Which reality am I referring to? The one where the vast majority of intelligent people in the workforce have never used, let alone heard of free tools such as Google Docs (assuming it’s not blocked). Google Docs is the ultimate tool for when you need wiki functionality, but don’t necessarily want to open it up to the public and/or you just have a short term initiative in mind. I’m always blown away whenever I step outside of the social media fishbowl/community and step into reality. What is it?

Google Analytics is a very useful free tool for tracking site statistics. The resources below will help anyone, from the beginner to those who have been using Google Analytics for some time, learn how to get the most out of this great tool. For Beginners The following list of links will help you get started with Google Analytics from setup to understanding what data is being presented by Google Analytics. How to Use Google Analytics for Beginners - Mahalo’s how-to guide for beginners. A beginner’s guide to Google Analytics, Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 -

Now anyone using the Google Toolbar can leave comments for others to see about your webpages through Google Sidewiki. Screenshot of Google Sidewiki Luckily you can (through Google Webmaster Tools) create a webmaster entry that will appear on top, but this is a challenging new feature for anyone (like me) who is trying to get a handle on existing webpages that you know are not designed to their full effectiveness. Awesome! Now users can comment on those type of issues.

A few of my contacts at Google have recently informed me that the branded YouTube channel (formerly $50,ooo to setup), is now being offered for free to all government departments (this includes the Canadian Government of course). Google analytics – Brand channels can be opted into GA automatically. These “homepage takeovers” on YouTube can What’s the difference between a branded and non-branded channel? Here are the additional features that you will get:

Download the presentation slides below Related Documents! A Google Grant, which provides up to $10,000 a month in free keyword advertising to qualified nonprofit organizations, can help your organization raise money, build your list, and drive more traffic to your web site. During this teleconference, we will provide an introduction to the Google Grants program and how it might benefit your organization. Specifically, we will discuss the following: Eligibility and application procedures What the grant covers Working with Google staff Expanding the campaign to meet organization objectives We will also touch on some more advanced topics such as campaign optimization, integration with website analytics and opportunities for non-grant paid search campaigns. About our speaker Daniel Schulman is Director of Search Marketing for Donordigital - an online fundraising, advocacy, and advertising company that works with major nonprofit organizations.

Whether you have a website or not, did you know that you and your organization have a Google profile ? Search for your organization on Google Maps . Remember you also have a personal Google profile. You can see my new-and-improved Google profile here . 2009 looks like it will be a challenging year for fundraising. But people are going to give.

NTEN will be holding a 5-part webinar series focused on Google Grants and how to use those pesky Google Adwords. The best part--the series is being presented by members of the Google Grants team, so you'll be learning from people who live and breathe this stuff everyday. Google Grants is specifically for 501(c)(3) organizations, so we (c)(6)ers may be out of luck on the free advertising front. But here's the thing. Adwords are easy to set up.

So what would Google do if it were a nonprofit? That’s actually the name of a new book by Jeff Jarvis (Jeff is associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York's new Graduate School of Journalism, in addition to running one of the web’s most popular blogs called Buzzmachine.com ). One of the strategies Jeff highlights in his book (a strategy that we have also embraced here at Network for Good) is that “free is a business model.”

Via Seth Godin : The March of Dimes is asking supporters to petition Google to create a "doodle," (a modification of its logo that changes daily and that commemorates different holidays and events) to commemorate Prematurity Awareness Day on November 14. quot; Even if Google does not create a doodle, the petition will have helped to raise awareness of the day, and of the cause. ...Tags: Good petitions, like this one, Godin says, "build emotional energy." Tags: BRANDING COMMUNICATIONS GOOGLE MARKETING WEB

We’ve all heard a lot about the capabilities of Google Maps, but that may not translate into our regular use of this great tool. In short, all you have to do to create a map is go to Google Maps , quickly create an account profile, click on My Maps, and then Create New Map. Using the placemarker tool , you can either choose one of Google’s icons or insert a url to create your own (that’s how I got the photo directly onto I fell into that category myself before I sat down for a half-hour and just played.