Social Media Tools, Bookmarking Sites (Cont'd)

5th posting in a series of (I don't know how many)  In this article I cover miscellaneous tools, some may obviously apply others maybe not.  As always,  I have the completelist categorized  here.
I will keep that sheet updated as I make changes, delete sites I'm not planning to review, etc.  I'll try to have a link to the site on each blog post I write related to this subject.


More tools that can help you in this Social Media Jungle...
First a note, bookmarking sites are designed not only to offer you a place to store bookmarks but many of them offer the ability to share them as well.  The advantages over your browser are cloud storage of bookmarks which lets you access them from anywhere instead of one PC and the ability to share or discuss said bookmark.  This is an opportunity for online activity.  A properly built profile with almost any of the sites should help your SEO.
Something else to remember, you may consider using these sites to promote yourself as an expert in your field.  Bookmark sites with information related to your profession, start and join in discussions around related to your profession.  The more online activity you are involved in related to your field, the stronger your presence as an expert.  I would suggest you keep the number of sites you build a profile on to a minimum.  Too many sites and you spend all your time at home in front of the PC, trying to keep up with everything.  Remember your online activity is supposed to support your real life activity!

Due to the large number of Social Bookmarking sites, I have decided to keep my review to a minimum.  If the site is on this list, it can be accessed from the US.  I may or may not build a profile on the site.  If I say the site runs slow, remember I am using Google Chrome browser (not Internet Explorer, although Ver9 is nice) and Windows 7.


Delicious - http://www.delicious.com/

In my opinion this is one of the sites that started it all.  I don't use Delicious (I have no interest in bookmarking sites for personal use) but I see the Delicious button EVERYWHERE.  Because of it's established popularity, I think having a profile and some activity on Delicious could help you to become more popular on the web.



Designbump - http://designbump.com/

Uses a voting system to promote popular bookmarks.  Offers a list of most popular and "up & coming" bookmarks.  Offers 'real time' list of "What's Hot right now".  Another opportunity for you to be active on the web.

Dwellicious - http://dwellicious.com/

Real Estate specific.  Looks like "Delicious" for real estate.  Interesting concept.  I'd say if you are in real estate this would be a good place to be busy,

DZone - http://www.dzone.com/links/

This one is pretty interesting, I may keep it filed in my "look at this later" folder.  If your a developer of any level, you need to be active on this site.  It's 100% about links for developers.  Lots of links to "how-to" or expanding your knowledge.  Looks to be a great information resource as well as a good place for dev guys to be active on the web.

EzySpot - http://www.ezyspot.com/

Just another bookmarking site.  I'd say maybe not as popular as Delicious.  Does offer to categorize bookmarks by "All / Arts / Business / Entertainment / Gaming / Health / Internet / News / Science / Sports / Technology / Travel" however.

FAVable - http://www.favable.com/

Wow, these guys really put forth an effort.  Very nice setup.  You have a dashboard (see the screenshot) that shows your bookmarks as icons, offers a Twitter feed on the right and has lots of flexibility for setup.  I believe there is a free and a pay version.

Faves.com - http://wiki.faves.com/

Different is the best word i can use to describe this.  Wiki style, with discussions, picture & video sharing.  Appears to at least attempt to act like a community of like minded people discussing what interests them.  It's only my guess but I'd say the activity here, because of the websites design, might produce higher results in a Google search than some of the other bookmarking sites.

Favoritus - http://www.favoritus.com/

Simplicity is the key here.  Takes the "less is more" approach which almost always appeals to me.  You'll have to try it for yourself to see if it suits you.  If your even slightly OCD (I am), this may appeal to you.

Folkd - http://www.folkd.com/

They offer a pretty good description of themselves:
Save your favourite links and bookmarks online and access them from anywhere at any time.
Press our "star"-button to vote up the best links on the web with just one click.
Search the most popular links and discover cool sites your friends liked.
Easily recommend the best sites to your friends via email, facebook or twitter.  (My note: integration with Facebook/Twitter could be a positive)
Connect to interesting users to follow their latest links.
Or post cool links yourself and increase your "reputation-rank".
Search and organize your collection by tags and keep private things private!

Fwisp - http://fwisp.com/

Looks a lot like EzySpot.  Offers categories, rank top users (could help SEO), tag cloud (can help you find most popular subjects).  At a glance, I would pick this over EzySpot but I didn't spend much time with either.



So, that takes me through the letter "F" in my list.  I deleted quite a few from the original list because they either didn't look useful, were down or were in a language other than English.  No offense intended, I only review sites in English (it's a downfall of mine, I only speak/read English.  Always meant to pick up a second or third language but never got around to it.)
Please leave feedback in the comments.  Are you using any of these sites?  Want me to offer specific details in my reviews?  Hate what I'm doing but read my blog anyway just to laugh at me?  The comment section belongs to you, offer any and all feedback you have.
Remember that what is written here is only my opinion, and maybe not a very good one at that.  I write this stuff because something inside me says I must write.  I hope that what I write will help someone, somewhere; but help or not I plan to keep writing.






(Ignore this, it's just all my tags.  No need to read this, its just SEO. Employeer, internet, Job, Jobseeker, Lifehacker, Online Reputation Management, ORM, Recruiter, Social media, Wikipedia, chester, chester paul, chester paul lohman, paul, paul lohman, lohman, trainer, manager, Landing page, internet, internet tools, blog, blogging, bookmark, bookmarking,  email, IM, shopping, social network, social networking, social news)

On the #jobhunt? How's your time management???

Let's face it, looking for a new job can be a real workout.  If you don't manage your time well, your in trouble.  It's easier to experience burnout when looking for a job than when your actually working.  Step back, take a few minutes to read the suggestions below and really think about how you are approaching your search.

The article by Lifehacker is where a lot of my information comes from and was also the idea for writing this article.  Credit to the great writers at Lifehacker, they always have something valuable to read.

1) Treat your jobhunt like a real job.  The first thing you have to get your brain around is that you may not be employed but you still have a job.  Your current job is... To Find A New Job!  Treat your jobhunt like a job.  Spend the same amount of hours as you would in a paid position.  Treat yourself like your 'on salary' as opposed to hourly because, obviously your not getting paid OT!

1.a) Build a schedule.  You need to define your working hours so you know when you are finished working for the day.  Don't spend all your waking time looking for work.  You wouldn't spend all your waking hours at the office would you?  Don't spend all your waking hours looking for a job.  I suggest your schedule covers a good portion of the "8 to 5" hours because that's when recruiters and hiring managers are most likely at the office.
        1.b) You can stop here or really define your schedule by blocking times or days that you approach your job search in different ways.  Monday could be your meeting day, Tuesday could be your 'submit application' day or maybe you have decided to work from 10AM to 7 PM.  10 to noon could be your time for making phone calls.  I wont go into serious detail here but you get the point.
        1.c) Consider a split schedule or a schedule that covers more than 40 hours.  You will want to work during the morning hours (8to 10) and afternoon (330 to 5) because that's the best time to make phone calls.  Whatever you do remember to keep your schedule flexible.  Remembering work/home balance (I talk more about this below) I suggest you keep your job search to 60 hours or less.

2) Practice telling time.  Can you tell me when 5 minutes have passed with any accuracy?  I bet you think you can but if your like most people, including me, you can't.  Start wearing a watch or keeping one close by and really test how long your daily activities take.  Think it takes 5 minutes to write a thank you letter after an interview?  It takes me an hour.  The ability to accurately estimate time intervals is essential to making your day as productive as possible.
      2.a) This is also very helpful during interviews and meetings.  If you agree to spend 20 minutes with someone, you need to know how long 20 minutes really is.  If someone has agreed to meet (network) with you, respect their time.  Don't take more time than you agreed to even if the meeting is going stellar.  Explain you respect their time and offer to reschedule to continue the conversation.  They will appreciate it and the impression is always positive.
      2.b) Paying greater attention to time is one of the most important things you can do during a job interview.  ALWAYS give yourself at least 15 minutes longer than you think it takes to drive to the interview location.  You don't want construction or traffic to make it look like you are a habitually tardy person.  Try not to arrive in the parking lot no more than 15 minutes early.  Many business have cameras on their parking lot and they may be watching.  More than 15 minutes early to the lot makes you look desperate; remember they need you as bad as you need the job.  Stop at a close gas station if you are too early.  15 minutes early to the lot gives you about 5 minutes to walk to the building.  You do not want to actually enter the building more than 10 minutes early.  No employer wants you sitting in their lobby for 30 minutes waiting for the interview.  Again, you look desperate and it makes them feel rushed.

3) Learn to use little bits of time or "how to eat an elephant".   How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.  How do you tackle a big project or seemingly overwhelming task?  One small item at a time.
      3.a) In this age of social media it's easy to get overwhelmed.  For example, I follow over 125 people on Twitter (as a side note, experts say it's hard to interact with more than a total of 150 friends, I'd say the same number applies for how many people you follow on Twitter not including lists.)  If I don't keep track of my Twitter stream it can get overwhelming and quick.  Ever check TweetDeck or whatever you use to see that you have 1000+ unread Tweets?  Easy just to skip past them all isn't it?  Don't do this.   If you have followed item 1 above, you getting a better understanding of how long things take and how quickly time actually passes.  When you realize have 5/10 minutes (waiting for a bus?  too early for an interview? standing in line at the grocery store? you get the point) use these little blocks of time to catch up small items like reading a few tweets or making a quick check on LinkedIn status updates.  Taking advantage of these small time blocks makes sure you stay current in the social media game and opens your bigger blocks of time for more important tasks.

4) Anticipate and prioritize your interruptions.  The "outside world" and sometimes our immediate world does not care what task we are working on or how important it is.  Filling out an online application and notice you just got an email?  That email could be a job offer! I have to check it NOW!
      4.a) NO you DON'T.  Whatever task you are working on, updating your resume, filling out an application, interruptions will happen.  Don't let minor distractions take you away from the task at hand.  No matter what that email is, it will wait until you are finished filling out that application.  So what if it's a job offer?  They made the offer so they are willing to wait a reasonable amount of time to hear your reply.  If you stop what you are doing to handle those distractions it's easier to fall off task and that first thing you were working on will take much longer, throwing off your schedule for the rest of the day.

5) Delegate effectively.  Wait, I'm NOT WORKING!  Who can I delegate to?  If you live alone, maybe no one.  If you are like me you have a wife and kids.  I spend the majority of my time at home (because I'm not working) and therefore fixing dinner, doing the laundry and other household chores fall in my lap.

     5.a) For day to day operations, this may not be a problem (it's not for me) but sometimes something comes up.  Have a networking event in the afternoon that means you won't be home to fix dinner?  Need to work on a presentation for an interview over the weekend and can't take time for household chores?  Your spouse/family is there to support you.  They love you and want you to succeed.  My wife never offers to handle these day to day chores because (and I quote) "I look like I have it all handled".  If something comes up and I ask her however, she never hesitates to say "yes" and help me where I need it.

6) Identify your Prime Time.  What hours of the day are you most "on point"?  What time is the most effective for you?  Some people are night owls and others are early risers (I'm an early riser, 5:45 every morning).  Identify your most productive time and apply it where it matters most.

     6.a) This will be different for everyone.  If your a night owl, 9 PM is probably not the best time to make phone calls.  Or maybe it is, perhaps you are the type of person that prefers to leave a voice-mail.  (I passionately disagree with this method but the jobhunt while similar for all also boils down to "what works most effective for me".)
     6.b) As an early riser, I can scan my tasks for the day and prepare for any phone calls I need to make.  This allows me to be prepared to make those calls starting at 8:15 sharp (my preferred time to make calls).  I love the morning, I can review my plans for the day, make preparations or adjustments as needed and tackle the day "ready for anything".   If you are a night owl, maybe you should be making all those preparations the night before.  Look at your task list for the following day and make preparations as needed.  Have a meeting or interview tomorrow?  Go over your notes and pick your outfit the night before.


7) VERY IMPORTANT.  START SCHEDULING AND ENJOYING YOUR FREE TIME.

Now that you have a better understanding of time and you are using every minute to its fullest you can start actually scheduling free time for yourself.  This is one of the most important things you can do for yourself.  When you schedule free time, you are more likely to spend that time on yourself instead of stressing out over your job search.  Taking free time gives you a feeling of accomplishment because you will feel like you earned the time and it's a self-reward.  This is also a great opportunity to 'give back' to that family that has been supporting you.  Kids and spouses don't understand or appreciate "always job hunting" any more than they appreciate "always working".  Taking time for self and family makes you a more balanced person and offers you a chance to recharge your batteries, making you more productive during your working hours and more involved during family time.   A balanced life, equal parts "work" and "personal" has proven to have a positive affect overall; lower stress levels, better general health, stronger emotional ties with family and friends and more productive person at the office.  Your next employer will appreciate that you already know how to balance your life and understand the value you bring to their company.

The jobhunt is a stressful time.  It's a lot of work networking and searching for that next job.  Better time management will make you more effective.  I hope the time you spent reading this article offers you a return on your investment.  Thanks for reading.






(Remember to ignore this, it's just all my tags.  No need to read this, its just SEO. Employeer, internet, Job, Jobseeker, Lifehacker, Online Reputation Management, ORM, Recruiter, Social media, Wikipedia, chester, chester paul, chester paul lohman, paul, paul lohman, lohman, trainer, manager, Landing page, internet, internet tools, blog, blogging, bookmark, bookmarking,  email, IM, shopping, social network, social networking, social news)

Social Media Tools, Bookmarking Sites

Fourth posting, in this article I cover miscellaneous tools, some may obviously apply others maybe not.  As always,  I have the completelist categorized  here.
I will keep that sheet updated as I make changes, delete sites I'm not planning to review, etc.  I'll try to have a link to the site on each blog post I write related to this subject.


More tools that can help you in this Social Media Jungle...
First a note, bookmarking sites are designed not only to offer you a place to store bookmarks but many of them offer the ability to share them as well.  The advantages over you browser are cloud storage of bookmarks which lets you access them from anywhere instead of one PC and the ability to share or discuss said bookmark.  This is an opportunity for online activity.  A properly built profile with almost any of the sites should help your SEO.
Something else to remember, you may consider using these sites to promote yourself as an expert in your field.  Bookmark sites with information related to your profession, start and join in discussions around related to your profession.  The more online activity you are involved in related to your field, the stronger your presence as an expert.

Due to the large number of Social Bookmarking sites, I have decided to keep my review to a minimum.  If the site is on this list, it can be accessed from the US.  I may or may not build a profile on the site.  If I say the site runs slow, remember I am using Google Chrome browser (not Internet Explorer, although Ver9 is nice) and Windows 7.

A1-Webmarks - http://www.a1-webmarks.com/
Pure bookmarking.  Simple webpage, lots of text, little graphics.  Lets you add comments to your bookmarks.




Add.io - http://add.io/
Appears to run slow.  Encountered a few error messages.  Appealing visually, nice graphics.  Looks like it could be a really good option if it weren't slow and gave me errors.  Again, I'm not spending a lot of time with any one site.



All My Faves - http://www.allmyfaves.com/
Uses the (bookmarked) sites icon, nice visual.  create your own "faves" pages.

Blinklist - http://blinklist.com/
Pure text, very few graphics.  Appears to follow a minimalist design.

Blurpalicious - http://www.blurpalicious.com/
Quite a few adds.  Colorful.

BonzoBox - http://bonzobox.com/
Looks more like a landing page than other sites.  Very visual, large graphics.

BookmarkingNet - http://www.social-bookmarking.net/
Appears to be a VERY social site.  Lots of "Follow me" links to the left.  Ranking of bookmarks so there is interaction with other members.  This looks like something you could promote yourself with.

Brainify - http://www.brainify.com/
College specific, looks like a centralized resource for college students.

BuddyMarks - http://buddymarks.com/
Runs slow.  Lots of text, graphics did not load.

CiteULike - http://www.citeulike.org/
Lots of text, allows sharing of bookmarks.







So, that takes me through the letter "C" in my list.  I deleted quite a few from the original list because they either didn't look useful, were down or were in a language other than English.  No offense intended, I only review sites in English (it's a downfall of mine, I only speak/read English.  Always meant to pick up a second or third language but never got around to it.)
Please leave feedback in the comments.  Are you using any of these sites?  Want me to offer specific details in my reviews?  Hate what I'm doing but read my blog anyway just to laugh at me?  The comment section belongs to you, offer any and all feedback you have.






(Remember to ignore this, it's just all my tags.  No need to read this, its just SEO. Employeer, internet, Job, Jobseeker, Lifehacker, Online Reputation Management, ORM, Recruiter, Social media, Wikipedia, chester, chester paul, chester paul lohman, paul, paul lohman, lohman, trainer, manager, Landing page, internet, internet tools, blog, blogging, bookmark, bookmarking,  email, IM, shopping, social network, social networking, social news)

Perhaps I should apologize...

...Or perhaps I shouldn't...
I feel like I should apologize because I haven't posted anything in a long time.  I feel like I don't need to apologize because I don't blog for you, the reader.  I blog for me, Chester Lohman.  I write stuff down and try to make sure the content is helpful to the reader because my mind says "Chet, If your going to write something, try to make it helpful.  Maybe it's just what someone needs to read." 
I believe that and always try to post something that could help someone but the real reason I blog is 100% for me, Chester Lohman.
Please don't stop reading just because I'm a selfish S.O.B.   I might write something that could help you and if I do, I want you to read it.  I just felt I should drop this quick line before i started posting regular articles again.
So, for what it's worth:  if you have been patiently waiting for another blog post from me, I'm sorry.  If you haven't even noticed that I haven't posted anything in awhile, good for you.







(Remember to ignore this, it's just all my tags.  No need to read this, its just SEO. Employeer, internet, Job, Jobseeker, Lifehacker, Online Reputation Management, ORM, Recruiter, Social media, Wikipedia, chester, chester paul, chester paul lohman, paul, paul lohman, lohman, trainer, manager, Landing page, internet, internet tools, blog, blogging, bookmark, bookmarking,  email, IM, shopping, social network, social networking, social news)