Happy Friday everyone.  Let’s go ahead and start it up by talking about our Layers Blog contest winner. Congratulations to Matthew Radcliff for winning this week’s Layers contest.  A double congratulations to Matthew for pointing out that yes, this was the same contest as previous.  In my infinite time-wisdom, I just have a series of copy and paste tags that I update.  Naturally I update the price.  But when you’re staring at 4 monitors you kinda get lost sometimes. So thanks for pointing it out, and enjoy!

What is TinyURL/Social Media Can Work

So I got a couple of messages asking me why the use of TinyURL. For the uninitiated, Abbreviated URL services like TinyURL let you take a really, really long URL and turn it into a really small one.  For example, if I wanted you to check out a tutorial on our page on Flash, you could either type in the url - http://www.layersmagazine.com/adobe-illustrator-calendar-from-warped-perspective.html   -or- I can give you a TinyURL that looks like this - http://tinyurl.com/a7a2pq.  Normally, the amount of characters in a page wouldn’t be that much of a concern, but with the advent of social sites like Twitter.

So What Is Twitter?
So that begs the question, What is Twitter?  Well.. think of Twitter like the blog that you are reading here, but instead you’re limited to an entry 140 characters long.  It would be hard to get my message across if I were using such a HUGE link to show you.  Enter, TinyURL.  

The other question here is, Why Twitter?  I can tell you that as a relatively new user, I think it’s got a great amount of potential.  Your messages are concise, to the point, sometimes (mine- mostly) off topic, but more character-driven.  You get a decent ‘feel’ for a personality on it, if done properly, obviously.  For example, let me tell you at the jump about following a girl called iJustine on Twitter and how it works from a business standpoint: 

Click here to read the rest of my rambling on Twitter

Photoshop Guys on Photoshop CS4 – Parts 3 and 4

Let’s round out this week with the Photoshop Guys’ take on Photoshop CS4 series with parts 3 and 4, back to back right here. 

Photoshop Guys on Photoshop Part III

Photoshop Guys on Photoshop Part IV

If you’re not sticking around to hear me talk about Tweeting.. then you’ve reached the end of the week.  Thanks for stopping in, and we’ll see you on Monday.  If you -are- interested in how to use this wave of social media… 

CONTINUED BELOW..

 
Following Ijustine and Shopping for Shoes
In order for you to thrive on Twitter, you’re supposed to ‘follow’ people – ie: opt to get the updates of what they are doing on your page. I said to myself.. sure.. let’s give this a shot and setup my twitter to complement the Layers Magazine Twitter Page and Photoshop Twitter Page. Now, I needed to follow some people I thought interesting. Now, if there’s ever a girl that’s been able to parlay social networking to something pretty big, I’d say it’s iJustine. Love her or hate her.. she’s beautiful, funny, very tech-y, and has really cool comedic timing – Perfect for the social networks. (I’m sure you can find 100 pages on her on the net..but start w/ Wikipedia first).

By ‘following’ iJustine, I got to see all sorts of updates from what she was eating or doing, to who she was hanging out with. In that, I got to see a personality develop. As the Twitter grew, I followed more people, and people invariably follow me.

A couple of nights ago, I’m sitting at home checking out Tweets (what the little posts a person makes), and I see iJustine is going to some Macworld party with one of the guys from Zappos. Zappos is one of those companies whose CEO Tony Hsieh is labeled as a very avid user of it, making the CEO very transparent and approachable.

Wouldn’t you know that from that one Tweet, an hour later I am poring over the Zappos website looking for a pair 12M Timberland Men’s Lexington Avenue 5-Eye Saddle Oxford Black Smooth shoes or a pair of Timberland Urban Desant Ox shoes. Now, why is that amazing..

For starters, I don’t like shoe shopping. I’ve had a pair of Timberland sandals that I retired a couple of years ago.. after 10 years of service.. They’re held together by one piece of string that just wont break. Secondly – I don’t know -anything- about shoes. I’m the guy who points to a shoe, says “its comfy” and runs with it. In a very short amount of time, and with 0 marketing money on commercials, campaigns, splashy radio ads Ijustine was able to get 1 person who hates the shoe experience to browse Zappos, research a manufacturer, and consider placing an order. I’m very likely to get those 2 shoes.. and when I do, it’s from them. If she did that with one person.. imagine how many more people it was done to.

The internet is a very interesting animal – constantly changing how you perceive information. Things like Twitter are the next marketplace, and knowing how to capitalize on its presence can just add another revenue stream to you.

Provided you carry the Men’s Lexington Avenue 5-Eye Saddle Oxford Black Smooth in stock. Come on Zappos.. i’ll wait.

Have a great weekend everybody!