I am not typically an early adopter of any technology.  I have to say I like having other people work out the kinks and then I enjoy the well tested product at the end.  But with Google+, I had to jump on board as soon as I could.  Maybe it was something about the pure boredom of Facebook that I’ve lately been feeling, or the overbearing amount of information I try to consume on a daily basis while keeping up with Twitter feeds, I’m not sure. Either way I must say I am happy I have made that move to Google+.  For once a social media channel in which helps me organize my life, who would’ve thought it was possible?

Google+ is organized by these main sections:

1. Stream – Similar to the Facebook Newsfeed.
2. Photos and videos – Similar to the Facebook photo and video albums, with a little bit extra.
3. Profile – Very Similar to your Facebook profile page, with a little bit extra.
4. Circles – The area in which you organize your friends.
5. Sparks – A way in which you can get up to date information and news about topics of your choosing.
6. Hangouts – a place for friends, family, coworkers, etc. to just hang out and catch up.

Stream

The stream is very similar if not the exact same thing as the Facebook Newsfeed, the only difference I have experienced is on my android application of Google+. On the android app you have the ability to look at different streams based on your location. At first I was able to read the updates from just my friends, which was fine, but then as I slid my screen to the left and went to the next tab, I was able to see all the publicly shared updates from anyone in my vicinity.  I thought that was a cool idea, I hope that people know by now not to share their exact location but still, seeing some of the status updates from people close by was very interesting.

Photos and Videos

Once again, this is very similar to the Facebook’s section of photos and videos, although I am not too sure on the length limit on the videos.  The interesting additive that Google threw in was the interface with the android app once again, when using my cell phone as a camera through Google+ it will actually automatically upload my photos and videos onto my Google+ account, but will not publish those pictures until I go in there and do it myself.  Not only will it allow you to not publish them it actually will allow you to only let certain groups see them.  Yes, I do realize that facebook does allow you to block certain individuals from seeing your photos, but instead of doing this on a one by one basis, Google+ allows you to just block a whole group of people.

Profile

Not much to say here, it is the same exact thing as Facebook, but has a section to show all the sites you’ve recommended by +1’s.

Circles

As stated in the Photos and Videos section, you can organize your friends in groups aka “circles” and then distribute your updates, photos, information, etc. to selected circles.  You can create all sorts of circles, and I have not yet seen any signs of a limit of  the number of circles one can have. You can also add people to more than one circle, which could be beneficial if say a coworker is also a friend, and you’d like them to see what you’re saying to just your coworkers and your friends.  Facebook definitely is lacking in this area considering you have just a long list of friends, and that’s about it.

Sparks

This reminds me the most of Twitter, with Sparks you can specify certain topics, people, places, keywords that you’d like to be updated about and Google+ will show you information related to these topics.  Not only will Google+ show what people are saying about your interests but also what news channels and other relevant sources are saying.  It is an up to date broadcast of all that is happening on the topics of your choice.  I think that this targeted status update is very similar to Twitter, but is a little bit more useful considering you choose exactly what you want to find.  I spent some time testing out all sorts of topics, and I was amazed that all the articles Google+ had showed me was very relevant to the search query no matter what the query was.

Hangouts

This is a place in which people can chat via instant messages, microphones or even webcams.  It’s a place for you and your friends to congregate and just hang out.  I think this could be a cool tool to use for people who travel, very similarly to skype.  Although now facebook has teamed up with skype and has the same offerings.  The only difference is that Google+ can have up to 10 people in a group at a time.  I think that could be pretty cool for families and or groups of friends who moved far away.

There is a lot more that Google+ has to offer, but yet it is not something that you can just read about, I’d recommend to anyone who’s interested to go try it out for themselves, it is well worth it.  Not saying that it will be bigger than facebook by any means, but it’s definitely interesting to see another contender try and compete with Facebook and Twitter.  For Google+ to become a true competitive force in the social media world, it’s going to have to compete with the 700 million users of Facebook, and the estimated 200 million users of Twitter, so it may be a long time before Google+ can truly compete.  Who knows though, it may just be the next multi-billion dollar social media platform.  So what social network is it going to be, are you going to +1, Like, or Retweet this comment?

If you are a Supplies Guys customer it is likely that from time to time you receive email, postcards and phone calls from us all with a personal touch. We believe that no one is more important than our customers and we try to showcase that in everything we do. Our hope is to not only be personal as we reach out to customers, but also to have a little fun along the way.

Recently I heard from a blogger, who calls herself the Creative Marketing Guru. A reader of her Small Business Marketing Blog submitted one of our personalized postcards and we were highlighted under The Good, The Bad, The Ugly. Fortunately for us we made the “Good” category!

Thank you to the Creative Marketing Guru for covering our work. You can see the full review, just follow this link to our Commitment postcard review. And just for fun, here is a sampling of a few of our other personalized postcard designs. Contact us if you’d like one with your name on it.

Supplies Guys New Product – Wizard Wall White Board

Have you ever been in need of a place to write during an important meeting but looked around to find four empty walls, well you won’t anymore with the introduction of our newest product, the Wizard Wall portable whiteboard.  The Wizard Wall is a new static cling whiteboard film that allows you to set up a dry erase board on any indoor surface without the need for tacks, nails or tape.  You can now make any room in your office a conference room in seconds by simply unrolling and applying the Wizard Wall dry erase film.  The Wizard Wall can be re used and is double sided, so you will never run short on whiteboard film and in case you do we also carry refill kits for each different Wizard Wall package.

Another helpful feature of the Wizard Wall portable dry erase whiteboard is the option to write in permanent or dry erase markers.  It is helpful to write in permanent markers so that you can transport or send your ideas written on the Wizard Wall. With the included slide cutting system the Wizard Wall can be cut to any size or shape to make a fully customized dry / erase board to fit all situations.  At The Supplies Guys we offer a variety of different Wizard Wall packages ranging from large totes, complete with markers, erasers and mailing / storage tubes, to standard box sets with the integrated slide cutting system and over 47 feet of portable whiteboard film.  The Wizard Wall will change how you give presentations and interact with your team, by getting rid of the restrictions of the conventional whiteboard and conference room setting.

See all of our Wizard Wall products below:

Wizard Wall dry erase standard box

Wizard Wall dry erase small tote

Wizard Wall dry erase large tote

Wizard Wall replacement cartridge

Wizard Wall replacement roll

A few days ago Xerox Corp announced the launch of two new Xerox Phaser printers and one Xerox WorkCentre printer. These three printers are the latest additions to the growing line of Xerox printers. In October of 2010, Xerox launched two lines of solid ink printers the ColorQube 8570 and the ColorQube 8870.

The Xerox Phaser 6010/N is a compact color laser printer ideal for the home office or for a business professional. Priced under $300, the Phaser 6010/N combines high quality (600 x 600 dpi x 4) with affordability. While it isn’t the fastest color laser printer on the market (12 ppm for color / 15 ppm for monochrome), the fact that it is small enough to fit on a desktop and capable of handling a strong monthly duty cycle (30,000 pages), we think this is an excellent option.

If your small business or workgroup is searching for a new color laser printer, then you may want to consider the brand new Xerox Phaser 6500/N or 6500/DN. These two Xerox Phaser printers can provide your office with high quality prints, lightning fast speeds (24 ppm for both color and B&W prints) and reliability (40,000 pages / month duty cycle).  The only difference between the Phaser 6500N and the Phaser 6500DN is that the 6500DN has auto-duplexing standard (and an MSRP price tag increase of approximately $100).

Lastly, if your office requires a top of the line multifunction color laser printer, then the Xerox WorkCentre 6505/N or 6505/DN was designed for you. This workhorse printer has the ability to print, copy, fax, scan and email. With the same specs as the Phaser 6500 series (24 ppm for color & B&W, 600 x 600 dpi x 4 resolution, 40,000 pages / month duty cycle), printer performance shouldn’t be a question. Some of this printer’s other nice features include: 2-sided copying and edge erasing, fax forwarding & secure faxing, scan to USB / scan to email, and auto-duplexing (standard with the WorkCentre 6505/DN).

The Supplies Guys will be selling printer supplies to these Xerox printers shortly,  so be sure to check back soon! In the meantime, if you want to learn more about the new line of Xerox printers, check out the three links below!

Xerox Phaser 6010 toner cartridges

Xerox Phaser 6500 toner cartridges

Xerox WorkCentre 6505 toner cartridges