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Here's How Rich You'd Be If You'd Invested $500 in FAANG 6 Years Ago

Damian Davila — Thu, 31 May 2018 09:00:19 +0000

Warren Buffett said it best: "Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." One of those big trees in the investing world is FAANG, an acronym for five high-performing technology stocks: Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google (now Alphabet, Inc.).

Let's find out how a cool $500 investment in FAANG would have fared over a six-year investment period.

2012: Off to a good start

Since Facebook held its initial public offering (IPO) on May 18, 2012, this date will be our starting point. And it's a great one because Facebook's IPO at that time was the largest technology IPO in U.S. history, raising more than $16 billion.

Let's imagine that you allocated exactly $100 to each one of the FAANG stocks. Assuming that you could buy fractions of shares, here's how many shares of FAANG you would have acquired back on May 18, 2012, rounded to the nearest hundredth. In this and all calculations throughout this article, we'll use the closing price.

Facebook: $100 @ $38.23 per share = 2.61 shares
Apple: $100 @ $75.77 per share = 1.32 shares
Amazon: $100 @ $213.85 per share = 0.47 shares
Netflix: $100 @ $9.99 = 10.01 shares
Google: $100 @ $300.50 = 0.33 shares

At the end of 2012, your initial $500 in FAANG would be worth $537, up 7.51 percent mainly due to a 32.43 percent jump in Netflix's stock price over the same period.

2013: Netflix leading the pack

You would have loved watching Netflix's stock price this year, as it went up 297.6 percent year-over-year, closing at $52.60. After 2012, Facebook traded sideways and didn't trade above its IPO price until July 31, 2013. But then it too ended 2013 strong with a 105.30 percent year-over-year increase in price. At the end of 2013, your FAANG portfolio would be worth $1,147.50, up 113.69 percent from the previous year.

2014: A year of stock splits and slow growth

On June 9, 2014, Apple issued its fourth stock split — this time, a seven-for-one stock split. This means that your 1.32 would have become 9.38 shares. Earlier that year on March 27, 2014, Google executed a 100 percent stock spinoff, which is similar to a two-for-one stock split.

All said and done, your portfolio's 2014 year-end value of $1,160.95 ended slightly above that of 2013 (a 1.17 percent year-over-year increase). What caused the small return? On December 31, 2014 the stock prices of Amazon, Netflix, and Google were down 22.18, 7.22, and 4.24 percent respectively from exactly the year before.

FAANG beats the S&P 500 over six years

Let's fast-forward a few years to May 18, 2018 and analyze the performance of our investment in FAANG against the most common stock market bench mark, the S&P 500.

Assuming that you were to hold onto your entire $500 FAANG portfolio from May 18, 2012 until May, 18, 2018, your portfolio would have been worth a cool $5,059.62, a whopping 911.92 percent return over the six-year period. If you had put the same $500 investment in the S&P 500 you would have ended with $1,047.30 at the end of the six-year period. That's a very decent 109.46 percent return over the same six-year period, but far below that of the FAANG portfolio.

Should you invest in FAANG?

If it ain't broke, why fix it, right? After all, the FAANG investing strategy continues to pay off in 2018. However, this doesn't mean that you should put your entire nest egg in FAANG. Here are three key caveats when considering an investment in FAANG.

Investment strategy fit

"Does FAANG match my investment strategy?" This is the biggest question that you should ask yourself before considering an investment in FAANG. If you're very close to retirement age, are very adverse to risk, or require a consistent stream of dividend payouts for income, then FAANG stocks may not be right for you. Make sure to first analyze FAANG from the perspective of your portfolio strategy.

Tolerance for volatility

As FAANG companies continue to push the boundaries of technology, the stock market continues to reward their valuation. However, sometimes the pendulum swings in the other direction. Remember the Facebook CEO's testimony before Congress on April 10, 2018 due to privacy concerns? The price of one Facebook share went from a high of $185.09 on March 16, 2018 to $165.04 on April 10, 2018. Could you have stomached a 10.83 percent loss over a 25-day period?

Overexposure to FAANG

If you hold an S&P 500 index fund, you're already exposed to FAANG. Let's assume that you hold the Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares. By owning one share of this Vanguard index fund, your portfolio has an allocation of 3.7 percent to Apple, 2.8 percent to Amazon, 2.7 percent to Google, and 1.80 percent to Facebook.

And that's before taking account any other investments you might hold. If you also have another index fund in the technology sector, you probably have an even greater holding of each one of those investments. For example, the Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund Admiral Shares [Nasdaq: VITAX] has Apple, Amazon, and Google among its top four largest holdings.

There are many mutual funds out there that already include Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google, or Netflix among their holdings. Make sure to consider how much your existing portfolio already has allocated to FAANG before you add even more shares of these high-growth stocks.

How can you invest in FAANG without breaking the bank

With individual shares of Amazon and Google trading at $1,574.37 and $1,066.36, respectively on May 18, 2018, it is impossible to make the same original investment of $500 to buy all five of the individual stocks that make up FAANG as we did in this experiment.

Still, there is a simple way to start investing in FAANG: exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Similar to an index fund, an ETF tracks an asset or basket of assets. Unlike an index fund, an ETF can be traded several times throughout the day and doesn't require a minimum investment.

There are three key reasons why ETFs make investing in FAANG more approachable for the average investor.

The expense ratio (the percentage of assets deducted each fiscal year for fund expenses) for ETFs is generally lower than that for funds tracking the same type of investment. For example, the Vanguard Growth ETF has a 0.05 percent annual expense ratio, while the average annual expense ratio of similar growth funds is 1.10 percent.
Some brokerage houses charge no trading fees when you stick to in-house ETFs. For example, users of the Vanguard Brokerage Account can trade without fees as long as they buy Vanguard ETFs.
There is no minimum investment, so you could buy as little as one share of an ETF. Generally, prices for one share of FAANG ETFs range from $10 to a few hundred dollars. This prevents you from putting all your eggs in one basket. Remember that historical returns (even as great as those from FAANG) are no guarantee of future returns. So, you still should diversify your portfolio.

Here's a list of FAANG ETFs to get you started on your research, but make sure to look at other lists as well. Buyer beware: By definition, a FAANG ETF is one that offers an investor at least 1 percent exposure to FAANG stocks. While diversification is great, select an ETF that best matches your target exposure to these five high-growth technology stocks.

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This article is from Damian Davila of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

7 Expensive Stocks That Are Totally Worth It

Tim Lemke — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 10:00:10 +0000

So, you want to buy shares of stock from a familiar company, but are surprised to realize that shares are selling for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars. As it turns out, some of the priciest stocks may also turn out to have the best value in the long run.

High prices may be intimidating, but there's no need to fear them. Let's take a look at some of the most expensive stocks, and outline why they may still be worth buying.

1. Alphabet [NASDAQ: GOOGL]

Just one share of the company formerly known as Google will set you back more than $800. But don't look away from a company that has seen shares rise 16% in the last year, and now rivals Apple for the largest company on Earth. Alphabet's price-to-earnings ratio is 30, which is on the high side, but not outlandish for a company with strong revenue growth.

2. Priceline [NASDAQ: PCLN]

Years ago, Priceline shares underwent a reverse split in order to avoid being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Now, shares are nearly $1,500 a pop. The popular travel booking company also owns Booking.com and Kayak, among others. Shares are up 12% this year, with analysts indicating the price could top $1,700 a piece.

3. NVR [NYSE: NVR]

At more than $1,500 a share, this homebuilder has one of the highest stock prices around. But shares are actually down about 10% just in the last three months, so a rebound may be in order. The consensus from analysts is that NVR could trade closer to $1,700 by year's end.

4. Amazon [NASDAQ: AMZN]

The world's leading online retailer consistently gets called out for its small profits, and is often deemed overpriced by analysts who look at its eye-popping price-to-earning ratios. But these proclamations have historically been followed by significant run-ups in share price. At more than $800, a share of Amazon isn't cheap. But would you bet against Amazon entering the holiday shopping season?

5. Berkshire-Hathaway [NYSE: BRK]

Do you have $210,000 laying around that you'd like to invest? That's what a single one of Berkshire's Class A shares will cost you. Class B shares are available for mere mortals like us for a mere $144. Is Berkshire too expensive? Buffett has missed some bets over the years, but shares are up about 9% this year, and have averaged a more than 11% annual gain in the last decade.

6. Apple [NASDAQ: APPL]

At more than $117 a share, Apple isn't cheap. And many observers do wonder about the company's path in the post-Steve Jobs era. But this is still the company that makes the most popular smartphone in the world, and no company has a larger market capitalization.

7. Chipotle [NYSE: CMG]

There has been a lot of negative press around Chipotle after e-coli and norovirus outbreaks that sickened hundreds of people. The news sent share prices reeling, but but the company is working its way back. The company is trading at about $395 per share, a relative bargain compared to a year ago, when shares were well above $700. USA Today reported in September that there was "still plenty of upside left in the stock." Assuming the company has a handle on its food safety issues, there may be a profit opportunity with Chipotle.

This article is from Tim Lemke of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

10 Companies With the Highest Paid Interns

Paul Michael — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 10:00:09 +0000

Tell people you're an intern, and most will assume you're either working for free, or barely scraping by. After all, interning is about gaining experience, and that in itself is valuable to the future employee. But tech giants and financial powerhouses are willing to pay big bucks to get the most talented interns. Here are 10 companies that offer some of the highest intern salaries in the U.S. today.

1. Facebook

Currently worth over $350 billion dollars (and expected to one day be worth $1 trillion), Facebook has the money to pay interns well. Glassdoor reports that a Ph.D. software engineer intern can expect to earn around $9,000/month, with a regular software engineer averaging $8,467/month. If you're curious, that equates to over $100,000 per year… for an internship!

Even on the lower end of the spectrum, an analyst intern can make $3,000–$4,000/month, which is still way more than minimum wage. When you consider most interns are still living at home with their parents, it's not a bad gig at all.

Potential Earnings: Up to $9,000 per month

2. Amazon

If you have worked hard enough to earn your MBA, Amazon is a good place for you to get your internship. Glassdoor data shows that an Amazon Summer MBA intern earns $9,053 per month, which equates to over $108,000 per year. Just behind, at $8,934/month, is the product manager intern. And if you look at the list of internship positions and salaries at Glassdoor, you can see that overall, being an intern at Amazon is very lucrative — with dozens of positions reporting between $8,000–$9,000 per month. Considering how massive Amazon is, and how it continues to dominate the way we spend money and consume entertainment, it's clear that the company is investing heavily in talent now to continue this success.

Potential Earnings: $9,053 per month

3. Google

If you're seeing a trend in the high paying tech internships, you're not mistaken. Tech companies are looking for good software engineers, and they're ready to pay big bucks for them. A software engineer intern at Google can expect to earn over $7,000 per month, with some internship positions coming in at $113,000 per year! Of course, you need to be very savvy in the tech industry's most wanted positions; this is not something you can land straight out of college with a sociology degree. But for those with the right skills, the money is there at Google. And it is also famous for treating its employees very, very well.

Potential Earnings: $7,152 per month

4. Citigroup

According to Glassdoor, the top paid interns at Citigroup are earning up to $116,000 per year, which is equates to $9,667/month. If you're wondering what kind of work that entails, these two words should sum it up nicely — Wall Street. At Citigroup, money is everything, and everything is about making money. Interns who are seeking roles in investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, and asset management, are richly rewarded for their efforts. At the lower end of the spectrum, summer analyst interns can make anything from $17 an hour, all the way up to $25 an hour, which is still nothing to be sniffed at.

Potential Earnings: $9,667 per month

5. Snapchat

It's an app that is dominating the social media world, and the company behind it is making news for its internship programs. As hard to believe as it is, Snapchat not only pays interns up to $10K a month, but it adds an additional $1,500 per month for housing expenses! As that is usually the biggest expense any of us have to pay, the interns at Snapchat have the bulk of that $120,000 annual salary to spend on pretty much whatever they want. If this is making you think about re-evaluating your career choices, you're not alone.

Potential Earnings: $10,000 per month (Plus $1,500/month for housing)

6. Two Sigma

If you haven't heard of Two Sigma, you will soon. And the reason they top the list of intern salaries, by quite a margin if you include the monthly housing reimbursement (and additional $5,000 relocation expenses), is that they are at the intersection of technology and finance. Two Sigma is an investment management firm that uses science and technology to make people some serious money. What's more, they're currently hiring for over 80 positions at the their offices in New York, Houston, London, and Tokyo. If you're in the business of software engineering or trading, you may want to hit them up.

Potential Earnings: $10,400 per month (Plus $5,000 per month for housing)

7. Pinterest

Coming in at more than Facebook and Google, Pinterest is offering a combined $11,040 per month ($132,480 a year) to interns who have a talent for, you've guessed it, software engineering. Described as a "catalog of ideas" by CEO Ben Silbermann, Pinterest was started in 2010 and is relatively new to be a giant in the app scene. Certainly, it's not as ubiquitous as Facebook, Google, and Twitter, and yet it is forking over more than all of them to acquire top intern candidates. And as it is located in both New York and California, that $3,000 a month to help with housing is definitely a huge plus.

Potential Earnings: $8,040 per month (Plus $3,000 per month for housing)

8. Palantir

The intern position of forward deployed engineer pays a hefty $8,172 per month at Palantir; and if you know what that position actually does, you're already way ahead of most of us. Another tech firm that values software engineers, Palantir has been rewarding its interns with big salaries for many years now. Founded in 2004, this software firm specializes in big data analysis, and originally had a client list comprising of federal agencies of the U.S. Government. In 2014, Forbes maintained that Palantir was "among Silicon Valley's most valuable private technology companies." It is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA.

Potential Earnings: $8,172 per month

9. Quora

Not unlike Google, Quora is a search engine that delivers results based on the questions you ask. And as it's a tech firm, you know by now what the highest paid interns there are doing: software engineering. A typical intern in this position at Quora can expect upward of $8,000 per month, but there are also positions in product design, data science, and product management. The company appears to have an excellent culture, too, with great employee feedback and solid growth.

Potential Earnings: $8,086 per month

10. Groupon

Famous for giving people great deals on everything from window tinting to adventure holidays, Groupon is an app most of us have on our phones. After all, who doesn't like saving money? But when it comes to interns, Groupon is ready to splash it around, paying $8,000 per month to software engineers, and upward of $7,000 per month to product managers. On the lower end of the scale, business analyst interns can get around $3,000 per month. Full-time employees of Groupon reportedly get unlimited vacation time, although taking months off at a time would probably not serve you well.

Potential Earnings: $8,000 per month

Salary data found on Glassdoor.

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This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

9 Ways Siri Can Be Your Personal Finance Assistant

Tim Lemke — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 10:30:15 +0000

We're still a few years away from having personal robot assistants, but voice-activated applications on most modern smartphones are already making our lives easier. Apps like Apple's Siri or Microsoft's Cortana can be helpful in a number of ways, and are particularly useful as personal finance helpers.

I personally use Siri a lot to help me stay on track with my finances, and I am always surprised at how much the app can help me get information without the need to even type or search the web myself.

Siri won't make you rich, but it can help you be smarter about your finances without a lot of work. Check out these personal finance tasks that Siri and similar apps can help you with.

1. Check Stocks

It's easy to use Siri to track the performance of your investments or the overall stock market. Just say, "I need the stock price for Apple," and Siri will tell you the price and the daily movement. It's also an easy way to check on the ticker symbol.

2. Helping You Calculate the Best Bargain

Quick, what's a better deal? Three 20-ounce cans of juice for $6, or four 24-ounce cans for $9? To find out, you'll need to calculate prices on a per-ounce basis. Asking Siri to perform some simple math will help you learn that the second deal is a little bit better.

3. Driving Directions

Yes, accurate driving directions can help you with your finances. That's because you can plan trips to ensure the shortest route, thus saving you gas. You can also find routes to avoid tolls and bad traffic.

4. Finding the Nearest ATM

You need cash right away, but you'd rather not go to the first ATM you see, because it may not be tied to your bank. To avoid a fee, you can ask Siri to find you the nearest branch of your bank or a surcharge-free ATM.

5. Research Food Ingredients

When you're at the grocery store, you may come across products that like to tout certain ingredients, and you sometimes pay a premium for them. ("Sweetened with agave nectar!") Before you buy, you may want to do a little bit of research on what these ingredients are and whether they are worth paying extra for. Siri and similar apps can help you with this.

6. Set Reminders

You never want to be late paying your bills, and you don't want to be charged for missing things like doctor's appointments. You can use Siri to remind you of important things. All you need to do is tell Siri what you want to be reminded about, and when. ("Remind me to finish this article for Wise Bread at 10 p.m.") There's even location-based reminders, like "Remember to mail the mortgage check when you are near the post office." You can also use Siri to adjust or create to-do lists on your phone.

7. Figure Out Tips

What's 18% of $43.95? And how can you split that four ways? Siri can help you. Siri will even know local taxes, to help you calculate checks before they even come.

8. Find Out How Much Things Cost

Using Siri, you can look up pricing information for a wide range of products. If you simply ask "Find me prices for a Toyota Corolla," it will provide you MSRP and invoice prices, plus other related charges, and even shows a chart with historical price information. It's still not easy to do true comparison shopping, but you'll learn enough to know if a particular store is trying to rip you off.

9. Find Budgeting Apps

If you need some extra personal finance help from your smartphone, Siri can help you find it. A simple query like, "Find me some budgeting apps," will give you a list of saving and money management apps from the app store.

How do you use Siri or Cortana or Google Now to help you stay on top of your finances?

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This article is from Tim Lemke of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Ways to Use Google Alerts to Save Money

Brittany Lyte — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 09:30:37 +0000

Google Alerts can do a lot more than tell you when your favorite hot topic or celebrity hits the news — it can also help you find savings! First, you need to know the ins and outs of creating an effective Google Alert. And here's how to use those alerts as a powerful tool that can save you time and money.

1. Find the Best Available Price for a Specific Item

It wasn't long ago that you had to physically visit competitor stores to find the best price on a particular item. Of course, online shopping has changed all that, and Google Alerts is making it even easier.

Let's say you're on the hunt for a swimsuit — not just any swimsuit, but the swimsuit you spotted Selena Gomez wearing in her latest Instagram post. Google Alerts can help you score the celebrity-endorsed bather for the best price. Here's how: Create a new alert using the name of the swimsuit, the name of the brand, and any desired size or color specifications. Then just sit back, relax, and watch as the results come streaming in. To hone in on the best deal, sort the hits Google dispatches to your inbox by price — and don't forget to consider the cost of shipping when zeroing in on your final choice.

2. Suss Out Coupons and Specials

It can be hard to know when to pull the trigger on a purchase you've been lusting after. Rest assured, Google Alerts can help you navigate. Simply create an alert for your favorite store and add in keywords such as "free shipping," "sale," or "discount code." This can help you determine when's the best time to punch in your order.

3. Set Up a Price Drop Alert

Let's say you're in the market for a Fisher-Price Power Wheels Dune Racer, which retails at about $249, but you're not willing to pay more than $200. By creating a price drop notification, you'll instantly know when the dune racer your child wants for his or her birthday falls within your price range. Simply enter a search query for "Fisher-Price Power Wheels Dune Racer $1..$200," making sure to put the entire entry in quotation marks. Also be sure to type just two periods between the minimum and maximum amounts that you're willing to pay, which specifies to the desired price range to Google. Under the drop-down menu for "how often," select "as it happens." Otherwise you run the risk of missing out on flash sale.

4. Scope Out Product Reviews

Let's say you're looking to purchase a new vacuum cleaner, and you've narrowed it down to three models that sell for just about the same price. How do you decide which one is best for you? One means of navigating this situation is to curate a feed of product reviews of the three vacuum contenders. To do this, punch in the name of the vacuum and "product review." You can either create three separate alerts, one for each vacuum, or enter the names of each vacuum into the criteria box for one alert, separating each name by the word "OR." Be sure that "OR" is in caps, but lose the quotation marks.

5. Crowdsource Free Events Near You

Punch in the name of your city, town, or region, as well as the tag, "free event." And feel free to add in any other keywords describing the type of happenings you're interested in attending, such as "music," or the name of your favorite restaurant. Voilà! Now you'll know about the free culture and entertainment offerings in your area.

6. Don't Be Afraid to Cancel or Tweak Your Alerts

If you find that your inbox is suddenly swarmed with alerts and you're having trouble sifting through the clutter, know that there are solutions. You can always cancel some of your alerts, reduce the frequency of them, or set up a Gmail filter that funnels them into a separate folder.

Remember, Google Alerts are only as helpful as you make them to be. If you find that certain alerts you've created aren't delivering what you're after, take a moment to tweak the search criteria or just flat-out cancel that alert. Google Alerts are supposed to save you time, not burden you with extra inbox clutter.

Have you used Google Alerts to shop? Share your experience with us!

This article is from Brittany Lyte of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Easy Ways to Improve Your Online Reputation

Qiana Chavaia — Thu, 14 May 2015 21:00:13 +0000

Searching for another person's online profile is common practice these days. Employers routinely use search engines to screen potential candidates. We even Google ourselves. It's totally expected and normal!

Knowing that bits and pieces of information about your identity are floating around cyberspace should compel you to ensure your online reputation is in tip-top shape. And it's easy with these reputation management tools.

1. Get YourName.com

The number one way to control your search results is by purchasing your own domain name. If you have a name that is unique (like mine), this will be cut and dry. For people with more common names, you'll have to be a bit more creative. If the name Kim Smith is taken, incorporate your professional title. For example, Kim Smith, MBA could try www.kimsmithmba.com, or www.kimsmith-mba.com.

2. Get on LinkedIn

Adding your profile to popular social media sites is a surefire way to ensure the real you (that you wish to portray) shows up at the top of search results. LinkedIn is the largest social networking platform, with over 347 million users, and has great SEO power.

Creating a profile provides the unique advantage of getting your very own, customizable vanity URL. For example, if your name is Jane Smith, your personal LinkedIn page would look something like www.linkedin.com/en/janesmith. Because the LinkedIn network spans more than 200 countries worldwide, the letters preceding your name will represent your country's code.

3. Get on Google+

If you don't already have a Google account, it's time you get one to start taking advantage of the super searchable features of Google+. It allows you to "share and [be] discover[ed], all across Google." In many ways, it combines the features of popular social media networks. Users can create circles, add updates, and share posts and photos similar to Twitter and Facebook. And when someone searches for your name, your Google+ profile will be one on the first results to appear in search.

4. Setup Google Alerts

The Google Alerts tool allow you to monitor content on the web by inputting the search terms you want to track. Input your name to detect any new information that appears about you. You'll be notified via e-mail with a link to the source whenever something new is found. If you're unhappy about the content, you can use tools like the ones below to bury it in search rank.

5. Use Brand Yourself

With Brand Yourself, users can sign-up and personally manage their online profiles or receive the guided support of a reputation management expert. The free account has limited features that allow you to control your search results by "boosting" three URLs you want to appear at the top of search results. Paid accounts come with more boosts and additional features. You also get instructions on how to improve the rank of certain URLs, which you can apply to all of your reputation management efforts.

6. Use ReputationDefender

ReputationDefender is a company dedicated to helping its clients improve their online reputation. Though it's a paid service, it can help you remove or minimize unwanted search results and boost positive search items. If you have serious online reputation concerns, this may be one of your best bets.

What online reputation management tools have you used, and why?

This article is from Qiana Chavaia of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Google Yourself Challenge: How Much Can People Learn About You Online?

Mikey Rox — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:36:10 +0000

This article is made possible by our underwriter Equifax.

By now, we’re all familiar with the concept of Googling someone. If you’re not (seriously, where have you been?), it’s the act of typing a person’s name into the search engine to learn more about them. You can find lots of information about an individual through Google, such as where they live, where they work, their level of education, and if they have a criminal past.

While others may Google you, however, it’s just as important for you to Google yourself. Why? Because the pictures, videos, and other personal information about you online will affect you at some point in your life – whether you know it or not.

Who Is Searching for Your Information?

Several types of people might try to find out about you online. Here are a few types to be especially aware of.

1. Employers

It used to be that the only background information an employer had on you was the resume and references you provided. Then came the Internet. While your resume and references are still helpful to employers, they’re secondary to the online research that potential employers conduct about you. Employers aren't stupid. They know that anyone can fake a resume and coach their references on what to say. But Google doesn't lie. Not only will employers check your name on Google to verify facts, but they’ll dig deep to make sure you don’t have anything in your past that will reflect unfavorably upon the company.

2. Creditors/Financial Services

In the past, to get a loan you had to sit down with a loan broker and hand over your financial standing on paper. The problem with that was there was a lot of room for fudgery – paper can be copied, modified, and even forged. Nowadays your credit score is stored in an online database, which is accessible to anyone in a position of power to give you money.

3. Stalkers

Stalkers can learn about you on Google, but they can also follow your every move through your social networks. Have you heard those horror stories about people getting robbed blind while they’re not home because they posted about how they’re enjoying their glorious vacation all over Facebook? It happens – but that is the least of your worries. What if a stalker showed up at your job or followed you around based on the information you’ve posted and shared? It’s tragic and frightening.

4. ID Thieves

Shopping online is easy and fun – until your identity is stolen. You’re setting yourself up for potential disaster by storing your credit card info on the sites from which you purchase frequently, but you’re still not completely safe even if you avoid this practice. In fact, keeping a credit card at all sets you up for identity theft because credit card companies store all of their users’ information digitally. When a security breach occurs, like the one at Global Payments recently, your card is compromised along with your peace of mind.

What Tools Will They Use?

There’s more to this than Googling – here are the tools people are most likely to use to get information on you.

1. Google

Google is the number one way for any of us to find information on someone we search. Literally. It’s the most visited website in the world. Most of us search for information about other people for benign reasons, but there are bad apples everywhere.

2. Facebook

Know what the number two most-visited site in the world is? Yep, it’s Facebook. While we don’t have a lot of control regarding what lands on Google about us, we have absolute control about what people can discover about us on Facebook. If someone wants to know what you’re up to, you can bet they’re browsing your profile.

3. Online Police/Sex Offender Registries

If you think your past won’t come back to haunt you, you’re wrong. Employers especially use these sites to make sure you’re telling the truth when you check that box saying that you’ve never been convicted of a felony. It’s better to be up front about your indiscretions than fib about it and get caught. At that point, you look like a criminal and a liar.

4. Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com is intriguing and interesting because it’s an incredible way to learn about your family history. But like any other tidbits of information about you that appear on the web, the information on Ancestry can inadvertently cause you more stress than you signed up for.

How to Protect Yourself

You could stop using the internet entirely…just kidding. Follow these steps.

1. Research Privacy Settings and Set Privacy at Maximum

Every social network you join has privacy settings. If you don’t manually change them, you’ll receive the default settings. Those default settings are rather loose, because it is a social network after all, and the whole point is for you to share with the community. Sharing doesn’t have to mean putting yourself at risk, however. Check your privacy settings and configure them accordingly. On Facebook, for example, you can choose to have your profile public or private. Keeping your profile private will only grant those who you personally allow to have access to it, greatly reducing your chances of someone from accessing your information for nefarious purposes.

2. Use Google Alerts

It’s not just celebrities whose names and likenesses are all over the web – you are, too. To keep track about what’s posted about online as soon as it appears, set up a Google Alerts account. The service will send you a message whenever it comes across any web-based material featuring your name or selected keywords.

3. Don't Share Your Password

Never, ever give your password to anyone – even the employer who thinks it’s OK to ask for it. Outside of the office, keep your password guarded even more closely. Pick strong passwords that are easy to remember with this great tip from Mozilla (via Lifehacker):

4. Stay Completely Anonymous

Unless it is absolutely necessary, don’t use any personal information when creating online accounts or leaving comment on websites. Also avoid using the same account name on all the websites you visit. Doing so will allow stalkers to look through all your comments and figure out your real identity.

5. Just Be SMART!

You can’t stay offline forever—and even if you do, other parties will still store your information online without your permission. Your only real option is to be as informed as possible about your online privacy so you can make the best decisions regarding your safety. If you don’t want something online, don’t put it there.

It’s time to open up this discussion. Have you Googled yourself? What are your thoughts about online privacy? Have you been a victim of hacking or stalking? Has your employer asked for your password? We want to hear about your experience with this subject in the comments below.

This article is from Mikey Rox of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

5 Ways Google Wallet Can Save You Money

Carlos Portocarrero — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:48:18 +0000

Recently, a new technology was unveiled that many experts say will eventually become mainstream. Don’t hold your breath — any time you hear “technology” and “eventually” in the same sentence, it usually means we’ll be waiting around for a while. But Google Wallet is already here...kind of.

Instead of swiping your credit card to pay for things, Google Wallet allows you to pay by tapping your phone on a sensor. Not only that, but you’ll also be able to put all your rewards cards, gift cards, and coupons right on your phone. While Groupon and other "deal" sites have apps of their own, they don't use this NFC technology that lets you just tap your phone to pay since it's so brand new.

Pretty convenient, right?

While the technology is clearly in its infancy (only one phone is supported for launch), here’s how Google Wallet could save you money once it becomes more widespread. (See also: Buying a New Smartphone Without Extending Your Contract)

1. Automatic Savings

You’ll never have to worry about fishing out your rewards card or remembering to bring it along. And that Groupon you bought a while back? It’s all automatically handled by your phone when you check out — that means you’ll never forget to save.

2. More Coupons

This might creep you out, but because companies can track your every purchase (including where you are), they can better target you with coupons and deals. That means getting more coupons you’d actually use. The best part? They’ll all be applied automatically.

3. Stop Getting Screwed on Group Bills

If your share of the bill was $13.56, then simply type that in, bump phones with whoever is paying, and you’re done. No more paying $20 for the appetizer and Coke you ordered because you didn’t have any change. Ka-ching!

4. Instant Check-in for Savings

I’ll be honest — Foursquare is not my cup of tea. I think it’s exhausting to take my phone out and start tip-tapping away every time I want to “check in” somewhere. But tapping my phone up to a sensor on my way in? I’d do that in exchange for some savings if I shop there often.

5. Never Buy a Wallet Again

My phone goes wherever I go, so there’s no need to carry anything else when I go out (cash and ID notwithstanding). Getting rid of my wallet means there’s one less thing I have to buy — I’m a fan of that.

Google Wallet is brand new, and some of these things won’t be a reality for a long time — and it’s not perfect. There are security concerns and battery concerns (you can’t pay if your battery dies).

You should also take a close look at their privacy policy to see if you're OK with Google tracking what you're buying and sharing it with merchants. I haven't used it yet but I personally don't see a problem with it — any time technology can do some of the leg work for us to help save some money, I’m all in!

Would you be willing to sacrifice your wallet for the convenience of putting all your cards on your phone? Let me know in the comments!

This article is from Carlos Portocarrero of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Could the Chromebook Crush Windows?

Jabulani Leffall — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:36:15 +0000

It isn’t until your laptop temporarily becomes a useless brick than you begin to take a step back and look at how technology works. If you’ve ever found your PC or iMac not working because you needed to reinstall the operating system, perhaps the concept of planned obsolescence has crept into your head. (See also: Make Your Computer Faster Instead of Buying a New One)

If you’re not familiar with planned obsolescence, it’s an idea that's built into the life-cycle of most of our technology — basically, designing products and applications with a limited shelf life.

But will Google change that with its new Chromebook? The Chromebook has an operating system and browser in one, which means it enables a user to surf the web and house applications (such as word processing, spreadsheets, media player functions, etc.) and files on a server somewhere you’re not. This way, if your laptop becomes a brick because your Windows, Mac OS X, or other proprietary operating system is on the fritz, you can always access your files on another device — your phone, another laptop with Internet access, or even your desktop at work.

Google's Chromebook laptops — from Samsung and Acer — will be available June 15 and are priced between $349 and $500. This price is comparable to buying an operating system alone out-of-the-box and having to upgrade, and considerably less expensive than outfitting a PC with no software package at all. For those willing to try out Microsoft Office-like web apps such as Google Docs, or who just need web surfing and e-mail capabilities, the price is a steal. The Chromebooks are cheaper than iPads, most fully-loaded smartphones iPhones, and most PCs.

Even better, because Chrome is a web-based OS and browser in one, the system will update itself for free. Google makes most of its money off of search and web surfing, which is why the hardware with a dual core processor is the only hard cost here for individuals. (For businesses, a $28-per-month subscription fee dwarfs Windows' and Apple's license renewals and hardware upgrades.)

It's a welcome prospect as none of the "software" features coming with the Chromebook (in theory) would require a trip to a big box retailer where guys wearing polo shirts would charge you more money than you need to pay to fix your computer.

Of course, the opportunity cost here is that while the Chrome operating system is “free,” it takes up your free time in learning about it, to gain the technical savvy required to break the chain to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.

That said, it’s important to look ahead to the possibility of increased adoption of technologies like the Chrome OS. After all, how many of us have felt like dopes when we've waited too long to upgrade our operating systems and realized how much it would now cost to do so? A lot of us (raising hand right now), I’d wager.

This article is from Jabulani Leffall of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 SEM Strategies Guaranteed to Go Wrong

Chris Birk — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 19:48:07 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/6-sem-strategies-guar...

Tempting the Google gods is rarely a sustainable search marketing plan.

National retailer JC Penney is now paying the price after a string of questionable search engine optimization tactics recently came to light, courtesy of a sweeping story in The New York Times.

The company dominated search results during the holiday season and beyond, ranking at or near the top for scores of product searches, from “tablecloths” and “home décor” to “skinny jeans.” A search expert hired by the Times determined that the results stemmed from below-board optimization techniques that likely fit the bill as “black hat,” or illegitimate as per Google’s standards.

JC Penney officials said they didn’t authorize their SEO firm to game the system. Nonetheless, Google responded by burying the company’s search results for a range of products.

The search giant took similar action in late February against Overstock.com after discovering black hat violations.

These recent high-profile incidents should serve as a warning sign – or possibly a wake-up call – to small businesses and their search marketing strategists. Entrepreneurs who have taken a do-it-yourself approach are just as susceptible as those who farm out SEO services to outside firms.

“A lot of our clients walk in the door fresh off a negative experience – or two or three – with a search agency,” said Danny DeMichele of LSF Interactive, an Internet marketing firm founded in 1999. “From a technical standpoint, it's always the same issues we see right away – comment spam links, bad title tags and a lack of consistency across the site.”

Here’s a look at six search engine marketing and optimization strategies that could ultimately land your business in hot water.

Forgetting to Hold SEO Specialists Accountable

Be leery of a firm or an individual who dances around accountability and a detailed accounting of activities and results. Search engine marketing isn’t wizardry. It also isn’t a field that lends itself to legitimate “guarantees.” Make sure you know exactly what your search firm or in-house employees do and how their tactics are playing out in the marketplace. Define the parameters for success and scour the data.

Hold the Line on Links

Links are the currency of search marketing. But getting too many links too quickly can raise red flags with the folks at Google. In most cases, the problem is usually that business owners are building links too fast because they’re using flimsy methods like exchange networks that tend to promote a lower-quality profile.

Entrepreneurs looking to garner link love through a viral campaign or other online marketing technique shouldn’t have much to worry about. But, again, the focus should be on building quality links, especially if you’re doing it in a hurry. That also means varying anchor text to ensure diversity. Speaking of anchor text…

Lighten the Anchor

Beware the sagging, heavy anchor text. Incessantly fixating on heavy anchor text can create problems. Mix and match relevant keywords for your products and your business, but don’t get bogged down with exact match after exact match.

Instead, brand recognition is becoming increasingly important for SEO success. That means using branded anchor text that spotlights your business name and homepage. Getting your brand mentioned across the web is becoming more important by the day. And that’s often tied to creating quality content and picking up brand mentions.

Breadcrumb Trail

Launching a slew of websites and dropping links back to your main hub is a recipe for disaster. Don’t do it, plain and simple. Similarly, purchasing an older, established website and redirecting it to your own isn’t as simple and headache free as it sounds. The "301 redirect" is the best option for SEO purposes, but plan to lose Page Rank in the process, at least at the outset.

Bloated Title Tags

This isn’t the place to make a wish list. Jamming a couple dozen keywords in here will do significant harm to your search engine marketing. Seize on the most relevant keywords, keep character counts lean and aim for quality.

Comment Spam

Peppering blogs and comment fields with spammy links back to your site is a surefire way to stir up trouble. Comments rooted in relevance and human connection can provide some SEO benefit. Entrepreneurs should also take pains to ensure these comment links don’t wind up in their own company or personal blogs – they can damage your own page rank as well.

Those are six things you and your Internet marketers shouldn't do. What should you do? Listen to experts like Danny DeMichele of LSF Interactive and focus on consistency across your site, employ relevant title tags and develop quality content. Do those things well, and you're practically guaranteed to stay on Google's good side.

This article is from Chris Birk of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Why Entrepreneurs Should Care About Google Suggest

Chris Birk — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:01:38 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/technology/article/why-entrepreneurs-sh...

Entrepreneurs take great pains to cultivate and maintain a strong and squeaky-clean brand online.

The concept of online reputation management has become increasingly crucial in an age of Yelp reviews, anonymous blog comments, and rampant social networking. It’s imperative that company leaders respond rapidly to negative reviews and online complaints.

Many entrepreneurs and marketing experts are clear on the need for consistent and thorough online reputation-management strategies. But even the most well-seasoned veterans are grappling with an emerging battleground: Google Suggest and its cohort, Google Instant.

This automated-suggest feature is in some ways changing the way we search online. Google Suggest provides users with search-term suggestions shaped by local and global search patterns. Google Instant predicts results as the user types.

For consumers, it’s a keystroke-saving function that at times seems to double as a mind reader. But for companies, Google Suggest can lead to some serious reputation and brand-image problems. Combating them requires a commitment to make online reputation management an essential element of future marketing efforts.

The Perils of Google Suggest

The concern is one of control.

Negative Google Suggest terms associated with your brand can immediately turn off potential consumers. Some companies have already seen phrases like “scam” or “is a rip off” become attached to their names in Google Suggest.

Here’s a more extreme example in a search related to telecom giant Comcast. Imagine, for the sake of example, that the user planned to search “Comcast ISP,” with the latter term short for “Internet Service Provider.” Before the user can type the P, here’s what Google Suggest returns:

Needless to say, slow, issues, and terrible are all words you probably don’t want associated with your company.

Granted, Comcast is a multibillion-dollar behemoth, one of those companies that consumers love to gripe about. But local businesses and more community-focused entrepreneurs certainly aren’t immune.

Google Suggest gathers information from multiple data points. The famously tight-lipped company doesn’t provide a full break down, but likely sources include page content, frequency of the search term, and feedback from the news and social media spheres.

The continued use of local search data may soon bring the headaches of Google Suggest to smaller doorsteps. All it might take is a few unhappy customers who take to blogs, review sites, or other locales to publicly complain about your “scam” or your “horrible” product or service. Suddenly, a visit to Google turns into a brand management nightmare.

Tips for Handling Google Suggest

This is one of those areas where, to borrow a sports cliché, the best defense is a good offense. Here are a few tips for warding off potential problems with Google Suggest and online reputation management:

Be Vigilant
Social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter have ushered in a new era of interaction between consumers and business owners. Instead of writing letters or berating customer service representatives, today’s aggrieved consumers head straight to the web.

Entrepreneurs need to be on top of their online reputation. Set up Google Alerts and detailed Twitter searches to scour company mentions. Respond quickly to complaints and questions and go as far as reasonably possible to rectify customer issues.

Don’t let negative reviews and blog comments linger without a response. If someone bad mouths your company in a comment field or blog post, ask the site owner for an opportunity to reply.

Be Proactive
Unashamedly embrace self-promotion. Pump out good news about your company via press releases, blog posts, and social media feeds. Showcase your customer testimonials. Flooding the market with positive news can help counteract some of the negative comments.

Consider buying additional web domains to safeguard your company from attacks by spurned consumers or even nasty competitors. See if “CompanyXscam.com,” “CompanyXreviews.com” and other variations of your brand are available and snatch them up. Use them to show off your glowing customer reviews or just keep them offline and out of mind. We pursued this exact track for our VA loan company.

It’s also probably a good idea to refrain from repeatedly searching things like “Company X scam.” The last thing you want to do is create your own negative feedback loop.
Be Honest
Admit when you’ve messed up or failed to live up to your high expectations. Be transparent with consumers, both prospective and returning. It’s unrealistic to expect every customer is a satisfied one.

For most companies, isolated negative comments and reviews on blogs and websites are simply part of doing business. You can’t make everyone happy. But Google Suggest and Google Instant make it worth trying.

This article is from Chris Birk of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Why You Should Follow Google's 20% Rule

Carlos Portocarrero — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:00:06 +0000

Google is consistently mentioned as one of the greatest companies to work for, and it's not hard to see why. They have sweet perks, super-smart people creating products that millions of people use, and a unique mentality about work.

It's that very mentality that drives their policy of 20% time. Google encourages their employees to devote 20% of their time to working on any project they want. The idea is to spur innovation by letting smart people do what they’re interested in.

Think about how awesome that is: No matter what your boss tells you to do or what tedious task you have on your plate, you could take some actual work time to focus on something you find interesting. Gmail, AdSense, and Google News were supposedly created thanks to this very policy. Can you imagine a world without those applications?

I'm a huge believer — Google's 20% rule made my job suck less. That's all well and good for me and Google, but why should you try to devote some of your time (be it at work or outside of work) to a pet project?

It can make you happy

Working on something you find interesting is one sure way to be happy at work — no small feat. If nothing interesting is given to us, going out and picking something is a surefire way of finding a little happiness in the workplace. That can make a huge difference in how you approach the other 80% of your work.

It encourages innovation

Your company will keep producing the same stuff over and over at the same rate unless someone changes something. Anything. You might think that it's the boss's responsibility to enact change or take some risks, but if you have an idea that could potentially make the company better or more efficient, people will pay attention.

It sparks creativity

You can be creative no matter what kind of job you have. Even if you work in a field that isn't typically considered "creative," thinking up new ways to get things done within the context of your accounting job (for example) is one way to get the right side of your brain fired up.

It makes you look good

Say your idea/project isn't feasible for any number of reasons — you'll still come off as someone who cares enough to devote serious time and energy to an idea. It shows that you're trying to make the whole company better and more innovative, and the brass will be impressed. And if your idea is executed successfully? You might wind up becoming the brass.

It's entrepreneurial

Think of it as starting your own business — you'll teach yourself about planning, managing your time, selling your concept to other people, and executing a game plan...all valuable skills to pick up. Remember: This is on top of all your current responsibilities.

It can be lucrative

If all the other reasons don't stir anything in you, maybe this one will. When it's time for your review or when you're asking for a raise, this is something you can point to and say, "I attempted to make the organization better with that project." If it was successful, it'll be hard for them to not see the value you've added (and could potentially keep adding).

It looks good on your resume

Trust me on this: Potential employers love seeing something like this on a resume. A project you started on your own, without being told to work on it, especially if it succeeded...that shows you are a go-getter who cares. This is rare and makes people feel a lot better about hiring a new person.

It's fun

It's more fun that filling out TPS reports all day, that's for sure.

Your company may not give you 20% of your time to devote to new projects, but if you can steal a few lunch hours away and maybe think about it on your commute, I bet you can find the time to come up with a compelling idea that will keep you motivated and make you stand out at work.

If anyone has examples of how they’ve used the 20% rule (or an equivalent) to get ahead at work, please share in the comments!

This article is from Carlos Portocarrero of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

How to Get the Most Out of Your Gmail Account

Erik Folgate — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:00:03 +0000

Somewhere between 2005 and 2009, Google's free email service, Gmail, exploded and became the standard for the average email user. This wasn't just by chance. Gmail became popular because it started offering more features than Yahoo and Hotmail. The spam filter is better, the search function is better, it has a chat client built-in, and it's always increasing its storage space.

Many of you probably have a Gmail account, but do you use it efficiently? Gmail is not just an email client, it's a productivity suite. You can literally organize your life with it. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your Gmail account.

1. Never Delete Anything

I don't ever delete anything. I love the "Archive" button. I am married to the Archive button, because it never lets me down. Or, I should say that Gmail's search algorithm never lets me down. When I archive a file, it's out of my immediate life, but I have the assurance of knowing that it's always there if I ever need it again. Using the search form is a much better time saver than sorting through hundreds of emails in your inbox or a particular label.

Pro Tip: Click on the "Labs" icon in the upper right corner and enable the "Send and Archive" lab. This adds a button which allows you to send a reply and automatically archive it all in one click, so it reduces a step and saves you time.

2. Use Labels Effectively

Organization is key for your email account if you want it to be a tool, not a burden, in your personal and professional life. Have you ever opened your email and felt overwhelmed? It's because it's not organized. Some of you get dozens of emails a day and it's hard to keep up with. But if you get in the habit of labeling all of your important emails that come in, you'll have a tidy inbox and an easier time pulling up emails from clients, your boss, and family members. To create a label, simply click on the "labels" button and click on "Manage Labels." Then, you'll see a form field where you can name your label and click "Create." How you set up your labels is up to you, but my advice is to make the category broad enough so you don't have dozens of labels, but specific enough so you know what is in there.

Pro Tip: On the left sidebar where your labels are listed, you'll see a small square box next to them. You can click on that and choose a color. I like picking colors for my labels because it helps me easily identify the label if it's still in my inbox. You can also pick colors that might correspond to a certain label so that you don't even have to read the label on an email to know what "category" it falls under.

3. Utilize the Search Function

The Search Mail function in Gmail is one of its best functions that really separates it from other email options like AOL. Not only is the Search function extremely versatile, flexible, and accurate, but it is also unbelievably fast. It's a matter of seconds before Gmail turns up the email you're looking for after it searches through your thousands or tens of thousands of emails.

Pro Tip: Try to use all the important keywords you can think of when searching for a specific email. That way, you won't have to look through multiple results to find the right one. For example, let's say you're from Chicago and you bought Cubs tickets for games against the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and New York Yankees during the offseason (and you have a separate confirmation email for each of them). Now, three months later, you want to find the tickets for the Mets game. Instead of searching just "Chicago Cubs Tickets" (where all three would come up), or "Chicago Cubs Tickets New York" (where both New York games would come up), you can be extremely efficient and search "Cubs Mets tickets." Be as specific as possible when searching, but make sure you're not including a word that may not actually be in the email.

4. Treat Your Inbox Like Your To-Do List

Nothing sits in my inbox that isn't important and doesn't require an action on my part. The only emails that sit in my inbox are ones that I need to respond to or take action on. Once I'm done with it, it gets labeled and archived. For emails that aren't very important or don't fit in a certain category, I simply archive them. The idea here is for your inbox to serve as a productivity tool, rather than a mess of emails that makes you spend an hour sorting through them and finding the email you need from a week ago.

5. Enable These Sweet Google Labs Gadgets

Google Calendar Gadget
Got the Wrong Bob? This is a life saver. Gmail will check to see if you meant to send an email to the right "Bob" or whoever it is, before you send it out. How does it know? Magic!
Right Side Chat. Makes the chat client more visible by putting it in the right sidebar.
Undo Send. Allows you to undo your sent message for a few moments after it’s been sent.
Nested Labels

If your Gmail account is a big mess, it's going to take a little time to get things to the point where your account starts working for you. My suggestion is to take a Saturday morning or a Sunday night to make it your project to get your Gmail account organized and add some of the features that I suggested. I know that the cool thing to say in the tech community is that "email is dead." Well, if it's dead, then why are millions of emails still being sent every day? Email has become an integral part of our personal and professional lives. Email has become the new snail mail. We like getting it when it's not spam. Gmail has the power to help you be more productive and get things done throughout the day.

Are there any other awesome features on Gmail that you want to mention? Let's hear it.

Guest Post Blurb:

This is a guest post by Erik Folgate, a top contributor for the Money Crashers personal finance blog. Check out the site and subscribe to their RSS feed for more life hacks and personal finance tips like this one:

This article is from Erik Folgate of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The Google Way: A Book Review (And a Chance to Win!)

Linsey Knerl — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:38:17 +0000

First off, let me say that even though Google is a “tech” company, you don’t need to understand or even like tech to get a whole lot out of this book. Even with an interest in the industry, I found myself skimming over some of the beginning pages of the book, with its basic explanation of the invention of page ranking and slight references to Boolean operators. Rest assured, that if you do like that sort of thing, The Google Way: How One Company is Revolutionizing Management As We Know It by Bernard Girard will give enough of a taste to feel like you were on the Google journey from the beginning (but if you’re not even sure what Boolean means, you can join the rest of us at page 27.)

Where the book really picks up is with Chapter 2: The Google Economic Model. It immediately gets into Two-Sided Markets and how something that is as “free” as Google can be insanely profitable. But even better than that, this books jumps directly into the management principles that open-minded and daring individuals will find almost comforting. While the industrial and economic climate was ideal for the time Google was born (unlike the time we’re in now), much of what they did right can be carried out in any economy. Here are my favorites:

Chapter 5: The 20 Percent Rule – What could you do if you took 20 percent of your work day and devoted it to projects beyond the scope of your job description? Would you use it to shop online? Or could you collaborate on projects above and beyond what you could ever do in your basement at home? Google took the idea of this intrinsic motivation and used it to attract self-motivated, bright individuals to its organization. Once there, competition and a desire to be part of something new and important pushed them to create some of the most amazing open source accomplishments ever. And they got paid to do so.
Chapter 14: Is Google’s Growth Sustainable? This chapter is less about successful management principles, and more about watching Google’s history of problem-solving unfold in detail. My favorite section explains click-fraud and spam, something most any blogger or online business has at least wondered about. While it doesn’t settle on any one solution to a constantly-changing problem in online business, it gives us an inside look at what Google goes through in dealing with it every day. Not an easy place to be, for sure.

The tagline for this book is: “How One Company is Revolutionizing Management As We Know It.” I would argue that it is less about management in the traditional sense (managing employees) and more about managing a quickly-changing online audience. Because it is written from the perspective of Bernard Girard, and not Google, the insights seem balanced. He gives Google credit for evolving with the times, noting where they have been pioneers, and where they have simply learned to adapt existing practices. Techies will appreciate seeing where it all began, and may find that the various footnotes and references make for an excellent list of suggested additional reading. Those of us with more of an interest in the human side can pick enough from the pages to become inspired in our own business.

Want to give it a read? No Starch Press has a few copies of The Google Way to send to lucky Wise Bread readers. To enter the giveaway, post a comment below by June 30th, 2009. U.S. and Canada only. Must be 18 or older to enter.

Wise Bread will not sell or use your email address for any purpose other than to contact the winner.

This article is from Linsey Knerl of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Three Quirky Search Tools to Help You Get Results

Linsey Knerl — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:52:36 +0000

I’m a Google user by default. It’s the one that’s programmed into my typing hand more than any other website, and even though it fails me at times, I still lean on it in times of uncertainty. It was just recently, however, that I started to expand my search world, grabbing at new straws to help meet my research needs. These three seem very promising, and are rather fun, as well!

SearchMe Visual Search (see graphic at top of article) - I’m a visual person. I love graphics, previews, and accurate mouse-overs. Is it a surprise that SearchMe came through for some unique results with full-color, full-page results? Simply type a term and then choose the relevant category you wish to explore further. (Not wanting to limit your results? Click “Search All.“) Immediately some of the most unique website screenshots will appear in a virtual Flash-driven rolodex. Flip through them like a book or stack them like magazines for viewing later (this info is stored on your hard drive, so don’t include anything private!) Video buffs can raid the most qualified YouTube results by utilizing the “Video” search engine (the same goes for images.)

Hakia - Do you ever wish you had a personal search assistant designed to sort through the garbage in your search results? Hakia , a truly effective semantic-based search tool, does just that. While limited at the moment in its Beta version, I’ve been very impressed so far. Hakia uses three criteria to qualify its search results: 1) it must comes from a credible source recommended by librarians 2) it is the most recent information available 3) it is absolutely relevant to the query. How does it compare to Google search results? Just check out this sample for search term “Is there any remedy to tuberculosis?” The verified results appear first in Hakia (highlighted in red), followed by regular results. In Google, they are all mixed together, organized by statistical ranking. Curious to find out about others with similar searches? Just click on the icon for “Meet Others who asked the same query” for chat boards relevant to your search.

SortFix - This nifty tool came to me as a tip from Mary Ellen Bates at Bates Information Services (for updated search new, check out her monthly tip.) It’s a hybrid off all my favorite applications (search engine, thesaurus, dictionary, and comparison between websites.) How does it work? Simply visit SortFix.com and type your search term. Upon hitting “enter”, you’ll get Google results, with neat tabs for comparing results in Yahoo and the dmoz open directory project. Now it gets really cool. Using Drag-and-Drop features, you can refine your searches using their suggested “Power Words”. Not feeling the results? Add or remove search words easily by placing them in the “Add” or “Remove” boxes. (It reminds of those magnetic word poetry kits.) Use the dictionary for more fun, and if you’re really daring, you can sign up for advanced features!

Normal people collect stamps, spoons, or trading cards. I collect great search tools. Got another that I should check out? Let me know via the contact form, or leave a comment here with your best stuff!

This article is from Linsey Knerl of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: