Some more pre-video text.

Now the video.

Pond on the golf course in Heritage – Wake Forest, NC.  This was taken with a Droid X (horrible stock camera) with the Pro HDR Camera app.  Makes a world of difference!

When I tried to login I got the following:

“The server has returned an error.  There was a problem communicating with the server.”

It looks like the web is full of Apps users with the same issue.  Apparently Google rolled out G+ availability to Google Apps accounts before updating either the Android or iOS apps to support it.

But the good news is… Google acknowledges the issue and there’s a fix coming a few days.  Apparently in the form of an app update to allow Google Apps users to login.  Here’s a G+ post from Google’s Ronald Ho.

So do like me.  Keep checking for the update about every 30 minutes and it’ll be here before you know it!

I recently found an app for my Android phone (also available for iPhone) that allows me to respond to opportunities to touch my clients as they present themselves.  Allow me to introduce you to Postagram.

This free app lets me take any photo from my phone and send it as a personalized postcard.  Simple.  Meaningful.  Thoughtful.  And inexpensive at $0.99 each.

When you open the app a splash screen appears that reminds you how Postagram works.  Just click the Create a Postagram button at the botton of the screen to get started.

The next screen loads all the photos from your phone as thumbnails and allows you to select the one you want for your Postagram.  There’s even an option to select a photo from your Facebook account.  Or, you can take a photo right then and there with the camera button in the top right of the screen.

Once you have the photo selected, you’re taken into a simple editor that allows you to move and crop the photo.  When you’re done just click save.

The next screens allow you to personalize your Postagram.  You can choose an avatar to go in the return address area.  This could be a photo of you or an image of your company logo that has been saved to your phone.  Avatars are saved in Postagram so that the selection process is a single click the next time.

The second personalization screen lets you enter a message for your Postagram.  The recipient of this postcard is going to be really impressed with how the content relates to the photo and them.  Once everything is just like you want it, click continue.

The final editing screen provides a simple interface where you can select the recipient’s address from your contacts, or you can type in a new address. As new addresses are used the app remembers them for future Postagrams.

The last screen shows you what your Postagram will look like and allows you to place your order.  After a few well thought out screens, very little typing, and a few clicks, your order is placed and a bill for a whopping $0.99 appears on your next credit card statement.  Your credit card info is also saved on the Postagram server so that future orders are a single click.

There you have it.  A  totally personalized touch for clients with almost zero hassle on your part.

Think of all the uses for this.  In my real estate business, I’m always taking photos of clients in front of their new home, or posing by their sold sign.  With Postagram,  when their purchase or sale is complete I can send them a reminder of a special moment.

There are great opportunities to build relationships in your personal life too.  How about a special moment on a vacation with family or friends?  Graduations?  Weddings?  The possibilities are endless.

If you’ve got an idea for a great way to use Postagram sound off in the comments below.

I’ve been paying to host my domain with an Apps account for several years.  As a small business, and not and enterprise entity, all I really wanted from the Apps account was a personal domain and perhaps a little better support.  Turns out part of the package is having to wait for cool new features like Google+.

Option 1 – Wait on Google Apps

Apparently, the main reason Apps users cannot have Google+ today is the inability to set up a Google Profile.  Way back in March we were promised Profiles in a post on the Enterprise Blog.  As of this writing, that was 103 days ago… and counting.

Option 2 – Switch to a Consumer account

Being prone to impatience, I decided to make the switch.  But for a small business like myself, it’s a little more involved than just setting up a new Gmail account.  Plus I want all this to work on my Droid X.  Here are the steps I figure have to be completed.

• Set up a Consumer account
• Clean up contacts to move to the new account
• Export contacts from Apps and import to Consumer
• Set up the Apps email (and a few other accounts) to be fetched by the Consumer account
• Hard reset my Droid X and enter the Consumer account
• Reinstall all of my Droid apps (and repay for a couple)
• Transfer important calendar events
• Transfer important Docs
• Fake out Voice somehow, since you cannot delete an old account

So far, I’ve cleaned up my contacts and imported them to the Consumer account.  I’ve also started the process of fetching 16,800 emails from the Apps account.  This takes a long time for so many emails.  With attachments, that’s almost 3GB of email.  Best I can tell, it will lake a little over 48 hours to complete.  It’s still running now.  Should be done early tomorrow.

My next step is to reset the Droid, get the Consumer account running there, and finally enjoy Google+ on my mobile device.

I really wish Profiles had been made available for Apps accounts three months ago when it was promised “soon”.  Using Google+ with my existing Apps account would have been FAR easier that all I’m doing to be able to use the service now.

And somehow I just know that the Google+ on Google Apps issue will get resolved just about the time I get comfortable using the Consumer account.  Who knows, maybe as a reward for having to wait Apps accounts will pick up some exclusive features of Google+ when it finally arrives for us.  Hey, I can hope, right?

Will I switch back when Google+ comes to Apps?  Maybe.  I’ll have to wait and see on that one.

In the mean time, let me know if you’re an Apps user and how you’re handling the excruciating wait for this hot new social network to arrive.  I’ll post an update after I have the switch completed and let you know how the journey unfolded.

How to change your Twitter name

Actually, making the change is very simple.  Log in to your account and click on the drop down menu in the upper right corner where your existing Twitter name is displayed.  Then click on the top menu item, settings.  The second field (the first editable field) is labeled Username.  This is what you want to change.

Just type in your new name and Twitter will search and let you know if it’s available.  Just a little warning that a lot of good ones are already used.  Especially if you want your actual name, and it’s fairly common.  Even with an unusual one like Fortner, I couldn’t get my own name without adding an underscore.

Think about the length of what you chose too and make it as short as possible while still communicating who you are.  If you select a name that’s too long, you’ll have trouble later on when being mentioned or re-tweeted.

What happens to all my followers?

Don’t worry, all your followers are linked to your account, not your username.  They’ll all be right there anxiously awaiting your next tweet when you’re all done  Now keep in mind that they will see your new handle displayed after the change, so you will want to tweet out a series of reminders that you’ve changed Twitter names.

Create a safety net, just in case

When I changed Twitter names about a month ago, I asked a couple of friends (@LisaArcherRE @dylancwarner @jb140) who had recently made the switch for advice.  All of them said the same thing.  Create another account with the old name to catch any stray mentions.

I’m really glad I did this because I’ve caught some important stuff that would have escaped my notice otherwise.  And of course you have to actually monitor the old account.  I let it go for a few days and sure enough there were mentions there waiting for me to respond.  I’d advise setting the old handle up in your Twitter client of choice so you don’t have to think about it.

There you go… now you know how to change your Twitter name.

I picked up my trusty Android phone and tweeted this.

A few minutes later one of the stars of the show, Eduardo Xol,  tweeted this.

In just a few moments, in the most casual way imaginable, I had spoken with someone who I would have otherwise had no chance of ever contacting.  This is the power of social media.  Reach.

The trick is to capture this reach and focus it into a cohesive plan.  It’s not complicated, but it does take lots of planning and execution.  The power of reach will always be there waiting.  What’s your plan to put it to work?