E Mail: Turn off e mail alerts

E-mails have overtaken the phone as the most dangerously effective of all time wasters. The worst thing is the e mail alert that pops up on your computer screen. Don’t let other people interrupt you in this way and take back control of your time by turning the alert off.

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TIPS provided by Time Management expert Stephen Davies. You can see more TIPS and articles on his website www.timemanagementedge.com and his Facebook page It’s TIME to Manage

The NYC Half Marathon added more stress to my body than I thought it would. It has taken a couple of weeks, but I am just about fully recovered. The only problem is the pain in my shins, which I’m hoping will go away shortly with rest and icing. After the race, it was amazing how the pain traveled throughout my body, starting with my head and going down to my toes. Every day it was a different ailment.

Like being pregnant and having a baby, the pain of childbirth slowly dissipates and soon thereafter, you are ready for another one. Well, now I am ready for another challenge.

Since I never ran the Disney Half Marathon, I decided to go for it this time. The folks at Walt Disney World were so nice. They offered to comp Marti Dipaola and me for a ticket to run in the race because we were so sick last year and unable to run. This saved us more than $100.

However, there is still the hotel, the VIP area, the plane, and car rental costs. But, we’re not going to worry about any of this until October or November of this year. The race is on January 7, 2012 in the “wee” hours of the morning.

So for now, I’m going to take the next three weeks off from running. I’m going to put away all of my beautiful Brooks and Nike running clothes for a little while until my next race, which is a race to save the penguins. It takes place at the Bronx Zoo on April 30. After that, I’m going to attend a seminar on Chi Running. I look forward to filling you in on that as well.

Will I be a couch potato for the next three weeks? I don’t think so. I don’t really have to train for this marathon until three months prior to the event. But, I plan to work out with my trainer three times a week and will try to get in as much aerobic exercise as possible. I love spinning, so I may go back to that for a while.

The other thing I plan to do over the next three weeks is read a lot of books about running. I went to Borders bookstore in Westbury and purchased at least five books on running. I’m excited to dive into them.

And of course, I also plan on spending more time with my family. I feel like I neglected them during training. Now, I want to make up for lost time.

So until the next race at the end of April, I will be on hiatus.

Article first published as A Runner’s Diary: Going On Hiatus on Blogcritics.

The other day, the incoming President of one of the organizations I belong to, sent me an email.  He asked me to upload his video and send it to a vendor for editing.  I told him that it would be easier for him to upload it on the vendor’s site instead of sending the whole file to me via email.  He agreed.  That was the last time I heard from him.

Next thing I know, the administrator for the chapter sends me an email asking me to help her upload a video that the incoming president sent her.

I sent it to a woman at the global organization to help upload. That was all I heard.

After that, I got an email from the administrator asking me if the work was done.  I emailed my friend at the global organization and she sent it back to me saying she was too busy to upload.

So what did I do?  I sent it to my staff member… Sometimes, it just doesn’t pay to delegate, especially when you are dealing with volunteers…

Social media isn’t just an extension of traditional media. It encompasses social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and also includes blogs, online publications, YouTube, and photo sharing sites like Flickr.

Traditional media includes television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and trade journals. Some people think we will all have Kindles and that no one reads the newspaper anymore. But, that’s not the case. There are still Baby Boomers, and Gen X and Y still turn to the newspapers, magazines, television ,and radio for their news and information.

But the two forms of media do differ.
With social media, you need to build a community or get involved in an existing community to get your message out. With traditional media, there is no community building. The community is already there and you can tell how big the reach is through their circulations and viewership figures.

When deciding on your marketing plan for your company, consider doing both. You still need to get into traditional media to get your message out, but you also need to incorporate social media into the mix to listen, engage and interact with your audience.

Say you are interviewed by CNBC and the article appears on television and also online. What do you do?

For starters, link that interview and share it on your social networking sites. If you only have a half dozen people on your Facebook page, then how big is the reach to link to your social networking site? But, if you have a thousand people friending or following you, then you still have a story to share and you’re reaching more people than if you didn’t have a Facebook page at all.

If you’re lucky to have thousands of people following you on Facebook, then you really have the opportunity to spread the word about your interview.

One of my reporter friends posts her stories from Newsday on her Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. Interestingly, feedback goes on the page in which she posted.  So, for example, if she put something up on Facebook, her community will respond on Facebook. After all, people go where they feel most comfortable!

Every time I have a blog posted either at my own site, hilarytopper.com, my reviews and running experience on.blogcritics.org or my blogs on small businesses on this publication, nyreport.com,

I microblog/tweet it out to my online community. I microblog interesting industry news or general current events/pop culture. That is, I link all of my 40+ social networking sites together and I spread the word that something new is out so that my entire online community knows about it too.

Remember, the writing for social media also differs from traditional media.  In traditional media, you need to write in journalistic form. In social media, you need to be more informal, almost conversational.

Social media keeps changing every day. And, with the surge of social media, traditional media is changing too. Therefore, it is important to have someone consult with you on new sites and new ways to reach your market.

The use of both traditional and social media are important for the growth of your business. They go hand-in-hand with each other. The more you reach your targeted market through online and offline media, the more people will know about your business!

Did you know that every day, fee-based iPhone apps become available for free to consumers?

I didn’t know that. But according to the new app, Monster Free Apps, developers make apps free for a day or even a week to expand their consumer base and get some positive reviews. The positive reviews help them better sell the app when it comes time to charge a fee.

Manny Coats, the co-founder of Monster Free Apps, said that many people don’t know about these apps because there is no way to spread the word to consumers. The buyer has to be online at just the right time to get in on the deal. With Monster Free Apps, consumers no longer need to search for these freebies. The app pushes a free (paid) app to your iPhone every day.

When signing up for Monster Free Apps, you are taken to a welcome screen. The developers unlock bonus apps if you share the Monster Free Apps link via Facebook, text message or email. If you do all three you get three new bonus apps.

I did this and the first app that was offered free to me was a game called Bubble Bubble 2 (normally $0.99). After posting on my Facebook page and sending a text message to my staff, I unlocked three additional apps for free. These include: TextNow (normally $7.99), Sheep Command (normally $0.99) and Tampopo (normally $4.99). TextNow was the only app that wasn’t a game. It enables consumers to get free text messages on their iPhones without incurring additional overage charges.

I downloaded two of the four free apps I received – TextNow and Sheep Command. When I looked at the “Extras and Info” section on the Monster Free Apps site, it said that I saved $8.98.

There is also a “paid apps” section on Monster Free Apps. I really didn’t understand the purpose of this, except for the developers of Monster Free Apps to make money. Most of the apps offered were games, which is a huge profit center for developers.

The company claims that they can save consumers $30 to $60 a month. However, many of the apps offered may not be of interest to you like the ones I was offered today. And don’t forget, just because you’re saving money on “free” apps, doesn’t mean you’re saving money overall. Having access to Monster Free Apps and its recommendations for paid apps can possibly end up costing you more than $60 a month!

Article first published as App Review: Monster Free Apps on Blogcritics.

I have a material connection because I received a sample of a product for consideration in preparing to write this content.
I am not expected to return this item after my review period.