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How to create vanity URLs for use in social media

February 21, 2012 in How I work, Marketing, Productivity, Social Media, Tutorials, Twitter 13

Owning your own domain is important in building your brand and Platform. As sharing has increased in importance over the last few years through services like Facebook and Twitter having a custom URL to share you information has also become helpful. The limited number of characters allowed by Twitter make services like bit.ly, goo.gl popular to save precious characters.

CAUTION: This is complicated stuff for some people so I take zero responsibility if you mess something up on your domain. Use a domain that you use for nothing else.

UPDATE: One user had their URL updated and functioning in 20 minutes today. Mine took over 24 hours. So be patient and let me know if you get it to work!

You can now create your own custom short URL to extend your branding throughout your own site and social media reach. One ALTERNATIVE to this process is to use a subdomain to your domain if it’s short enough. My friend Cliff Ravenscraft uses l.gspn.tv for his vanity URL which works well because his gspn.tv URL is so short. I created atraub.us to use as my vanity URL. Here’s an example of what a Twitter message could look like with three different URLs and how many characters each one totals.

No custom URL – How to fix your nag of a wife – http://www.andytraub.com/nag/ – (61)

Bit.ly custom URL – How to fix your nag of a wife – http://bit.ly/zRE6YM – (52)

Self-hosted custom URL – How to fix your nag of a wife – http://atraub.us/Aflf9x – (55)

The last link starting with http://www.atraub.us was created with the following tools.

What I’m Shipping in February 2012

February 18, 2012 in Productivity, Project Updates 11

We often don’t realize everything we’re involved with until we lay it out in front of us so every month for your sake and mine I will be sharing a peak into the catalog of my projects.

Margarit Ralev - http://www.sxc.hu/profile/ralev_com

Hosting five podcasts for authors.
Hosting two shows for business owners.
Hosting three of my own shows.
Writing a book which you can read as it is compiled by visiting Long Forks Book in the page menu above.
Recording live shows every week: Starting this Monday (February 20, 2012) I’ll be recording an episode of the Be A Better Husband Podcast live from 11am-Noon Central every week. You can see the full schedule of my live shows at http://www.TakePermission.com/live including interviews with Jon Acuff and Rory Vaden on March 5th. I hope you can join me for some live shows. You can see the live recording schedule by visting our live broadcast page.

If you’d like to talk about how I can help you create a podcast or audio product you can reach me by clicking here.

Click any of the artwork to enlarge it…

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How do you know it’s Twitter spam?

February 3, 2012 in Productivity, Tech tools 9

As with all forms of communication there are those who dilute the channel with their junk. Twitter is full of spammers and while Twitter is trying to minimize them, the best defense against spammers is you. I use an app called Tweetbot for my iPhone. With just a few taps I can report someone as a spammer and they’ll be blocked from my timeline immediately. In case you’re ever wondering, “Is this spam?” here are some recent messages from LanieSark2745 and a breakdown of why they’re a perfect example of a lousy, no-good spammer

#1 – No picture – If you see an egg or a picture of an attractive woman in a seductive pose.
#2 – Tweets to followers/following ratio – Good ol’ Lanie has no followers, is following no one but has tweeted 19 times.

You’ll never do real work

February 1, 2012 in Blogging, Productivity, Seth Godin, Social Media 56

Stop!!! by http://www.sxc.hu/profile/ColinBroug

The truth is, you (and I) really don’t want to get work done. I’m talking about a specific type of work. We don’t want to do the kind of work that makes us feel vulnerable, the kind of work that could seem pushy or authoritative. We allow distractions so we have an excuse for doing work that doesn’t really move us or anyone else to a different place. “Status quo” is not a goal, it is an act of surrender. These things are keeping you (and me) from doing great work. There are many more but these are the ones that involve technology.
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What the internet sucks at

January 27, 2012 in Productivity 3

Photo by Jesse Therrien - http://www.wix.com/jessetherrien/photo

It does some things well
I don’t know if Al Gore invented it or not but I love the internet. If you asked me to turn it off and go to the mountains for a few weeks I would survive. The internet allows a guy living in South Dakota to connect with people all over the world. It gives dreamers making killer iPhone stands the funding they need. It gives guys in Kentucky the ability to create their own network where they can spread ideas all over the globe. The internet is a place where you can meet new people, order stuff that will end up at your house the next day and read books for free that make your life better the minute you finish it.

Don’t make it everything
The internet is a lousy place to have coffee. It’s a lousy place to confront someone. It’s a lousy place to cry on a shoulder. It lacks something and it always will. The internet puts something between us. It is between us. The internet is a wonderful tool and it has profoundly changed the human experience for much of our planet. It doesn’t replace first dates, play dates, family reunions, conferences, coffee chats, having a drink at the bar, getting a quick lunch, taking your wife out and opening doors for her or tucking your kids into bed. It can sortof do all of those things. When you can be there (in person), be there. When you can shake someones hand, shake their hand. When you can tuck them in, tuck them in. Don’t put the internet between you and people. In person is always better for building deep relationships. The internet can do many things but that doesn’t mean it should do them.

It’s a tool
Face to face, handshakes, mannerisms, scents, nuances. The internet doesn’t do those things justice. I love it but it’s a road to a destination, not the destination.