Reason #1 – SEARCH
The world searches using Google. The word search is often replaced by the word Google, that’s how much the service is used. Content-heavy websites (CNN for example) utilize Google Search on their own websites, allowing you to search the site for specific keywords or phrases. There just is no other search engine that competes.

Reason #2 – EMAIL
Most of the world uses Google’s Gmail services to send and receive email messages, and the majority of those people have the important info (phone, address, email, URL, etc.) stored as a Gmail Contact…….it’s their 21st century Rolodex.

Reason #3 – MAPS
When people need directions these days, or want to find a business, they’ll pull up Google Maps on their computer or smartphone. We’ve seen Facebook do a nice job with organizations – I know my employer counts on its Facebook page for communication as much or more than our website. Imagine if Facebook would have started off out of the blocks with Maps and business listings already stored like Google has. I think there’s a bright future for businesses that are listed on Google, and I’m sure we’ll see parts of that rolled out in the coming weeks.

It’s just this simple……Google is where the internet lives for the three necessities listed above, not on Facebook. If you’re using other services for any of these necessities, you should probably think about switching. So why wouldn’t you want to interact with your friends on a network that is tied to the same services they’re using for the necessities? From how it’s looking, it’s much easier for a social network to get going when they have a foundation and respect like Google does. It might seem impossible, but I don’t think it will take them 7 years to get to 750 million users (Facebook stat from last week) when they’ll likely top 10 million already this weekend.

If you’re not on the network yet, feel free to contact me using the email address you’d like to receive the invite with. You’ll be glad you did.

Were these reasons too simple? Do they make sense? Are there other Google services you think are solid enough for people to consider using?

I was able to finally put my reader to use this past week, selling crafts with my wife and kids – raising money to return to Cambodia (and take our 3 girls). The transaction went through without a hitch. I read further (after being curious about how it worked) and it appears that the microphone picks up the audio, sends it through the processors and then is routed to Square’s software application on the device (encrypted and no data is stored locally).

So, here’s my question. Is your church going to be the first to get rid of their tithing baskets and start accepting gifts via smartphones (with Square reader attached)? Dave Ramsey might not think this is a great idea, but the number of families who don’t carry cash are growing almost as fast as the families cancelling their cable / satellite and going with web-based or over-the-air digital television.

Maybe churches could have a few of the devices available in their lobby for accepting tithing before or after the service. Would this kind of tithing work for you / your church?

EDIT: After reading through the comments, I am now curious if Square will find a way for the reader to work with apps of NPO’s or other charities? Wouldn’t it be great to open up the site / app of an organization you’d like to make a donation and donate using the reader?

Click here to view the embedded video.

I started using Google Search years back, when Yahoo! just couldn’t make the cut as a search engine. You can see (image to the right) that Google Maps was the next service that caught my eye. That’s really when Yahoo! (and Mapquest) were left in the dust. I can search and use maps all from the same place? What a concept!

As you read down the list of their services that I continued to appreciate, you can see that Google continued to understand how people were changing. People were getting busy (Calendar) now that they had maps to show them the quickest way to get anywhere, blogs were being consumed quickly (Reader), Microsoft Office just wasn’t seamless enough (Documents) and people wanted to share information online, why wouldn’t an actual web browser make sense (Chrome), might as well let people read their email (Gmail) too, and then finish it off by letting people do all of this on an operating system / mobile devices (Android)?!?! I use each of the eight services listed every day. And those are just the big hitters from this long list of all web services they offer.

I’m definitely a late adopter on Gmail. Many have used it for years. I attempted to use Apple’s default Mail app, but finally caved a few months ago (years after many were using Gmail already) and have gone to checking my email (Google allows me to check 4 accounts in 1 place) in the cloud and not locally. And just last week I even ditched the iPhone for a Droid Incredible, mainly for a better network with Verizon. I love Apple computers, but after using the Droid for a few days I’m not so sure I’d go back – even if the iPhone did come to Verizon. The commercials don’t lie – the Droid just DOES. I’d have to say that I’m using Google’s services at least 3-4 times more than I was in 2009. Both Feedburner (bought by Google this past year) and Analytics (web statistics) are two of their services I also use daily, but are specific to web and blog design / development.

What tech company has won for you in 2010? A few responded on social networks yesterday with companies like Twitter and WordPress. I’d enjoy hearing your choice, and maybe even a bit about why, in the comments below.

I’ll login to Facebook and start this conversation with a friend or family member. You’re all excited that they’re on at the same time you are, but maybe they’re not as excited. You have some awesome news for them, but they have no clue what’s coming. They’re interested in what you have to say, but little did you know – they have a full afternoon and have to head out before you get to the good stuff.

The conversation doesn’t just slow down and fade to nothing, it slams like a door in your face. You’re left sitting there, with news that might have even been worth their time. Maybe their internet connection just glitched and they’ll be back on in a few minutes? That seems to happen maybe 1 in 100 times. The other 99? Your news can wait.

Let’s switch it up. You take my place, and God is on the other end. He’s ready to chat, but something fills up your time. Think God’s connection ever has issues? Are you like me, and the struggle isn’t finding God rudely jumping offline when you’re ready to talk, but it’s more likely that you haven’t gone out of your way to login and even see if He might be online at the same time you happen to be?

Now everytime I go to chat with someone, and I get that ugly error message that begs me to “Send it as a message since they’ve left”…..I take that as a sign to jump into prayer. Who would have ever thought Mark Zuckerberg would help us in our walk with the Lord? This ever happen to you, or am I the only one, LOL?

Back to the title of the blog. I noticed a blog post from a large news network this evening that screamed “Behold, the new iPod”. Behold? Like stop in your tracks, re-adjust your priorities, and lust after a piece of hardware that is less than 2″ in diameter behold. I’ve blogged before about this I’m sure, but there are very few things (if not just ONE) that should stop you in your tracks like that. If you have no clue who / what that ONE thing is I guess that RADICAL read-along thing might be just the thing for you. It will be for me for the next 10 weeks (starting on Sept. 7th).

Today was probably the first Apple event in a few years that I had no clue was even scheduled. The first in a long time that I didn’t drop my work and “behold” what Steve was sharing. And my life hasn’t degenerated as a result. How do you react when Mr. Jobs requests your attention?

Earlier this week Facebook launched tons of new technology features surrounding the “Like / Social Plugins” project. You’ve probably seen that all of those pages you were a “Fan” of have been converted to pages that you “Like”? That conversion was only the beginning. If you manage a website or blog, I would suggest checking out this keynote address from the f8 conference! Onto why this is interesting for you….

HOW TO TIP A: If you are visiting my blog at GabeTaviano.com you will now see that I have “Like badge” just below each post and above the comments. You can check out all of the details Facebook has made easily available here,. MODIFIED INSTRUCTIONS – If you’re running WordPress, be sure to grab the SNV Facebook Like plugin here! Thanks to friend Mitch from Studio Nashvegas!

If visitors click the “Like” badges on your blog / site, Facebook will post that to the visitor’s Facebook wall. Result? More people will see your content by seeing and understanding that their friends liked it.

HOW TO TIP B: On my blog you will also see a new “Recent Activity” box. Feel free to grab the second piece of code from below and insert it either into a Sidebar Widget (or within the sidebar.php file of your theme) or any area of your site. Just make sure you change the domain name from mine to yours within the code!

COPY CODE A – you can now FORGET THIS if using the SNV Facebook Like plugin:
<iframe src=”http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=<?php the_permalink() ?>” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ style=”border:none; width:450px; height:70px”></iframe>

COPY CODE B:
<iframe src=”http://www.facebook.com/plugins/activity.php?site=gabetaviano.com&width=250&height=300&header=true&colorscheme=light&font=lucida+grande&border_color=orange” mce_src=”http://www.facebook.com/plugins/activity.php?site=gabetaviano.com&width=250&height=300&header=true&colorscheme=light&font=lucida+grande&border_color=orange” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ allowTransparency=”true” style=”border:none; overflow:hidden; width:250px; height:300px”></iframe>

After a few messages / chats, and then even a phone call, I started to see just how much God was behind us connecting. My eyes were opened to the fact that you don’t “need to be somebody” to inspire others. I’m not any more important than you are. I don’t have a better chance of inspiring someone than you do. And neither do leaders, celebrities, or people who are greatly admired for their skill / work. Agree?

To inspire someone could very well be one of the greatest compliments you could receive, which is why I am blogging about this. I want to challenge both you and I to realize that our lives (online and offline) have been given to us to glorify God and relay the thrill of following Him to others. All of us struggle with the necessities of being an inspiration (transparency, honesty, listening, etc.), but we don’t have to be all of them to light the match.

The people you have been placed on this earth to inspire might be totally different than those that I have. Some might know Christ, and some might not. But God has given those people to you. Do you believe you are an inspiration? Are you struggling with connecting with others or finding the place God has for you to shine? Or maybe you could share how you have been inspired (or by who), or maybe how and who you might have been an inspiration to?

With the economy the way it is, it really shocked me to sense God’s love at the right time. I constantly reminded myself through the process that there are many out there today without a job – and to be offered one when you weren’t hunting for it shows God was moving even more to me. He was allowing us to get by as I worked at home as a freelance web designer (and part-time at our church), but it was getting pretty chaotic after 3-4 years. I tried maybe too hard to keep my fees affordable for ministries, while also not being too interested in bringing in a second hand to assist in completing projects as quickly as I’d like.

A few things God showed me through the process include: In the middle of the process I asked a pastor / friend of mine to pray, and he was quick to let me know that there couldn’t be a better job title for me. Another friend came up to me just last week (without knowing I had just applied), and let me know he heard the job opportunity ad playing on the radio and that I should strongly consider it. What excites me is to work with a group of individuals that sense the reality that God wants to use technology to improve the way they spread / connect His message to the community. To see how the coming generations use different technologies to communicate than the previous, and that God wants to speak to them where they are at.

I’ll share more details after I start (two weeks from today), but I thought I’d just give a small attempt at glorifying and praising God for His provision and guidance. His watch was obviously ticking – I don’t wear one.

She’s had four books published (by a “real” publisher). This was her first shot at fiction, so it’s a pretty safe and humble move not to think it’s ready for the press. But it was definitely ready for an impressive community that follows her blog, and readers of her books that she has been personally in touch with. Our first thought was to make it an e-book. There’s lots of buzz going on in the past year or so about the Amazon Kindle – and the near launch of the Apple iPad. There are also readers that are interested in just downloading a PDF document and reading it on their computer.

I looked into the process of creating a book for Amazon’s Kindle (Digital Text Platform), and while it’s not difficult, you only receive 35% of the proceeds of the price you choose to list the book for. I was close to submitting the book through to Amazon when Marla let me know that she knows quite a few people that take their own PDF documents and transfer them over to the Kindle.

Now knowing that was possible, I was able to find a service called PayLoadz that lets you upload media (documents, etc.) into an account and you only pay a monthly fee based on the number of items you sell. Here’s how the process works:

• Create an account on PayLoadz and connect it with your PayPal account. Your first $50 of sales is free. The next level would be $100 of sales, which requires a $5 monthly payment. After reaching that level it looks like PayLoadz is only keeping just over 50 cents of each $8 purchase.
• Create your first product (enter simple book details, upload PDF document and a product cover image you create)
• PayLoadz produces a purchase link you can share with your readers via your website, blog, email, etc.
• Money is deposited directly into your PayPal following a purchase
• Each consumer receives a unique and encrypted link to download the document immediately via email

By doing this, you’re avoiding handing 65% of your profit over to Amazon while readers are still able to read your book on a Kindle. Marla also chose to launch a WordPress site over at WorldsApartProject.com, where she will be sharing the actual book for free via frequent blog posts (with the option to buy it for $8 and not wait to read it over 10+ months).