As Facebook is all set to startle the world again with a new look profile page, let’s take you through an article that not only weighs the pros and cons of this change but also provides a sneak peek into the new features and applications of the world’s largest social networking site.

There is, however, one good about this change. Unlike previous instances Facebook is not imposing it upon the users this time around. Rather they are keeping it optional. This is perhaps because every change at Facebook is usually accompanied with a huge outcry.

Read the article and find out what’s in store this time.

(Picture Courtesy: Google Images)

Continued from the previous post……

With this post we come to the third secret of personal branding. If you have read the previous two posts you would know what Nance Rosen is about to discuss here. So having deliberated upon attention and emotion in the earlier blogs, she touches upon the final secret in the trinity of personal branding which is memory.
In fact for this particular one we have taken the link from her personal blog. So you can  actually read all of the secrets together once again with some new interesting insights as well.

For memory in particular she says if you are communicating with the outside world stick to your own self. Nance believes that there is no problem in this world which cannot be solved through communication. She further stresses that if you have great communication skills by saying things, clearly, crispy and compellingly you can find solutions to grave problems.

In fact she is so steadfast in her belief that even in social media forums she never deviates from the topic of communication. Language she says is in her bones and she doesn’t have to recall anything from memory. A person’s individuality is defined by his beliefs and philosophies towards life. So it’s important to recognize what are the things you stand for or what is your authentic mind so that on the very mention of certain things your name pops up in people’s minds.

For the original article click here.

(Picture Courtesy: Google Images)

Continued from last week…..

As Nance Rosen takes up the second secret of personal branding and deliberates on it, we give you a sneak peak into the article and allow you to ponder on how generously we use emoticons when it comes to displaying our emotions. Nance Rosen very clearly argues that “Emoticons are the equivalent of wearing the same dress or jacket everyone wears.”

She further adds that when it comes to personal branding it is even worse because more than anything else it conspicuously shows a lack of effort on a person’s part to acknowledge another’s presence. Do you think building personal brand is easy if we put in minimalist efforts? No. You can never get it easy without any hard work. So in whichever profession you are if you wish to be successful, try to build an emotional connect with people. The bottom line is you should be able to grab people’s attention, ignite emotion and then incredibly burn into their memory.

Read this article and discover deeper truths about personal branding. But make sure you look out for the last secret in the upcoming post.

to be continued…..

(Picture Courtesy: Google Images)

A website is definitely one of the most dependable ways of reaching out to a wide cross section of people from across the globe. But with the competition on Google getting tougher and tougher, do you think small business owners can take it easy any more? If you are finding this a little over the top, then let’s make it easier for you. Sample this – You are a small business owner who heavily depends on the Internet for most of his customer inflow and Google suddenly introduces something like a short preview of your website whenever somebody clicks the small magnifying glass next to the search results.

Under these instances when people already get to see a snapshot of your website without even logging into it, don’t you think your chances of being in the reckoning really takes a nosedive?  People have a look at your site for a split second and decides whether or not to visit the site. This can be really detrimental to your business because if they don’t seem to like the preview they might as well give it a skip without even going through the content or even trying to find if it can cater to their needs.

So what are the ways in which you can augment your site’s appeal?

# As they say first impression is the last impression, it cannot be more true than this. When your site appears as a snapshot, the content is almost illegible. So the only thing that stands out is the design or to be more precise any one particular feature that the users may find fascinating. Usually the pages are littered with a lot of icons which distract the users or confuse them to no ends. Hence they simply decide to skip your site. But by incorporating a particular feature that you think your users might be interested in can actually turn things around for you.

# Make your interface look as distinctive as possible by using colors that grab your users’ attention easily without making it too jarring. So try not to use too many colors as that can make your website look cumbersome.

# Since the readers can make very little out of your website, try to catch their attention through a compelling headline. Sometimes well written sub-heads also go a long way in attracting a readers to your website.

# Last but not the lease remember that although your content is incomprehensible from a snapshot, at least try to give your users the impression that it is a readable content by breaking it into several neat paragraphs. Sometimes long, unbroken sentences can repel the readers from visiting your website.

(Picture Courtesy: Google Images)

Did you know what are the three things personal branding is dependent on? You would be surprised to know that they are three most simple things, but very often difficult to beget. Yes the secrets are – Attention, Emotion and Memory.

Let’s drill down a little deeper and start analyzing the first secret that is attention in three very important segments through this article.

In the weeks to follow we would present the remaining analyses as and when they appear. Till then stay well and tune in to our blog from time to time for all the latest happenings from around the world of social media.

So finally it’s happy weekend and happy reading to all of you guys from Team Atlas!

to be continued……

(Picture Courtesy: Google Images)

From social network to personal network. Sounds interesting. Yes according to its founding team, Path is being touted as the opposite of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter etc with a  mere 50 very close and intimate friends with whom one can share the minutest of minute personal details and moments of life.

So after months of intense speculation, Stealth Startup has finally lifted the veil off the photo centric service which has been exclusively designed for smart phones. This perhaps comes at a time when we had all been desperately craving for a platform where we could share things with only a handful of very special friends without having to bother about others taking a sneak peek. So by restricting the number of friends to only 50, Path doesn’t allow one to share things outside those 50 most trusted friends. But now the question that is crossing everyone’s mind is why the number 50?

The official blog of Path explains that number 50 has been taken from the research findings of Oxford anthropologist Robin Dunbar. He considers 150 as the highest number of social relationships that can be handled by neocortex, the part of the brain used for conscious thought and language.

The new service looks like it has a bright future ahead taking into consideration, the big names that are involved including former Facebook developer Dave Morin, Napster co-founder Shawn Fanning and Macster co-creator Dustin Mierau. Moreover with celebrated investors, like actor Ashton Kutcher and Ron Conway pouring in huge amounts of money, Path has a clear edge.

Now for those of you who are wondering how Path works, here’s a quick overview.

* First sign in for the service. You would be able to track your friends through e-mail addresses or phone numbers.

* As the service is available only for iPhone as of now, take snaps with the same and post them, with tags for people, places and things.

* Unlike most social networks, here you have control over who sees your photo. You can also track friends who have viewed your photographs.

So whether Path can cut ice with people or not of course remains to be seen. But for the time let’s explore the new service and discover the unknown.

Read the official blog of Path for more insights into the photo service.

(Picture Courtesy: Google Images)

In this age of computer, even the idea of having to pass an hour without the same freaks us out. But sometimes in this hullabaloo, we tend to ignore some very important technical things. We avoid them once thinking next time around we will do it. But slowly and gradually over the time it gets into our system and eventually take the shape of habits. Rather bad habit to be more precise. And as the saying goes, old habits die hard, you already know the inevitable.

While surfing the Net we came across a very interesting article that focuses on 25 worst high-tech habits. Sounds a little weird. But if you read through the article you would invariably find at least some of these habits in your personality for they are so commonplace that we hardly bother to pay attention. But they actually have the potential to take monstrous proportions and hamper our tech lives in a big way.

So there you have this article that not only takes a dig at the bad habits, but also comes up with some really wonderful fixes you would enjoy going through.

To read the article click here.

(Picture Courtesy: Google Images)