It’s time to sweep 2009 under the rug and celebrate 2010 the only way us geeks can … Web 2.0 style! Most of us use the new year as a time to reflect and make resolutions for the coming year. Unfortunately, after a few months, we forget all about those resolutions and go back to our old habits. The number one cause for this is the lack of accountability. While self-accountability plays a key role, having the support of others, is often just the motivation you need to follow through.

Of course, you could use the old fashion method of simply telling your friends and family your resolutions, but then you probably wouldn’t be reading MakeUseOf.com if you participated in such old school methodologies. I’m kidding of course, but if you are reading this, you are interested in how to help make your resolutions a reality using free web 2.0 tools.

Following are two free social networks that can help you create, share and follow through with all of your 2010 new years resolutions and beyond.

continue reading "Keeping Your 2010 Resolutions, Web 2.0 Style"

The following is guest post by Victor Karamalis:

We all know that it takes hard work to get the project going and continue. Managers need to be realistic about the expectations that they set forth in the beginning of a project. Overdelivering or scope creep on a scope of a project is common because there are a number of factors including how well people communicate within the internal and external project members. Yet, the 70 percent failure rate from their original scope. This is why creating a great relationship with your project members prior to starting the project is one of the most important aspects of the project.

continue reading "Reaching Out to Communicate is Key to Project Success"

One of the most powerful tools on the Mac in terms of day to day productivity boost, has been Spaces. I have been using this feature in Linux for years, but never quite took advantage of it in Windows. Here is how I currently use it. I would love to here your tips and tricks regarding productivity on the Mac.

continue reading "Using Spaces to Improve Productivity on the Mac"

As online project manager you should be using virtual meetings. The first reason is that it’s online and lets you manage the project, so it’s kind of exactly your job. The second is that it saves enormous amounts of time. The third and biggest reason begins with “r”, has nine letters, and rhymes with “Every economy in the world having a panic attack at the exact same moment-ession”. Since virtual meetings save money and time, and with the right tools, you can save even more.

continue reading "Effective Meetings on a Budget"

This post is both a strategy and practical guide based mainly on my experience and those I’ve worked with for the purpose of allowing anyone to understand how to execute a complete Internet Marketing campaign for any type of business or organization.

The structure of this guide is strategic, in that I look at each component of an Internet Marketing campaign from a high level. But included in each component are resources that will give you the necessary information and tools to execute, whether you want to do it yourself or hire help.

Please feel free to add to this guide in the comments section or at the public Social Media Marketing Wiki. In both cases, I will provide a do-follow link to your website in thanks.

continue reading "Internet Marketing: How-to"

Instead of (via @thinkingserious) you can do RT @thinkingserious: via an easy change in the preferences menu. The following short video shows you how.

continue reading "Tweetie for Mac OS X Now Allows Proper Retweets"

Your significant other says “What are you going to do with all that junk” and you reply “I’m going to sell it on eBay”. Tick … Tock … 6 months later … “We should have a garage sale!” … shudder at the thought of actually trying to sell stuff without technology! If you wanted to do that, call Clean House or be satisfied with having the world’s filthiest apartment. We’ll maybe not, but the point is that you have lots of stuff that other people want and will pay cash. In this post I will get your creative and motivational juices flowing by offering you some easy options to turn your junk into cash. You can follow any of these tips to get the wheels in motion today from the comfort of your home and computer. I personally recently transformed some junk into this.

continue reading "Online Garage Sale"

For many years it was just one tab for me: www.google.com. I can’t remember what it was before then, but it was probably some portal site like www.msn.com or www.yahoo.com. But since the introduction of tabbed browsing, we are no longer constrained with just having a single home page open up when we launch our browsers. Here I share what’s on my auto-launch list, what is on yours?

continue reading "What tabs do you open first when launching your browser?"

This was the question explored by David Coleman during a fantastic Webinar yesterday. Enjoy the slides and join in on the conversation.

I often tell entrepreneurs that the ability to sell is the most important skill you can learn. Be it in relationships, trying to get a job, seeking funding or selling a product, the skill of selling is key. Very close to this skill is the art of negotiation. Most times you will not sell your idea, product or service right away, instead there will be a period of back and forth negotiation. Here are some tips I’ve learned along the journey of life that I think will help you become a more powerful negotiator.

continue reading "10 Ideas for More Powerful Negotiations"