Twitter - The Time Finder with Paula Eder

The Time Finder with Paula Eder

The way you use your time is the way you live your life.

Find Time to Check Before You Click with LongURL

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Paula, under Time and Technology.

Finding time to avoid viruses, malware, phishing sites and other nasty places while exploring the internet is a lot easier if you use LongURL. The popularity of social networking, with its premium on brevity, has led to a proliferation of URL shorteners like tiny.url, bit.ly, and lots of others. The problem with these otherwise useful tools is that you have absolutely no idea what website you are going to land on when you click a shortened URL.

So, that’s where LongURL can help. Basically, it’s a service that gives you the capacity to enter your shortened URL

Here’s a brief video from ComputerGeek396 showing how it works:

At last check, they supported a list of 340 URL shortening services – and are adding more as people suggest them. Just click this link, enter your short URL in the space provided, and see where the link is taking you.

You can also access a Firefox Extension called Long URL Please (from a different provider) that, when installed, will change shortened URL’s on pages you indicate into Long URLs. I use this extension for Twitter and Facebook, for example.

The time that you spend checking URL’s up front can save you untold headaches (and lost hours) that could result from stumbling upon a malicious site. That’s why I encourage you to take a look at LongURL and the Firefox extension (if you use Firefox).

I hope you will find this tool helpful. And let us know what you think … we’d all love to hear!

And, here’s something more to consider. Are you an entrepreneur, consultant, or small business owner who’s ready to take the next big step? If you want to learn how to create and to keep a successful business running on your own, then this is for you! “How to Create Credibility as a Freelancer” is a booklet with 70 expert-proven tips that will help you recharge your energy and motivation, increase your visibility, and sharpen those vital organizational and time management skills.

Success is within your reach, so don’t wait, http://optimize.thetimefinder.com/tips-booklet/ and get started today!

Let’s explore time together …

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have no material connection with Long URL, and have not received any compensation for writing this content.

Paula's Signature

No Comments

Find Time to Check Woot

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Paula, under Time and Technology.

Finding time to inject a little fun into your on-line life can certainly add to your day. That’s just one of the reasons that I was intrigued when my VA told me about a site she visits every morning called Woot.

Founded in 2004, Woot’s slogan is “One Day, One Deal” – and that’s just what they offer. Every night, at midnight (Central Time) a new, discounted deal is posted on the site. The item for sale remains available until it’s sold out. Depending on the item, this can sometimes happen very quickly. Often the items are technological and they may be new or refurbished (this is always clearly stated).

Woot’s marketing style is quite irreverent, and their product descriptions are, themselves, often very entertaining to read. There is a very active community of Wooters, and the Woot Twitter feed was, as of a year or so ago, one of the top 100 most-followed, according to Wikipedia.

The collection of items offered on Woot is often technological – but can range quite widely. Since 2006, for example, here’s a sampling of items my VA has purchased:

Vornado Zippi Fan – 2 Pack
Plantronics 222 Bluetooth Headset
Pure Digital Flip Ultra Series F260 Camcorder
Isotoner Ladies Suede Gloves
Gourmet Cedar Grilling Planks 12-Pack
Panasonic 14.1MP Digital Camera
Lock & Lock BPA-Free Airtight Stackable 28-Piece Set

As I said, it’s a wide-ranging collection of items!

Are you interested in checking Woot? Consider integrating it into your morning routine … you might find something you need there! And let us know what you think … we’d all love to hear!

And are you an entrepreneur, consultant, or small business owner who’s ready to take the next big step? If you want to learn how to create and to keep a successful business running on your own, then this is for you! “How to Create Credibility as a Freelancer” is a booklet with 70 expert-proven tips that will help you recharge your energy and motivation, increase your visibility, and sharpen those vital organizational and time management skills.

Success is within your reach, so don’t wait, click this link and get started today!

Let’s explore time together …

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have no material connection with Woot and have not received any compensation for writing this content.

Paula's Signature

1 Comment

Find Time for These Cool Tools for Pinterest!

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Paula, under Time and Technology.

Finding time to extend your presence on the web today probably means finding time to explore Pinterest. Now that Pinterest has addressed the copyright concerns that had made many people understandably nervous, it appears that for many people, pinning has resumed!

Pinterest continues to be one of the fastest-growing social networking sites – currently in third place behind Facebook and Twitter. And now, developers are creating all sorts of applications that can help you pin more easily, find people with similar interests more quickly, and analyze your Pinterest influence. All of these enhancements are interesting and helpful – and they can be crucial if you are interested in using Pinterest for your business.

As with Twitter and Facebook, wading through the sea of tools and applications to find the ones that will work best for you can be daunting. That’s why I wanted to share two articles that I recently found. They highlight some particularly useful Pinterest applications and tools. If you’re using Pinterest, these posts are definitely worth taking a look at. As a time-saver, you might consider focusing on the tools that are mentioned in both articles:

From Mashable, take a look at a slideshow presenting “7 Useful Pinterest Tools to Supercharge Your Pinfluence” – an article by Amy-Mae Elliott
From socialmediatoday, here are 19 Tools for Pinterest Pros – an excellent compilation by Tia Fisher.

Here is how Pin a Quote works – a quick and easy way to grab a quote and share it on one of your boards!

And here’s a sampling of two tools – my page from PinReach pinned (and embedded here) using Pinstamatic!

Source: pinreach.com via Paula on Pinterest

Pinpuff is another tool for calculating your Pinterest influence – and will add information about how much your account is worth to you (in dollars and cents). And there’s even a way to use Google Analytics to measure your Pinterest activities and reach!

Are you interested in learning more about how your time on Pinterest may be best spent? Consider taking a look at some of these tools. Try a couple and let us know what you think … we’d all love to hear!

Oh, and please visit me on Pinterest … and Pin this post!

Success is within your reach, so don’t wait, click this link and get started today!

Let’s explore time together …

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have no material connection with Pinterest or any of these tools or applications and have not received any compensation for writing this content.

Find Time to Pin Down the Facts About Pinterest (thetimefinder.com)
Find Time to Explore the New Pinterest Privacy Policy (thetimefinder.com)
Find Time to See How You Spend Your Time with Rescue Time (thetimefinder.com)

Paula's Signature

No Comments

Find Time on Cyber Monday to Explore Gremln: The New and Improved TwAitter That’s Coming Soon

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Paula, under Time and Technology.

Finding time to keep up with innovations in social media can be a full time task. As long-time users of TwAitter, we here at Finding Time have appreciated the ability to offer scheduled tweets of our timely tips, time quotes, and other material so that we can share this great material with as many people as possible.

We recently received an e-mail from TwAitter letting us know that they are soon replacing this tried and true friend with a new and improved social media tool called Gremln. In addition to the functionalities that TwAitter provided (which Gremln continues to offer) this new tool, as described by Kyle Welborn in his post on Tech.li, provides “… web-based software for businesses to engage in social networks and calculate the return on investment for the time and money they spend doing it. In addition, Gremln provides a consumer sentiment tool to help businesses understand how people are talking about them on the web.”

One of the things that made TwAitter unique was that, as part of it’s free service, it allowed users to rotate and repeat their tweets. Other applications might provide a similar functionality – but we haven’t seen it offered for free elsewhere.

Repeating tweets is helpful, because Twitter, in particular, is a platform that people generally visit for brief periods. If they aren’t on line when you happen to tweet, it’s likely that they will never see it … unless you tweet again. I remember reading a post about this in Social Media Examiner where Dino Dogan wrote that, “Guy Kawasaki repeats his tweets four times with at least several hours in between. I repeat my tweets every few days but do not limit myself to four.” So, for putting out information that is helpful to tweeple, we think this is a great capacity to use (not abuse)!

We are especially pleased to hear that, at this time at least, the plan for Gremln is to continue to offer the free service that TwAitter has provided, and to also offer an enhanced subscription service for businesses and power users.

Do you use a tool like TwAitter … or are you interested in taking a look at Gremln? Here’s a quick video outlining Gremln’s features … and we’ll let you know when we get word that it’s gone live!

Maybe Gremln can help you simplify and amp up your social media efforts … and find more time for what matters most!

Are you interested in learning more about the Heart-Based Time Management™ Path? Here’s one way that you can transform and deepen your relationship to time in the Heart-Based Way … I invite you to explore Secrets of Heart-Based Time Management™ – my chapter in the book I co-authored - Stepping Stones to Success! In it I share my proven system for exploring and harnessing the power of your mind, your body and your spirit to help you deepen your experience of time and of your life.

As you work with the ideas I offer, you’ll explore your patterns, clarify your values, identify and prioritize your goals … and create your path for achieving them. You can give yourself the gift of this wonderful resource today, and get started on your journey toward success, Stepping Stone by Stepping Stone …just click this link to get the details!

Let’s explore time together …

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have no material connection with TwAitter or Gremln, and have not received any compensation for writing this content.

10 Fundamental Tips for Social Media Community Managers (hubspot.com)
The Social Media Rabbit Hole: How to Grow Your Networks And Manage Your Time (forbes.com)
Find Time to Use Hashtags: Give Yourself a Powerful Boost on Twitter (thetimefinder.com)
Find Time to Streamline Online: Have You Checked Out New Seesmic Web Yet? (thetimefinder.com)

Paula's Signature

No Comments

Find Time to Share Your Posts With the New and Improved Posterous

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Paula, under Time and Technology.

Finding time to share your content on the web so that the largest number of people can access it in the venues they visit is a key component of social media marketing.

Have you used Posterous to share your posts?

They have recently launched Posterous Spaces, offering some nice enhancements to what was already a good platform for sharing lots of content on the web. And one of the biggest changes is that you can create public spaces, for sharing broadly … or private spaces, for sharing content with groups that you customize yourself.

Private sharing is part of what has driven these changes in Posterous. You can create spaces for sharing with family, with friends, with work groups. For online entrepreneurs, you might consider developing spaces for sharing teleclass material, product lines, you name it!

At the same time, Posterous makes it easy to share publicly on its platform, as well as via linkages to lots of other social networking venues. Posterous works with Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Scribd … and lots of other sites. On Facebook, for example, you can set the Autopost feature to update your status, stream, Facebook Photos, and Facebook Videos – or you can choose some to update and some not to. In addition, you can add a Posterous tab on Facebook showing your site directly to your profile.

Here’s an interview with Sachin Agarwal, founder of Posterous, offering an overview of the service and how it works:

As Sachin Agarwal says, “We want this to feel like magic.” I suggest that you take a look at this flexible, effective tool to share your posts and information on the web.

And while I’m on the subject of finding time for making the most of your efforts to spread the word, are you an entrepreneur, consultant, or small business owner who’s ready to take the next big step?

If you want to learn how to create and to keep a successful business running on your own, then this is for you! “How to Create Credibility as a Freelancer” is a booklet with 70 expert-proven tips that will help you recharge your energy and motivation, increase your visibility, and sharpen those vital organizational and time management skills.

Success is within your reach, so don’t wait, click this link and get started today! http://bit.ly/FreelanceTips

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have no material connection with Posterous, and have not received any compensation for writing this content.

Posterous jumps from blogging to private sharing with “Spaces” (venturebeat.com)
Posterous blogging platform gets more social (news.cnet.com)
Posterous Spaces New Feature Guide (linearfix.wordpress.com)
Find Time to Say More with Deck.ly-A Timely Twitter Tip! (thetimefinder.com)

Paula's Signature

2 Comments

Find Time for September’s Time Finder Favorites as October Begins

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Paula, under Time After Time.

One of the things I love most about starting a new month here on the blog, is pausing to find time and look back at last month’s top post. We had a banner month in September, with more visitors than ever to The Time Finder, and here are just 5 of the posts that contributed to that traffic …

Find Time to Keep Your Finger on Your Twitter Pulse-2 Twitter Tools looked at 2 tools that we’ve found to be very helpful, noting the challenge inherent in keeping up with a constantly evolving platform like Twitter:

Finding time to stay on top of your social networking efforts is an ongoing task that you can often make a little bit easier by keeping an eye on the innovations that are made available. For Twitter, in particular, there seems to be an almost constant stream of new applications geared to ease or extend every facet of your Twitter experience.

Find Time to Use What You Have: Heart-Based Productivity Tips looked at time choices – and the power that we hold in our hands, as we choose:

… think about “budgeting” your time. When you make a new time choice you pay for it by giving up another choice. In that, you are investing in something important to you and letting go of something less important. And you are exercising your power to change your life.

Every time you make a time choice, you change your life.

Check Your Grades on HubSpot and Increase Your Marketing Reach offers more excellent tech tools and resources. Have you checked your grades yet?

Not only do they grade you on some key components that measure the effectiveness of your efforts, but they also offer very helpful, practical input that can increase your marketing reach. Along with many of their suggestions they provide a link with more information about how to implement the change that they recommend.

September is a transition month, and the seasonal change was a popular area to explore by readers who liked Find Time to Survive and Thrive Through Every Transition Time!

Transition time isn’t really a different kind of time, even though we all have a tendency to see it that way. In reality, we are always in transition. Whether it’s transitioning from sleep to wakefulness, vacation back to work, or winter to spring, we live each of our moments in transition time.

Just think about it: every in-breath is followed by an out-breath. Transition time is a part of us, right down to our cells. So why do we feel challenged by transitions?

And last but not least, September saw one ‘golden oldie’ continue to be very popular. Check out Find Time to Amp Up Your Twefficiency with Buffer – A Twitter Tool! - “what it does is allow you to spread your tweets out, throughout the day, rather than swamping your followers with lots of tweets all at once.” It can be a very helpful addition to your Twitter Toolbox.

Did you have a favorite that we missed? Let me know - I’d love to share it with our readers!

And are you interested in deepening your relationship to time in the Heart-Based Way? Then, I invite you to explore Secrets of Heart-Based Time Management - my chapter in the book I co-authored - Stepping Stones to Success! In it I share my proven system for exploring and harnessing the power of your mind, your body and your spirit to help you deepen your experience of time and of your life. As you work with the ideas I offer, you’ll explore your patterns, clarify your values, identify and prioritize your goals … and create your path for achieving them. You can give yourself the gift of this wonderful resource today, and get started on your journey toward success, Stepping Stone by Stepping Stone …just click this link to get the details!

Let’s explore time together …