My 10 Minute Work Day - Workbook

Yeah. That's a Christmas tree made out of flowers and stuff to the left.  I hope you'll stay all the way to the end of this post to learn the significance of the image. You might think "Hey, I'd like to be able to do that!"  If that's how you feel after you read this, then contact me.

All Things Google 

    If you've made a conscious effort to integrate as many things 'Google" into your work space as possible, you might want to read this. Dropping 'non-Google' items that you simply don't need, isn't exactly easy...but it is 'approachable." This doesn't mean that you should plan on dropping ALL your online applications, but it does make it easier to decide where you're going to START. Remember... there are two points in any journey.. the starting point, and the destination. Once you decide your path, the distance may be closer than you think. Today was a good day because of my decision.  I'm working on a 10 Minute Workbook.  I needed something to at least get that item off my 'to do' list and in use somewhere.  I decided to create a simple Google Doc.  I knew that I wanted to be able to reproduce that document 

Keep reading to learn what happened in just TODAY because I decided to stick with it.. 

1. I was able to get the whole "Template" thing worked out.. for Google docs.  It just wasn't intuitive for me, but it is now.  Creating a template for a Google Docs so that I could start everyday with a simple "10 Minute Planner" is important to me right now. Adding headers, footers, images, etc...will come. Walk, don't run. It isn't much now, but I am one step closer to my vision of being able to help others with what I call 'Sustainable IT projects." If you set them up properly, there's not so much work you'll have to do later.   
2. The Google Checkout is configured, including incoming payments, buy buttons and inventory items. I tested the upload/linking to a Google Spreadsheet with products, and it worked, although the products were fake.   
3. You can embed documents into other Google products very easily now.  I was able to experiment with embedding a PDF  you can follow this link  to see what I mean: ... the goal was find an easy way to say 'buy this and pay me'. You can see this by clicking on the "Buy Now' button.  Don't worry, unless you put in your credit card info, you won't be charged anything. As Chris Lema would say.. it's Done Done. 
4. The embeded document is also how the 'Contact Us" form worked too.. just so you know! 
5. You can create your own 'framework' for user and product management, completely within the Google Spere. Although I didn't use Google "sites' for this, I did experiment with the menu items and integration for mutliple Blogger sites. Go to http://www.surfinwithstan.com and click on the 'Faith' link.  If you look in the address bar you'll see that it's actually a different blogspot site than the parent, but still within the Google framework. Because of that, you can post to it using the same ID that you'd use at your primary domain. I'll probably sub-domain it like 'faith.surfinwithstan.com' soon. The thing this does is  opens up interesting scenarios for companies that need sub domains, with various permissions for each user. All they really have to have is a Google for Business account. 
6. I was able to verify my Google Analytics for the main domain, which had over 340 visitors today. Chris Brogan, would probably bite his tongue if he only got that much traffic in a day, but for me I'm pleased. Why so many visitors? 
7. One reason is that because it's within the Google Framework. That means it usually get's indexed within about 15 minutes.  Think not? Ok, search for "My 10 Minute Work Day - Workbook Progress" and tell me what you find. If it's not there, give it another 30 minutes. It will be very soon. 
8. Speaking of that, did you notice the my image in the search results?  If not, I'll cheat and give you a short cut here. That's my picture in the results. You'll need to set up your Google+, Google Apps, about me, and other meta tag stuff that I'm not going to bore you with in this post. Chris Lema, Josh Patrick, and Chris Brogan have theirs done.  Chris even has additional information come up on the side panel. Sadly, Paul Bond does not.  But that's ok Paul, neither does Larry Page . (Although he does have that whole 'other panel' thing going on.) So before you tell me how unimportant it is, think about it for a minute. What does this DO?  Hint.. it's not ENTIRELY about the picture, although it won't happen if you use a cartoon rather than a REAL picture. For those of you that know me, that probably explains why my avatar changed recently :-)
9. Google also integrates Google+ into all your Google stuff. This means that if you take a picture, it will get auto-magically uploaded into the files that are available for your blog! For example, the image in THIS blog. I took that picture at a local store, and it was uploaded in a way that allowed me to add it...and create this blog post....  
10. Using nothing but apps on my phone.... 

It Really Is Easier Than You Think

I could continue, but I want to be able to mark off that "Fun" area of my 'F words" by just saying that the whole point of using these tools is because they are 'sustainable'.  That means.. fix it once, and move to the next thing.   I wrote an article called "How to write your Google Profile' back in 2009 and it's still number one and had about 500 views. 

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Stan Bush (Me) is a fixer of things that are broken. My passions are unsolvable riddles, zombie extermination, fact checking, and ear enlargement. I provide cat herding services, as well as lion taming. I have wrangled chickens and called turkeys. Tall buildings, speeding bullets, and powerful locomotives are no big deal. .  Find Sales Training And Networking on Google +Find us on Google+