Internet and a scanner.


I am always researching  new low cost and free technologies available to help make your business and perosnal life easier and sharing what I find.  If you would like to learn more about these new technologies subscribe to my blog and/or click the "Like" button on my Love My Lessons Fan Page.


If you have found some new technologies that you would like to share please post a comment below. I would love to hear from you.

Do You Sometimes Feel That Your Smartphone Is Smarter Than You?

App Phones

You can type dont, wont, youre, didnt and so on. The phone adds the apostrophe to those automatically. (But remember the difference between it's and its.)

On iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Palm/H.P. phones, tap the Space bar twice at the end of a sentence. You get a period, a space and a capitalized next letter, without hunting for punctuation keys.

On a BlackBerry, hold a letter key down to capitalize it.

Technology Tips

Stylus Pen

Are your text messages full of typos? Buy a stylus pen. There are stylus pens for Smartphones, e-readers and tablet computers. You can buy a 3-pack of sylus pens at Amazon for under $3.00 or do an Internet search for "stylus pen".

Phone Tethering
You can connect an internet-enabled cellphone to a laptop or a desktop computer and connect to the Internet anywhere. Call your cellphone provider and ask about phone tethering.

The Web Shortcuts

You no longer have to type "http://www" into your web browser. For example, just type "amazon.com" or "facebook.com". In Safari or Firefox, you can even omit the ".com." In Internet Explorer, you can press Ctrl+Enter to add ".com," or Ctrl+Shift+Enter for ".org."

You can press Alt+D to highlight the address bar at the top of your web browser. Without touching the mouse, type the site name you want.

You can tap the space bar to scroll down one screen at a time. Add the Shift key to scroll back up again. (You can also hit the “Page Up/Page Down Keys”, if you have them.)

When you're filling out an order form, you don't have to slide six miles down the pop-up menu to choose your state. Instead, type the first letter to select it without the mouse. (If you get the wrong state, press the same key again. For example, press C once for California, again for Colorado and a third time for Connecticut.)

iPad2 vs. Motorola Xoom

Should I buy the iPad or the Motorola Xoom? I have been on one of my journeys and I have finally made a decision but before I tell you my choice I must explain how I arrived at it.
There are certain questions you have to ask before providing a service or purchasing a product:
1. What is the purpose?
2. What are your needs?
3. Will this be a solution?
I have an iPhone and love it so I assumed I would buy the iPad but it is my nature to do my due diligence especially when spending so much money.
Purpose: I needed a more portable and lighter computer to take with me when meeting with clients.
Needs:
1. I design websites, many with flash and needed a tablet with the capability to view these sites when working with clients.
2. I needed a tablet that I could use to work on some of my projects when away from my office.
Solution: The Motorola Xoom- it satisfies all of my needs.
As much as I love the iPad with all of its apps it would not satisfy my needs.
The Motorola Xoom is the same size, is just as light, has the same battery life and is in the same price range.  I was impressed with both tablets but the Xoom was the best solution for me.
What are your needs?
Will you buy the iPad or the Motorola Xoom?

OMG! I am so impressed with My Eco bag!

OMG! I just received My Eco Bag and I'm even more impressed! The quality and the thought that went into this bag is evident.  It comes with a little book of instructions explaining with words and pictures exactly how to place your bags into your cart and the purpose and benefit of each bag.

• The Glass and Bottle bag (small bag) has fabric compartments to place your bottles in to keep them from clanging together.
• The Cooler Bag (medium bag) is nice and big and has a zipper to help hold the temperature.
• The Produce & Vegetable Bag  (large bag) has an anti bacterial liner that makes it easy to wipe clean.
• The Grocery and Dry Goods Bag (extra large bag) is the actual bag that holds all of the other bags it closes with a zipper and has a handle.

I've purchased one cooler bag that cost more than the My Eco Bag. I didn't think it was possible to be more impressed with this item but I am. 
This is a Must Buy!
Remember, to purchase from my organization, The Women of the Roundtable, and save $5, go to My Eco and use this code 101kotzen.

You will be so glad that you did!
 I would love to hear from you after you have received your bag(s). Email me at karen@lovemylessons.com

Go Green with My Eco Bags!

GO GREEN WITH THE MY ECO

I first saw the My Eco bags on the talk show The Talk. I was impressed with the bag and the fact that the inventor is the daughter of the inventor of plastic bags. I have always been big on recylcing and I love creativity.  I immediately Googled "My Eco bag" and went to the website to learn more.  The more I read the more impressed I became. It is so small and convenient and easy to carry into the grocery store.

I learned that My Eco also has a fundraising program and I belong to The Women of the Roundtable and the WR Charity Foundation and thought this would be a great fundraiser.  I emailed My Eco to find out how the fundraising program works. I immediately received a response  and all of the information from one of their representatives, Jackie.  She answered all of my questions and I had many and set me up within minutes with a special code for my organization.

If you would like to purchase a bag from The Women of the Roundtable and save $5 go to My Eco and use the following code 101kotzen.

The company also sets up partnerships with schools and neighboring grocery stores so if you would like to raise money for you child's school or you have an organization send an email to Jacqueline@getmyeco.com. She was fantastic and can help you.